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Classroom ManagementMaintaining full control of the classroom is one of the hardest problems for teachers, regardless of the level or age of their students. Although younger students may engage in rebellious activity as they are not as used to a teacher?s control, older students may not feel that certain rules apply to them and rebel nonetheless. Therefore teachers must create appropriate rules and boundaries for their specific students, which are never broken or crossed. Classroom management, in general, refers to the actions a teacher needs to take in order to maintain order in the classroom so that learning is not disrupted. After my online tefl certification course, I thought of a few general guidelines that a teacher should follow to gain and maintain control over their class. First, I think it is important to decide in advance how you want your students to behave and then make these expectations crystal clear to the students. Not having well-defined rules or procedures leads to chaos in the classroom. As a new teacher, you have the authority and you are in the charge, but unless you initially show the students that is true, they will be quick to take advantage of it. This means teachers must sit for a while and think about fair and appropriate rules, because it would be unfair to change rules or add them in the middle of the course. First impressions mean everything, and it would be hard for teachers to recover from a shaky, unplanned first impression. Second, teachers should present rules and procedures as deliberately and thoroughly as academic content. It is easier after a while to assume that students have understood the rules and procedures- but too often, this leads to neglecting to teach desirable behavior. It is very easy to hurry through classroom rules and procedures just to start teaching, but the payoffs are lousy. Understanding of appropriate behavior in the classroom comes hand in hand with academic progression. Therefore, especially during the first month of school (and for the remainder of the school year, to some degree), continue to review and reinforce management issues. Failing to invest time in teaching classroom rules and procedures will lead to a lack of accountability and proper learning. Students thrive on structure and a proper framework for learning. It is also important to inform students of specific punishments and penalties and what they will be used for, and to not be afraid to punish. Failing to develop a systematic set of penalties and punishments can results in chaos! Finally, a general technique to maintain full control of the classroom is to reflect on your experiences as a student. Identify those teachers who you consider to be effective and ineffective classroom managers; how were they effective? Ineffective? I think it would be beneficial to think long and hard about this, making a two-sided list comparing those with the strategies you are currently using. Are there things you can adopt, change, or develop more in order to become a more effective classroom manager? Reflecting on these experiences, presenting rules and punishment throughout the course, and planning these rules in advanced in a fair and organized way, will give teachers a better chance at fully managing their classroom.
