Effective Classroom Management

Effective Classroom Management

According to K. Proctor of Red River College, classroom management is a set of teaching behaviors by which the teacher promotes appropriate student behavior and eliminates inappropriate behavior, develops good interpersonal relationships and a positive socio-emotional climate, and establishes and maintains an effective and productive classroom organization. In short, classroom management is the organizational techniques of the teacher that keeps the classroom in order and on task.

Concepts

Effective discipline is described as teaching students self-control. In fact, punishment as a form of discipline to gain control is a last resort (Cummings, 2000). Cummings states “our goal is to establish a community of learners who feel bonded and connected; such a community exhibits self-discipline and perseverance and takes responsibility for learning.” I completely agree. Giving students the ability to bond and connect with other students on the same level is a great asset to any classroom. This asset is something that can foster learning and take it to the next level. The not-so-surprising finding that “the more time students spend on task, the more likely they are to master that task” seems to dictate that we should devote our time to the standards, not to teaching self-control (Cummings, 2000).

Standards tell us where we’re going; what students should learn. They don’t tell us how to get there. Classroom management has the greatest effect on student learning, as compared with other factors including cognitive processes, home environment and parental support, school culture, curriculum design, and school demographics. Teachers need to anticipate what skills and work habits students need so that they can demonstrate high levels of performance on state and national standards. The proactive teacher teaches self-control first before content standards. (Cummings, 2000)

In making an effective classroom discipline plan, I believe that standards are a great stepping stone. Standards set by schools and scholarly teachers are usually created from experience and experience can be an asset to a novice teacher. Having standards is just the building blocks to build your classroom management plan from. They give you ideas of things that work so that you can move forward in making them effective in your classroom.

Classrooms have changed over the last several decades (Cummings, 2000). Recent surveys indicate that one in five children live in poverty. “Particularly devastating to the nation’s youth have been sharp increases in the numbers of children and teenagers who are abused, who live in poverty and who commit suicide,” says Charney. More of our children will bring awful baggage to school; baggage which will seriously impair or compromise their capacity to learn and to be with others. (Charney, 150)

Today’s society puts way too much responsibility on children. The baggage that they can bring into the classroom is caused by this responsibility. I think that children should be allowed to be children. If they were allowed to learn on the level that I learned years ago, they might be less stressed and more willing to work with the assignments and tasks at hand. It seems almost like we are going back to the 1800s when children started slave labor at very young ages. Although our children are not necessarily thought of or treated as slaves, the emotional responsibility they hold is just as overwhelming.

Rules

Rules provide positive directions. They serve a purpose. Rules should be specific and concrete. Few is better than too many. Charney states “I do not want rules to legislate every action. I want them to encourage reasoned thinking and discussion. I want rules that we “like,” not because they give license or permission, but because they help us construct a community that is orderly and safe.” I believe rules are meant to shape and manage. They set the stage for how a classroom will react to certain situations and give the students the flexibility of doing the right thing versus not knowing what to do.

Consequences

In the book, Teaching Children to Care: Management to the Responsive Classroom, there is a list of implementing logical consequences. These consequences are essential to having an effective classroom management plan. The first is to stop and think. To present reasoned and reasonable consequences to children, we often have to get past our first reactions, which may be anything from a desire to cry to a desire to strangle. I think this is a great first step to consequences. If you actually stop and think about what it is the child did and your reaction to it, you might have a better understanding of why the child did what he did and you will be able to create a consequence to fit the action. I am guilty of not stopping and thinking about my reactions before they are voiced. I think about the situation later and what I should have done. I then take these considerations and implement them in the next situation that arises. Although, if I had stopped and thought about the situation as the book states, I might have had the correct reaction.

Step two is to evaluate the options. If you give yourself more than one solution then you are more likely to take the more appropriate steps. Step three is to provide a workable, realistic, specific action as a consequence. A workable consequence is specific and related to the problem: leaving the group is related to being disruptive in a group; missing recess isn’t. Realistic means possible for the child and teacher. Teachers also need to think about what is practical: if a child has to stay until a piece of work is complete, then the teacher must be prepared to stay with them or arrange for supervision.