Classroom Management Handbook
1# Choose and set the rules Involve the children in deciding the class rules at the start of the year, which can motivate students to obey and accept them. It’s important to keep the list short and clear. Do it as a visual poster format and hang it on a classroom wall. Sometimes you may need to use some kind of punishment, but never give a punishment that is humiliating and always reintegrate learners into the group after they have received the punishment. For example: · Remove the learner for a short time from the classroom activities -just five or ten minutes will be enough-. The isolation shouldn’t be used to frighten the learners. Invite the student to sit alone until he has calmed down and can return to work with the whole group.
2# Create routines Routines make the young learners feel secure and save because they will know what is expected of them. Especially on how the class starts and ends. For example: · Define how will the children enter the room, where will they place their backpacks... · Start all the lessons with the same song. · Stand with your hand raised until you have total silence and everybody’s attention. · Ending a lesson well is as important as starting it well. End with a whole class activity such as a song or a quick game. You also can do a feedback activity (ask them what they have done and what they have learned).
3# Plan your Classroom Layout The physical organization of the classroom is very important. There are some tips: 路 Place furniture in a strategically way in order to optimize student learning and reduce distractions. 路 The classroom should have an area of easily moveable desks and chairs (to organize them depending on the task you ask students to do- cooperative group or individual-) and an open space for action songs and games. 路 Offer easily accessible materials, which can eliminate delays, disruptions, and confusion as students prepare for activities.
4# Prepare and organize the lesson Decide the strategies and methods you will employ to help students achieve their learning goals. If you know what you need to accomplish and how you are going to do it, you have a better opportunity to achieve success with the added benefit of less stress. The more organized a teacher is, the more effective the teaching and the learning is. · Write daily detailed lesson plans to correctly manage the time and the organization of the activities you want to work in class. It should include the materials, the objectives you hope to achieve and the activities. · Feedback is an important part of language learning process. Learners and teacher should reflect on what they have been doing and learning. Listen to the students’ feedback to learn about yourself and your teaching methods and activities. · Create “mini activities” to help fill up any time that might be left at the end of a class period. Use this extra time to do extra instruction or some educational funny games.
5# Get and keep the students’ attention Raising your voice or shouting has a poor chance of success. Instead: · Use musical instruments, whistles, songs, count to 10… · Use puppets to direct the class. They are magical for preschool students, being a really good way to get the kids attention. Give it a name and age, and as the lessons proceed create its likes, dislikes, favorite food, color, etc. · Avoid speaking in monotone and try to make your lectures lively. · Do interactive lessons. Students appreciate lessons where they can get involved, so don’t do a monologue and try to ask them questions and ask for they participation.
6# Keep students motivated · Praise students for the good work and for the smallest things they do or say properly. Thumbs up, clapping hands and a huge smile on a teacher’s face will help the kids understand that they did a great job. Create a way of rewarding your students as well: draw smiling faces, stars or use stamps or stickers to show your appreciation. · Change the activities’ pace and focus (some quiet, some active, some involving the whole class, some in pairs or groups). This helps to keep the young learners interested and motivated. · Incorporate multiple hands-on activities into lessons designed to engage students in productive tasks.
7# Be aware of the students’ needs It’s very important to meet the individual needs of your students, teaching them bearing in mind the individual differences among them. Each student has his own level of ability, his strengths, his weaknesses and his preferences and interests, so everyone in the class should be treated differently (a student who is passive will need much more encouragement and support than other students). These differences can be caused by different factors, as their social and familiar background, their own personality or their birth order. For these reasons: · Include varied tasks of different difficulty levels and provide meaningful work for students who finish assignments faster than others. Also, it may be interesting to provide multiple ways and materials to work the same subject. · Make the students work in groups, so they can contribute to the best of their individual characteristics and strengths and they can learn from each other in working toward a common goal. ·Use different ways to assess the students’ comprehension. If you have told a story and you want to know if a student has understood it, you can ask him to tell you about what happened in the story. But if your student likes to draw, maybe you can ask him to draw you a picture of the story you just read.
8# Be flexible Planning a lesson is only a "project" because a lot of unpredictable events can happen during a lesson. Interruptions and disruptions will occur in class every day. You don’t have to follow your lesson plan as a strict regime, it’s just a guide. · If students start a discussion about your lesson or just about your subject, let them do it and profit that they are really involved enjoying the conversation, because it can be a good opportunity to learn and interchange ideas. · Take the necessary time to ensure that they understand the concepts you are teaching. Use as many classes as they need to ensure that they master the concept (which will be necessary to understand the next lessons and to build new knowledge). · Offer different choices to students, making them feel a part of the learning process. Prepare some mini lessons for extra time and let them choose which one they want to do. This really helps to show them that you listen to them.
9# Build a positive class environment The climate in the classroom is crucial when determining the quality of learning that takes place. Pupils learn more and better if they are in a safe, secure and accepting classroom. Create an atmosphere of mutual respect and support in the classroom, where students feel safe in expressing concerns or asking questions, and where tolerance and a sense of common identity and community are promoted. You can: 路 Use cooperative learning groups. In this way, students can help and rely on one another to complete a task, and to learn to work with people who are different from them. Cooperative learning is based on positive interactions.
10# Build a positive relationship with students based on trust and respect You have to know well all your students. Build a personal connection with all of them: · Teachers seem to be very big when they are just standing in front of their pupils who are sat in their desks. This can be intimidating for some children so it’s important to put yourself on their eye level when you’re talking and helping them with some work. A small gesture like this can help them connect with you. · Invent a classroom password that only your classroom will know. It can be some vocabulary word that is difficult to them to pronounce and you want them to remember. They will have to tell you the word before entering the classroom. You can change it once a week. · Make students laugh. They learn better when they are having fun, rather than when they are feeling pressured to achieve.
- Marina Puigventós –