Classroom Management

The Key To Classroom Management

How can I use these ideas?

Many of the ideas presented in the article Key to Classroom Management are things I have naturally been able to decipher in the classroom, and some concepts were quite eye-opening. Every student is different in his needs of management. Some students need social training, and others simply need direction on how to complete an assignment.

At times we can all feel overwhelmed by how much we have to accomplish in a short amount of time. This concept is also very true for students. Some students feel overwhelmed by assignments. The pressure to complete a task is too great and therefore the student will ‘act out’. As a new teacher, all I was able to see was the ‘acting out’ stage. It was then pointed out to me that the student may need the assignment broken into smaller stages. The article pointed this strategy out as well, and it is quite effective. The student who ‘acts out’ was finally able to complete the task, and he was able to complete the task with his full potential.

Demographically speaking, students who come from low income families tend to be in the lower percentile of learning scores, as well as behavior issues. The article and the power point presentation both pointed out that simply blaming the family for a student’s predicament is not effective. This is true, but my question was ‘what can I do to help this child succeed?’ As hard as it might be to introduce a new concept at this point in the year, these students need to be taught social skills. These skills need to be taught and reinforced every day. The reinforcement needs to be given with positive feedback because these students are used to receiving negative attention. Positive attention and negative attention are the same to low leveled students, attention is attention.

Social skills need to be taught in order for students to be successful in life. The creation of a behavior chart would be an effective way to help keep students on track. A chart may include items such as: entering the classroom with a zero voice, looking at the board for today’s behavior goal, complete first assignment on the board, and wait for the teacher’s instructions. Allowing students to earn a tangible award for good behavior creates incentive for students to seek positive feedback. The combination of the award and the chart are a way to foster the self monitoring of behavior.