How to Maintain Discipline in a Classroom -Good Classroom Management Strategies

Good discipline and classroom management is the foundation of learning for students. The first thing a teacher needs to do is to establish clear expectations in the classroom. A good way to approach the discipline issue is to have a class discussion about proper behavior and establishing some class rules in the classroom.

For foreign teachers teaching in a non English speaking environment, this may present some challenges as students may not understand them. In an ESL environment, teachers may consider asking someone to translate for them when they are doing this discussion.

A. Begin the discussion by asking students why we have laws in our society.  Laws for citizens, rules for drivers etc for safety reasons.  Then move on to discuss why we should have classroom rules letting the students tell you how they should behave in the classroom.

B. Brain storm the classroom rules collectively and write down these rules on the board.

Students may come up with a lot of rules, but narrow them down to 5-7, keeping the tone positive. Such as:

-          Show respect to each other

-          Follow instructions

-          Don’t talk and pay attention when others are speaking

-          Be responsible and complete assignments etc, etc.
-       Have students vote on these class rules so that they feel ownership of them.

C. Visual Reminder of Classroom Rules - After the class vote on the classroom rules,  write them down on chart paper clearly and neatly and put them up on the wall. When students break a rule, remind them of your expectations and direct their attention to the agreed rules on the wall.

Clear expectations must be the first thing a teacher needs to establish in the class.

D. Consequences – Rules without consequences will not work. Students need to know clearly what the consequences are if they break one of these rules.

After the class discussion on rules, discuss with students the consequences of breaking them. Allow students input of what should be the consequences, but a teacher must have some prepared.

An effective approach many teachers employ is Progress Discipline – Do not jump on students on their first offence but try to deal with disciplinary issues in stages.

Before a teacher can teach, one must have cooperative and respectful students who would listen to the teacher so that learning can take place in the classroom.  If a teacher wants cooperation from students, he/ she must earn their respect. To earn their respect, students need to know that the teacher cares for them.

Therefore, the consequences for misbehavior are consequences, not punishment.

Though not a very tall person, I had much better control of students in my teaching days than some of my colleagues who were more than six feet tall! I showed respect and care for my students who in turn responded. But it took time to build good teacher/ student rapport which did not come overnight. 

 Consequences for my students with inappropriate behaviors were:

1.     First offence – Speaking  to that student politely but firmly about the misbehavior; remind him/ her of the appropriate behavior and rules agreed in class.

2.     Second offence – A short detention after school/ during lunch recess. Talk to student about the misbehavior and try to understand what the problem / issue is with this student.  Often,  I discovered that students' refusal to learn or complete their assignments was merely a cover up for their inability to do the work or their lack of understanding of the concepts taught.  Unable to do the assignments and too embarrassed to ask for help in front of their peers, these students would rather put forth a cool front in front of their peers which may appear as a refusal to participate in that particular learning activity.
      When dealing with these students in a more private setting individually and offering them extra help, I could often turn these students around because they knew that I cared for them.

3.     Third offence – I called the parents and let them know about the misbehavior and ask them if there was anything going on with the student of which I should be aware.

When dealing with  students with inappropriate behaviour, I always talk to them nicely first letting them know that I care for them and want to help them with their learning. When students sense a teacher’s  compassion, care and genuine interest in them, they will respond to the teacher, respect him/her and cooperate with the teacher.

I hope that some of these classroom management strategies would work for you and help you with your difficult students!

Off course, don’t forget to pray for your most difficult students!

R.T.
Toronto, Ontario