Classroom Management

I was asked by a new instructor what I do to “set the tone” for my classroom when starting with a new student group. This instructor hadn't put much thought into classroom management, but was more so focused on just making sure she was ready to present the material to a group of students that she fully expected to be ready to learn.

Sadly, she was caught by surprise as she did not anticipate having any problems. On the first day, she was shocked to find that one of her students openly challenged her qualifications and mocked other student’s remarks.

So what do you do when you are unprepared to deal with a situation such as this? She sought advice from a more seasoned instructor and had a frank discussion with the student (at more than one occasion) in order to reign things in and set a more positive learning environment.

My advice was as follows:

Luckily when I began instructing, there was already a manual developed by the university on the policies and procedures. It included information on attendance, being late, chain of command, contact info for instructors, and more. We go through this handy little book with our students on day 1 of the course. This helps to make everything clear while establishing the protocols for what will and what will not be tolerated by the instructors, and more importantly, the university.

After we go through the guidelines, we then participate as a class to create a set of rules for our personal classroom. One of the instructors writes these on chart paper while the students decide as a group on what they would like added to the list. The other instructor helps to coach the students if they are struggling for ideas. We always have the previous year's guidelines handy for our personal reference. It is interesting that each group has always had 1) Respect of each other, and 2) Respect of instructors. Once every student is happy with the list, we then type it up and have them sign this on day 2. The students receive a copy to place in their binders for reference, and we also keep a copy to have handy should any situation arise.

This year, we have also added in a 'professional mark' and students are graded each day on various criteria in a chart based format. They either get a '1' or a '0' and there are about 10 criteria. At the bottom of the chart, there is room for comments, and these are kept in duotangs with the students name on them. They are handed back to the students at the end of the week so that they can see areas they need to improve on i.e. positive attitude. It is a great way to have confidential communication and to get a point across without a direct confrontation i.e. perhaps a mark is based on professional appearance (dependent on the field in which you are working) and you consistently have a student coming to class with unwashed hair, un-brushed teeth, no make-up etc. (As these things may be difficult to confront face to face). The booklets are also a great way to give positive reinforcement in the comment section. We can thank the students when they help out extra in the class, or perhaps we have noticed how well they handled a situation.

For one week, we also flipped this so that the students were doing their own self assessments. It was interesting to see how absolutely realistic they were in their assessments and this gave them a great chance to self-reflect. So far, it has been a win-win, and a great daily reinforcement of the expectations.

Some good resources to visit:

https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/

Other key points:

A friendly attitude with a sprinkling of humor goes a long way in winning the regard and cooperation of the class

Respect is a more desirable molder of behavior than fear

If you don't have a plan for them, they'll have one for you. Always overplan. It's better to run out of time than to run short on a lesson. Bored students equal trouble! If the lesson is poorly planned, there is often way too much talking and telling from the teacher and not enough hands-on learning and discovery by the students.

Try to be as genuine as possible. By framing yourself as an ally and an expert,students can see the benefits of the class and understand your role. When they see that they might get something out of the class, they are less likely to be disruptive.

Things to try:

Classroom participation marks for the theory portion of class