Whether you're a first-year teacher or a seasoned pro, effective classroom management is a critical piece of any successful classroom. Share what works.
What's The Best Classroom Management Advice You've Gotten?
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Larry Ferlazzo
I teach English & Social Studies at inner-city high school in Sacramento,CA
Posted on 11/9/2009
I thought it might be useful/interesting if people shared the best piece of classroom management advice they've gotten/read/heard...
Mine comes from Marvin Marshall, who is my favorite (by far) writer/thinker on positive classroom management. He’s written a question that we as teachers might want to consider asking ourselves regularly. He wrote:
Will what I am about to do or say bring me closer or will it push me away farther from the person with whom I am communicating?
Of course, we’re just human and all of this is far “easier said than done.” But it’s not a bad level to aspire towards…
Comments (142)
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The best advice I got from a long time teacher in a small, remote village in Alaska is "Get the students' respect." I found out that we can do that in many ways. Among others, by respecting our students as people, and being a a person inside and outside of the classroom worthy of respect. We may often fall short, but it's something we should continually aim for, I do believe.
Getting Respect means having the tools to do it
Words are easy - gain the respect of your students and you will have good classroom management. Makes sense but when you face a class of 20-30 kids, just HOW do you do that?
To every teacher, old and new, I highly recommend Dr. Fred Jones, Tools For Teaching program. His is a program that works, that has reduced discipline problems and raised achievement all over this country and Canada. Do yourself a favor and get his book - or at least check it out. You will be a better teacher and parent for it.
Hold the reigns tightly, but
Hold the reigns tightly, but not too tightly.
Know Your Students
All of my mentors gave me the same piece of advice.
Know your students
This advice has helped me create a solid rapport with all of my students, understand how they learn and how they interact with each other. I think this is the best way to manage and prevent unwanted classroom behavior.
The best classroom management advice I ever got...
was that the number one reason for losing control of a classroom is not being well-planned or prepared. When the academic content isn't enough to motivate me to keep prepping, that is.
Quote: My sponsor teacher
My sponsor teacher once told me this during my practicum, "If you have an engaging lesson, students are less likely to misbehave." It's so true - there were times when my lessons were more like listening to me talk, and there were times when my lessons were full-blown hands-on. There were much less issues with student behaviour/classroom management issues when the students were so engaged!
My sponsor teacher once told me this during my practicum, "If you have an engaging lesson, students are less likely to misbehave." It's so true - there were times when my lessons were more like listening to me talk, and there were times when my lessons were full-blown hands-on. There were much less issues with student behaviour/classroom management issues when the students were so engaged!
The best way for the
The best way for the classroom management is to be friendly with the students and make them comfortable. Communication is really very important to make them feel free with you. Engage them through discussions and asking them several questions as this will boost up their confidence and interest level. Apart from these, make sure that they must follow the rules and regulations as well as this will maintain the decorum of the institution. http://www.1to1tutor.org/free-session/
Check out Responses on Facebook
This is such an important topic. With so many great answers so far, we thought we'd get our Facebook Fans involved as well. We asked Larry's question on our Facebook page, and received close to 200 responses. Visit the post here.
As I try to guide and mentor
As I try to guide and mentor interns, I find behavior management is the stumbling block which makes the ride most difficult for many of our future teachers. This is definitely a discussion post I will recommend to my current and future student teachers as they try to find their niche in classroom management. It is certainly not a one size fits all solution and what works for me may not work exactly for them. Personally, time on task is my strategy- keep them so engaged, there is no time for off task behavior. I enjoyed reading everyone's advice.
As I am student teaching the
As I am student teaching the thing about classroom management that is preached to us and have a set stern system from day 1 and nothing less!