Classroom Management Ideas

Classroom Management: Rules

One of the first and foremost things that a teacher must learn to do before any learning can occur is to gain control of classroom management.  This is especially true for general music educators because, as mentioned earlier, of the extremely limited time that we have with the children.  A plan for classroom management needs to be established and put into action on the very first day of class before any problems have the chance to occur.

In developing a classroom management plan, the first thing that a teacher needs to do is decide is how much they are willing to put up with.  The tolerance level will be different for each teacher and situation – some prefer absolute silence during the music lesson while others allow for more noise.

Once this has been determined, classroom rules need to be formed accordingly.  Rules should be few, short, simple, clearly stated, to the point, and stated in a positive manner.  The “do’s” should be highlighted in the rules and the “do not’s” should be avoided.  The overall goals of the rules should to be to help form self-discipline and ensure a maximum learning environment for all students to learn.  Rules should be clearly and visibly posted in the music room to serve as a constant reminder

The following is the set of rules I currently use in my classroom.  I have compiled these from observations and tweaked them to meet my needs.  It should be pointed out that these rules are quite generic in nature and could be interpreted to fit many situations and disruptions that may arise.  In fact, I haven’t run into a situation yet in which one of these couldn’t be applied. 

·        Follow all directions

·        Listen while others are speaking or performing

·        Raise your hand to respond

·        Always do your best

Classroom Management: Consequences

            Once you have determined the rules that will be used in your classroom, a plan of action for enforcing them needs to be devised.  The first and foremost thing to consider is MAKE NO EXCEPTIONS.  If a rule is not followed, a consequence (ideally related to the rule that is broken) must occur.  Consequences related to academics, such as deducting points, should not be used.  They should be carried out in a quick manner not to disrupt the entire class.

            One method that I have found to be effective is a self-regulated time-out.  In this type of time-out, the student is to sit away from the class in the back of the room and look at a sign that states the rule in the form of a question (“Were you___? Are you ___?”) while thinking about their actions.  When they feel they are ready to rejoin the class and follow the rules accordingly, they may do so at their discretion, but they may not sit in the same place when they rejoin the group.

            A hierarchy of consequences should be devised and a plan of action for implanting them should be decided.  This following plan is what I currently use in my teaching.  All consequences listed are mere suggestions and depend on the actual situation and context in which the problem occurs.  Although I have not yet had a need for levels 3-5 (and hopefully won’t!), they exist if the situation should ever arise.

-         1 minor offenses

o       Examples:  talking, playing with equipment, shouting out answers, using silly voice, gum chewing

o       First Offense – give warning, physical proximity, direct eye contact

o       Second Offense – self-regulated time-out (different seat upon return)

o       Third Offense – self-regulated time-out, speak to student after class, document behaviors, report to classroom teacher

o       Fourth Offense – self-regulated time-out, report to parents

-         2 moderate offenses

o       Examples:  shouting out answers; inappropriate touching; crying; tattling; talking during listening

o       First Offense – give warning; physical proximity; direct eye contact

o       Second Offense – self-regulated time-out (different seat upon return)

o       Third Offense – self-regulated time-out; speak to student after class; document behaviors; report to classroom teacher

o       Fourth Offense – self-regulated time-out; report to parents

-         3 major offenses

o       Examples:  Profane or crude language; shouting; name calling; rude/obscene/sexual gestures or comments;  laughing at another student’s performance

o       First Offense – give reprimand; direct eye contact; self-regulated time-out (different seat upon return)

o       Second Offense – self-regulated time-out; speak to student after class; document behaviors; report to classroom teacher

o       Third Offense – discuss plan of action with student for eliminating behavior; report to parents

o       Fourth Offense – send to principal

-         4 serious offenses

o       Examples:  hitting; kicking; punching

o       First Offense – give reprimand; self-regulated time-out (different seat upon return); document behaviors; speak to student after class; report to classroom teacher & parents

o       Second Offense – send to principal

-         5 dangerous offenses

o       Examples:  fighting, drawing weapons

o       First Offense – move offenders from classroom immediately; obtain immediate intervention by school administrators and security; document behaviors; notify administrators, counselor, classroom teacher and parents

Classroom Management: Support

Once the classroom management plan has been somewhat finalized, it should be discussed thoroughly with the principal and other school authorities to assure they will support and back it up in the event of a problem.

Parents and guardians should also be informed of the plan at the beginning of each year.  An ideal way of doing this is by sending home two copies of the plan – one for them to keep and one for them to sign, date, and return.  All letters should be kept on file incase a conflict of being biased or unfair arises.

The first day of class should begin with discussing the classroom management plan with the students.  This lets them know immediately how they should attempt to conduct themselves accordingly and eliminates much of the “I didn’t know” excuses.

All inappropriate behaviors that seem to be recurring or serious need to be documented promptly and as specifically and accurately as possible.  To add further legitimacy to this, some teachers discuss with the offending student what they wrote and have them sign and date.  Others have the offending student write a summary of what happened and then add their own explanations and comments.  The more specific the event(s) are documented, the greater of assistance it will be when speaking to classroom teachers, administration or parents. 

Classroom Management: Prevention Planning

One way to begin controlling classroom management is through preventative measures with careful teacher planning.  As a teacher makes out the lessons, each step of class needs to be carefully thought through in order to prevent any confusion for the students.  Before the lesson even begins, the following need to be considered:

·       How are the students going to enter the room? (all together, one by one, greeted by teacher)

·       Where are the students going to sit? (chairs, floor, carpet squares, jump ropes)

·       What arrangement are they going to sit? (circle, rows, semicircle)

·       How are they going to choose where to sit? (they choose, assigned seats, gender)

·       How should they wait for class to begin? (silence, whispering, talking)

·       What should the cue be to begin class? (verbal greeting, rhythm clapping, solfege singing)

Thinking through these things in as much detail as possible can save a tremendous amount of time.  The first day of the semester when I began teaching, my regular classroom wasn’t ready and I wasn’t able to get access to the carpet squares that I usually used for my classes to sit on.  A first grade class came to music and I met them at the door as usual to give them instructions for entering the room.  I asked the students to sit in four straight rows after they shook my hand and entered the room.  After the whole class had entered, I turned around and it was chaos!  Some of the students were wandering around trying to figure out what to do, some were sitting in a very haphazard formation, and others were just standing there in confusion.  I repeated the instructions to sit in four straight rows and they wandered around a little more.  After about another 6 minutes of this, I finally got them in the correct order for the lesson I had planned and nearly 10 minutes of their 30 minute class was wasted.

Before the next class came in, I got several jump ropes from the gym.  I laid them down forming the four straight rows as I had wanted and put a sticky note with a large number on it at the front of each row.  I once again met the class at the door and this time told them I will shake their hand and give them a number and they will sit in the row behind the number I gave them.  After the entire class had entered, I turned around and there were four perfectly straight rows of children and we immediately began the lesson.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS - TO UPDATE LATER

When documenting behaviors, explain to the student and have them sign and date it

Classroom set up

Distractions around room

WHOLE CLASS DISRUPTIONS

Have a method for getting the entire classes attention

-         standing still in front of class and waiting for all attention

-         raising had and putting finger over mouth and having students imitate

-         flipping the lights severl times to get attention

Consistency is the key -

-         the environment needs to be humane, fair, consistent, and devoid of critisicm

critisise the behavior, not the student