Standing in the Way of Your Own Classroom Management?

I think we can all agree that classroom management is vital when it comes to making sure that the children know who is boss. I’m sure that we can all also agree on the fact that bad behaviour is zero amounts of fun and often throws the lesson off track; ugh! Oh, and even worse have you ever noticed that after one child decides to mis-behave there is like a massive torpedo of bad behaviour thrown at you? Every teacher, teaching assistant, and even other support staff in schools deal with this chaotic sort of mischief on a daily basis. Breathe, it’s okay – you’ve got this!

You've got this because you're the one in charge! Try your hardest not to forget that you are the one who is in control of the classroom management and how you manage the class really does affect the lesson. Chances are highly likely that you know this already. But have you ever stopped to question if you are in fact standing in the way of your own classroom management? Here are a few things that you may overlook normally, but can actually have an amazing impact on your classroom management techniques!

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Classroom Management Tip – Don’t Handle Problems in Front of Everyone

It might be hard to keep your cool when the same student is persistently causing problems within your classroom. However, the best way to deal with this is to discuss their behaviour in private with just them- individually. It can be embarrassing for the pupil if you are approaching things publicly in front of the rest of the class and can encourage them to misbehave even more. Nobody likes an audience after all.

Classroom Management Tip – Stop Focusing on Just the Problems

Try not to focus just on the negatives in the classroom. A great classroom management technique is to highlight to students the sort of behaviour you do want to see, so praise the good actions too. Spend the same amount of time on the positives as the you do on the negatives – you will see a change we promise!

Classroom Management Tip – Move Around the Classroom

Try not to be the sort of teacher that always stands just at the front of the classroom, mix it up a little. Move around the classroom so you have the chance to spot any bad behaviour that may actually be hiding elsewhere! Managing the class in this way showcases that you’re being proactive in making sure that all students are on top form and that blind spots aren't overlooked.

Classroom Management Tip – Don’t Encourage the Bad Behaviour

If you have quite a close relationship with your students then you may not realise how you actually react to their bad behaviour sometimes. Of course it’s great to get on with your students, they will respect you a whole lot more which means your days will be much more enjoyable. However, when students do go off track try not to smile and play the 'friend' role completely. It may be tough to make this change in your classroom management technique in the beginning, but it pays off to go from 'friend' to 'teacher' mode. Students will begin to take you more seriously and learn their rights from wrong.

Classroom Management Tip – Don’t Take Things Personally

If you start to think of a students bad behaviour as personal vendetta against you, it will jeopardise your classroom management techniques in many ways. Students may pick up on this as a weakness, so restrain from taking it personally. Remember that to some extent bad behaviour may occur in your classroom if the student can sense that you're not so effective at classroom management, but the chances are that the student misbehaves for other teachers too!

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Can you think of any other ways that teachers could be standing in the way of their own classroom management techniques? We would LOVE to hear them so drop us a comment in the box below or you can Tweet us over at Staffroomed.