0.3 Classroom management

Day one

This section is a practical guide to classroom management techniques that can make your job easier.

Here are some simple, yet, effective management techniques to establish on the first day of class:

Attention-Getting Device

Teach your students a hand-clap pattern or some other visual or auditory aid that will let them know that you need silence and eyeson you. Practice it to make sure they know it. Use it frequently n the first day of school and thereafter.

Establish the Importance of Listening

Teach your students the "Say Back" game. It's simple: after you or any student has spoken, ask the class: "Raise your hand if you cannow "say back" what I just said (or what student x has just said)". Note what percentage of hands are in the air and simply say to your students, "I noticethat approximately 60% of your hands are raised. Our goal during the course of the year is to get 100% "say back" - maybe not every time, but close to it.We're learning how to listen when others are speaking."

This simple "Say Back" tool will increase the students' awaeness of how often they are listening to you or others when youspeak and how deeply. It does it in a way that does not put any one person on the spot to have to actually "say back" what was said. It does let the class knowthat you're all working towards deep listening no matter who is speaking. It also give students the confidence to know that when they speak, their voice will be heard. This is tremendously important for creating an environment in which students canfeel safe to share their thoughts.

Establish a Theme for Desired Behavior

Just as we discussed teh value of theme-based learning, there can also be "theme-based" classroom managament. What ismeant by this? If you say to the students that in addition to listening to one another, we "Care" for one another then you have established "Care" as atheme or behavioral expectation. When a student is disruptive you can ask them, "Are you showing care for what we're doing?" Or if a student misusesresources (i.e. leaves the cap off of the marker or pens so that the pen dries out, you can ask the student: "Are you showing care for the tools we use in theclassroom?" It's a gentle way of "enforcing" what you value in your classroom: care for one another, care for the classroom environment, andcare for your resources.

The rest of the year

Effective classroom management can be summed up in three words: firm, fair, and friendly . The ramifications are tremendous.

• Firmness implies strength, organization, resilience, and leadership, rather than rigidity.
• Fairness implies equal respect for all kinds of learners and learning styles.
• Friendliness implies a readiness and joy of learning and association with knowledge, engagement with the process, andappreciation of each other.

These three words - firm, fair, friendly - speak volumes and can serve as a mirror to behavior. But what gets in the way? Threeother words: fear, flight, and fight. You can recognize them when you see them: