Classroom Management 101

In this NJEA Review article, Tracey Garrett (Rider University) refutes three common myths about classroom management: (a) that it can’t be taught and must be learned by experience; (b) that it’s a bag of tricks; and (c) that it depends on giving students extrinsic rewards. In fact, says Garrett, one of the major success stories of educational research in the 20^th century was establishing a set of principles and strategies that can be taught, observed, and emulated. Here’s her take, with a major focus on preventing discipline problems from happening in the first place:

• Develop an organized physical layout for the classroom.

• Purge the classroom of all unwanted clutter.
• Personalize the classroom so it communicates information about the teacher and students.
• Plan pathways to avoid congestion.
• Plan adequate space for students to line up by the door.
• Make it clear where materials belong.
• Provide space for both academic and social tasks.
• Display students’ work.
• Involve students in the design of the classroom.
• Locate the teacher’s desk in an appropriate place.

• Develop clear rules and routines.

• Create 4-6 classroom rules that clearly specify appropriate behavior.
• Consider involving the students in generating these rules.
• Write the rules using positive language.
• Post classroom rules and refer to them as necessary.
• Develop routines to provide direction about how different classroom tasks are accomplished.
• Teach and demonstrate classroom rules and routines as specifically as you do academic content.

• Establish caring relationships with and among students.

• Get to know something personal about each student.
• Be aware of students’ accomplishments and comment on them.
• Send positive notes, phone calls, or e-mails home.
• Be sensitive to students’ moods and concerns.
• Praise more, criticize less.
• Hold high expectations.
• Be a “real person.”
• Maintain a sense of humor.

• Plan and implement engaging instruction.

• Match the physical layout of the classroom to the teacher’s style.
• Have all materials organized and ready before the start of each lesson.
• Establish an attention-getting signal.
• Adapt content and activities to students’ interests.
• Ensure students work at the appropriate level of challenge or difficulty.
• Give students the chance to exercise autonomy and make choices. 
• Give students the opportunity to finish and display their work products. 
• Show enthusiasm for the curriculum

• Address discipline issues when they arise.

• Use nonverbal interventions such as proximity, eye contact, hand signals, and facial expressions to redirect misbehavior.
• Ignore minor misbehavior, if possible.
• Use brief, concise, and specific verbal interventions to redirect misbehavior.
• Use positive teacher language to tell the student what to do rather than what not to do.
• Implement logical consequences to help students learn something about why that particular misbehavior was inappropriate. 

“Classroom Management: It’s More Than a Bag of Tricks” by Tracey Garrett in NJEA Review, Oct. 2012 (Vol. 86, p. 17-19), http://bit.ly/Qsy5CV (spotted in Education Digest, May 2012) 

From the Marshall Memo #483