Behavior Management

Dr. Jordan Reeves has been educating teachers on behavior management through her on-site workshops for 25 years. It is normal for educators who are teaching for the first time to be nervous and unsure of how to approach the class. They debate on what personality to portray – friendly and kind or strict and intimidating. Students, on the other hand, generally act the same. Some of them are timid and are usually hesitant to participate in classroom activities, but many of them are talkative, hyperactive and obnoxious, and are usually the cause of disruptions in class.

To prevent this kind of attitude, building classroom discipline is essential. In this regard, teachers must learn sustained behaviour management so they would have an easier time handling the students. Consistency is the key, and once students are familiar with how the teacher handles a class, they will surely improve their actions.

For better classroom control, the following are some classroom management techniques teachers may employ:

The first time any teacher meets their class, he should clarify the expectations he has for the class. He should outline the activities he has planned for the semester, so students have a clear picture of what’s going to happen in their lesson. Maintaining a set of guidelines is also a must. Allow the class to suggest their own rules and create punishments for any offenses; that way they will easily remember classroom policies, since they helped make them. As a constant reminder, teachers should post these guidelines in a spot where every student can see it, or have them paste it in their notebooks.

Since consistency is the most vital concept, teachers should always carry out the punishments if a student misbehaves. If they ignore unruly behaviour even for a few days, children will get the wrong idea that they can act inappropriately and get away with it. Teachers should also maintain their personalities. They can be kind and helpful but at the same time be firm and unrelenting if a student steps out of line. However, they should never have mood swings even if they are exhausted from how the class behaves. Doing so would confuse the children and eventually make them lose respect toward the teacher.

Lastly, teachers must learn that when dealing with misconduct, they should never shout. Instead, they should try preventing confrontations from happening in front of the class. Instead of humiliating the student, the teacher can ask the student to stay after hours and have a private discussion with him. If students misbehave in the middle of a lesson,

like talking amongst themselves, the teacher can stop them by asking them questions related to the lecture or calling on them for recitation. This way, time is not wasted and can be delegated instead to more learning.

Building classroom discipline is difficult if teachers keep changing their approach with each class they handle. Instead, if they have sustained behavior management, they can easily get used to dealing with problems as each batch of students come along. Teaching cannot be mastered immediately; it takes years of practice to be good at classroom control. However, with a push in the right direction, teachers are sure to get the hang of it sooner or later