Effective classroom management strategies have a lot in common with the strategies used by successful companies. It’s not surprising as the same principles of building a positive culture, setting clear expectations, rewarding good behavior, and addressing issues effectively work in both environments.
Here are the top classroom management strategies used by successful companies:
1. Model ideal behavior
Teachers should model the behavior they want to see in their students. This means using polite language, maintaining eye contact, and keeping phones in pockets while in class. Holding a mock conversation with another teacher or student helper can be a useful way to demonstrate ideal behavior. Afterward, start a class discussion to list and expand upon the ideal behaviors.
2. Let students help establish guidelines
Encourage all students to help build classroom expectations and rules. This will generate more buy-in than just telling them what they’re not allowed to do. Start a discussion by asking students what they believe should and shouldn’t be allowed. This will lead to mutually-understood and respected expectations for your classroom culture.
3. Document rules
Don’t let mutually-respected guidelines go forgotten. Print and distribute the list of rules that the class discussion generated. Go through the list with your students, post the rules in the classroom, and include them in a student handbook with important dates, events, and curriculum information.
4. Avoid punishing the class
Address isolated discipline problems individually instead of punishing the entire class, as the latter can hurt your relationships with students who are on-task and thereby jeopardize other classroom management efforts.
5. Encourage initiative
Promote a growth mindset and inject variety into your lessons by allowing students to work ahead and deliver short presentations to share take-away points.
6. Offer praise
Praise students for jobs well done as doing so improves academic and behavioral performance. When it is sincere and references specific examples of effort or accomplishment, praise can inspire the class, improve a student’s self-esteem, and reinforce rules and values.
7. Use non-verbal communication
Complement words with actions and visual aids to improve content delivery, helping students focus and process lessons. Many differentiated instruction strategies and techniques are rooted in these communication methods.
8. Hold parties
Throw an occasional classroom party to acknowledge students’ hard work, motivating them to keep it up.
9. Give tangible rewards
Reward specific students at the end of each lesson in front of the class as another motivational and behavior-reinforcement technique. Raffle tickets can be given to those who have actively listened throughout the entire lesson, and students can submit their tickets for a shot at a prize that changes each week.
10. Make positive letters and phone calls
Keep students happy in and out of class by pleasantly surprising their parents with positive phone calls and sending complimentary letters home. Letting parents know about academic effort or behavioral progress has a trickle-down effect that generally results in congratulating their kids.
Takeaway
In conclusion, successful companies know that classroom management strategies play a crucial role in creating a positive and productive learning environment. By modeling ideal behavior, letting students help establish guidelines, documenting rules, addressing discipline problems individually, encouraging initiative, offering praise, using non-verbal communication, holding parties, giving tangible rewards, and making positive letters and phone calls, teachers can build strong relationships with their students and help them succeed.
Implementing these strategies requires effort and consistency, but the results are well worth it. When students feel respected, valued, and motivated, they are more likely to be engaged in class, retain information, and perform well on assessments. Moreover, they develop important life skills, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving, that will serve them well in the future.
As a teacher, it is your responsibility to create a classroom culture that fosters learning, growth, and respect. By using these top classroom management strategies, you can establish a positive and productive learning environment that benefits both you and your students. Remember, classroom management is not just about discipline and control, but also about building relationships and creating opportunities for success.