These classroom management techniques have shown to improve classroom behavior, build relationships for a better classroom environment, and grow a positive classroom community where student learning is the priority. Try these strategies in your classroom!
Model Good Behavior
Demonstrate behavior that you wish to see. Many studies have shown that if a teacher models good behavior with their students, their students are more inclined to mirror the teacher.
Here are some ways to do that:
1. Use polite language
- Maintain eye contact
- Keep phones in your pockets
- Let one another speak uninterrupted
- Raise concerns about one another’s statements in a respectful manner
Greet Students at the Door
A study showed that greeting students at the door helped set a positive mood for the rest of the day. It also increased classroom engagement by 20 percentage points while reducing disruptive behavior by 9 percentage points. This added about an hour of time to the classroom day.
Let Students Help Establish Guidelines
Encourage your students to help you build classroom rules and expectations. They’re more inclined to follow guidelines is they’re the ones who put them into place. It may seem far-fetched but you may be surprised at the strictness of rules they come up with.
Document Rules
Don’t let your mutually respected guidelines be forgotten.
Establish, Maintain, and Restore Relationships
Meeting your students at the door is a great start but it is also important to maintain good relationships throughout the year. Some ways you can do this are: regular check-ins, and focusing on solutions instead of problems.
Use Reminders and Cues
Reminders and cues are great ways to invite students to follow instructions without being overtly controlling or forceful. The sound of windchimes and rain sticks, or flicking the light on and off can be ways to get your students attention and remind them to settle down.
Optimize Classroom Seating
Giving your students a sense of ownership in the room, combined with clear expectations for behavior, can have surprisingly good effects. A welcoming space can reduce anxiety and boost educational performance.
Give Behavior-Specific Praise
Instead of focusing on one student, offer praise for the behavior you want to reinforce. For example, you can tell your students, “Excellent work getting to your seats quickly.”
Avoid Punishing the Class
Instead of saying “Stop talking and disrupting other students” say, “Do you have a question?”
Or
“Do you need help focusing?”, instead of “Pay attention and stop fooling around while I’m talking.”
Encourage Initiative
Have a bit of variety in your lessons. Allow students to work ahead and deliver short presentations to communicate take away points.
Offer Praise
When praise is sincere and specific it can inspire the class, improve a student’s self-esteem, and reinforce rules and values you want to see.
Use Non-Verbal Communication
These include videos, infographics, and physical objects such as counting coins.
Hold Parties
Throwing an occasional classroom party to acknowledge your students’ hard work is motivating them to keep up the good work.
Give Tangible Rewards
Reward specific students at the end of each lesson as another motivational and behavior-reinforcement technique.
Set Clear Expectations
Instead of just displaying your classroom rules, have a discussion with your students about why those rules matter.
Actively Supervise
Be active! Move around the classroom, check in on student progress, and ask questions.
Be Consistent In Applying Rules
School and classroom rules and expectations should be applied to all students equally and fairly.
We hope you implement some of these classroom management strategies in your classroom and look forward to a better teacher-students and student-student relationships.
Related courses:
Creating Compassionate Classrooms: Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
Classroom and Behavior Management Strategies that Work