One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is classroom management. As a new teacher it is imperative to provide clear expectations of behavior. Educators must utilize strategies that promote a positive classroom environment. But how do we do this?
Here are some websites that provide tips for keeping your classroom under control:
http://www.nea.org/tools/51721.htm
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/classroom_management.shtml
What do you do in your classroom or school to "keep your cool?"
Great subject! I find that keeping my cool can be difficult with certain students, especially when I know that they are capable of completing the task at hand. I am a big fan of breathing in for 7 seconds, holding for 8 seconds, and expelling my breath within 4 seconds. I read about this about a year ago. It helps slow down your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. Most of the time I am even-keeled, but when the pressure is on, this technique helps bring me back to center. Thanks for bringing up an excellent topic!
ReplyDeleteOne of the nice things about being my age is that patience is a virtue I've met and won. Things that would have steamed my ears once upon a time mostly don't. I find that if I keep a sense of humor about myself a good bit of what frustrates me in others disappears. And when it comes to students, to children (including my own wunderkind) I've found recalling their limitations goes a long way. What I mean is that they're really just very small people with limited experience by which to scale and judge anything, including their conduct. Couple that with the dead certainty that they're doing most of their decision making with minimal impulse control owed to a shady prefrontal cortex, developmentally speaking, and it's hard not to respond to their occasional antics or general situation/challenge with some degree of bemused compassion. As I once told a much older group of students than I'll be teaching soon, "You're wonderfully intelligent and sensitive beings, but you're doing math with a bad calculator. That's why adults squint at you a great deal."
ReplyDeleteThe rest is simply remembering why I'm here and what I am. I'm not an obstacle. I'm not a the police. I'm their collaborator, guide, and enthusiastic support system. I'm here to do for them what I want to see done for my Jack. If I do my job and approach my job correctly, we'll both end our time together thankful for the experience.
It sounds like you have a great mindset regarding classroom management! It needs to be done in the most positive manner for both the student's sake and our own! Thank you for sharing, Andrew!
DeleteI really like the topic you chose for your blog. Classroom management is so important for teachers. No matter how great of a teacher you are, you must have the ability to manage your classroom and students to reach full potential. It does not matter if you are a new teacher or have taught for 15 years-classroom management will always be relevant and new ideas are always turning up. Your links had so many classroom management tools. I have explored some of them but I will be returning to your blog later to learn about more classroom management tips!
ReplyDeleteClassroom management is such a great topic. I have found that implementing a sticker chart for my preschoolers for good behavior has been super helpful in keeping them on task. Since my students are between the ages of three and five I implement stickers for staying on task, following directions, and good behavior during instructional and free time. Once my students fill up their chart they get the privilege of picking a prize from my treasure box. This seems to be very effective for my sweet babies. I am interested in seeing everyone's post on this topic and learning more ways to implement classroom management.
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