Classroom Management

I want to start this post with a quote that was shared during this webinar on reframing classroom management. It really stuck out to me and I think it shows what is wrong using great examples. The quote reads:

If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach. 

If a student doesn't know how to swim, we teach. 

If a student doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach. 

If a student doesn’t know how to drive, we teach. 

If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we punish? (Tom Herner)

Why do we punish instead of teach? Is it easier to just punish and send the student to the office? What does that do for the student and why can’t the teacher try to fix this within the classroom walls? This is what I wonder and this webinar has helped me answer this and learn how to handle my classroom.

There are four steps in responding to student behavior with the goal of keeping learning on track

- The first is to understand and distinguish the behavior and figure out why are they doing this and how are they acting out? An example of the most common misbehavior is disrespect and disregard. An example that may be seen in the classroom is a student distracting others by making unnecessary noise during silent reading time. Why does the student do this and how should we look at it? You need to look at the entire environment and look at what the student is getting by doing this behavior. That student may be looking for attention. How can you help this student? The effective intervention would be to maybe allow the student to tell jokes to his friends at the end of class because this is an easy way to meet that need. Another example is a student not listening and not following directions. Maybe that student is trying to escape a task. So, to help that student, you could offer more incentives for engaging in the text or maybe offer them a break because this is hard work. These small fixes can really go a long way instead of sending the student to the office immediately and not giving them a chance to improve in the classroom.

-The second step is to rethink control and power dynamics within a classroom. There are six phrases that disempower students. An example is “If you have been paying attention, then you would know” and this is a problematic statement. How do we know it was a lack of caring or focus? We do not. This is not something to say to a student, rather you could instead say “Start by asking a classmate for help. If you still need clarification, I’m here”. Another mistake that teachers make is to engage in a public battle with a student. There is no reason to engage in something like this in front of other students and this will humiliate the student and will not make them want to think about changing their behavior after you just did this to them.

-The third step is to be proactive instead of reactive. In the classroom this means teaching the classroom behavior and expectations to the students. The most important thing a teacher can do according to the presentation is build relationships and foster engagement to prevent being reactive. Greet your students outside of the class as they walk in, frame discussions in accordance with future success meaning, call your students scientists, researchers, thinkers, etc. And another preventative step to take is to avoid removing the student from the room immediately because in the long run, this does not fix anything for the student or teacher.

-The fourth and final step is to respond to the child, not the behavior. One strategy is to refocus the energy, so ask the student who is misbehaving to answer the question related to the lesson. By doing this, you are giving them attention and if they are seeking attention, this is a way to cater to that in a different way than they wanted, but it is what you as the teacher needs from them. Give them a break if they need it because this responds to the child and their needs. Give the student non-verbal cues- maybe they just need to make eye contact with you once and it will solve the issue. Lastly, another option is to give anonymous reminders. I like the example used in the webinar, “I am just waiting for two scholars to take their seats”. This calls them out but in an indirect way as to not draw attention to them and embarrass them.

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How can we avoid classroom removal?

1. Schedule a one-on-one conversation→ allow students to speak and discuss their frustrations.

2. Call home→ discuss with the family and come up with a solution to change the behavior.

3. Offer time for mindfulness→ almost like a “time out” which gives them time to reflect on their behavior and gather themselves back together to be able to come back to the lesson.



    This was such a beneficial webinar to watch as a future teacher who will be soon stepping into a classroom on my own. I need to be able to handle situations of poor behavior and know how to work with the student to help them fix it. I am not a supporter of removing a child from the room immediately because I saw this happen way too often in my high school years where students were removed from the class and put in the in school suspension room. This did nothing for them- they would come back the next day and do the same thing and get removed again. Reflecting on what I saw and now what I learned from this webinar, I feel that some of these simple strategies would have worked for the students in my classes and they would have been much more successful in high school than they were. I am determined to tackle behavior issues using these techniques and avoid just calling the office for help with a student.