Throughout my brief teaching experience I have began to feel that classroom management is something that comes easy to
me. I am not sure why that is, maybe the fact that I am a bigger than average guy and some students are intimidated
by me, I am not quite sure. I also feel that I can relate to the students easily, so they must gain a certain comfort
and respect from that. In my student teaching experience I found some useful strategies for classroom management that I would
like to share with you; one of which is a whole class method and another that tailors more to the individual.
Whole Class Approach
Young people are competitive by nature and they are always looking for some type of reward. Incorperating some
sort of sports theme into a classroom management strategy is a simple and fun way to get students refocused on everyday tasks.
One such method, I have used, incorporates a baseball theme by either rewarding or penalizing the class for their behavior.
For example the class comes back from PE and is very noisy, the teacher could say, "Oh no, we were really noisy in the hallway
and disrupted other classes, so I better take a base for that." The same goes in the class is perfectly quiet in
the hallway and as they enter the room, they will receive a base and praise for doing what is expected of them. There
are several ways that students can either earn themselves or the teacher a base, these will be judge based upon
the classroom rules. The game ends at the end of each quarter with the winner receiving some kind of reward; the students
get to have a party (pizza, snacks, movie etc.) and the teacher has the to power to select whatever kind of punishment
he/she wants. It has been my experience that students really enjoy a party and will work hard to be rewarded with one.
Individual student approach
In many classrooms that I have been in the past few years, teachers like to use an "above the line and below the line"
method to explain students behavior. I really like this, but we can expand on this a little further with multiple levels
of behavior; these levels are D,C,B and A. There is a name for this method of classroom management, it is called the
"Raised Responsibility System." Students are given reminders for their level of behavior, with certain consequences
and rewards stemming from those reminders. Levels D and C fall in the "above the line" category; D means Democracy,
the student is independently driven to do his/her best and even going about expectations to do so. Level C is Conformity,
this behavior is an acceptable one for the teacher; the students conform to classroom rules, but really don't exceed expectations.
Levels B and A fall in the "below the line" area; B is for Bullying, students do not follow classroom rules and try to get
others for follow their example. Level A is for Anarchy; at this level the student not only doesn't follow the rules,
but creates their own set of rules. This is a less common occurrence than Level B behavior, but it must be halted
right a way.
In the event students are given verbal reminders for either "above/below the line" behavior there are certain consequences
and rewards for this. First, some rewards for "above the line" behavior could be bonus dollars, candy etc, which
may not seem like much, but students will enjoy them. Now, the penality's for "below the line" behavior can range for
a verbal warning to even visiting with the principal. There are five steps in the discipline process, with the first
one being a verbal warning. The penalty for a verbal warning would result in a loss of that students "choice card" for
the day; there will be a choice card for everyday of the week, and if the student does not lose any choice cards for the week
they will be rewarded with some other prize. Next, if the student has lost his/her choice card for that day, the next
step is a hand written essay. The essay does not have to be long, it just has to outline what took place and how the
problem is going to change. This essay is kept by the teacher for that day and is thrown away at the end of the school
day. The third step is similar to the second, except the student loses privileges like recess, etc. The fourth
step the students writes an essay, which will go home for the parent to see and must be returned and signed the next day. The
fifth and final step result in an essay that must be seen and signed by the principal first then the parent must see and sign
it as well. Most likely the parent will be notified by the teacher at this point and a one on one conference will be
set up.
The "Raised Responsibility System" is different than the traditional writing a students name on a the board in
that it offers many chances and counsel for the students that want to correct their mistakes and become better people.
There are several variables and rules that I have not covered, but it is tough to be prepared for every situation. I
hope that I have laid some ground rules that I can build from in the future and incorporate in my classroom.
Below is a couple of pictures of the baseball diamond we used during student teaching, as well as, the classroom
rules we utilized.
