10.31.06
Tips on Preventing Classroom Management and Discipline Issues
Here are some closing thoughts on preventing classroom management and discipline issues that I would like to share with you, based on our class discussion and in response to your posts this week. I hope you will find them helpful. Please feel free to add to this list your own ideas and suggestions too.
- Have clear rules and regulations, involve students in their composition and reinforcement;
- Be consistent in your classroom management policy;
- Focus on prevention, good planning, and conflict-resolution;
- Get to know your students well and their interests, passions, dreams, desires, and needs as learners and as persons;
- Get to know their needs as appropriate to their age group;
- Learn to speak the language that they can understand and relate to;
- Balance between regularities and variety in classroom procedures;
- Offer a range of assignments that engage students in various modes of thinking and learning (e.g., visual, oral, writing, speaking, drawing, acting out etc);
- Make all students accountable for their learning (individually or in group work);
- Provide variety in texts in terms of genres, modes, cultures, authors, and styles they represent;
- Use Young Adult (YA) literature to complement the works from the cannon;
- Stay positive and upbeat even if you or your students may have a bad day;
- Encourage and model to students praise, respect, and appreciation of all contributions to learning and building a supportive classroom atmosphere;
- Ask around when challenges arise;
- Read professional literature to continue to educate oneself about the origin of common discipline problems and effective ways to resolve them.
