麻豆传媒入口

The year I started teaching seventh- to 12th-grade English in Minneapolis, Prince launched his song about urban ruin, 鈥淪ign o鈥� the Times.鈥� That song was an apt musical backdrop for the lives of my students, most of whom lived in poverty and challenged me daily.

That year also afforded me the opportunities聽to be assaulted with a stone, two chairs, a Rambo knife, a seventh-grade girl鈥檚 weak jab, and dozens of creative swear words. Fortunately, classroom order improved when I learned that successful classroom management depends on conscientiously executing a few big strategies and a lot of little ones.

Big Strategies: Fundamental Principles of Classroom Management

1. Follow the first step of hypnosis:聽A hypnotist鈥檚 first induction technique often involves directing subjects to focus on something they鈥檙e already doing. 鈥淔eel your eyes getting tired鈥� is a good opening, because everybody鈥檚 eyes feel tired all the time, but we don鈥檛 notice until someone points it out.

Teachers, like hypnotists, can string along a series of requests by asking students to do something most are already doing, then waiting for 100 percent compliance, and finally issuing another directive, etc. It鈥檚 better for teachers to say, 鈥淧oint your eyes toward me鈥� and wait for compliance, instead of saying, 鈥淪top talking, turn around, turn to page 237, take out a pencil, and head your paper with 鈥楪eology Frame.鈥欌��

2. Keep your consequences as minimal as possible:聽When a rule is broken, assign the smallest consequence possible and see if that gets the job done. Don鈥檛 use up big consequences too fast.

3. Appropriate curriculum is a classroom management strategy:聽For some students, being thrown out of the room for backtalk has a lower social cost than appearing dumb in front of peers. Assigning appropriately difficult work (which often means differentiating) eliminates that risk.

4. Rehearse transitions:聽Most disruptions occur before the bell rings and between activities. 鈥淪ilent 30鈥� was my signal for all students to clear their desks and sit silently within half a minute. A class reward occurred after 30 transitions were completed successfully. My kids loved how visitors witnessing the routine would drop their jaws in surprise.

5. Anticipate problems and be creative:聽At the beginning of one year, my middle-grade students would charge聽into class like Mel Gibson and a thousand Scottish warriors. To solve the problem, I asked my kids to line up for class outside my door with their left arm against the wall and a foot of space between them and the person in front of them.

To enter class, each child had to answer either a content-related question or a random dumb question like, 鈥淲hat type of weapon would you use to battle Aquaman?鈥� The dumb questions kept the line entertained. After answering, students were directed to take a seat, quiet as moonlight, and follow instructions on the board. Students talking or violating any part of the protocol were sent to the back of the line.

6. Make positive phone calls home and send letters:聽I used to send a positive note home to every student鈥檚 guardians, and I would include聽a magnet (100 cost about $9.00) to encourage its placement on the refrigerator. I also left complimentary voicemails. That way, parents and kids saw me as an ally.

Little Things: Quick Interventions That Support Classroom Management

1. Show students that it pays to behave:聽At the end of tough classes, I鈥檇 daily give out two raffle tickets鈥攐ne for academic effort and one for good behavior. After writing their names on the tickets, kids dropped them in a jar. On Friday, I randomly drew two student names鈥攂oth received candy bars.

2. Never punish an entire class:聽Even when you feel like the the entire class is misbehaving, there are always some kids following directions. Punishing the class as a group only incites further resistance.

3. Build content-related anticipation:聽At the beginning of class, say, 鈥淟ater today, I鈥檒l tell you...

• How to cure cholera.鈥澛�(Clean water makes all the difference.)
• What most super-geniuses have in common.鈥� (They burn through acolytes.)
• How the X-Wing fighters in Star Wars violate Newtonian physics.鈥� (Blasters and afterburners don鈥檛 make sounds in space.)

The goal is to get students interested in your agenda in lieu of misbehaving.

4. Change the tone:聽To interrupt a class of aggressive complainers, I cued up Katrina and the Waves on my CD player. When the first grumbling complaint occurred, I raised my palm and played 鈥溾�� Everybody laughed. Another kid started to whine until I pressed play again. Bigger laughs. After that, complaints rarely occurred.

5. Find things to appreciate:聽Instead of starting class braced for conflict, make yourself look for things to delight in: that Serena knows everything about Detroit hip-hop or that your thermos of Intelligentsia Coffee is three-quarters full.

6. Ramp up your enthusiasm:聽There鈥檚 no downside to being 20 percent more enthusiastic.

7. Use your words:聽Students sometimes miss the obvious. Say, 鈥淭his class makes me glad that I teach.鈥�

8. Don鈥檛 pander:聽Never cueing students to meet your emotional needs is an important adult boundary. And one of life鈥檚 paradoxes is that people who never obsess over being adored are often the recipients of adoration.

9. Forgive:聽When students get kicked out of Katie Riley鈥檚 ninth-grade English classroom, she always tells them that everything is forgiven and that the next day will be a fresh start. When a student commits a felony, he sees Ms. Riley sitting in the courtroom gallery. That鈥檚 all he needs to know.

10. Give students choices:聽鈥淒o you want to do this assignment in class or as a take-home quiz?鈥� 鈥淪hould this project be group or independent work?鈥� Choice increases students鈥� buy-in.

11. Publicly announce classroom management goals:聽Say, 鈥淵esterday, the noise was at an eight during work time. Let鈥檚 shoot for a five聽today.鈥�

12. Establish routines:聽If you have a chaotic class, keep things predictable. Also: Post the day鈥檚 schedule.

13. State the truth when things go wrong:聽If students are confused and lost, don鈥檛 brush over it. And when you鈥檝e sent a student out of the classroom, say, 鈥淭hat makes me sad and frustrated, but let鈥檚 get our brains focused back on the third math problem.鈥�