14th April 2023

Classroom management strategies

Managing and controlling a classroom can be a difficult task, especially for newer teachers. Following a set of rules or strategies can be a successful way to stop misbehaviour and rowdiness in the classroom. Distractions don’t just affect the teacher, they affect every student that is trying to learn and rules should be put in place to ensure they’re able to concentrate properly and learn in the correct environment.

Knowing your students and taking a positive approach

Getting to know your students individually will help you understand why they can be distracting, difficult or shy. If you can find solutions or practical suggestions to improve things, then you can help those students to have a better learning experience along with the whole class.

Taking a positive approach to finding solutions is a great strategy to effectively run your classroom. If a child is misbehaving, shouting or punishing them is not always the best solution. For example, you could have a quiet chat with a troublesome student and ask them to  “Explain to me why you’re upset so we can resolve this issue”, or  “Do you need some help focusing?” rather than “Stop fooling around whilst I am talking to the class”.

Another positive approach is to make phone calls home when a student is performing well and not just when they are misbehaving. Positive phone calls home can help reinforce good behaviour and set a good example for the whole classroom, it also makes parents and students happy and proud. 

Maintaining authority and behaviour systems

A key strategy is to make sure that you maintain authority in the classroom, this doesn’t mean not being a kind and friendly teacher to your students but ensuring to take action when necessary. You are the teacher and being kind doesn’t mean you can’t be firm. If a student is misbehaving they should be disciplined, but make sure they understand why. A strategy for keeping the peace in the classroom is to get the class to keep on working and talk to the misbehaved student in private so you can explain to them what they did wrong and why there will be consequences. 

Having a system in place that your students understand and are familiar with is a great strategy for managing behaviour in the classroom. For example, a traffic light system, students start on a green light and are given a warning before they are moved onto amber and so on. Have it so they can move off amber if they show good behaviour and are apologetic. If they are on amber or red, at the end of the lesson present a consequence like detention or a phone call home, but make sure they understand why. 

Allowing the students to understand why is so important so that the behaviour isn’t continued and so that they don’t feel punished for no reason. Despite any behavioural issues, do not favour students or hold any grudges against certain students, every lesson should be a fresh start for each student. 

Making the classroom an enjoyable place to be

Being fun or having a ‘fun lesson’ every once in a while is important as it makes the students value your lessons more and find enjoyment in your classes. Implementing fun tasks regularly will keep students engaged, and motivated and can even help learning easier. Group work, practical lessons and interactional tasks are excellent ways to help students enjoy lessons. Group work allows students to work together to form new relationships whilst they learn together. Practical work and interactional tasks may give students a different perspective on learning and may help certain students to learn easier.

Keeping your class of students behaved can seem like a daunting task but these classroom management strategies can be a beginning to taking control and helping your students enjoy lessons as they learn. As we suggested, be firm, be fun and take a positive approach to improve your students’ education.