How to Establish Classroom Management as a New High School Teacher
The first year as a new high school teacher is often very stressful. Several years of college may have prepared the new teacher to deal with the education needs of her students, but classroom management is often a whole other ballgame. New high school teachers may walk into a classroom with students who are only a few years their junior, and have to step into the rule of instructor and disciplinarian. It is often a daunting task. There are some ways to make your first year as a high school teacher a little easier.
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Instructions
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Set classroom procedures from day one. According to Harry Wong in his book "The First Days of School," an effective teacher lays the groundwork for the entire year based on what he does on the first day students enter the class. Let students know your expectations from the minute they enter your classroom to ensure you are an effective new high school teacher. Decide how they will enter and leave the class, go to the bathroom, sharpen pencils, leave their seats and talk.
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Prepare a presentation to show students on the first day of class to display your expectations for the school year. Try to keep it fun, but be sure they know your class boundaries. Send home a copy of your guidelines for parents to sign and have students return this to you in the first week of school. Follow to the letter the guidelines you set. Give positive praise whenever possible, but follow up with consequences outlined in your guidelines when negative behavior occurs.
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Line students up outside the door at the beginning of class or at dismissal. Tell the students that the bell or buzzer does not dismiss the class, but you as the teacher tell them when to leave. This allows you establish a level of stability among the students upon entering and exit, which tend to be the most disruptive times.
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Have work ready when students enter the room. Have a pre-lesson activity prepared for students to begin working on when they walk into the classroom. They should know where to look every day to find this activity. It might be writing in a journal, math problems or a science article, but it should be something that can engage them if you need a few minutes to finish preparing your lesson materials. Always have extra work available for extra credit for students who finish early.
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Be prepared for students when they enter the classroom. You should never be more than a few minutes away from having a complete lesson for students. A good lesson at the high school level may include material that engages students' cognitive (thinking), affective (emotional) and psychomotor (moving) domains. Using visuals, kinesthetic and audio material to teach may help keep high school students engaged in learning, which can aid in classroom management.
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Establish a connection with parents or caregivers whenever possible. Have students take home a form on which parents can supply their email address and phone numbers so you can contact them when necessary. Keep folders of pertinent student works, both good and bad, and send them home to parents on a monthly basis to help them track their child's progress. Parents can be your strongest advocate when it comes to their child's education, and establishing their trust is important as a new high school teacher.
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Use your team or make allies of other teachers in your school. Many schools have teams for specific grade levels. Know whom you can turn to for help with behavior issues or questions. Guidance and administration are also useful tools for new teachers who need help adjusting during their first years of teaching.
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Allow students some say in the classroom. Give students a voice and allow for some democracy, within boundaries. Students of this age are testing their limits, and healthy debate might create a more positive classroom atmosphere. Give positive feedback to students daily. According to the behaviorist theory, positive reinforcement strengthens a specific behavior by providing a pleasant reinforcer. Just telling students "thank you" or "great job" when they do something they are supposed to be doing promotes an increase in that behavior. For instance, if students are working quietly, you might say, "I like how everyone is working so quietly." Use every opportunity you have to give positive reinforcement in your high school classroom to improve your classroom management.
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References
- American Psychological Association; Classroom Management: Teachers Modules; Tom Kratochwill
- U.S. Department of Education; Tips and Strategies From First-Year Teachers; September 1998
- PacificNet: Classroom Management
- Nwlink: Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains: The Three Types of Learning
- Family Education; Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic Learners; Terry Farwell
Resources
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