How to Improve Classroom Behavior
Students in a classroom misbehave either to gain attention or control, or because they don't trust others. Creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom is fundamental to managing student behaviors. A variety of strategies including establishing firm rules, positive reinforcements and reward methods can help handle classroom behaviors and prevent them from going beyond control.
Instructions
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Make your classroom warm and cheerful. Consider hanging colorful pictures to increase enthusiasm of students for your subject. For elementary classes, consider sitting on beanbags to create a close-to-home climate. Students may want to know more about you. Put family photos on your desk or works created by you as part of your hobby. This encourages students to ask questions about you and paves a way for better understanding.
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Start your lesson only after you have the attention of all the students. Avoid teaching over classroom noise. While it may sometimes work to raise your voice over the noise, students may take it that talking in the classroom is a permissible behavior when you are teaching, or that you don't mind a vocal competition with them. This may even provoke them to finish their conversation before listening to your lesson. Stay calm and quiet instead, until the sounds in the classroom go down. Once you have the attention of all students, maintain a three- to five-second silence to punctuate your demand for attention and then start your lesson.
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State clearly what the students can expect in that period. This way you can decrease excitement that comes with uncertainty and maintain calm because students know what is going to happen. Tell the students that they will be allowed some time close to the end of the period for activities that they find interesting. This could include allowing them to chatter amongst themselves or taking them to a library. Students will be more willing to be attentive when they know that they will have time to themselves at the end of the lesson.
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Set rules that focus on the behaviors you expect instead of giving a list of "Do Not's." For example, say "I expect you to use the dustbin for your litter" instead of "Don't throw items on the classroom floor." When you focus on the misbehavior, students are most likely to deny or confront it saying "But, I wasn't doing that," or "It's not my fault really."
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Reward positive behavior with a smile, nod or verbal praise. Doing so not only reinforces the recipient to continue such behavior, but also encourages misbehaving students to behave in the desired way.
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Avoid shouting at misbehaving students. Instead, go to them and reprimand them in a quiet voice. Since you expect your students to maintain quiet voices, it is only fair that you practice what you expect.
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References
- Photo Credit teacher & students image by Luisafer from Fotolia.com
