How to Manage Children's Behavior in the Classroom

You can regain control of your classroom by using behavioral strategies.

If you are teaching a large classroom of children, then you know how difficult it can be to maintain the attentions and manage the behaviors of the kids. However, there are many different techniques and tools you can use to help you with this task, including using a hand bell, a behavioral chart and adding a little bit of physical activity into the morning routine. These changes will allow your classroom to run more smoothly and calmly.

Things You'll Need

• Hand bell
• Stickers
• Poster board
• Marker
• Yardstick

Instructions

1. Use a hand bell to gain the attention of your students. Many times, children will have difficulty hearing you speak over a room full of active voices. By ringing a hand bell, you will help the children more easily identify when you need attention. You can even begin singing a familiar song after you ring the bell to indicate a transition, such as lining up for lunch or lining up to go to the playground.

2. Make a wall chart to encourage the children in your class maintain appropriate classroom behavior. Tell the students what kinds of behaviors are expected. Construct a behavioral chart out of poster board by creating a grid using a yard stick and markers. Place each child's name down the side of the chart, and the days of the week across the top. Place stickers into the grid when each child demonstrates proper behavior. At the end of the week, children who have all of the days full of stickers can win a prize.

3. Instruct the children to stretch and do small calisthenic exercises before you begin lessons. This will allow the children to burn off extra energy and gain better focus that they can use to pay attention to your lessons. A few helpful exercises include jumping jacks, jogging in place and side twists.

References

• A to Z Teacher Stuff: Classroom Management