"One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world."
- Malala Yousafzai
Just to recap the last three posts, we have seen through very positive feedback that there are a lot of new, and not so new teachers, who struggle with the same things in their classroom when it comes to behaviour of children.
We have touched subjects on how to get better structure in the classroom, implementing physical activity and reward charts as positive and educational tools and many more. Read more about it in our Part 1 and Part 2 posts.
In every post we've asked our readers and fellow teachers to give feedback on our previous posts and tell us if they have implemented these tips in their own classrooms and how it worked out. Here is some of their response:
Your pieces of advice are sound and helpful to newbies. The best and the hardest really is setting a structure and building a routine. It's a challenge to make it sound fun and not setting up rigid rules that needs to be followed. The key is consistency - which is the most difficult.
I know some teachers that could learn from this. Sometimes it can make all the difference with a difficult student to just have a little more structure in the classroom.
Let's have a peek at what Part 3 can teach us about behavioural management of children in your classroom.
Take a stand and don't budge
When it comes to discipline and structure in your class it is vital to always maintain the same level of reward and punishment. For example: If a child is speaking without permission, give a warning and then remove a golden star from the reward chart or put them on a time-out. The next child to speak has to receive the same treatment. Do not treat any child different to another. Also, do not treat the class according to your mood. Keep the set out structure in order for the children to completely understand what is, and, what is not expected from them. As I mentioned in the first post, children do not take kindly to change.
"Classroom War"
You can use this as a team building tool or a morale booster. The children compete against the teacher. If the teacher asks questions and the class do not respond as a whole then the class gets a point taken. If the class does something right, a point gets taken from the teacher. You can set up your own rules and point system. Look at the progress at the end of the week and reward accordingly, either with a few minutes off during class time or a golden star. This will teach the children to work as a team and it might even help them to keep each other in line. Just be careful that it doesn't cause fights and arguments among them. Make sure they are clear on the rules and if they are not followed they will be reprimanded for it.
Echo, echo
Should you find that the children are not managing a certain word, command or rule, the best way is to repeat it. Take 5 or 10 minutes a day to practice these. Call it echo-echo. Whatever you say, they repeat to create the echo effect. You can turn this into a game or use it as a tool to find out which children do not understand a specific subject.
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To all the teachers out there, new and old, keep on doing what you are best at. As Brad Henry said, " A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning."
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