Some classroom education advice and tips help newly certified teachers.
Teaching is one of the most (if not the most) potentially rewarding professions in the world, and there is little to compete with the amount of satisfaction achieved from knowing that you’ve delivered a good lesson and that your students ‘got it’. Unfortunately, especially in these modern days with so many rules and regulations, and students who may not be as respectful of their elders as was once commonplace, many teachers need to know as much about crowd control as they do about mathematics or English lessons.
An unruly classroom is not conducive to learning, and if allowed to get out of hand can cause real problems for the teacher and the students, (those who want to learn and those who clearly do not). A little classroom education advice can go a long way to help in these situations before they are allowed to get out of hand.
First Impressions in the Classroom
You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make it count and start as you mean to go on. Some newly qualified teachers tend to greet their new class with a ‘softly softly’ approach and can soon find themselves in deep water. Start as you mean to go on, you can always soften up a little later if necessary, but it is difficult to turn the tide once there is a lack of respect in your classroom. All students in K12 will take advantage, whatever their age, if given the opportunity.
Seating Arrangements
Merely a change of seating arrangement can make a great deal of difference in the behavior of a class. To place a particularly unruly student next to a ‘good’ student who works hard could have the opposite effect to what you were wanting, with two students disrupting the class, but sitting between two conscientious students could have the desired effect. Don’t be afraid of moving your class around. It often helps to seat disruptive students close to the front, so that you can keep an eye on them on one hand, but also to reduce the risk of them making eye contact with other members of the class and causing disruption.
Music
Very often, students will keep on task and concentrate effectively if there is quiet, soothing music playing in the background. After you have set a particular task, maybe writing or reading, don’t be afraid to play something gentle and calming.
Body Language
Have you ever noticed how some people just demand attention, and some are easily ignored? It happens throughout life. There are some people who are always served immediately in a shop or a restaurant, and others who end up waiting for ages. It’s all about body language, and it’s an important tool for keeping control of a K12 class of students. When you walk into the room, walk in like you mean it, stand up tall, walk with purpose and look like you mean business. When you speak, speak clearly and with authority, shouting isn’t the answer, but speaking in a loud and determined voice will soon let the class know that you are there and it’s time to start work.
There are loads more techniques for classroom education advice, and hopefully by following just a few of the examples you will soon be able to get back to what you were trained for, teaching!