Classroom Management Strategies
Morning Message: Every morning I write two to three short instructions on the Smartboard that the students need to do before the second bell. Some examples of the short messages are “Please take down all the chairs,” “Put your agenda in your mailbox,” or “Get your homework binder.” This strategy benefits me as it avoids students asking questions about what to do, especially if the teacher is on supervision that morning and not in the classroom. As a teacher, I value having students learn to be independent, and I like to implement literacy in multiple ways; the morning message targets these values. This has become a routine for the students, and as stated in an article by Auger and Rich (2007), routines help with transitions and the flow of the classroom.
Daily Schedule: Another routine to help with transitions in my classroom is the daily routine/schedule. The daily schedule is written in the same spot on the whiteboard. It is split up according to the school’s time periods, and this is where I write what we will be doing for the day. It is an amazing tool that works really well with the students. The students refer to the daily schedule to see when they will be having their classes with the drama or physical education specialists. It is also a good tool to have students search for the information they would like to know as opposed to asking a teacher. This increases independence among students. As a role model to students, I believe it is important to encourage students to seek out their own information, without always relying on someone else. I encourage this by having the daily schedule posted.
The class octopus: This reversible octopus has been an amazing classroom management strategy. Since students are already aware of the classroom expectations, the octopus is used as reminder and mediator for the class. When the octopus is flipped to the pink side and is smiling, it means the class is following the expectations or instructions in place. When the octopus is flipped to blue and has an angry face, it means the class is not on the right track. Students love the octopus and always want it to be happy!
Classroom Jobs: By implementing a classroom job routine, I am giving students responsibility, which I feel students need to learn from a young age. I believe in the importance of teaching students to respect and take care of the space they use and share, including their classroom. This models to students that it is important to respect school property and to clean up the space that they work/play in (their classroom). Once again this encourages a democratic classroom, where students are given the power to take part in the running of their classroom. (Parkay et al., 2018).
Labeled Baskets: In order to ensure the smooth running of my classroom during a lesson, I sometimes put out baskets where students can come to pick up the necessary sheets at their own pace. This also helps with the smooth running of the class and ensures that class is flowing in an organized manner. Below is an example that I did during a lesson on adjectives. During this lesson, there were many sheets to be handed out and handed back to me. Not seen in the picture on the very end on the left is the basket for the exit cards. The second basket is for the students to hand in their group work, followed by the basket for an adjective word list (for students to refer to) and so on and so forth. There is also a class list where students need to check off next to their names once they have handed in and picked up the appropriate sheets. This helps students stay accountable and helps me know that each student is up-to-date. To make sure that students know what to do, each task was numbered on the whiteboard.
Class Points: Students sit in groups and receive points as a group. Sometimes points are given to the first team that has done what was asked, for example, putting away their math workbooks and getting their agendas. We tally up the points for each group, and the group that has the most points at the end of the week can pick different rewards. Rewards vary and change since we come up with ideas as a class to encourage a democratic classroom (Parkay et al., 2018). Some of the rewards the students have chosen so far are getting their Chromebook first for the week, getting to pick their spot first for silent reading, getting to listen to music during Chromebook. Once again, this strategy benefits both the teacher and students. Students are involved in the process, encouraged, and learn how to work as a team. As a teacher, it is a useful tool for me to get things done promptly and at times get students to quiet down, as well as a way to encourage students to complete the tasks being asked of them. I enjoy using this tool as it encourages students to work together.
Laura D'Altilia's E-Portfolio 