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Gents - Pay attention to rule number 8!

Ten top tips for behaviour management in the classroom.

Tip 1

Right at the beginning, behaviour/classroom management starts with you. If you know what you want your lessons to be like, and also what you don’t want, you are in a good position to start with a clear set of expectations.

Read more about the value of pupil expectations here.

Tip 2

Your kids are not mind readers. Unless you tell them of your rules and expectations there gonna have to learn the hard way and that adds to your grief. Why not train your class from the beginning by telling and showing them without doubt what you want from them. High expectations can bring out the best in all of us. In life you often get what you are prepared to settle with. Why not put up a poster showing the main rules of your class room. It can be a handy aid to reinforce your wishes and remind the students. Rules that cover general school policy and any health and safety issues need to be addressed.

Read more …..

Tip 3

Learn their names. You will get to know the bad behaved kids names really quick but what about all the kids who get on with their work. Using kids name helps to get their attention, lets them know that you value them (at least enough to got their name), and goes along way to improving behaviour of the ones who hide behind anonymity. Make sure it’s the right name! If you call them the wrong name, apologise and move on before it becomes an issue.

Start with a seating plan and tick off their names as you get to know them. You could set a target to learn a couple of new names each lesson. It will come in handy at parent evenings and report time.

Read more …..

Tip 4

Use praise when praise is due. If the kids do what you want them to do, it should get some positive reinforcement. Say well done, great, good job etc. Don’t praise if you don’t mean it and do not reward bad behaviour.

Read more …..

Tip 5

Have some clear cut rules in place and if they are not followed you need to b e prepared to back them up. Try not to make rules and threats if you are not going to follow them though. Its best to act quickly when things are not going how you want but remember to keep your behaviour in perspective as an over reaction can blow up in your face.

Read more …..

Tip 6

If behaviour starts to move towards what you don’t want have a number of strategies that you can fall back on to deal with the issue with minimal disruption to the learning of the class. Low level disruption can often be sorted quickly but more serious problems might need some extra help. In school you should not feel that you are alone and if you need backup it should be there. Placing a kid at the back of a college’s lesson can be a quick way to remove a problem without resorting to calling SMT for help.

Read more …..

Tip 7

Classroom layout. - Make sure your class is laid out in such a way to improve behaviour and stimulate learning. Think about how you’re going to arrange the desks and seats. Where is your area going to be? What displays and resources can you use to create a stimulating learning environment?

Read more …..

Tip 8

Have your lesson objectives clear for your students. Write them on the board or get the kids to put down at the beginning – by the end of this lesson I will have learned……(bteotliwhl for short).

These clear objectives provide a clear guide to what you want to achieve and can be the basis of the lesson structure. A map on the board can help to show the kids where you are going with the lesson.

Read more …..

Tip 9

Get to know your pupils. One of the ways that I have managed to survive with some of my roughest classes is that I took some time to look beyond their bad behaviour and find out about them as individuals. Most people only want someone to talk to and feel that someone is listening. Once you get talking you will find out lots of things about your pupils and you start to build a positive relationship that you can call upon at time when you want the kid to listen to you and follow your instructions. It’s called having some mutual respect.

Read more …..

Tip 10

Try to put some humour into your lesson. Its surprising how much can be achieved by an entertaining story or joke. It also can make the class see that you are also human and not just a teacher.

Read more …..

If you want to read my routine for new classes in September…Click here

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Hi there

Hope everyones gonna have a good week. To start it off with some good news:

Crazy class has just added a new forum feature to its pages.

Teachers , NQT’s and PGCE students can visit and chat about virtually anything!

If you’ve got some great advice, lets us know.

If you need help, let us know.

If you had the best or worse lesson, let us know.

By now I’m sure you get the picture!

Get it off your chest at the Crazy class forums.

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Planning - are you ready for action?

Effective lesson planning takes a bit of thought at first but once you’ve done a couple of hundred lessons and got some routines and patter down you will not need to go through this process. By that time it should be on automatic pilot. As I said before while talking about stress, good planning can go along way to preventing lots of problems in the class.

First steps

Effective planning starts well before the lesson. Once you’ve consulted the schemes of work and you know what subject its about its time to start planning.

Work out the objective or learning outcomes what for your lesson. I like to make this into a sentence that I can later put on the board to keep me and the kids focused on our goal. For example. By the end of theirs lesson you should know……………..

Once this has been established you can think about the structure of the lesson. Most lessons will follow a set routine:

The start,the middle and the end .

Within this frame you need to fit in:

Some sort of starter or introduction

some learning activities

A summary or plenary activities.

In practice I like to be quite fluid with this framework because sometimes you need to be flexible with the clientele! Some of my lower ability groups (below gcse) are not going to settle with a starter and respond more to the routine of , come in, sit down, be quiet while I take the register. Like I said, I make up my own rules which are governed by what works for me and my individual classes. You might like to experiment with your own strategies.

Have some routines in place

If you have a good set of classroom management routines in place, you will find kids respond better than if you let them go free form. For instance I like to get my classes lined up outside the room, in silence, listening to me as I remind them of the routine for coming into the room. This sounds a bit old fashioned or dictatorial but 9 times out of 10 ,my lessons get off to much better start following this routine. The kids know where they stand.Literally! This structure can be really important particularly with behaviorally challenged pupils. I have seen some kids go into classes like a group of monkeys on acid. Their teachers then need to work really hard for their money.

Check out some of my classroom routines. Take them or leave them. Come up with your own!

Introductions

If you would like to add some content to this page contact me using the form below:

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First thing…..

Stop and ask yourself - Why do I want to teach?

Once you’ve got a good answer do some research.

This site is a great place to find out about teaching in an average (well maybe below) comprehensive school in England.

Don’t believe the hype in add campaigns. Talk to real teachers who can give you the real lowdown.

If you are still keen, read on to get some information about PGCE courses and other routes into teaching.

The first thing that you need to do is take an ITT course. ITT stands for Initail teacher Training. There are some different types of ITT in England. For example,ITT can be done along with your degree or after your degree as a PGCE. (post graduate certificate of education). Some people follow an employment based training within a school.

After you have passed an ITT course and fulfill the relevant professional standards (including numeracy ,literacy and ICT tests) you will be awarded QTS (qualified teacher status). You will then qualify to teach in schools in England.

All teachers are NQT’s (newly qualified teachers) for their first year of employment within schools. This is usually include in school training and some lesson observations to check on your progress.

If all goes well, at the end of the NQT year you can call yourself a teacher!

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