These findings will be put to the test once my practice teaching begins in January. Most of the information in this post has been derived from various investigations, projects, workshops, and other things that I had to complete during my time as a student in the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao.
You can say that management is a science in the science of education. Classroom management encompasses many methodologies, styles, philosophies, approaches, and more. One thing that we need to have clear is that management is 90% proaction: you do things in order to prevent things. Rules and procedures set parameters and results of expectations. These expectations enable us to make decisions. The trick here is
continuity, the ability to follow through and the only way to do this is for you to set your classroom parameters (rules). It is paramount that these rules are established at the beginning. Your rules will be the backbone of your classroom management and you should be consistent with them; no exceptions.
Your goal as a teacher is for the students to learn to learn and the environment is important because, as a teacher, part of your role is to create learning environments. Doing this will help you get into your mental set and will enable your students to be more comfortable with the learning process.
Disciplinary interventions have to be planned. For example, do not feel afraid to negotiate with your students, they won't expect you to do this and they won't see it coming.
Some examples of classroom management disciplinary interventions include:
- Walking around the classroom.
- Making eye contact with each student if possible.
- Proximity and teaching from the side of the student that is misbehaving.
- If the misbehavior continues, say something to the students, keeping your comments as private as possible.
- Make a list of agreements with the student for him/her to follow and have the student sign it. It'll be a contract between you and the student.
- If necessary, as a last resort, use disciplinary interventions that include other members of the community.
Teachers must have an incontrovertible sense of disposition - and disposition is having tact and control, it's your mental set. Keep in mind that classroom management is as inherent and dynamic as you are as a teacher. Your classroom, your style.
