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Professional Advice
Creating Positive Classrooms
Positive self-esteem is so important for the well being of all
students. When they feel good about themselves, they approach the
world in a positive way and are much more open to learning. If they
do not value themselves, they will approach life from a negative
perspective. Their self-worth is evident in everything they do.
Teachers know that children with positive self-esteem are more
likely to achieve academically. If you can find a way to foster that
self-esteem in each of your students, you will make a great
difference to their achievement and their overall attitude toward
education. Creating a safe, accepting environment, where each
student is free to experiment and take risks in order to grow and
change, can do this. Building students' self-esteem also benefits
you as a teacher by increasing your satisfaction in the profession.
Ideas for Fostering Self-Esteem
- Ensure that the classroom and program honours the child's culture
and language
- Acknowledge positive qualities
- Be non-judgmental and accept students as they are
- Demonstrate appropriate ways of releasing anger
- Develop skills to help a child feel better about himself/herself
- Emphasize what each child knows
- Encourage positively; say, "You can succeed"
- Give children choices
- Inform parents/guardians about student growth
- Keep boundaries that allow give and take
- Listen reflectively, and genuinely give support for growth and
change
- Participate, facilitate and share feelings
- Provide a safe classroom - minimum risk fosters openness and
honesty
- Provide acceptance
- Teach self-awareness
- Provide undivided recognition
- Reaffirm a child's existence with a compliment or an acknowledgment
- Respect others' feelings
- See uniqueness
- Separate the action from the person
- Structure opportunities for success
- Use humor, but not at the expense of students
- Use "I messages"
- Validate feelings
(British Columbia Teachers' Federation, 1999)
Classroom Management
For teachers, the challenge is to maintain a positive classroom
environment with a minimum of disruptions. There is no doubt that
this dilemma causes more anxiety for beginning teachers than any
other aspect of their new career.
Classroom management focuses on prevention rather than punishment. A
secure, inviting classroom, along with respect for the dignity of
children and purposeful activities, prevents most discipline
problems. The role of the teacher is crucial in establishing an
effective learning environment. The objective is to instill inner
self-control in students, not merely to exert your control over
them. Set the tone of your classroom from the start by being firm
and fair; friendly, yet professional. When you are more confident of
your ability to maintain order, you will be more relaxed, and the
students will perceive you as a person who really cares.
Without order in your classroom, very little learning will take
place. It is important for you to remember that children are
basically good, and that inappropriate behaviour is a purposeful
response to a need for either attention, power, revenge or avoidance
of failure.
Self-discipline and good behaviour are learned. Guide your students
to know what to do and how to do it in all situations, rather than
punish misdeeds. Help your students to understand that with rights
come responsibilities. Encourage your students to be responsible for
their own learning and behaviour. When students make choices, they
learn new skills and social awareness from the outcome of those
decisions.
Characteristics of Effective Classroom Management
- Students are actively engaged in academic work.
- There are clear student expectations for behaviour and academic
success.
- Transitions times are smooth, students move through routines in a
calm and orderly manner.
- The classroom climate is work-orientated but positive.
Classroom Routines are methods and procedures for how things are to
be done in a classroom. The most universally practiced classroom
routine is the fire drill. There are three basic steps for teaching
routines in any classroom.
- Explain the routine- demonstrate and justify
- Practice the routine -like other basic skills, students need to
practice routines under your supervision.
- Reinforce and review - routines must be consistently reinforced
and retaught if necessary
Classroom Routines
Effective teachers have routines in place for many classroom
activities. The routines are adapted to the level of the students;
for example, dismissal routines in a grade one classroom would more
specific and directed than in a high school classroom. Routines to
practice with your students may include the following activities:
- Entering and leaving the room
- Being prepared for class
- Late arrival
- Participating in class discussions
- Asking and answering questions
- Coming to attention
- Fire drills and emergency procedures
- Listening during announcements
- Sharpening pencils
- Handing in work
- Headings on assignments
- Working in cooperative groups
- Finishing work early
- Finding directions for assignments
- Distributing supplies and materials
- What to do during interruptions
- Assembly behaviour
- Peer marking
What Works:
- Create a classroom environment that provides structure and support
and reinforces positive behaviour. Set your standards high; be clear
and realistic in your expectations.
- Classroom conflict is more likely to be reduced if you:
- Are in the classroom when students arrive
- Are organized and prepared before each lesson
- Insist that everyone be treated with a wholesome respect
- Listen to student opinions and consider their feelings
- Maintain your sense of humor and tolerant attitude
- Assist children to make appropriate choices
- Teach students to live with mistakes and take them in stride
- Use a quiet, friendly tone of voice
- Show faith in the child and build on strengths
- Help children to increase their feelings of self-esteem
- Believe that all children are capable and lovable
- Be low-key, consistent and matter of fact
- Use realistic, logical consequences, and enforce them
What Does Not Work:
- Preaching, nagging, criticizing and shouting
- Using praise instead of encouragement
- Punishment as a way to teach appropriate behaviour
- Accepting excuses, bargaining or blaming
- Put-downs, sarcasm, embarrassment or humiliation
- Rescuing children rather than teaching problem-solving skills
- Acting hastily without knowing the implications of your actions
- Punishing the whole class for the misdeeds of a few
Power Struggles:
It is important that students know that you may disapprove of their
behaviour but you still value them. Dealing with power struggles can
be difficult for beginning teachers. When this happens to you, try
to:
- Ignore the student's attempt to engage you in a power struggle
- Insist that the teaching and learning needs be met
- Describe the behaviour you cannot accept to the student, in
objective and explicit terms.
- Give a warning, stress the consequence and then follow through.
- Arrange for time out from the classroom or school. Seek
intervention by appropriate school personnel.
- Communicate with the parents to draw up further action plans.
(Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, 1997)
Internet Resources
Guidelines for Effective Discipline
- Monitor student behavior - Use an "active eye." See what is going
on. Don't become preoccupied with someone or something and ignore
the rest of the class. It's said that one teacher on his/her feet is
worth two in the seat. This benefits your discipline program as well
as being an effective teaching strategy.
- Consistency - Have the same expectations for appropriate behaviour
for all students. Your students should know that you enforce rules
consistently and determine an appropriate consequence. Your goal is
to be fair, but that may mean differing consequences for students.
In order to be consistent, be certain that the consequences for
student behaviour are reasonable and appropriate.
- Prompt management of inappropriate behaviour - Effective classroom
managers know that misbehaviour must be handled immediately or there
is a risk of a snowballing effect. Instead of one or two students
involved, soon there may be several. In order to provide maximum
time for learning and to reduce minor behaviour problems, there are
some strategies that you can employ that deal with behaviour in the
least amount of time, with the least disruption.
- Proximity - Continuing your lesson while you move about the room
and pausing near potentially disruptive students can let them know
that they are expected to demonstrate appropriate behaviour.
Remaining at your desk encourages misbehaviour in the far corners of
the room.
- Pause - The continuous sound of "teacher talk" can provide
students with a noise screen for their own conversation. An
occasional pause-just a few seconds of
- Silence-can bring an off-track student back in focus.
- Asking for a response - Hearing your name can be an attention
getter, even if you're not paying attention. Working an off-task
student's name into a question can often bring the student back into
the lesson. Remembering the student's dignity, it would be
appropriate to say the student's name first, in order to allow them
to hear the question they'll be expected to answer. The purpose is
to get the student back into the lesson, not to embarrass him/her.
- Active participation - Sometimes having the student respond to a
question or become involved in an activity can eliminate the
undesired behaviour. Asking for a show of hands, having students
perform a physical activity, or having each student write a quick
answer to a question can make all students accountable for an
immediate response.
- Rewards and reinforcement - Rewarding students with an enjoyable
activity that is contingent on appropriate behaviour can be
effective in motivating students to commit to completion of a task.
"If we can finish this chapter by 9:45, we'll have time to play the
map game." ATA
Internet Resources:
Creative Teaching Strategies
Effective instruction is achieved through creative teaching
strategies. Effective instruction is...
Eclectic - there is no single "best" way to plan instruction
Flexible - the teacher's judgement allows for adaptation to
instruction based on needs of students
Interactive - students are assumed to be active participants in
learning constructed through an understanding of an instructional
cycle
Collaborative - the development, implementation and adaptation of
instruction that occurs through reflection with colleagues based on
positive, reciprocal relationships between the teacher and the
student informed by research knowledge but also by the personal,
local experiences of teachers and students
(Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, 1999)
Creative Strategies
It is important to vary your teaching strategies since the learning
process is often as important as what is being learned. Teaching
strategies can be grouped into five broad categories:
- Direct instruction - the teacher imparts knowledge or
demonstrates a skill.
- Experiential learning - the students experience and feel; they
are actively involved.
- Independent study - the students interact more with the content
than with the teacher or other classmates.
- Indirect instruction - the teacher sets up strategies but does
not teach directly; the students make meaning for themselves.
- Interactive instruction - the students interact with one another
and the information; the teacher is organizer and facilitator.
When choosing a teaching strategy for your class, you need to
consider:
- Nature of the topic
- Available resources
- Age and maturity of students
- Learning styles of students
- Your teaching style
There are a variety of approaches to grouping students for learning
activities:
- Group investigation - have groups of two to six students work
together using cooperative inquiry, discussion, co-operative
planning, and projects.
- Jigsaw - have individuals within the group learn parts of the
material, discuss it with like members from other groups, and then
teach their own group.
- Teams, games - have team members assist one
another to master materials or skills in order for the team to
compete against other teams.
(British Columbia Teachers' Federation,
1999)
Teaching is made up of continual interaction between teacher and
students. It is important to remember that teaching is
two-dimensional: one is working with the curriculum and the other is
working with people. It is so important to develop a repertoire of
teaching strategies that become second nature to you. By having many
strategies, you can monitor the class and change your approach on
the spot.
Teachers need to vary their teaching strategies. Often the process
of learning is as important as what is being taught. New curricula
demand more hands on learning. Avoid too much 'teacher talk' when it
is not appropriate for the curriculum.
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