Treat others with respect. Take care of yourself. Take care of classroom property. Raise your hand to speak or to get someone’s attention.
You might include a time-out or break for younger students. Younger students who are disruptive may need to be removed from a situation for a few minutes to recover their attention. Then they can rejoin the class.
Another way to get students to buy into the rules is for students to take ownership of them. Get their input when developing rules for the classroom. Take time every now and then to talk about the rules and review them with students.
Hand signals work particularly well with primary grades. Changing the non-verbal cues periodically will keep students from getting bored with them.
Make sure to praise different students. Don’t always praise the same few students.
For example, talk about how students should ask another student for permission to take something. A student should look directly at the other student, wait until she is listening, and ask politely. Give students tools if they disagree with each other. For example, have students look calmly at each other and say, “I understand how you feel. ” Then the student can explain his opinion calmly.
C – Conversation: Can students talk during this activity? With whom? About what? H – Help: How should students get your attention if they need help? A – Activity: What is the objective of the activity? M – Movement: Can students get out of their seats for the activity? P – Participation: How will students demonstrate that they are participating? S – Success: If students complete the CHAMPS expectations, they should be successful with the activity and good behavior.
Keep in mind, however, that you shouldn’t become the student’s close friend. It’s important to maintain a level of distance in order to preserve your authority in the classroom. Otherwise, a student may seek special treatment or favors, especially when dealing with a discipline issue.
For example, take simple polls in the class to determine how students feel about a particular issue.
For example, if a student misbehaves or upsets another student, help this student come up with his own method of reparations that will be a meaningful solution.
For example, you might include rules about participating in class discussions. This might include speaking respectfully to classmates and refraining from personal attacks. Also consider including policies regarding academic dishonesty, technology use, handing in assignments, and so on. Check with your institution to get proper wording on college-wide policies.
Although you should maintain professionalism, you don’t need to be completely inaccessible to students. You can reveal things about yourself that give you more of a human dimension, so that students understand where you’re coming from. <
L: Leave it alone. If the disturbance in the classroom is minor and will likely not recur, ignore it. E: End the action indirectly. When a student disrupts the classroom, let him or her know that you see their actions. Give a nonverbal sign, such as raising your eyebrows, waving your hand or walking toward him or her. A: Attend more fully. Ask the student to tell you about the issue. Ask what’s happening and who is involved. S: Spell out directions. Remind the student of the rules and consequences. Plan to follow through with consequences after you have warned the student. T: Treat student progress. Make notes about the discipline issue. Write down what happened, who was involved, when it happened, and what your response was.
It may help to take a couple of deep breaths to calm yourself down.
Don’t involve other students in the conflict.
If the student continues to try arguing with you, say, “We will discuss this after class. ” This closes down the conflict momentarily.
This can work especially well when you are talking about sensitive issues in your class. If the discussion gets heated, ask students to take a moment to reflect on the issue in silence. Then ask them to reflect on why the discussion has gotten so heated.
If there is bullying going on in your classroom, learn strategies to stop bullying. You might think about dismissing the class early if the situation escalates.
Give a copy of this account to your administration. Also keep a copy in case a parent wants to see it.
