I had the privilege of mentoring a student teacher this past spring.  Taking on a student teacher is a wonderful thing.  You get the opportunity to share some of your experiences with a budding professional and, what’s more, you are given time to reflect upon your own practice in a much more thoughtful and refined manner. 

Classroom management is an area of my practice I have been fortunate to have as a strength.  In my discussions with my student-teacher, (or teacher-candidate as they are now called) classroom management was often highlighted; not out of any particular deficiency on her part, but more because I became more acutely aware of the emphasis I had been placing on it in my own teaching.

What is classroom management?  To me, classroom management is having my students feel safe in my class and having them know that I am fully aware of (most!) everything that is happening in the class at all times, and finally that, as a result of that, they are being encouraged to make the most productive use of their time possible.  Effective classroom management does not necessarily mean having a quiet room of students working without being social.  I have seen noisy, chaotic classrooms where incredible activities, discussions and student collaboration are taking place.  And I’ve seen quiet classrooms where students appear to be diligently doing work, but are simply bored quiet at their desks.  And sometimes the opposite is true.  The point here is that no two classrooms are alike.  Classroom management can look different with the same teacher in two different classes, or the exact same class of students with a different teacher.  There are many ways to achieve the same ends.  I try to manage my classes using a variety of techniques.  I offer a few of them here.  Some I learned to employ through my teacher education programs at UVic and UBC, and others I’ve picked up along the way.

First is to establish a routine.  Having a routine immediately creates a sense of structure.  At the beginning of all my business classes, students work on the class weblog before delivering a couple of current events presentations.  In English, students begin by silent reading before recording the ‘word of the day’ in their notebooks.  These routines allow students to know what is it expected of them at the beginning of class, giving order and sequence to every instructional period.

Proximity is an excellent way to implicitly enforce expectations.  I try to regularly circulate my classroom whenever possible.  Some spaces, especially where the desks are in tight rows right to the back wall, are not as conducive to this technique, but when the space is there I try to make my presence felt by simply moving through and about the classroom as much as possible.

‘Withitness’ is a term that always comes to mind when I think of quality classroom management.  This is the notion that the teacher is always aware of things that are happening, even when it may initially appear to the students the teacher is not noticing what is happening.  There are plenty of ways to let the students know you are keenly aware of what is happening in the class at all times.  Often I’ll call on a student in the back corner of the class to respond when they think I haven’t noticed them having their own conversation with a neighbour, or perhaps they think I haven’t seen the glow of a smart phone screen beneath their desk.  Using proximity also enhances the perceived ‘withitness’ I exhibit around my students.  Sometimes I’ll find them copying work for another class because they don’t notice me come up behind them looking over their shoulder, or perhaps I’ll catch them using inappropriate language in class either by hearing them from across the room when they thought they were being quiet, or by again being within close proximity of their conversation.  I often teach in a computer lab and one of the pieces of software I use allows me to see what students are doing on their computer (and I can even control their computer if necessary!).  Students who think I don’t know what they’re doing quickly find out that I know exactly what is on their screen and realize I don’t need to see the front of their monitor to know.

Reinforcing expectations is huge.  I tell my students from the beginning of the year that their learning is a shared responsibility.  As the teacher, I am responsible for the curriculum, instruction, assessment and the social-emotional well-being of my students, including creating a safe and caring space.  Their responsibility is to apply themselves to the process of learning.  I am not a babysitter.  Students need to know it is their job to meet the expectations set forth by participating in class, and submitting all of their assignments in a timely manner and to the best of their ability.  By setting that expectation from the outset and putting responsibility at the feet of the students, their time spent in class becomes much more productive.

As a teacher, students will, invariably at some point, challenge you and try to push their boundaries.  What is most important is to always, always, always remain calm.  Once the students know they can get under your skin, you’ve lost control.  Any small satisfaction you can take from winning an argument or a confrontation with a student will be trumped by giving the students the knowledge that for the rest of the year they can make you lose your temper.  Sacrifice the battle to win the war, and remember to always remain calm, professional and mannerly.

As a high school teacher I get to work with a diverse age range of students.  Grade 8s are very different than grade 12s.  Grade 8s are still trying to find their way in the school, asserting themselves within their peer group and attempting to understand where they fall in the social order.  Grade 12s, while still concerned with social life, are also increasingly anxious about academics, have a more refined sense of social interactions and respond to different motivating factors.  As such, the classroom management approach I take with the younger students is very different than the older.  Teaching grade 8s is sometimes like ‘herding cats’.  They often need a heavier hand with respect to classroom discipline and the aforementioned expectations.  Chunking assignments into more simple pieces, explaining things not only thoroughly, but repetitively is a regular part of teaching grade 8s.  Listening skills also require encouragement at that age.  I find that as students grow older they respond better to teachers who consistently display fairness and reasonableness, who they can identify with, and even joke with.  You’ll likely never read this in a teacher handbook, but I love being sarcastic with grade 12s.  I even like making (lighthearted) jokes at their expense.  But I’m willing to take the jokes as good as I give them.  Building that kind of rapport with students as they get older is, I think, important.  They come to see you as you are – just a regular person there to help guide them in their learning journey.  What it really boils down to is relationships.  Maybe humour and sarcasm aren’t for you – but what will make your senior class management easier is if you can find some way to establish those all important relationships that let the students know you care about them and can be supportive and approachable.  

Finally, my last tip on quality classroom management is to make your classes interesting.  If your class is boring, students will try to occupy their time with other things that interest them, which may include teacher-aggravating behaviours.  Students who are interested  and engaged don’t need ‘management’ because their curiosity and sense of wonder has been sparked.

Effective classroom management is the foundation of a quality learning space.  Teachers are the single greatest influence on student learning.  Taking the opportunity to pause and reflect on the environment you are providing your students is worth consideration.  I’m thankful for the chance I had to be a teacher-mentor because it gave me that time and space to reflect on so many aspects of my practice, including classroom management.  If you’ve got any tips of your own about classroom management, feel free to add them to the comments below!