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A Guide to Good Classroom Discipline |
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Class Management
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Written by Anne Clarke
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 Classroom discipline is extremely important if you want to have a good learning environment. These tips on classroom discipline will help you keep your classroom and your students in good, working order!
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Good classroom discipline starts with being fair. Make sure that
all students get the same punishment for doing something wrong – even
if it is your best student. Conversely, make sure that all of your
students get equally rewarded for good work. Do not favor a student –
other students will see this and resent you for it and be even less
likely to follow your rules.
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Make your rules easy to
understand. If you want excellent classroom discipline, make sure that
your students understand exactly what is being asked of them. Do not
make a list of 200 rules – no student is going to remember all of those
rules. Instead, think of the rules that are most important to you and
enforce those rules. And make sure that you make those rules very clear.
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Make your consequences easy to understand. Make sure that your students
know in advance what the consequence will be if they break one of your
rules. Make sure that the consequences are just as clear as the rules.
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Be Consistent with your classroom discipline. You need to make sure
that you consistently enforce your rules. Your students are not
Pavlov’s dogs – the best way to enforce a rule is to consistently have
a punishment for breaking it, not just at random.
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Use a little
humor to enforce good classroom discipline. If things are getting a
little out of hand, it may be a good idea to throw in a little joke –
there is not need to throw in the towel. Sometimes all your students
need is a little humor, a little fun, to get them back onto track.
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Try to avoid confronting a student in front of his or her peers. You do
not want your student to look bad in front of his or her peers and
friends – you will be resented for it. Also, every confrontation has a
winner and a loser, and if your students think that you do not look
like the winner in a confrontation, they may not respect you as
readily. Be sure to take a student aside before confronting him or her.
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Classroom discipline does not need to interfere with your classroom
teaching. You want to deal with classroom disruptions as quickly and
smoothly as you can – you do not want to lose your class momentum. Deal
with disruptions immediately.
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Start your plan of classroom
discipline out hard. As the school year goes on, you can loosen the
reins a bit. Just remember that it is much harder to start out as a
softy and then try to tighten the reins – students will still act out.
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Do not assume that your class will need to be disciplined. Why not
assume the best of your class? Do not assume that you will constantly
need to enforce some form of classroom discipline or another. Have high
expectations. Assume that your class will behave. Then teach your
students as though you know they will behave – if your students believe
that you think they are good students, maybe they will act like good
students. Self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Make sure that you have
enough activities and lessons to fill a day. Classroom discipline can
start to get a little rocky if you have too much free time that must be
filled. Avoid having free time – this is a time that a class can get
disruptive.
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Treat your students as individuals. Know that
what works for one student may not work for another. Just because 9
students understand your rules, it does not mean that the tenth student
will. Students learn in different ways. All students are different.
Individuals have different needs.
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Use positive rules of
classroom discipline. For instance, instead of having all of your rules
say what your students should not do, have rules that state what they
should. Instead of, “Do not speak unless called on,” say, “raise your
hand if you have a question.”
Anne
Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting,
fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and
gardening. For more of her articles on classroom discipline, please
visit Homeroom Teacher.
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