Classroom Management Strategies for Teaching

Crystal Mengenhausen

Teachers are tasked not only with teaching academic skills to their students, but also with

managing the challenging behaviors that students exhibit in the classroom.

The number one problem in the classroom. . .

is not discipline; it is the lack of procedures and routines.

If you don’t have a plan

then you are planning to fail

To Effectively Manage Your Classroom

� Clearly define classroom procedures and routines

� Effective teachers spend a good deal of time the first weeks of the school year introducing, teaching, modeling, and practicing until they become routines.

The role of a teacher . . .

�  is not to grade a student.

�  is not to control the student.

The main role of the teacher is to help every student reach the highest possible level of achievement

When students are expected to pay attention, focus, and listen, they need to be taught the

specific expectations, body stances, and behaviors that will lead to success.

We must teach explicit instructions on behavior.

specifically active participation

Anita Archer

http://explicitinstruction.org/?page_id=92

SLANT

an acronym that is used to remind students of the proper behaviors to exhibit when listening

to a speaker

SLANT �  Sit Up - Instruct students how to sit and how to orient their bodies or

position themselves in a way that will maximize their ability to focus.

�  Lean Forward - Tell students to lean slightly toward the person who is speaking.

�  Ask and Answer Questions - Encourage the students to be active by asking questions about the information being presented.

�  Nod Your Head - When the speaker makes a statement or asks a question, students should practice nonverbal responses such as head nods, raised eyebrows, or thumbs-up.

�  Track the Speaker - Inform students that they want to constantly track and watch the speaker’s movements, hand motions, and non-verbal cues. Much of a speaker’s message is delivered nonverbally.

State Standards of the Past

vs.

Common Core State Standards

What is not different…

what the students are to learn

Example: What a 3rd grader needs to know about math is essentially the same in the common core as it was with most previous versions of state standards. Certainly there has been some movement of content between grade levels but for the most part the nouns or content student need to master is really not a huge change.

What is different…

what students are to do and how they are to demonstrate what they learn

Common Core State Standards

Greater Emphasis on Verbs

explain, critique, apply, represent, clarify, describe

CCSSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

CCSS.Math.Content.1.MS.C.4 Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.

VERBS are the Depth of the Common Core

Educators have complained for years that we go a mile wide and an inch deep.

The Common Core allows us to go deeper and part of that depth is verbs.

These verbs require students to

� Be more active in what they are doing

�  to demonstrate their knowledge

Traditional classroom – values quiet, student passivity

Common Core classroom – noisy and active

Curriculum and Instruction

Classroom Management Strategy

Classroom Talk �  In order for students to explain their knowledge

and understanding it makes sense that they need to talk.

�  It is not the only way, but it is an effective and necessary one.

�  This is true for adults and students alike.

�  In order to truly make sense of our learning we benefit from talking about it to other people.

But all this student talk and activity can make for a noisy

classroom.

The noise level and structure of your classroom will depend upon 2 things:

� The way the classroom is set up

� What expectations have been set

questions, connections, thoughts, insights. Silently read and make note of any

questions, connections, thoughts, insights

Accountable Talk

�  Talk that occurs in a classroom and is accountable to the learning taking place.

�  The talk is student led.

�  The belief is that student’s learning is deeper when they engaged in natural conversations about the content or text.

As teachers we need an effective set of strategies to manage all this talk.

Accountable talk

•  Whole Groups •  Partnerships •  Small Groups

The 1st step for preparing a classroom for accountable talk

is setting classroom norms.

Classroom norms for “Accountable Talk” are those behavioral standards that is expected of all members of the classroom.

Classroom Norms

� Cover large sets of behaviors

� Apply to all situations all the time

�  Stated in a positive tone

�  Few in number

� Developed by the classroom community

• Always walk in the classroom.

• One person speaks at a time.

• Use indoor voices when in the classroom.

Classroom Norms

� We will talk nicely to one another.

� We will treat one another with respect.

� We will include one another.

� We will help one another.

� We will solve problems fairly.

Discussion Strategies

� Discussion Prompts/sentence starters

� Talk Bubbles

� Fishbowl

Discussion Prompts k-2

Discussion Prompts Grades 3-6

Talk Bubbles

Fish Bowl

The “fishbowl” is a teaching strategy that helps students practice being contributors and listeners in a discussion.

�  Students inside the “fishbowl” circle ask questions, present opinions, and share information.

�  Students outside the fishbowl circle listen carefully to the ideas presented and pay attention to process.

Selecting a topic �  Almost any topic is suitable for a fishbowl discussion. The

most effective prompts (question or text) do not have one right answer, but rather allow for multiple perspectives and opinions.  The fishbowl is an excellent strategy to use when discussing dilemmas, for example.

Setting up the room �  A fishbowl requires

�  a circle of chairs (“the fishbowl”)

�  enough room around the circle for the remaining students to observe what is happening in the “fishbowl.” 

�  Sometimes teachers place enough chairs for half of the students in the class to sit in the fishbowl, while other times teachers limit the chairs in the fishbowl.

How do you see yourself using this in your classroom?

Questions

Crystal Mengenhausen

757-353-8836

cmengenhausen@edec.org

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