Behavior Manage/Elementary Behavior Management Is a Huge

Behavior Manage/Elementary

Behavior management is a huge component of classroom life that often takes new teachers by surprise. Presenting creative lessons in the context of a teacher education program is much different than in an actual classroom filled with lively elementary school students.

Kraft (2010) points out that teaching and learning can take place only when the proper environment is created and maintained. Inexperienced teachers in particular may resort to "draconian classroom management tactics" (p. 45) out of frustration and fear of loss of control. Well-established classroom procedures make the classroom a student-centered place rather than one that is teacher-centered. Kraft asserts that the best-behaved students are not the ones whose teacher has the strictest rules but the one who has the most interesting and engaging lessons.

Kraft honed his theory in a challenging environment: Life Academy, a small sub-school for at-risk ninth graders at Berkeley High School in California. The goal was to modify classroom behavior while motiving students academically and creating an environment that would enable them to be successful.

Specific strategies delineated in Kraft's article include non-negotiable rules, clear expectations, well-managed transitions, and gaining the class's attention with authority, not shouting. With respect to specific behavior management techniques, Kraft suggests the use of behavior modification systems, avoidance of public confrontations, and defusing the notion of a power struggle between teacher and students. He also recommends teachers share their feelings with students, admitting when they are tired or frustrated. It is all part of establishing the human connection while still maintaining the proper position of authority.

Students cannot learn in an environment Kraft likens to "a three-ring circus" (p. 45). Teachers must consistently apply specific strategies and techniques that establish a structured, supportive classroom. It begins with content that matters to students and includes clear, consistent expectations and rules. The teacher should not be an authoritarian figure who is feared, but rather one who provides guidance and support while facilitating learning.

Most people can probably cite examples of veteran teachers who had no control over their classes, new teachers with excellent classroom management skills, and vice versa. Longevity as a classroom teacher is not a guarantee of success, nor is inexperience an automatic "death sentence" for a new teacher wanting to maintain control in the classroom. Force of personality is always going to be an important component of good classroom management. The biggest key to success, however, seems to be a real mindfulness with respect to student-teacher interactions and time and care spent in preparing lessons that are engaging and meaningful to students.