Improving Classroom Management Skills Point

Improving Classroom Management Skills

Point #1 -- Physical Classroom Layout and Teacher Mobility

This course and the discussions that it has inspired have taught me the importance of the physical layout of classrooms from the perspective of classroom management concerns. In many respects, establishing a physical classroom layout that is conducive to desirable conduct and student attention to task is a preemptory approach to classroom management that prevents certain kinds of problems before they ever occur.

For example, when teachers always remain in one fixed position (typically, in the front of the class), students who are inclined toward inattention or disruptive conduct tend to gravitate to the back of the class. Even more generally, they develop a sense of security (regardless of where they sit) with respect to when they are under the teacher's observation and when they are not (such as when the teacher is seated at a desk in the front of the room or facing the blackboard. They exploit the obvious inability of teachers to see what is going on in the back of the class and behind desks in general. This de facto zone of privacy then allows students to read extraneous material under their desks, or to occupy themselves with other distractions, and to carry on extended conversations with classmates such as through notes passed back and forth out of the teacher's field of vision.

Therefore, by simply walking around throughout the classroom, teachers can minimize the exploitation of their inability to see as much from a stationary vantage point. In that regard, the use of small modules or pods for small groups of students spread throughout the room is preferable to the traditional isle seating. In principle, a classroom composed of a series of modules eliminates the "blind spot" because there is no longer any back of the class. In combination with mobile teachers, this layout dynamic is tremendously helpful from a classroom management perspective.

Point #2 -- Clear Explanation of Rationale for Rules and Policies

In general, students tend to respond more cooperatively when they understand the logical reason or rationale for classroom rules. Very often, they also exhibit better compliance with rules that allow an appropriate measure of independent self-regulation instead of strict inflexible compliance. One example that struck me as useful is the explanation of why students must ask for permission to be excused to the restroom in conjunction with an acknowledgment that mature students need not necessarily request permission directly from the teacher. The technique that I learned in this respect is to explain why only one or two students may leave the room at a time in conjunction with the opportunity for self-regulation. Specifically, I will allow independent use of the hall key and I will emphasize that it is predicated on mature use without necessitating disrupting the class to request permission from the teacher.

Point #3 -- Dealing with Behavioral Issues