"How does Mrs. Brown do it? She never has any behavior issues in her classroom!" There are five effective features of classroom management. A teacher, who doesn't appear to have behavioral issues in the classroom, will have posted behavior expectations and taught, reviewed, monitored, and reinforced these behavior expectations on a daily basis. That teacher will maximize structure by providing consistent procedures and routines on a daily basis. She will actively engage her students in well thought-out and planned interactive and hands-on activities every 15-20 minutes during a lesson. She
'll
use
a continuum of strategies to encourage expected behavior, such as providing a rationale for why the behavior is important and giving specific praise to the students
frequently
. And, this teacher will use a continuum of strategies to discourage problem behavior such as ignoring the behavior, redirecting the student's attention to the task or offering simple and meaningful choices. These preventative and proactive measures can ensure a well-managed classroom.
An excellent resource to support classroom teachers is Preventing challenging behavior in your classroom: Positive behavior support and effective classroom management by Matt Tincani. This book focuses on practical strategies to prevent and reduce behavior problems and enhance student learning. Check it out now from the VCU TTAC library.
|