Classroom management is at the heart of learning in a large group setting. Behavior dictates the order of the classroom and affects all students in the room. Off-task behavior can be easily and intelligently redirected to maintain a positive attitude in the room while the content is still effectively delivered. It is often difficult to gain a student’s trust and respect while remaining an authoritative figure, attending to what needs to get done in class. Being involved in many discipline encounters and classroom situations gives the teacher the most versatility in dealing with classroom management.
The most important aspect of maintaining an orderly classroom is ROUTINE. It is the teacher’s job to maintain a constant routine and structure to every day. Students will begin to pick up on the same patterns of activity every day, and become motivated to complete familiar processes. When a consistent schedule is implemented in a classroom, an expectation is set. Students are then aware of the familiar expectations, and acting out becomes an obvious infraction of the classroom’s current agenda. The routine must be modeled and explained repeatedly, especially at the beginning of the year–even things like entering the room, building instruments, storing cases, setting up music stands, bringing materials to class (pencil, music binder, instrument, reeds), etc. These eventually become habit. Students begin to keep each other accountable when they understand the routine and structure of the curriculum being delivered every day. What content is delivered throughout the day is written out on the board as the agenda, every day, so students know what to expect.
The teacher must be very organized before students walk in the classroom. The class should be equipped with the proper materials to conduct a successful class–white board, a TV/screen, helpful posters around the room, sound system (metronome and tuner), chairs and stands, nametags, instrument storage area, etc. The teacher must obviously have a strong plan for delivering content–daily lesson plans and long-term curriculum plans for the week, month, quarter, and year must be in place. When the teacher has a strong idea of every day’s lesson, students have less room to goof off and create distractions. The pacing of every lesson must be organized so that students don’t lose focus. A student can only focus on a single task for a certain amount of time before becoming distracted. Teachers must be aware of this and change up the lesson at opportune times, either changing to a new exercise on the same concept, moving on to another related concept, or review of an old concept. The same learning strategy should not be used for more than 20-30 minutes.- Students should be actively assessed, both formative and summative. Keeping students on track with assessment and modeling successful behaviors encourages students to constantly be reaching goals in class, redirecting their focus to their grade and accomplishments every day in class. This can be considered a “reward strategy”.
Depending on the school district, extrinsic rewards for younger grades can include passing out stickers, candy, and other physical objects to encourage students to participate, compete, and learn.- “Band Karate” or other sticker chart system can be used to encourage students to reach new levels of performing on their instrument–receiving a colored yarn belt tied to their instrument case for each summative assessment that is passed. These tiered levels give students a clear understanding of the path to improvement on their instrument.
- Awards can be given to students of all ages, and accomplishments should be advertised on posters around the wall. For example, “Scale Clubs” for those who pass off their scales, achievement awards, photographs, etc. Get creative!
- Dealing with disruptive behavior when it happens must be done confidently, and maturely. A teacher should never lose their temper or use negative language, and always redirect a student’s disruption into a positive or neutral statement that reaffirms the rules and “why”. Simply waiting for students to be quiet before giving instruction often can work. A very clear behavior policy should be provided by the school district (all actions against disruptive behavior must be in line with this policy), and this should be posted in the classroom. Individual classroom rules that follow these policies must be set at the beginning of the year as well, and frequently enforced (again, in a neutral way, and not aggressively). Students get a certain amount of warnings before grade points are deducted a phone call/email can be made home, students can receive various levels of detention, the office, or eventual meetings with administration. Students may also be asked to pack up and sit in the teacher’s office for serious behavior issues, and addressed at the end of class.
The classroom rules must always have fair explanations behind them, and when a student misbehaves, the teacher should ask the student relevant questions to direct their understanding of how they need to behave, why everyone is held to this standard, and how it affects other students in the classroom and the entire learning process. Again, two sets of rules must exist that work hand in hand: the classroom rules, and the school behavior policies. Circulating throughout the classroom while teaching will encourage students to stay attentive (and off of their phones). Using nonverbal signals indicating students to “bring it back in” works well as well, such as raising your hand and waiting for all to silently raise hands before proceeding.
Behavior Management Plan – Longfellow Middle School
Band Karate Incentive Program – Churchill Road Elementary School