Excerpt from: The Eye On Education Blog
How Does One Manage a Classroom? Poem By Annette Breaux
The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors: Effective Teaching Tips for Daily Classroom Use, 2nd Ed. Read below for a tip about managing one's classroom.
How Does One Manage a Classroom?
“How does one manage a classroom? Is it really rocket science?
For I’ve been told it’s difficult to control so much student defiance.”
Well, management is about the teacher, and what the teacher expects
Because everything about the teacher absolutely affects
How students will or won’t respond, how they will or will not act,
And with excellent classroom management, students behave well. That’s a fact!
So set clear rules and procedures, and show how you want things done
And remember that on the scale of importance, consistency is number one!
Consistency in how you treat each one, consistency in your preparation,
Consistency in being professional, regardless of your level of frustration,
Consistency in saying what you mean and meaning what you say,
Consistency in making every student feel special every day,
Consistency in your refusal to give up on anyone,
Consistency in helping students to see a task through ‘til it’s done,
Consistency in good attitude, for your attitude sets the tone,
Consistency in being available, so that no student feels alone,
Consistency in helping every child to know he can succeed,
Yes, consistency is the key to classroom management, indeed!
And consistency is not difficult—just be consistent at being consistent--
And soon your discipline problems will be a memory that is distant!
The Importance of Classroom Management. Contrary to popular belief, discipline is NOT the number one problem in the classroom. Rather, the lack of clear, structured, well-rehearsed procedures and routines is what causes most discipline problems. So what do the most successful teachers do? From the first day, they establish clear routines and procedures, and students are shown and told exactly what is expected of them. These teachers are also aware of the definition of classroom management: Classroom management involves everything you do to make your classroom run smoothly: How you arrange the furniture to facilitate learning, how you expect students to enter and exit your classroom, where you stand when you are teaching to ensure that you are in proximity to all of your students, how quickly you pace activities, how you establish expectations for student behavior and so on. In other words, a good teacher plans EVERYTHING.
If you want what all teachers want—to experience little or no discipline problems with your students—then it is important that you have a clear, concise classroom management plan. But please do not reinvent the wheel. Implement the basic tried and true management techniques of the most successful teachers that you will continue to read about throughout this book.
FACT: Just as a bus cannot transport students to school without tires, even if the bus is in perfect mechanical condition, a teacher cannot teach ANYTHING to students until classroom management is in place, even if he/she is very knowledgeable about the content. Management is just as important to learning as tires are to getting a bus from point A to point B. Clearly-established procedures and routines are the most important part of any good classroom management plan.
Guiding Question
In the book 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors Annette L. Breaux identifies 20 tips to help strengthen classroom management skills. Which tip has proven most beneficial to you in your classroom? Why?
How Does One Manage a Classroom? Poem By Annette Breaux
The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors: Effective Teaching Tips for Daily Classroom Use, 2nd Ed. Read below for a tip about managing one's classroom.
How Does One Manage a Classroom?
“How does one manage a classroom? Is it really rocket science?
For I’ve been told it’s difficult to control so much student defiance.”
Well, management is about the teacher, and what the teacher expects
Because everything about the teacher absolutely affects
How students will or won’t respond, how they will or will not act,
And with excellent classroom management, students behave well. That’s a fact!
So set clear rules and procedures, and show how you want things done
And remember that on the scale of importance, consistency is number one!
Consistency in how you treat each one, consistency in your preparation,
Consistency in being professional, regardless of your level of frustration,
Consistency in saying what you mean and meaning what you say,
Consistency in making every student feel special every day,
Consistency in your refusal to give up on anyone,
Consistency in helping students to see a task through ‘til it’s done,
Consistency in good attitude, for your attitude sets the tone,
Consistency in being available, so that no student feels alone,
Consistency in helping every child to know he can succeed,
Yes, consistency is the key to classroom management, indeed!
And consistency is not difficult—just be consistent at being consistent--
And soon your discipline problems will be a memory that is distant!
The Importance of Classroom Management. Contrary to popular belief, discipline is NOT the number one problem in the classroom. Rather, the lack of clear, structured, well-rehearsed procedures and routines is what causes most discipline problems. So what do the most successful teachers do? From the first day, they establish clear routines and procedures, and students are shown and told exactly what is expected of them. These teachers are also aware of the definition of classroom management: Classroom management involves everything you do to make your classroom run smoothly: How you arrange the furniture to facilitate learning, how you expect students to enter and exit your classroom, where you stand when you are teaching to ensure that you are in proximity to all of your students, how quickly you pace activities, how you establish expectations for student behavior and so on. In other words, a good teacher plans EVERYTHING.
If you want what all teachers want—to experience little or no discipline problems with your students—then it is important that you have a clear, concise classroom management plan. But please do not reinvent the wheel. Implement the basic tried and true management techniques of the most successful teachers that you will continue to read about throughout this book.
FACT: Just as a bus cannot transport students to school without tires, even if the bus is in perfect mechanical condition, a teacher cannot teach ANYTHING to students until classroom management is in place, even if he/she is very knowledgeable about the content. Management is just as important to learning as tires are to getting a bus from point A to point B. Clearly-established procedures and routines are the most important part of any good classroom management plan.
Guiding Question
In the book 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors Annette L. Breaux identifies 20 tips to help strengthen classroom management skills. Which tip has proven most beneficial to you in your classroom? Why?