Magic Classroom Management- How to get the most from the worst kids in school.
www.classroom-management.org
This e book is very readable and gives a lot of ideas to overcome any problems you might be encountering in the classroom, from mild disruption to serious behavioural issues that could be making your teaching life a misery.
The author is American and reading this I got a sense of the difference in problems and ways to solve them that could be encountered in America and Britain. However, a lot of ideas can be taken on board and adapted for your own situation. As long as you apply a common sense approach and know what works for the kids you teach, this book could help you!
Magic classroom management is a long book but is helpfully split into an introduction considering why teachers have to deal with behaviour problems in the first place, followed by 3 main sections with sub-sections.
What I am going to do is give an overview of the themes of each section and pick out useable examples for taking into the classroom.
Introduction:
The author starts of by saying that children are badly behaved. This is his bottom line and the view that he has come to as a science teacher for many years. There are many outside influences that children are affected by, such as T.V, print, internet and cinema. Whatever the causes are we, as teachers, need to decide whether we accept it or challenge it? I think that most good teachers would want to get the most from the children they teach and surely accepting bad behaviour as part of the everyday norm is a sign of defeat!
He makes a very good point when he says that the one thing you as a teacher have control over is yourself. The way you deal with problem children is under your direct control and everything else is not, so it will only cause you stress to dwell or change it.
Part 1:
The easiest way to deal with behaviour problems is to prevent them happening in the first place
From reading this heading it does sound logical that this would be the case! This section aims to focus on the skills, attributes and environmental factors which must be in place before behaviour management can be successful. In section 1.1 it features attributes of 'The best teacher in the school.' This is useful to compare to your own personality, so you can identify areas that you might like to work on. It goes on to suggest that keeping children feeling good about themselves can reflect on their behaviour: "a child in a good mood in a lesson is less likely to misbehave during that lesson."
He places quite a large emphasis on teacher humour and how this can have a positive effect on the behaviour of pupils. He suggests telling jokes to lighten the atmosphere and having funny quotes of the week. I personally thought the idea of going to a comedy club to see how the professionals use humour was a step too far but make your own judgement!! There are 2 links to funny poetry for kids.
The next area he focuses on really is lesson planning. I.e: making sure lessons are interesting and appealing. Again, common sense tells you that being well planned and trying to find an interesting way to put your point across will go quite a way to holding your audience. Tied in with this is rewarding good behaviour through reassurance and praise.
I thought a really interesting idea was the 3 different learning styles which children might get on best with- auditory, kinesthetic or visual. Knowing how a child learns best is a good way to keep them on board. Page 18 gives good subject examples of the 3 different methods.
Part 2:
Dealing with disruption and pupils who are off task.
If you have tried everything in section 1 and you are still having problems then this section gives practical ideas about what to do. Basically there is a 4 point guide to getting a child on task:
1. Ignore the behaviour- you can't deal with all bad behaviour so choose what could go unnoticed and be more effective with dealing with the big problems.
2. Use non-verbal signs- a frown, shake of the head,finger to lips is a good way to deal with the culprit without disrupting the whole class.
3. Be near a disruptive pupil - physical proximity might deter them.
4. Use verbal signs- do this if the above has failed!
The rest of section 2 is a five step script that stops disruption. The 5 headings are:
1. State what you want them to do calmly and clearly.
2. Explain exactly what will happen to them if they continue to misbehave.
3. Give them time to think about your instruction.
4.If they have done as you've asked, acknowledge it!
5. What to do if the sanction has had no effect.
This last section is quite detailed and gives scenarios of a script you could adapt for yourself.
Part 3:
Coping with crises, conflicts and difficult situations.
This section gives steps to deal with major disruptions:
"A crisis situation doesn't just happen without a build-up or warning- there is always a trigger."
There are 3 stages leading up to a crisis and it is up to the teacher to recognise, reduce or remove them. It is harder to deal with once the crisis is fully underway.
Stage 1:
Response to a trigger.
Perhaps a crisis at home? Look for signs of anxiety. Gives examples of what to say and do.
Stage 2:
Heightened distress and anxiety.
Look for verbal abuse, aggressive body language or being increasingly withdrawn. Again gives examples of what to say and do.
Stage 3: At this point if all else has failed the child would have to be removed from the class, according to school policy.
Conclusion:
At the end of the book are very useful resources to use- ideas for rewards, activities to get to know your pupils, a fun way to train your pupils not to shout etc.
Overall, a good book with useful ideas, but magic classroom management, you decide!
A Crichton
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