HOW TO CREATE HARMONY IN THE CLASSROOM
Establish Class Rules
Get Organized
Be Patient
Commit to your prep
Get to know your students
Students talk about their first day at school
A new school year has started, and chances are the buzz of newness has begun to settle in for children. The initial excitement and nervousness of seeing friends and having new school supplies is a welcome distraction, but soon after, teachers face the challenge of establishing a productive classroom. This can be difficult, especially for those teachers who are just starting out. Here are some tips from the K-12 classroom experts at IRIS Educational Media for creating harmony in the classroom.
Establish class rules and reinforce them.
Classroom rules, such as “listen quietly”, “raise your hand”, and “be respectful” are key to good behavior. Students need to be taught what the expectations are. The best way to reinforce the rules is to acknowledge and praise students who follow the rules well. Students who struggle to follow the rules should be given extra help and the opportunity to practice. Nancy Flanagan wrote a post about disruptive behavior if you’d like more tips for dealing with disruptive students.
Get Organized. Make sure seating arrangements are optimal to your instruction style, and that students will be facing the way they need to for most of the time. Keep supplies in their assigned places. Keep the classroom materials clean and organized.
Be Patient. This may seem obvious because people wouldn’t become teachers if they weren’t patient people, but it is an important reminder. When the class is loud, sometimes just standing in front of the room silently until everyone is done talking is the best action. Stand with intent and set an example, and after a short time students will pick up on the cues.
Commit to your prep. Being prepared and creating a routine for instruction will leave fewer opportunities for children to get distracted. Devoting your prep time to creating a full schedule and paying attention to transitions will protect your authority over the class. Edutopia shares seven tips for making the most of your prep time, including planning tools and a reminder to set priorities.
At the same time, be flexible. Be okay with needing to make adjustments if your students are bored or behind. Have a back-up plan, and be sure incorporate regular breaks for younger students that need time to stretch or “shake out the sillies”.
Get to know your students. As Rita Pierson says in her popular TED Talk, “Kids don’t learn from teachers they don’t like.” Take the time to learn each student’s motivators and personality differences, and encourage them in a respectful and caring way. Human connection is crucial to leaving a lasting positive effect on a child.
How do you keep up a productive, harmonious classroom? Let us know in the comment section below!
We wanted to know how kids felt about the first day school, so we asked them. Check out the video below!
