Classroom Management

Classroom Management

In the book Those Who Can, Teach by Ryan Cooper the definition for classroom management is “actions taken to create and maintain a learning environment conductive to successful instruction” (Cooper pg 186) Some teachers are successful at maintaining a classroom while other struggle with it. Some teachers might give to many rules for their students to follow, or not come off as being serious with the rules of the classroom and even fail to follow through with the rules that they have given so the students don’t take the rules or the teacher seriously. Without a successful classroom management this can cause damage to the students learning environment, and be very stressful for the teacher. The book suggests that experience, and research will better help the teacher of the understanding of classroom management.

In the article Classroom Management by Lisa Rodriquez, Ph.D. found at the web address http://www.4faculty.org/includes/108r2.jsp there is more detail about classroom management. Lisa Rodriquez has a list of possible or common behavioral issues that happen within the classroom and suggestions on how to better handle each situation. Some of the common behavior issues are “Undermining the teachers authority”, “Leaving class to frequently” and “Sleeping in class.” The advice given for each one of those common behavior issues are first the “Undermining the teachers authority” Rodriquez suggest that “ assure the student while smiling that you have reflected on the issue and that they soon will understand why the information or assignment is valuable will diffuse the situation, and asking the student to ask the question of why is this important to learn after the material has been taught.” (Rodriquez) Second common behavior issue is “Leaving the class Frequently” Rodriquez explains “ how she does not require the student to ask for permission to use the restroom, but if they go frequently that you take them a side and ask if everything is ok, and not to assume right away that the student is being disrespectful, they might have a bladder problem or even a bladder infection.” (Rodriquez) Lastly is the “Sleeping in class” she explains certain solutions you can do to make this situation from happening, such as “if it’s a student who is usually awake and participates in class, give them an extra credit assignment that covers the material that was covered in class while he or she was sleeping, another is wake the student and ask if they are feeling ok and be genuine about it, this reassures the student that you care and they probably wont fall asleep in class again, lastly keep the class interesting suggest the students take notes, or do activities through out the class.” (Rodriquez) By better understanding on how to manage a classroom and what to do in all situations this can help for a stressful free environment for the teacher and a better learning environment for the students.