Classroom Management
Because of the complexity of the classroom as a learning space, part of a teacher's
job involves "managing" this nexus where students, teachers, administrators,
the public, and culture have an impact. Most of the work of developing a productive
classroom occurs in the first week of class, and below are some suggestions for making
those first days more effective. Much of maintaining an effective class has to do with
how teachers relate to students and how teachers model effective group behavior for
students. The links below offer various in-roads to creating a productive and engaging
classroom space.
In the Beginning
- Contract for Productive Classroom Dialogue (Alison Bailey & Kenton
Machina)
- Bailey and Machina share the contract that they make with their FOI students, which
includes items like active listening, respect, risk-taking, working with discomfort,
etc.
- Dealing with Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom (Kathleen
McKinney, Sociology)
- McKinney makes suggestions about how to deal with students who become excessively
disruptive, and she reminds faculty of their rights regarding belligerent students.
- Great
Beginnings: Learning Students' Names (Union University)
- Twenty-four useful techniques for helping to remember the names of students in
large and small classes alike, including having students create "passports" for
the teachers' use during roll-call.
Maintaining Productive Learning Environments
- A
Manual for Student Management Teams (Edward Nuhfer et al., Idaho State)
- Based on over a decade of research, this manual offer teachers a way to think about
classroom learning through a communications model that focuses on teams.
- Class Participation: More
Than Just Raising Your Hand (San Francisco State)
- This tutorial covers strategies you can use to become an active participant in
class discussions. Learn ways to help you prepare to contribute to class discussion
and be an active listener.
- Classroom Etiquette: A Guide for the Well-Intentioned
Instructor (Alison Bailey &
Maura Toro-Morn)
- Fifteen starter-tips to help teachers think about the roles that race, ethnicity,
gender, and sexuality play in the classroom, as well as how issues like names, eye-contact,
and non-verbal behavior affect the classroom.
Other Resources
- Chalkboard Tips
- Classroom Management
Profile (Indiana U)
- Learning Student Names (J.
Middendorg, NTLF)
- Strategies for Classroom
Management (Florida DOE)
