Deputy Principal (Kelly Anderson)

Learning Environment

Preventing Misbehaviour in the Classroom

There are some low key strategies you can use to decrease the likelihood of misbehaviour occurring in your classroom. Most experienced teachers use these, but for many staff new to teaching or still early in their career, or staff who haven't undertaken the CMS (Classroom Management Strategies) professional learning, these strategies may be new. These strategies are great because they really require very little effort but can yield great rewards. Here are a couple to get you started:

Winning Over
This strategy is all about building a rapport with your students.
You can do this by greeting them with a friendly tone when they arrive at your class, using their names regularly, smiling (when you don't have a mask on!), using manners when asking them to do something (please, thank you), showing a personal interest in their life outside of school (sports/hobbies are pretty safe topics).
When you build this connection, students are more inclined to comply with your requests and instructions both in and outside of the classroom. Even if the student has been difficult for you in the past, try this strategy and see if you can turn things around.

With-it-ness
This strategy is all about your awareness of what is happening in your classroom. The more aware you are, the quicker you can pick up any slight behaviour issues that need to be nipped in the bud.
You can do this by scanning the room regularly to check for student attention, making regular eye contact (especially with any who seem distracted), pausing (if someone is talking when you are giving instruction), using student names to refocus them on you, and using proximity - go closer to any students who are talking too much or not paying attention.

We have many staff trained in CMS. If you would like support with trying these strategies, ask your line manager who could be a good mentor for this and who might be good to observe in action, or who could observe you and give feedback. If you are interested in doing the CMS training, please email me and I will note your interest and try to include you in future registrations of this training.