Teaching Tips

Establishing and Maintaining Classroom Discipline

Tips for achieving a disciplined classroom
Most teachers have had the experience of dealing with students who are disruptive and unruly in class. Establishing and maintaining classroom discipline is a common teacher challenge, and a topic about which much has been written. What does a disciplined classroom look like? A disciplined classroom is one in which: The teacher is in control of the classroom and everything taking place in it; students accept the teachers authority and are cooperative in doing what is asked of them; both the teacher and students have a mutual understanding of the goal of the class sessions and are invested in working toward that common goal. The following information provides ideas and suggestions for ways in which a teacher can achieve a classroom where learning can take place unimpeded by constant discipline problems. 1. Communicate your expectations for student behavior. Tell students how you expect them to act toward you and toward one another. Establish class rules if necessary. Allow students to have some input into the rules, as they are more likely to follow them or accept the consequences when they break them. Once the rules are in place, be consistent about following them. Tell students what the consequences will be if they break a rule, and be sure they understand the rules. Again, be consistent in taking the agreed-upon action each time a rule is broken. 2. Plan your lessons carefully to increase student motivation. The more interesting and relevant the activities, the more eager students will be to participate. Have extra activities planned in case you finish your lesson early to keep students engaged at all times. 3. Give clear instructions when explaining how to do an activity. It is imperative to give clear instructions so that students understand what they have to do during an activity. Quite often, what may look like bad or unruly behavior for example, superfluous whispering in students native language is in fact students asking classmates to explain what they are supposed to be doing. The following guidelines will help you give clear instructions: Decide how to deliver the instructions. Will you just explain the activity, or will you support the instructions with visual aids? Will you ask students to demonstrate the activity as you explain it? Will you model the activity with a student? Make sure students are listening before you begin explaining the activity. Explain the activity more than once, and use more than one medium, if possible. For example: Explain the activity first, and then model it with one or more students. Be brief and to the point so that students can understand what you are saying.

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4. Check that students understand your explanation. Once you have explained the activity, ask a series of simple questions to check students understanding. For example, ask students: Do you work in pairs or in groups? Is your partner the student on your right? 5. Establish a method to have students stop what they are doing and focus their attention on you. It is often challenging to get students attention when signaling the end of an activity if students are very involved in doing it. In order to get students to turn their attention to you, it is valuable to have an agreedupon signal that you will use to indicate the end of an activity. This could be turning off the lights or ringing a bell. When establishing conventions like these, make sure that everyone understands them and then use them consistently. What can you do to resolve discipline problems when they occur? Disciplining students is a challenge that all teachers face. The following is a list of common student misbehaviors and suggestions for dealing with them in a nonthreatening, positive way. 1. Disruptive talking. This is probably the most common type of classroom misbehavior. One suggestion is simply to ask the student in a friendly, yet authoritative, way to stop talking. If he or she continues talking, pick up the students textbook, carry it to a desk at the back of the room, and gesture to the student to follow you. Have the student sit there, away from his or her friends, for a few minutes. The advantage of this is that it does not interrupt the lesson. If the talking persists, meet with the student one-on-one after class to try to find out why he or she is not paying attention. 2. Lateness and absenteeism. Lateness interrupts the flow of the class, as students entering the class break the concentration of students who are working. Keep several vacant chairs close to the door so that latecomers can join the class with a minimum of interruption. In order to minimize lateness and absenteeism, you could establish a policy at the beginning of the school year whereby lateness and missed classes affect the students final grades. This is very often an effective way to prevent this problem. 3. Not doing homework assignments. It is important to check all homework since it will help students feel that doing their homework is not a waste of time. If students consistently fail to do homework, meet with them one-onone to try to find out why. Completion of homework can also be made part of the final grade. To encourage students to do homework, have them share their homework in the next class in a group context (as in the Connect Theme Projects preparation). Students are more likely to do homework if they feel responsible to their group. You could also have students display their homework in class, or give extra points to students who do their homework regularly. 4. Cheating on tests. If possible, place students chairs with enough space between them to make it impossible for students to look at another students work without being noticed. Alternately, seat students you have observed cheating in the past at a distance from the other students. You could also deduct points from the final grade of any students who cheat during tests. This should usually be a last resort. It is always best to talk to students to find out why they feel they need to cheat, and then try to find a solution.

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5. Unwillingness to speak English in class. The reasons for a students unwillingness to speak English in class are complex. Low self-esteem and an unwillingness to take risks for fear of sounding stupid or silly are two major reasons. In these cases it is a good idea to use activities such as information-gap activities, which demand that all students use English in order to complete the task successfully.

General rules for dealing with misbehavior

Deal with the problem quietly with the individual student after class. When discussing the behavior with the student, use a calm, firm tone. A private meeting is particularly important if the classroom behavior has become persistent. Do not take the students misbehavior personally. Most of the time, the misbehavior is coming from a students need to avoid or accomplish something, not from any negative feelings toward you. Treat your students with dignity, even when reprimanding them. When students focus on the business and pleasure of learning English, teaching can be a joy. The above guidelines should help you and your students get the most out of valuable class time, and leave you feeling refreshed and happy to have spent time in the classroom.

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