Tip of the Month Flyer 12 - Classroom Management Revisited

Tip of the Month Flyer Issue 12

Managing Where Your Learners Sit…

Quite often learning environments can be less conducive to learning if learners choose where

they sit or if they sit in friendship groups. Of course we do want learners to develop friendships

and feel comfortable in the learning environment. However to maximise learning, swapping

and changing seating plans according to sessions and topics can greatly improve sessions and

learner concentration.

Seating ideas to try:

- All learners to sit in a circle – ideal for a discussion.

- Selected small groups on separate tables – ideal for group work activities.

- Use name cards to show where you would like learners to sit – ideal for new groups or

new staff.

- Use a randomiser (search the internet for “the Hat”) to take the pressure of you.

- Place tables in a horse shoe shape rather than in lines – ideal for lessons and discussions.

Remember, it’s YOUR classroom, so stay in charge… Gary “Hard-man” Lineker.

World Cup Special –

Classroom Management

Welcome to the final edition of the Tips

of The Month flyer for this year. In this

issue we’re focusing on the best ways to

develop your classroom management,

especially for the start of next year.

As it is World Cup time, we’ve also got

some tips for those who want to bring a

little Football Fever into their classrooms

(and plenty for those who don’t!!!)…

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“Becoming a new IT manager means you

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Setting Boundaries… Early On!

It’s vital that discipline and behaviour is highlighted in detail during the first class with

learners, with any necessary paperwork signed by all. This immediately sets the scene and

establishes general ground rules. These rules should be printed and placed in the classroom,

and also on the VLE sites etc. Departmental teams need to ensure they are upholding the

same classroom discipline and behaviour policies, which should be consistently followed all

the time.

Don’t be afraid to revisit and revise the rules as the term progresses (especially towards the

end of term), and be prepared to follow through on any breaking of the rules – learners

prefer strict teaching that is consistent, rather than inconsistent highs and lows. And peer

policing will be the norm rather than the exception.

High expectations are great… All the best, Peter “Amin” Crouch.

Useful websites include:

http://www.pivotaleducation.com/

http://www.teachingexpertise.com/topic/classroom-management

Quick Tips

If I am concerned about any behavioural issues, by anticipating them, I have one or two

‘cause for concern forms’ in front of me. I make the learners aware of this fact & state that I

do not wish to use them but am prepared to if I deem it necessary – it is then their choice as

to how they choose to behave. After one warning, I will then write the name of the learner

on the form; at which point they may well get even more difficult but I point out that this is

just to remind me to complete it if I am unhappy about further incidents – which usually

works. Give it a go, Bobby “Winter” Moore.

Some learners work better outside than in a classroom. Offer them the choice of working

inside or outside if the weather is OK. Putting them in groups and asking them to design

Smartboard activities for the other groups can sometimes focus their minds on work rather

than other distractions. Hope it works for you too, Michael “Falconer” Owen.

Good Team, Bad Team…

A controversial one this, but worth a try! The A & B Method

In one class, all learners will not behave the same. This is an experimental way of allowing

learners with poor behaviour to work towards learning the appropriate behaviour without

disrupting the learning of others.

You have two groups:

A – Learners who behave appropriately.

B – Learners who do not display appropriate behaviour in the classroom.

After teaching a group for a while you will be able to roughly allocate learners into one of

the above groups.

Protocol:

At the first opportunity, put the learners in groups, for example, for a starter activity or

learning activity. Keep A’s and B’s separate, give everyone a target but focus mainly on the

groups of A’s. If the behaviour of any B learner becomes disruptive to A’s, deal with it

instantly. Otherwise, deal with it at the end of the lesson so as not to give them attention.

Periodically check on the Bs’ progress against their targets. If a B shows any sign of

wanting to learn (e.g. asking for help), invite them to join a group of A’s as long as they

behave appropriately. You have just converted a B into an A. You can create a larger

emphasis by asking groups of A’s to collaborate as a larger group. Continue to do this until

you have a good majority of A’s in the class and the standard of behaviour accepted by the

majority of the group is appropriate for learning. The overall aim of this method is to

create a reform in the classroom and convert all B’s into A’s.

For key tips and details on this method, and to give feedback, please see my blog on the

Teacher’s Toolkit at http://learn.oaklands.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?id=40733. You’ll

also find other interesting reads there.

Best of luck, Jimmy “Mendez” Greaves.

�� Send your Tips to: [email protected] ��

Using Support Staff More Effectively… Turning DOWN the

Heat!

Given we are now approaching

the summer term – some of our

rooms can get very hot and

stuffy. I such conditions often

learners get hot, bothered and

focus can wander. By way of a

change why not try taking the

learners out onto a safe grassy

area and conducting a lesson in

the open.

This is ideal for group work,

brain-storming, creative

thinking activities etc

A couple of points to note:

1. Please make sure you

get the ok from your

line manager first.

2. This works best with

learners with whom you

already have a good

relationship with – as

managing learners and

achieving specific

outcomes in a more

open area can lead to

additional issues.

3. Ensure the learners

understand that this is a

special one-off treat.

On the positive note I tried it on

Thursday this week and the

learners responded very

positively, they worked hard

and they said they had a great

lesson

Have fun in the sun, Terry

“Kirikal” Venables.

Within the Learning for living

and work curriculum area many

tutors work with a large

number of support staff. To

ensure sessions run smoothly it

is imperative that you have

weekly meetings to discuss

how we are going to work best

together as a team. Explain to

staff exactly what it is you want

them to do within sessions. 1-1

support is put in place for

numerous reasons, make sure

each learner has a brief profile

that can be given to staff

showing how best to work with

that particular learner.

Outlining how staff and

learners can work together to

get the best from the teaching

and learning environment

should also be clearly detailed

in lessons plans and shared

with staff on a daily basis. This

needs to be accessible to all

staff throughout the session,

who can then refer back if they

are unsure as to what they

have been asked to do.

Have a go, David “Holman”

Beckham.

Sending Off for Fouls…

To assist with classroom and behaviour management, why

not get your students to collectively come up with a set of

classroom rules, and appropriate punishments, which they

sign and agree to abide by. By doing this, if they ever break

one of them, you can remind them that they are going

against their own rules. Go for it, Sven “Syer” Eriksson.


Captain Marvel…

If focus is required in the

class then use the student’s

strengths to your

advantage…

Give a class task and

specific people specific

tasks, i.e. allocate the

loudest person as ‘project

manager’ or captain, but

with key responsibilities to

deliver.

Base the task on something

with a bit of pressure such

as a presentation – see if

the dynamics of the class

changes!

Best of luck, Alan “Jeffers”

Shearer.

Talking a Good Game…

As I teach large groups in large rooms it is very easy to shout for the whole lesson. I vary the

volume of my voice and it gets the learners listening more carefully and if they can’t hear

they quieten down their peers for you so they can! John “Hutch” Terry

The Big Interview Panel…

When faced with end of year reviews of learner progress,

why not invite them to an “Interview Panel”.

1) Instead of individual personal tutors seeing their

own groups individually (and potentially not

getting the full story of what is going on with each

learner in respect of all classes/lecturers) each

learner was reviewed by a panel of all the lecturers

at once.

2) This had the positive effect for the staff of ensuring

that all issues with all units/assignments etc could

be addressed in one meeting.

3) The exercise overall felt more formal and had

more impact for the learners.

4) Comprehensive plans for individual improvement

across all areas of the course could be set.

5) Learner response was particularly positive (ask

Kelli for details or for a glance at the relevant

sections of the Programme Log)

Overall the strategy was a great success, it addressed

some time-management issues with the review process

and imbued that process with a gravitas that can be

lacking when a learner speaks with a Personal Tutor

alone. This practice could be usefully applied in many

other areas with necessary adjustments as appropriate.

If you try this, I’d be glad to help, Peter “Nelson” Shilton.

It’s a Funny Old Game!

Maintaining classroom management can be a difficult thing to achieve, especially if your

learners are finding it difficult to see your strategies and techniques in context. As the World

Cup is just around the corner, here are a few tips with a “footballing” focus, that can be

adapted for embedding a variety of skills and knowledge. Have fun, Joe “Cohly” Cole.

What’s the Score?

As a warn up task, to get the learning mood started straight away, have a list of the World Cup

teams in a bag. Each learner draws a team and the group are asked to write answers for a

number of questions: i.e. how many goals will your team score in the World Cup? How many

Red and Yellow cards will your team receive? What is the highest paid player in your team

etc… From here, you can embed a number of hard and soft skills (functional numeracy (what is

the mean, mode and median number of goals etc); speaking and listening (should the offside

rule be changed, discuss?, or who is the best player in the world, discuss?); writing for purpose

(write a letter to Wayne Rooney asking him why he can’t keep his temper, or why are Judges in

a law court the same as the football referee?). As the tournament progresses, you can vary

the tasks according to who is still in the competition…

Team Transfers…

When using group tasks, picking teams can be tricky. What about team transfers? Give each

group a set amount of “transfers” in a session, and at the end of each activity, ask if they

would like to buy or transfer (to or from) other groups. Each group must make a case for the

transfer, and the “players” must agree to the transfer. You could add a competitive element

to the task as well (the best answers etc score a goal for their team), and even award random

valuations and budgets (players can increase their value by working hard!!!).

If You Think You Can Do Better…

Football fans always say that they could do better than their teams… A great way to help

learners see how hard your job is, and what is and is not acceptable behaviour in class, is to get

them to teach you! At the end of a unit, get learners to pair up and deliver a 5 minute activity

that they have created to reinforce or revise a particular element or skill from the unit. If you

are feeling mischievous, you could always try a few “bad behaviours” (i.e. chatting, mobile

going off) and see how the learners deal with you… Treat it seriously, and then review the

sessions and see what new classroom rule and boundaries the learners come up with. Setting

up appropriate expectations, or both you and your learners, works wonders in the long run…

Have you got any similar ideas that you want to share? Send your tips to the SASP Team,

and we’ll include them in the next issue. Best Tip each issue wins a prize!!!


WIN

WIN

WIN

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Tip of the Month Flyer 12 - Classroom Management Revisited