1 Be in charge

As the teacher, and the adult, you are in charge. It is your classroom and you
must actively and consciously make the rules and decisions, rather than
letting them happen out of habit, poor organisation or at the him of the
pupils.
!emonstrate your in"chargeness by the position you take in the room# keep
on your feet as much as possible and be here you can atch everything that
is going on. $upils should be convinced you have eyes in the back of your
head% $ick up the good things they are doing &see number ' belo(. )eep
moving around the classroom to establish yourself as the focal point of
interest and authority.
*emember that the pupils need to feel safe# they can only do this if you are in
charge. !o not +ustify or apologise for your rules, your standards or your
insistence on compliance.
, -se positive classroom rules
$upils need to kno hat is e.pected of them in your classroom. /stablish a
set of rules, no more than 0 or 1, hich make desired behaviour e.plicit#
display them prominently in the room and refer to them fre2uently so that they
dont disappear into the allpaper%
3he rules should tell the pupils hat to do, rather than hat not to do, eg
!ont call out.
$ut up your hand and ait to speak.
!ont alk around the classroom.
4tay in your seat.
!ont break things.
5ook after classroom e2uipment.
$raise good behaviour and refer to the rule being folloed. -se the rules to
point out inappropriate behaviour, 6*emember our rule about 7
8ave a feature rule no and again, ritten on the board and tied to a special
individual or class reard to be given to pupils ho follo the rule.
' 9ake reards ork for you
:ive pupils relevant reards for desirable behaviours, starting tasks,
completing tasks, folloing class rules, etc. 3he goal is to establish the 8ABI3
of co"operation. 4tandards can be subtly raised once the habit has been
established. 3he easiest, 2uickest and most appreciated reard is descriptive
praise.
;ther possible reards, besides those used as a school"ide system are
" a note home to parents
" name on a special chart hich earns a later tangible reard
" being given special responsibilities
" being alloed to go first
" having e.tra choices
0 <atch them being good
$raise is the most poerful motivator there is. $raise the tiniest steps in the
right direction. $raise often, using descriptive praise, for e.ample, It can be
annoying having to look up ords in the dictionary. I can see you are getting
impatient but the dictionary is still open in front of you. =ou havent given up.
;r, I can see you dont ant to come in from break, but you are facing the
right direction for coming in. Be illing to appreciate the smallest of effort and
e.plain hy it pleases you.
$upils ill not think you are being too strict and ill not resent your firm
decision making if you remember to smile, to criticise less and to praise more.
3ell the pupils there ill be positive conse2uences for positive behaviour, then
follo through and sho them.
4tick to your guns and dont be bullied into giving reards that havent been
earned.
4ome positive behaviours are easily overlooked. 3ry to remember to praise
pupils for
" homeork in on time
" homeork in late but at least its in
" orking 2uietly
" good attendance
" neat desk
" not singing on chair
" smiling
" contributing to class discussion
" helping another pupil
" not laughing at another pupils mistakes
" promptly folloing your instructions
" earing glasses
" using common sense
-se the reard systems of the school consistently and fairly.
1 Be specific and clear in your instructions
:et a pupils full attention before giving instructions. 9ake sure everyone is
looking at you and not fiddling ith a pencil, turning around, looking at a book,
etc. ;nly give instructions once# repeating can unittingly train a pupil to not
bother to listen properly the first time. 4mile as you give instructions.
!ont be too ordy and dont imply choice hen there actually isnt a choice
by tacking ;kay> on the end, or sound as though you are merely suggesting,
?ould you like to > 8o about > !ont you think you should >
Be very clear in all your instructions and e.pectations. 8ave a pupil repeat
them back to you.
@ !eal ith lo level behaviours before they get big

5o level, or minor, behaviour infringements ill escalate if they are
not dealt ith 2uickly and consistently. A pupils behaviour is reinforced
hen he gets attention for it, but dont be tempted to ignore it. Aind a
calm and 2uiet ay to let the child kno that you see e.actly hat he is
doing and that there is a conse2uence, ithout making a fuss, getting
upset or sounding annoyed.
:ive your instructions once only. If the pupil continues to misbehave, instead
of repeating your original instruction, try one or more of these actions
" point to a place &eg on the board, on a post"it in the pupils book, a note
on your desk( here you rote don the original instruction at the time
you first gave it
" use a description of reality, Alfie, you are tapping your ruler.
" stop everything and look at the pupil pointedly and ait for them to
figure out hy
" descriptively praise those ho are behaving appropriately, praise the
target pupil as soon as he complies
" ask other pupils hat is needed &the s2uirm factor(
Alays follo through, even on minor infractions, so that pupils kno there is
no point in testing. 3hey should kno hat ill happen. ;nly give second
chances after a period of good behaviour.
B 3he conse2uences of non"compliance
8elp the pupil to do hatever youve asked him to do. If he has thron pencils
on the floor, help him to pick them up.
If a pupil does not obey instructions straight aay, do not give up. )eep
aiting. $raise every little step in the right direction, even the absence of the
rong thing. Aor e.ample, if youve +ust asked a pupil to stand up and hes not
doing it, you could say, =oure not searing no, thank you.
!o not protect the pupil from the conse2uences of his action or lack of action.
3he pupil is making a choice and you ill have told him this, and given a clear
arning of the conse2uence.
A conse2uence should be uncomfortable and not upsetting enough to breed
more resentment. 3he purpose of the conse2uence is to prompt the pupil to
think, I ish I hadnt done that.
8ave a ready repertoire of easy to implement and monitor conse2uences.
3hese might include
" loss of choices &eg here to sit(
" loss of break time
" loss of a privilege
" sitting in silence for a set amount of time
C Aind a best for both outcome
Avoid confrontational situations here you or the pupil has to back don. 3alk
to the pupil in terms of his choices and the conse2uences of the choices, and
then give them take up time.
Ared, I ant you to leave the room. If you do it no e can deal ith it 2uickly.
If you choose not to then e ill use your break time to talk about it. Its your
choice. Ill meet you outside the door in to minutes. 3hen alk aay and
ait.
Doe, put your mobile phone in your bag or on my desk. If you choose not to
do that it ill be confiscated, then alk aay and ait.
E /stablish start of lesson routines
Fever attempt to start teaching a lesson until the pupils are ready. Its a aste
of everyones energy, giving the impression its the teachers +ob to force
pupils to ork and their +ob to resist, delay, distract, ind up, etc. ;ften this
task avoidance is a smoke screen hiding orries about hat you are going to
ask them to do.
8ave a routine ay of starting a lesson# a 2uiet activity that pupils can get
right don to, ithout needing any e.planation. 8andriting, copying the
?A53 and ?I5A from the board, spelling practice &familiar key language from
the current topic(, mental arithmetic are good activities to set a 2uiet tone. !o
not allo discussion or be dran into discussion yourself G say there ill be
time for that later and make sure you follo this through.
If you take the time to establish this, lessons ill start themselves% =ou ont
have that battle at the beginning of every lesson to get yourself heard.
1H 9anage the end of the lesson
!o not run your lesson right up to the last minute and then have to rush
because the ne.t class is aiting. Allo time to ind don, anser 2uestions,
put e2uipment aay, refer to ?I53 and ho this has been met, outline plans
for ne.t lesson, etc.
8ave a short, educational game up your sleeve if there is time to spare.
9anage the pupils e.it of the room, have them stand behind their chairs and
ait to be asked to leave. Address each pupil by name and have them tell you
some good nes about the lesson, or you tell them something they did ell
today. 4end them out one"by"one.