Good Methods of Classroom Discipline

Know school guidelines for discipline procedures.

Be fair, positive and consistent. Be the kind of person young people can like and trust—firm, fair, friendly,
courteous, enthusiastic and confident. Keep your sense of humor.

Provide a list of standards and consequences to parents and students. Make sure they are consistent with
district and building policy. When in doubt, ask a colleague or your principal.

Keep your classroom orderly. Maintain a cheerful and attractive classroom rather than a disorderly one
which might encourage disruptive behavior.

Get to know your students. Learn their names quickly and use them in and out of class. You will soon
develop almost a sixth sense for anticipating trouble before it begins, but don’t act as though you expect
trouble or you will almost certainly encounter some.

Let the students know you care. Determine jointly with the class what is acceptable in terms of behavior
and achievement and what is not. Show interest in what students say, whether or not it pertains directly to
the lesson.

Treat students with the same respect you expect from them; keep confidences.

Learn the meaning of terms, especially slang, used by students.

Begin class on time and in a professional manner.

Make learning fun. Make education interesting and relevant to the students’ lives. Poor planning and a full
curriculum can provoke disruptions.

Praise good work, good responses and good behavior.

Don’t threaten or use sarcasm. Never use threats to enforce discipline. Never humiliate a child.

Avoid arguing with students. Discussions about class work are invaluable, but arguments can become
emotional encounters.

Be mobile, moving around the room as students work or respond to instruction.

Keep your voice at a normal level. If “disaster” strikes and you trip over the wastebasket, don’t be afraid to
laugh.

Grade assignments and return them as soon as possible.

Give reasonable assignments. Don’t use schoolwork as punishment. Give clear directions.

Keep rules simple. Establish as few classroom rules as possible, and keep them simple.
Handling Classroom Conflicts
Here are a few practical suggestions for dealing with an angry student in the classroom who is defying your
authority and is out of control:

 Do not raise your voice.

 Try to remain calm and rational.
 Do not touch an agitated or angry student.
 Try to keep the student seated. In many instances, this is impossible. You can only suggest the
student remain seated so that he might explain to you what is wrong.
 Be reassuring to the student as well as the rest of the class. Explain the importance of protecting
every student’s right to learn. Talk about options for resolving the conflict.
 Send another student for help. The student should be told to go to the nearest office to summon
assistance from the administration.
 After the incident is over, immediately document everything that happened. This documentation
should include time, name(s) of student(s) involved, a brief description of the events that occurred,
and any information that pertains to the student(s) or the incident. This report should be submitted to
the administration. You also should keep a copy in case of a future conference with parents or school
administrators regarding the incident.

Expect the unexpected.

Schedules will be changed without warning and unanticipated events will occur. Be flexible in responding to
the unexpected; ask your colleagues for suggestions on how to deal with situations like the following.

What will you do if:

 it rains at recess time?

 your class arrives too early at the cafeteria?
 a student tells you her pet died?
 a student tells you she is pregnant?
 a child wets his pants?
 a student is verbally abusive?
 a parent is angry and unreasonable?
 a student refuses to do what you ask?
 you have no textbooks?
 a student falls asleep?
 a student cuts her head falling out of her desk?
 you are called to the office in the middle of class?
 non-English speaking students are assigned to your class?
 a student has a seizure or goes into a coma?

Be fair to your students

Here are some ways to help you win the respect of your students:

 Be consisent in application of discipline and just in your requirements and assignments.

 Don’t refuse to let a student tell you his or her side of the situation. Be willing to consider
mitigating circumstances.
 Don’t talk about the misdeeds of students except to those who have a right to know. Don’t openly
compare one student to another.
  Apologize if you’ve treated a student unjustly.
 Make sure punishments are appropriate for the misbehavior, and explain to the student why he or she
is being punished.

Discipline – The LEAST Approach.

There are several good methods of classroom discipline. One of the best is the LEAST Approach, developed
by NEA, which helps you determine the appropriate level of involvement. If discipline problems can be
handled at Step 1, there is no need to progress to Step 2, etc.

Briefly, the LEAST Approach includes these steps:

 Leave it alone. If the event is a brief and minor disturbance that is unlikely to occur again, leave it
be.
 End the action indirectly. When learning is disrupted or someone may get hurt, let the student(s)
involved know you are aware of the inappropriate activity with a facial expression, a body gesture, or
a quiet action such as walking toward the student(s) or calling the student(s)’ name(s).
 Attend more fully. Secure more information from the student on who, what, when, where and why.
Be objective rather than emotional.
 Spell out directions. When a situation threatens to get out of hand, making learning impossible or
risking harm to someone, clearly explain to the student(s) involved the consequences of his/her
actions and your intent to follow through.
 Treat student progress. Record what happened, when, where, who was involved, what you did, and
who witnessed the incident.

Classroom Management and Discipline

For teaching to be effective, classroom management and discipline is very important. Here are some strategies which
can prove quite helpful for a teacher to create a proper learning environment in the class.

Many new teachers and even some experienced ones, find it extremely difficult to maintain discipline in their
classrooms. There are a number of reasons why discipline in the classroom is such a challenge for teachers. The
primary reasons being, if the teacher is under-prepared for her class, or if her lecture is not interesting enough, or if
the children in her classroom are problem creators. There are a number of steps which a teacher can take for
improving the overall discipline in the class. Here are a few of the most effective strategies.

Set Clear Standards and Expectations

A classroom management plan is incomplete without clearly laying down the rules and regulations for the class.
Making the students clear about what the expected behavior is and what isn't, is equally important. Many times, there
is indiscipline in the classroom if the students do not know what is right and what is wrong behavior. So, setting certain
expectations at the beginning of the year itself, and making the students aware of it is very important to create
discipline in the class.
Plan Lectures in Advance
The primary reason why children get distracted in the class and tend to talk among themselves or misbehave or
create indiscipline is when the lectures are not interesting enough or are not easily understood by them. So, in order to
avoid this, the teacher should plan the lessons in such a way, that they have a clear objective and they generate
interest in the students. Students should be taught in an easy manner and followed by some assignments to work
upon. In the end, assessment by the teacher should be checked to evaluate whether the subject has been well
understood.
Treat All Students Equally
It is very important that the teacher is fair to all his students. Similar rules for punishments as well as rewards should
be applicable to all. A teacher should not be partial to some and against other students, as this might result in the
unfairly treated students breaking the rules of the classroom and creating indiscipline.
Handle Indiscipline
If a student is creating a nuisance in the class or is continuously talking while a teacher is teaching, the teacher should
try to handle the student without interrupting the entire class. A good way to do that is to go and stand near the
student. This unspoken communication strategy will work in most cases. A teacher should never ever shout at the
student or confront him in front of the entire class, as the student will feel humiliated, and will never listen again in
future. Another way to handle undisciplined students is not to take the situation too seriously and try to diffuse it with a
joke. A fun teacher is much more likely to be liked by the students than an uptight one.
Form Relationships
A very important part of successful classroom management is the relationship that is formed between the teacher and
the students. A teacher who makes an effort to create a trust between himself and the students, who tries to know
about the student's life even beyond the classroom, who works as a support to his students, and makes extra efforts
for their well-being, will be respected by the students, and will not face indiscipline problems in the classroom.

Besides the above mentioned strategies, it is very important for the teacher to be very consistent regarding the rules
and behavior expectations. Ignoring misbehavior one day and punishing the students for the same the next day can
confuse them and create indiscipline. Also, starting with a positive frame of mind everyday, with a belief that today the
class will be disciplined, contributes to successful classroom management.

Maintain Classroom Discipline:

1. Decide which rules are most important- Choose no more than 5 rules for your classroom.
2. Make sure students know the rules.
3. Outline consequences. Tell students about consequences for breaking the rules.
4. Post the rules. Make a rules poster and hang it in the classroom. 
5. Have the students make a commitment to the rules. Ask the students to come to an agreement with you
about the rules. 
6. Use non-verbal communication. Using hand signals, body cues and other tactics can be helpful in getting
students’ attention.
7. Praise students for acting appropriately. 
8. Get parents involved.
9. Give students tools for interacting with each other. Eg, permission to take anything from fellow. How to
deny and explain if someone doesn’t want to give a thing to others etc.
10. Maintain routine and structure in the classroom. Students need to know what to expect in the class.
11. Build relationships with your students.
12. Have a positive attitude. Treat every day as a new opportunity for success in your classroom.
13. Speak in a normal voice. When you speak in a normal voice, students will typically respond by also speaking
in a normal voice with moderate volume. If the classroom is noisy, don’t respond by raising your voice.
14. Rearrange seating once a month.
15. Keep your classroom in order.
16. Plan out engaging lessons. One of the easiest ways to bring on discipline issues is to bore your students. If
your lessons are unclear, disorganized, or not engaging enough for the students, they may lose attention.
17. Circulate around the classroom. Keep moving throughout the classroom when you’re teaching and when
students are doing group or individual work. 
Handling Angry Students in the Classroom
 Keep the other students safe. If a student starts to get violently angry, your first priority is to keep
the other students safe.
 Keep calm and neutral. Don’t engage with the student until he has calmed down. Remain calm
yourself.
 Do not touch the student. when someone is angry, it is sometimes unclear what they may do in
response. Maintain your distance from the student.
 Send a student to call an authority to help you.
 Document the incident. If there is a troublesome incident, such as a violent or excessively angry
student, you should keep a record of what happened. Immediately after the incident occurs, write
down what happened. Include details about what happened, when it happened, the names of those
involved, and so on.Give a copy of this account to your administration. Also keep a copy in case a
parent wants to see it.
 Contact the student’s parents. If the incident was severe, you or your principal will likely need to
contact the student’s parents. Tell them the facts about what happened. Don’t add in your opinions.
Stick to the facts.
 Talk with your students about the incident. Use the conflict as a teachable moment.