Traditional Classroom Management

Classroom Management Programs

When I began teaching junior high school, fresh out of my internship, I was lucky to have been exposed to a wonderful supervising teacher who had phenomenal classroom management techniques. Her techniques were so good, in fact, that a guest would never even realize she was employing a classroom management plan. When classroom rules are met well, one never thinks about it, so I never thought about it…until the day I took over the class.

Just as any “green” junior high teacher knows, classroom management can be daunting, to say the very least. Imagine yourself, inexperience, in front of a group of 40 energetic, social, “gifted” students: these almost-adult students like to test every boundary. Within fifteen minutes, I realized that I must have gone into the wrong classroom, because just the day before, with my supervising teacher, these over-achievers were a group of lovelies that I couldn’t wait to have under my wings, but at that moment there seemed to be mob contagion.

Quickly and in a quiet panic, as I reviewed my well-thought-out lesson plans in front of the class, I realized that I needed to do something—FAST—or I’d lose control, and once that’s gone, it’s never the same. Then, it came to me: my supervising teacher always set the tone, and she never raised her voice, or seemed out of control. I distinctly remember, as if a filmstrip were playing in my head, seeing her techniques in my mind: if students began talking, she stopped talking! If a student acted out, she used proximity control. So, I immediately stopped talking to the classroom, and waited for them to notice…and they did! They stopped talking. I had set the tone, and the students were following it. I’m happy to say that although I had a few students test my classroom management abilities that semester, I passed with flying colors: I was offered a job at the school the following September.

Fortunately, I didn’t have a classroom full of distracting computers that students could hide behind, like I have had in recent years. If you find your traditional classroom management plan isn’t working in your technology-enhanced classroom, you may need to look into classroom management programs. This week’s article, Classroom Management Programs, reviews software features that help manage the technology-based classroom and enhance student learning.

If you have any classroom management techniques that you’d like to share, please start a discussion or email me.