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Effective Strategies for Successful Classroom Discipline
By Colleen Palat
As every teacher knows, effective school discipline is imperative if we are to educate our students and get them ready for the world. Yet sometimes, with all the demands placed on teachers today, a proper discipline plan can sometimes go out the window!
If you’re wanting help your students learn and grow as responsible members of society with a promising future ahead of them, then school discipline needs to be a top priority. We all know that, without discipline, learning cannot take place.
Below are some sugestions on developing a school discipline plan and managing behavior in the classroom. With little planning and follow through, you can have a plan that can create a classroom full of fun, learning, and
1. Have a plan. When considering school discipline, t’s important to start the year off right with an effective discipline plan. Don’t be afraid to have high expectations! Define for yourself what is acceptable behaior and what is not, create consequences for the problematic behavior, and then communicate it clearly with your students. Make your rules clear and concise while not bogging your students down with a ton of rules…it’s hard for anyone to remember 200 rules, so make them age appropriate and clear.
2. Each day, give an overview of what the day will bring and your expectations. Children love structure, so communicating your plans and what you expect can help the day go smoother.
3. Follow through and be consistent! Once you have a plan for appropriate school discipline and have communicated it with your students, it’s important to follow through every time. It’s typical of some students to test the rules, so make sure you’re ready to let them know you’re prepared to follow through. For example, if one of your student’s is talking when they shouldn’t be, remind them of the rule. If they continue, it’s time to implement the consequence.
4. Don’t forget positive reinforcement. Be sure to give positive feedback when your student(s) are behaving appropriately. This works well with some of the more “spirited” pupils since they may be so used to receiving negative reinforcement. By making them feel like they CAN behave appropriately, they may make more of an effort to do so.
5. Try to eliminate disruptions. It’s important to deal with a school discipline problem quickly without causing a great deal of disruption in the classroom. Deal with the problem promptly and move on with your lesson.
6. Deal with the situation privately, if needed. Some confrontations require they be dealt with privately in order to avoid embarrassment the student may feel in front of their peers. If this is the case, pull the student aside and deal with the problem behavior.
7. Each day is a new day! When implementing proper school discipline, it’s vitally important to make the start of each day a fresh start. Doing so will help the student feel they can correct their negative behavior from the day before and start them on the way to behave properly in class every day.
If you started the year off with shaking school discipline, it’s not too late to start! It will probably require a little more work on your part to undue some of the disruptive behavior patterns, but it’s not too late. Follow the tips above, BE CONSISTENT, firm, and fair, and you can turn the year around and have a positive school discipline experience.
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
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[...] Palat presents School Discipline: Effective Strategies for Instilling Successful Classroom Discipline | posted at Colleen [...]
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Do you have more specific suggestions for rewards/consequences in the classroom?