Great Strategies for Regaining Class Control

As a teacher, I have instances where I need to regain class control before my class controls me.

For a new teacher this can be frightening.

I know. I was there.

Regaining class control happens to the best of teachers, and it just takes one element to knock a flowing lesson out of control.

Here are a few examples: How about the student who came in late from basketball practice and starts chattering with his/friends?

Or a student may ask you “Why do we have to learn this?” or “Mr./Mrs. Teacher, do you have any children?”

Or a class may be just be very overcrowded and you constantly have to start again because there aren’t enough tables and chairs. By the time students are settled in, you’ve already lost 10 minutes of your lesson and students are already distracted.

Loosing class control typically happens because (1) something in the lesson plan doesn’t speak to the students or, (2)some areas of the classroom management plan need reinforcing.

By regaining class control, you are exercising your authority as a classroom manager to help yourself teach more effectively.

Here are five great strategies to help regain class control:

1. Stop the lesson. While trying to cope with a difficult classroom situation that seems like hell, take a few moments of time out. New teachers often think that stopping the lesson shows a sign of weak classroom management. They think they should be doing all the talking to gain class control. Those few seconds are like gold offering you other solutions.

Observe the class. What is going on? What needed to be changed? Listen to your teacher intuition. It is often precise and on track. For example, too much explanation can be sometimes too preachy, and you can teach something more inductively.

2. Consider the classroom seating arrangements

Social dynamics is a big factor for rowdy behavior. Look at your seating chart. Disruptive students who have been sitting next to each other may now need to be separated. The minute you neutralize the social dynamics, it can be easier to teach.

3.Use body language.

Eye contact is a very effective nonverbal way to regain class control. When you eye that one disruptive student, she or he will come to realize that her/his behavior is the reason why you cannot teach.

4. Pep-talk time!
Express the problem (in short, share your frustrations!)

At an in-service course some years ago, I began to identify with sharing frustration (on the level of classroom management only). Since then I have said to a few of my more challenging classes, “This situation is becoming increasingly hard and frustrating for me to teach.” I would briefly describe the situation and how the consequences of not doing tasks x,y,z would affect them in the long run.

When I presented the situation in this way, I found the class to be more responsive to teach, but not always.

Great Ideas for Teaching Online

Success in a face-to-face environment does not always transfer to the elements needed for success in an online course; however, teaching online can be as rewarding as teaching in person. By including a variety of interactive strategies and maintaining communication, instructors can create a learning environment that encourages students to learn and to explore. The following tips include the key elements for success in teaching and learning in an online course.

The first week of an online course is very important for both the instructor and the learners regardless of the subject area, program, or level. Clarity is required because the students many not know how to utilize all the online course functions and features, or may be nervous if they have never taken an online class before. Be sure to be very clear on class policies, such as when and how to submit assignments. Some strategies that help the students feel less isolated are including a welcome page or email before the class starts and then having the students introduce each other can help guide how the rest of the class will run as students make connections to their classmates.

Including a general area to discuss things unrelated to a class such as weather, travel, pets is suggested so as to maintain a social connection that is often missing in online courses. It is also very important to clearly outline the rules of netiquette. Let the students know how you want them to frame communications and the tone that is comfortable to all class members. Have a clear organizational structure. For example, the syllabus should be very clearly outlined with dates and deadlines.

When facilitating the class, keep learners actively engaged in thinking about the course content through a variety of strategies such as active participation. For example, you can post thought-provoking questions that do not have direct answers and lend themselves to prompting even more questions and debate.

Make use of online resources that students can easily access. For example they can virtually access electronic articles in the library or repository. With the power of hyperlinks, this is quite doable. However, be sure to check your links each time you teach the course and several times during the course as these may change depending on the hosting service.

Plan interactive assignments that require students to work in teams to problem-solve. For instance, provide them with case studies that they can discuss in chatrooms and discussion boards and have them take turn being responsible for different tasks such as recorder or moderator. Organization is important - make it intuitive where and how to locate course content. Don't switch out things to often and let them have multiple ways of accessing the information.

Use student-centered techniques. You can empower students by having them be responsible for summarizing the week's discussion, being in charge of a discussion, or writing weekly reflections. This approach will empower them and save you time. Create activities where the students can integrate new ideas with existing knowledge, and provide them a frame of reference within the online environment.

Do not let the technology drive the instruction! Try to strike a balance between technology and content. Remember that good courses use the best aspects of multimedia but that do not leave the technology to do the teaching. You want the students to learn and use the technology but not at the expense of the course content.

Most important, be there for them! Remember they could be miles away and feeling isolated. Respond to requests as soon as possible and provide detailed feedback. Patience, availability, and accessibility will keep you connected to the students.

Writer credit: Sonia P.

Sophia P. is the editor of http://www.about-elearning.com/education-degrees.html and http://www.colleges-and-careers.com/degree-in-education.html, information and resource guide for e-learning and degree programs.

The Importance of Teacher Follow-Through

How many of you follow-through with parent phone calls, emails, student-teacher tutorials, collaborative meetings, etc. Follow-through is an important part of all kinds of work, not just teaching. When it comes to dealing with more in-depth issues, follow-through is the next stage of teaching development. It shows a teacher's professionality, responsibility and a willingness to work collaboratively.

Follow-throughs do not necessarily relate to meetings. They can also relate to lesson planning and classroom management.Here are a few examples:

Classroom management

During one of your first lessons, you teach group work. Your students aren't engaged in the task. After talking about how your students responded to the material, you decide that your next follow-through entails discussing with the entire class: what are the qualities of a good group leader?
Lesson planning

You teach a small group of struggling readers a comprehension text by reading the text aloud. They stop you after every fifth word however and ask: "what does this mean?" You decide that your next follow-through is to teach a RC text by preteaching targeted vocabulary first.

If you don't follow-through, the issue/job just won't get done. 90% of all teacher's tasks involve some kind of follow-through or another.

Every day Teacher's duties

You discuss a student's behavior with the psychologist in the teacher's room. Apparently, there is a need to speak with both the parents and the child. The school psychologist says: "Let's talk next week. Give me a call."

New Teacher Tips for Following-Through

1. Write down the follow-through quickly. Soon, something else will take over your brain and you'll have forgotten.

2. Keep track of each follow-through by crossing it off the list. Some planners have room to write detailed responses. Example: when you speak with parents, you might want to write fp=follow-through with a phone call fe= follow-through with an email, so forth. Be specific as you can regarding the follow-through.

3. If your follow-through involves interpersonal communication, start with a gentle reminder. If the second party does not react to the degree that is needed for the situation, express how important the meeting is for student X and what you believe it can do for the situation at hand.

4. Don't throw out important follow-through ESPECIALLY with parents.

5. Prioritize your follow-throughs using time management strategies.

6. The key is to do follow-throughs consistently.

Do you use follow-throughs on a regular basis? Do they help? What have been your experiences with follow-throughs? Do you have any other new teacher tips to add to the list?

When Students Challenge You

The real moment of teaching for me happened when my students would say something that challenged my authority. I was totally unprepared. I was so intent and focused on my image, I often forgot about the content of my answers.

It happened when a twelfth grade student asked me a question about Night by Elie Wiesel which we were learning as part of their literature program for matriculation requirements.

I somehow got the dates wrong as to when the Nazi rose to power in conjunction with the opening chapters.

Adam (pseudonym) asked me: "Are you sure about those dates? He looked at me and shook his head. "An English teacher teaching history and doesn't know the dates."

I said: "Adam, you don't know everything, do you."

Adam: "I don't but you're the teacher."

I'm the teacher. I thought.

So am I a teacher professing to be an expert or a teacher who is also human?

If I were a new teacher many years before, I would probably think I needed to live up to that image of knowing it all.

But at that moment, I knew that it was more important to appear human than to appear "perfect." So I wrote down the new dates and said to Adam "Thanks. I told you I'm not the expert in European history and you can definitely teach me a thing or two about it."

This helped deflate some of the negative tension that was created by this situation.

After that small incident, we were able to read the atrocities of Hitler as Elie Wiesel experienced himself ...lesson after lesson.

Does this classroom situation sound familiar to any of you new teachers? How have you dealt with it? What questions do you still have?