Never Let Them See You Sweat!

You may not remember those commercials from the 80s.  Some of you are probably not old enough to remember them.  So as a refresher, here is one of them.

The same ideas apply in the classroom.  When it comes to classroom management, the longer you keep your cool the better.  Just like a great white shark is able smell blood in water from three miles away, students can sense when a teacher has lost control or doesn't care.

So how do you keep this from occurring?

1. Be prepared.  This doesn't just mean writing down lesson plans and making copies.  It also doesn't mean get out the script for the lesson and have it handy.  You do want to have your materials ready ahead of time, not the morning of the lesson.  What if something happens and you are unable to get everything ready that morning?  You are running late, the copier breaks down, etc.  Another aspect of being prepared involves planning for your transitions.  Know how you are going to move from one activity to another.  Know what call backs you plan to use throughout the day.  How are you going to have students respond to questions throughout the day or class.  
2. Respond appropriately.  When a student does something to upset you, yelling and throwing a fit does you no good and actually empowers the student to do it again.  Often times the best way to redirect is by calmly responding in a way that shows respect for the students yet still demonstrates that you are in control of the classroom.  You might get angry, but you don't need to take it out on the students.  Don't "climb the ladder" with a student.  There is no need escalate a situation beyond what is necessary.  Going back and forth in a tug of war with a student never works out well for you.  Teachers often forget they are the adult and will respond like a child would.  
3. Leave the sarcasm at home.  No matter what age the student is, sarcasm is never an appropriate response.  It is not funny and it will not score you points with the other students in the class.   It demeans the child. If anything, it demonstrates for the other students that it is acceptable to put down and bully others.  
4. Love your job.  Even if you are having a bad day, or don't like situations at work, always display a love for your job to the students.  Most teachers say they got into teaching because they want to make a difference in the lives of kids.  Do your daily actions show that?  They should, if they don't please rethink why you get in the car and go to work each day.  If you don't want to go to work each day, the students know and they will respond appropriately.  

These are just a few ideas to help you become a more effective teacher.  There are many more that could be added to the list, but this is a start.  Feel free to leave a comment and add to the list.