As a student teacher, when someone said 'classroom management' I would usually immediately think 'reward system'. On school placement, inspectors would commend us on our points systems and colourful displays. However, rewards never fully sat right with me and I started wondering if there were other ways to ensure that children were working and learning in the classroom.
Once I started teaching I realised that classroom management is so much more than one thing. It's everything from how you set up your classroom, to how children transition between lessons. Do I sometimes pull out rewards to motivate my children? Absolutely! Does this particularly happen in the lead-up to Christmas and in June..? Most definitely!!
However, the day-to-day of how I support my children in keeping a happy and harmonious classroom (as much as possible...!) is in the list below!
I try to keep this as simple and mess-free as possible. Each child has a booklet I make at the start of the year with various simple activities they can do themselves. You don't want to make it seem too much like work, otherwise, they'll start trying to do something else while their classmates are working. The booklets are left in a tub that children can take from, and tidy up by themselves.
This is a useful attention-getter. At the start of the year, I teach my class to freeze when they hear the bell.
Set line order positions
Teach them at the start of the year, and leave it in the same order (unless you discover certain children don't do well near each other in the line). This saves people from running into the line or arguing over people skipping. Display the order so that substitute teachers can't be hoodwinked!
Set carpet spot positions
Same as the above. However I do change this throughout the year, so the same children aren't in the back row for the whole year.
Seating plan
This is one of your main tools for classroom management. Think about who'll be in the direct eye line of where different children are sitting, who might be good at supporting a classmate that needs help etc. There are a lot of variables and it's tricky to get it perfect! Display this in the room so that visiting/substitute teachers can easily see the children's names.
You need to actively remind yourself to do this. It's so worthwhile though and goes a long way for relationship-building and reinforcing good behaviours.
Absent booklets
I try to have three sets of these in my room so that my class have work to do if they're split into other classrooms or have a substitute teacher in with them
Daily Schedule
Some years I've handwritten this on the board, others I've used picture cards. Either way, children love to know what's coming and it means they're well warned if there's a subject coming up that they don't enjoy. It also saves you from being asked all day when lunch is!
Helping hands
I pull out the names of one girl and one boy to be my helping hands each day. They get to be the line leader/line minder at the back for the day and do any jobs I need.
Table captains
These are changed every week. Table captains hand out materials, books and copies.
Toilet cones
There's a different colour cone for boys and girls. I let one boy and one girl go at a time. They have to place the cone on the table when they're gone. This way, I can see who's gone/where they are and it also stops children from hoodwinking me into following their friend to the toilet to get up to mischief!
Class jobs
When I call 'Tidy time' there are always some children who immediately start tidying up and others who just walk aimlessly around the room not contributing! Giving set jobs helps with this, particularly at the end of the day. Small, specific and simple jobs are key to this. E.g. water plants, tidy library books.
Lost property box
It is a fact of life in the Infant classroom that you'll find unnamed jumpers etc. around the room. I put them all in the box so children know where to go if they're missing something.
Empty table/workstation
Group tables are great, but sometimes children will need a table of their own to get their work done. It's a good idea to have somewhere in the room set up for this so that you can quickly move them and get them back on task.
Footstools for flexible seating
Similar to the above, I like having a flexible seating option if needed. My classroom isn't big enough to facilitate this option all day, every day, for all children. However, if I think a child would work better sitting on the carpet, using the footstool as a table, it's great to have that option.
We do a lot of work sitting on our classroom rug. There are always children who enjoy pulling up the sides and looking underneath instead of listening. I once had a child who'd be distracted during the day by lifting the whole rug and wanting to sweep underneath it. Carpet tape has been a lifesaver!
Here are two reward systems that I use sporadically during the year, as needed!
Teacher v class
I give them their task (e.g. tidy their tables before the timer runs out). If they succeed they get a point, if they don't I get a point. They get a whole-class reward if they've more points than me at the end of the day/week.
Tidy table
I'm very insistent on keeping tidy tables in the classroom. Messy tables are distracting and taking a long time to tidy tables can eat into valuable teaching time. When I think my class needs extra motivation on this front I give out points to tables that are meeting the tidy table expectations. When their table hits a set number of points they get a reward. (Note: You don't need to buy rewards! Infants love certificates)
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