Keeping Appropriate Behavior in Classroom (Avoiding Snowball Effect)

When you start your teaching job for the first time, amazing things will happen during the first couple of days. You will realize that your students are behaving almost perfectly, they are quiet, passive and they follow your directions. All of a sudden you start thinking that you took classroom management too seriously and you start to loosen up a little bit. This is usually the biggest mistakes beginning teachers usually make. Why?

The first days of the school is called "honeymoon period" where students are actually expected to be passive, quiet; in short well-behaved. There are many reasons for this behavior. The first reason is you have probably started your academic year with a good defense on your classroom management (well-written and explained classroom rules and procedures, being firm for misbehavior etc.). Secondly, students do not know much about you, however, they are learning very quickly about what kind of teacher you are. Also, students probably do not know each other as well, therefore, the forming of groups in progress. In addition, parents apply pressure for good behavior since it is the beginning of academic year and they would like to be involved with their kids' education.. With all these, it is difficult for new students to misbehave immediately. However, you should never assume that this will continue forever. The honeymoon period ends quickly. Students will want to know their boundaries and will try to cross them with off task behaviors. There are strategies that can help teachers to keep appropriate behavior in classroom.

Monitor Student Behavior:
In order to monitor student behavior effectively, you must know what to look for. The golden rule for this step is to watch all of the students at all times (active monitoring - before, during, after teaching). Monitoring student behavior allows teacher to intervene early for misbehavior and redirect and correct inappropriate behavior. Teacher should know what to during each phase of a class (before, during, after teaching). The entire class has to be planned in a way that students do not have a lot of free time to misbehave.

Before Class: Most of the noise and misbehavior occur at the beginning and end of the class where there is so much for teacher to prepare allowing free time for students However, establishing a daily routine you and your students follow would help a lot in this case. For example, a daily beginning of class may include:
•Greet students at the door,
•Have an agenda on the board,
•Have a 'do now' or 'warm up' ready for students.
•In addition, take care of attendance and other housekeeping routines while students are busy writing the agenda and answering any 'do now' questions that you have posted.
During Class (when teaching): Teachers get very busy focusing on the subject/problem and their teaching style when they teach and somehow forget about monitoring students. Even when teaching, each and every student must be observed for any misbehavior. This can be accomplished by:
•Standing/sitting where you can see everybody
•Not talking to chalkboard all the time
•Moving and activating eyes
•Focusing on everybody – not just the front seats

During Class (when working with students): There will be times when teachers are busy working with one or multiple students or groups such as helping individuals understand what to do. This is also a time that teachers have to be very carefully and keep monitoring their students. Students should not get the idea that you are busy at the moment and you are not watching them. Here are the things you can do:
•When working with individual groups, pay attention to others. Once the first group is done, walk around before starting the next group
•When students are working individually, you should not just "chase hands" - watch all
•It is difficult to monitor progress on assignments from your desk or from any other fixed location, so do not spend too much time in one place

After Class (until the bell rings): There needs to be preparation by the teacher in case the class ends earlier than expected. Waiting for the bell to ring at the end of class can provide enough time for students to start misbehaving.
•Do not release students early, and do not permit students to finish their work minutes before the bell rings and stand by the door.
•Ask your students to be in their desks before the bell rings
•Do not think the time before bell time is a time for purely social time in class. Social time should be planned and organized rather than allowing students chit-chat.
•Do not permit students to pack up before you dismiss class
•Find a time-filler activity (start homework, do puzzle, etc.) if there is enough time for

Deal with inappropriate behavior promptly: This is probably the most important item in a classroom management plan. Teachers must ensure that inappropriate behaviors (even the minor ones) are handled promptly to keep it from continuing and spreading. You need to make sure that each issue is address in a balanced manner. Do not ignore them. Do not overreact. Here are basic steps to dealing inappropriate behavior:

1.Make eye contact with the student. This should eliminate 90% of minor problems that occur daily.
2.Move closer to the student. Students sometimes ignore eye contact; sometimes they do not see you. Moving closer to the student without interrupting your teaching will most probably help.
3.If the two steps above did not help, it is time to let the student know about the misbehavior and remind the correct procedure. This should be followed by redirect student into the appropriate behavior. "Sammy you should be writing now."
4.If the misbehavior continues, ask or tell student directly to stop the inappropriate behavior. Then monitor until it stops.
5.If all did not help, and if you cannot confront a student at that moment, "take a mental picture" or "flag it" and handle the behavior issue privately by speaking with student after class. Additional measures might be necessary.

Create Positive Climate in Classroom
Sometimes teachers get caught in the trap of seeing only faults and problems and overlooking the better features of students' behavior. Teachers should also address the positive behaviors with praise or rewards in order to create a positive climate.
•Praise and rewards should not be too easily obtained. Public praise of a student for success on an easy task can communicate to the rest of the class that teacher believes s/he has little ability.
•Do not overdo it. You do not need to praise or reward students for the things they are expected to. For example: Students should not be praised or rewarded for coming to class on time.
•Rewards too easily earned or too difficult to achieve lose their motivational effect. Avoid complex – long term reward systems
•Check your school and district policy on what incentives and rewards are allowed/prohibited
•Be careful not to create incentives that only the most able students can achieve
•Not only for achievements, but also try to use it for improvements
•Praise behaviors or actions, not persons.
•Do not compare one student (or class) with another
•Avoid giving up on a student (or appearing to)
•Seek to praise privately as well as publicly such as comments on a student work, verbally during private conversations, send a note to parents, or praise during parent conference. Praising a student privately avoids the complications of public praise in front of the class. It also allows more detail to be conveyed.

Most of the people who quit teaching career in their early years report that student misbehaviors are mostly the major reason for their decision. Teachers should understand that most students exhibit good behavior initially. Gradually this can change if a teacher does not pay attention to maintaining good student behavior. They are usually lulled into a false sense of security. When these inappropriate behaviors left unaddressed, they can spread and escalate to a major level that it is not bearable anymore. Remember, the unmanageable classroom management issues always start by letting little things slip! Consistent monitoring and prompt attention are always necessary.