Classroom management involves the specific undertakings that the teacher must outline for proper handling of the students. Bearing in mind that this teacher is expected to take a class of tens of students through the academic system, the teacher is then required to forge ways that will uphold strict discipline. These children come from different backgrounds and more so they are young and spontaneous. The requirement to draw them into attention is, therefore, crucial as it will ensure they grasp the lessons that their teacher intends to instill. Ensuring a well-behaved class, therefore, is one of the major reasons for the preparation of a classroom management plan. This essay aims at demystifying this plan and also uncovering its relationship with behavior and student engagement.
Spontaneity, as mentioned above, is one reason why students misbehave (Rosenberg, 2006). Quite often, students in a class will often break into a noise or some disarray hampering the smooth learning and concentration. Interior and exterior distraction are certain impulses that trigger noise making; a major for of misbehavior in class. A teacher in such a class will have a hard time communicating to a noisy class. The same case applies to a teacher in an adjacent class. It is the duty of the teacher to find a way of dealing with this form of indiscipline.
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To begin with, the teacher should adhere to time. By being in class on the dot, this teacher communicates the message that the students should be at their desks before the lesson begins. A teacher who comes late to class may expect to find the students making noise or idling about (Sutton, Mudrey-Camino and Knight, 2009). A student coming late, on the other hand, may draw the students’ attention and distract them from class. Indeed this can be stopped if the teacher defines the expected protocol and insists on sticking to the regulations.
In a noisy class, for example, the teacher should uphold the authority to command silence. Arguments or discussions, for example, should follow a certain order as opposed to everybody raising their opinions at the same time (Bauer, 2001). The scenario has been likened to a marketplace where different groups of people are haggling at the same time. It is also common for students to make noise during lesson transition. As part of classroom management plan, it is advisable for the teacher to remain silent until every student is settled. A teacher who cultivates this character is likely to have a more conducive classroom environment and more so, cultivate proper behavior in other fields.
As far as time, space and material are concerned in the learning process it is the element of good management that will ensure that the process is successful. There is a great correlation between this undertaking and student engagement (Bauer, 2001). When discipline is maintained the student-teacher relation is enhanced, and proper learning takes place. Bauer further highlights various techniques that are fruitful when applied. Knowing the names of the students is a major aspect of management. When the teacher gets to know and use the names of the students, a personal approach is applied. When the teacher wants to draw the attention of a specific student, therefore, it is easier to call out the student’s name. When a question is posed to such a student, the teacher can ensure concentration eventually imparting the required knowledge.
Bauer also makes note that a teacher cannot curb bad behavior by only checking out the negatives and reprimanding them. It is also proper to emphasize good behavior (Bauer, 2001). It is thus advisable to congratulate the students who are found doing a good thing. Such a student will want to do something good another day and would desist from behavior that would otherwise overshadow the good deed. This is another element of management that ensures that utmost student involvement is maintained.
The classroom management plan is beneficial to both the students and their teachers. When bad behavior is pruned off, and the students maintain a high level of discipline, the teacher will find it easy to impart knowledge. It saves such a teacher the time and energy that would have otherwise been spent handling the negative traits. More so, the parties involved are spared the enmity that may develop if the student was always caught misbehaving (Bauer, 2001). It should be noted that discipline is instilled gradually to eventually present a well-rounded individual that will not only fit within the school environment but also much later after the student has graduated. Effective classroom management plan has developed cultures where there is mutual pride in past learning interaction when the parties meet much later in life.
It is also notable that the parents, as the third and interested parties, stand to gain a lot from effective classroom management plan. A student who has been taught to observe time will eventually portray these traits even back at home (Sutton et al. 2009). When it is good for maintenance of the individual out there, especially in the workplace, the parents benefit here is magnificent since it is their wish and joy that their children get a proper education which will enable them to fit in the society. Academic excellence is not useful without discipline. It is for that reason that parents would shy away from taking their children to a school whose students have a bad reputation. All the more, it explains why all leaning institutions insist on a foundation that bends towards a cultivation of good behavior be it religious or philosophical.
The experiences expressed above help in shaping an individual’s philosophy of classroom management. When the parents take their children to school, they have certain expectations about them (Rosenberg, 2006). The teacher, on the other hand, is endowed with the needed knowledge and also entitled to instill it. When the students leave the institution, it is more likely that they will end up in the larger society either in business or on a career path. The home experiences remind such a student that the parent has good intentions for the child (Sutton et al. 2009). Social experiences will, on the other hand, inform an individual that the society has very high expectations from a student. There are very many dilemmas in the world that require vast knowledge to solve. These situations do not affect individuals but the society in general. It should, therefore, be automatic that the educational experiences bridge the two experiences mentioned above. A disciplined student is always attentive in class. On the other hand, the teacher will note such an individual’s enthusiasm and accord any special attention required to ensure that learning takes place. A study has highlighted that home experiences with informed parents have produced students who conform to the management plan eventually fitting well in the society (Rosenberg, 2006). It should be noted that modern technology has helped in the transfer of knowledge from vast distances. A critical observer has thus been able to grasp the best practices that impact individual management plans. Media has not been left behind in the portrayal of certain impacts of education. But the bottom line is that the parents and society should be instrumental in shaping what the student opts to emulate. That way, education will produce individuals that fit in the society.
In conclusion, classroom management plan and student engagement relate to shape an appropriate environment for learning. There are various techniques that teacher should emulate for a cordial teacher-student relationship. Eventually, the learning process is smooth, and the student is beneficial and compatible with the large society. It is the role of the teacher to instill positive attitude in the students that they may conform to the management plan for an effective learning process. Modern technology and media, on the other hand, should be exploited constructively to pursue novel knowledge that would benefit the society at large.
References
Bauer, W. (2001). Classroom Management for Ensembles. Music Educators Journal, 87 (6), 27-32.
Rosenberg, M. (2006). Maximizing the Effectiveness of Structured Classroom Management Programs: Implementing Rule-Review Procedures with Disruptive and Distractible Students. Behavioral Disorders, 11 (4). 239-248;
Sutton, R., Mudrey-Camino, R., & Knight, C. (2009). Teachers’ Emotional Regulation and Classroom Management. Theory into Practice, 48 (2) 130-137.
