Classroom Management Strategies and Best Practices

Scenario 1

Promoting Self-awareness

Mr. Fowler’s Action: Mr. Fowler holds meetings with Sasha’s parents on a regular basis. He also sends them emails when Sasha fails to complete her assignment. Although this action helps Mr. Fowler hold Sasha accountable with her parents, it does very little to promote self-awareness for Sasha. Instead of emailing her parents, Mr. Fowler should be questioning Sasha herself.  Strategy: Instead of questioning her parents, Mr. Fowler should question Sasha and hold her accountable for not finishing her assignments. He should remind her when she fails to complete or turn-in her work. By employing this strategy, Mr. Fowler would be able to make Sasha aware of her own behaviors and actions. 

Promoting Self-Awareness

Mr. Fowler’s Action: Mr. Fowler has positioned Sasha’s desk near his workstation to keep her within eyeshot. This way, Mr. Fowler can direct Sasha to stay on task in case she becomes distracted. Although this action is aimed to keep Sasha on task, it does very little to promote her self-management. This is because it inhibits her from taking an active role in monitoring and managing her own actions and behaviors. Rather than keeping her within eyeshot and directing her, Mr. Fowler should create an environment where Sasha can take an active role in class.  Strategy: Mr. Fowler should develop and implement a self-management plan with Sasha (Hoff & Ervin, 2013). The plan should be tailored towards helping Sasha maintain an active role in class. This includes helping her monitor and reinforce her own actions and behaviors while fostering independence and self-reliance. 

Promoting Self-Efficacy

Mr. Fowler’s Action: Mr. Fowler allows Sasha to post her pictures in class. However, to do so, Sasha has to complete and turn in her assignment first. Although this action helps Sasha complete her assignment, it does very little to promote her self-efficacy. The action only acts as an incentive for Sasha to complete her assignment. It does not help her foster the belief that she can complete something on her own.  Strategy: Mr. Fowler should capitalize on Sasha’s interest in art. He should tie the course materials, assignments, or concepts to Sasha’s interest in art. Mr. Foster should allow Sasha to create her goals and work towards attaining them (Bandura, 2013). This way, Sasha will be confident in her capabilities, which would, in turn, help her gain self-efficacy.  

Promoting Self-Esteem 

Mr. Fowler’s Action: Mr. Fowlers acknowledges that Sasha isolates herself from the rest of the class. It is highly likely that Sasha isolates herself because she feels she is not worthy. However, Mr. Fowlers does not encourage her to connect with her peers.  Strategy: To spark self-esteem, Mr. Fowler should place Sasha in team/group work (Shi & Steen, 2012). Since Sasha is interested in art, Mr. Fowler should survey the class for students with similar interests. He should then place the students in one group and ask them to explore artworks during the free time session. This way, Sasha would be able to work with her peers and grow socially. This will, in turn, help her build her self-esteem as she would be able to share her interests with her peers. 

Scenario 2

Encouraging Positive Social Interaction 

Mr. Fowler’s Action: To encourage positive social interaction in the classroom, Mrs. Holt could create a project that is group-centered. In the group, each group member should be assigned a specific role. He should make each role contingent on the other.  Strategy: By creating a group project, assigning each of the group members a specific role, and making each role contingent on each other, Mrs. Holt would be able to encourage positive social interaction with Eric and his peers. This is because it will give Eric the opportunity to channel his bossy characteristic positively. It will also give Eric and his peers the opportunity to interact and work together to complete the assigned group project. 

Encouraging Self-Motivation 

Mr. Fowler’s Action: Mr. Holt should develop and implement a reward system that rewards students who complete their assignments successfully (Girmus, 2012). This way, Mrs. Holt would be able to motivate Eric to complete his assignments carefully, with minimal to no errors.  Strategy: Eric usually rushes to complete his assignments, and this often results in sloppy mistakes. This can be attributed to a number of factors, such as lack of motivation. By implementing a reward system, for instance, allowing students to participate in their activities of interest during free time, Eric will want to complete his assignments correctly and efficiently in order to be able to participate in his activity of interest during free time within the class. 

Encouraging Active Engagement 

Mr. Fowler’s Action: Mrs. Holt should allow Eric to play a positive role in the class. For example, she should allow Eric to help other students in the class, create class rules and expectations or say what activities or games the class should be engaged in during the free time in class.  Strategy: Eric often acts bossy and usually distracts and bothers others after completing his assignments. By allowing Eric to play a positive role in class, Mrs. Holt could encourage Eric to play an active role in class. This because this strategy will turn Eric’s bossy characteristic into a leadership skill of helping other students. This strategy will also help minimize Eric distractions because he will be engaged in other activities. 

References

Bandura, A. (2013). The role of self-efficacy in goal-based motivation. In E. A. Locke & G. P. Latham (Eds.), New developments in goal setting and task performance (p. 147–157). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. Girmus, R. L. (2012). How to Motivate Your Students. Online Submission. Hoff, K. E., & Ervin, R. A. (2013). Extending self‐management strategies: The use of a classwide approach. Psychology in the Schools, 50(2), 151-164. Shi, Q., & Steen, S. (2012). Using the Achieving Success Everyday (ASE) group model to promote self-esteem and academic achievement for English as a second language (ESL) students. Professional School Counseling, 16(1), 2156759X1201600108.