One Top Tip For Behaviour Management.

The other day, I wrote a few top tips on behaviour management and whilst they have all been successful for me and I continue to use them, I got to thinking, before any of those can actually work, you need to do (consistently) one basic thing…

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Greet them at the door of your classroom!

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I did a little test this week and greeted the majority of my classes at the door, and had the starter activity ready for them on the board/desks. As they entered the class, I said good morning and they said it back, and they knew they had something to be getting on with. We started off on the right foot.

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On the flip side, with some other classes, I simply sat at my desk as they entered the room, didn’t speak to them and didn’t have anything prepared, waiting until they were all in the class to start the lesson.

It is safe to say that the behaviour for the remainder of the lesson with these classes was much less desirable than that of the students in the lessons in which I met them at the door.

You see, I really believe that good behaviour comes from modelling and expectations. Why should we expect students to be polite to us if we cannot even be bothered to say hello to them? Those few seconds of talking to them is priceless. You find out what kind of mood they are in, what they did at break/lunch or just something that perhaps you did not know before. I found that it out them, and myself, in a good mood and as a result, the behaviour was great throughout.

I understand that I am probably teaching most of you to suck eggs, but I am sure, in your school, there are some teachers who have adopted this "bad habit".

It is imperative that we model what we expect and that lessons are consistent. Students know where they stand that way! Some methods I use to display this consistency are:

1) Either having all the books out ready on the desks before the lesson starts or employing a book manager to do so;

2) Settler/starter is ALWAYS on the board ready. Students know this is the first task;

3) Colour coding. Anything in blue is to be copied, e.g. Date/title. Anything in red is to be completed and anything green is a challenge.

Simply starting EVERY lesson this way has proven to be successful for me, but it really does need to be consistent.

Ask your students if they know what you expect from them as soon as they enter the lesson and their answers will teach you where to go next!

Find more inspirational ideas for your classroom in: "OUTSTANDING LESSON AHEAD" by Amy Sargent (published by JNPAQUET Books Ltd). A book that will just fire your imagination with its thought-provoking style and provides both aspiring and current teachers with suggestions, ideas and techniques to incorporate in their lessons.