Classroom Management

My first year teaching was a classroom management nightmare. I thought that I was prepared but I quickly realized that I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was. The biggest issue that I had was being consistent my first year of teaching. I tried to be consistent but I realized that when I was tired or aggravated I was more strict. I also noticed that when I was in a better mood, I would allow the students to do things that normally I would not have allowed. This sent mixed signals to the students and they really couldn't understand how I expected them to act. As my experience increased I saw an improvement in this area. I was able to be more consistent, and the students knew exactly what I expected of them. This made the classroom much more easier to manage. The students knew that if they did not act in a way that they were supposed to, there would be consequences to face.

I also realized that students really like structure. I had tried "free days" in the gym and it always seemed that this is where most of the behavioral issues happened. A "free day" is where the students can decide on what activity they wanted to do, usually on a Friday. Almost every time I did this, I had more disciplinary problems than on a regular day. I noticed that if I had specific instructions for what the students needed to do, they were much more likely to stay on task and do what was asked of them. For example, the students love "station day". This is where I have four or five stations set up around the gym and the students rotate to each station. They stay at each station for six or seven minutes and then rotate. As a teacher, I stand there and it looks like this would be the most boring activity I could do in p.e. but the students absolutely love it. I believe that it is the structure that they love. With the stations, they are told exactly what to do and when to do it. I feel that because they are told what to do, they enjoy the activity more.

I realized very quickly that classroom management is extremely important to not only keep your class under control but also create an environment that encourages learning. I also believe that as your years of experience increase, your classroom management also becomes better. Every year that I teach, I find out things that work and don't work. I don't believe classroom management can be taught in a class, but it needs to be learned through experiences from the teacher.