Classroom and Behavior Management

B. Classroom Organization

Physical Arrangement of the Room

The physical arrangement of the room can either promote or hinder the teacher's instructional efforts and the quality of learning that takes place. Different seating arrangements are appropriate for different instructional styles and learning activities. A classroom that is not arranged to be functional can encourage student off-task behavior.

Carolyn Evertson emphasizes examining the physical arrangement of the classroom to minimize distractions and maximize access (student access to instructor, materials, demonstrations as well as teacher access to each student), matching the arrangement to the objectives of the lesson.

Arrangement of the classroom furniture influences student behavior and the efficiency with which procedures and routines can be carried out. While some classrooms may have seats or tables that cannot be moved, such as those in a science or computer lab, students in other classes may be seated at individual desks with unattached chairs, at chair desks (chairs with a writing surface attached), or they may share space with other students at a table. In the latter situations the furniture can be rearranged to the most appropriate configuration. Young children may also need an open area for activities and space for lining up, or they may need to be able to move within the classroom to access various learning centers.

Considerations

Therefore, regardless of the instructional method used in the classroom, teachers must consider each of the following before selecting instructional resources:

Eye Contact: Many authors agree that it is important for all students to be able to see the teacher as well as for the teacher to be able to see all students. (Students should not have their backs to the teacher when instruction is being provided.) A good way to check this out is for the teacher to occupy each seat when the students are not in the room.

2.	Room Dividers: Bookshelves or other classroom dividers should be short enough that the teacher can see over them to observe students in any area of the classroom.

3.	Instructional Aids: If instruction involves use of the board or an overhead projector, all students should be able to see the board or screen.

4.	Unobstructed Passageways for Teachers: The teacher should be able to move freely about the room, between students or student groups, to monitor their work or provide help. This can be checked out by moving around the room when there are no students present. Frequent movement by the teacher within the classroom supports on-task behavior.

	One elementary school teacher circulates around the room about two minutes after students start a written assignment. This allows enough time to be able to tell if everyone is on the right page, has his or her name on the paper, and is following directions

5.	Student Traffic: High traffic areas, such as around the teacher's desk, the wastebasket, the pencil sharpener, and doors, and windows should provide easy student access and movement.

6.	Student Space: For independent seatwork, sufficient separation between individuals is necessary.

7.	Student Access to Materials: Materials for student use should be in a location accessible to all students, and movement to and from this area should be clear and unobstructed. The teacher may have a designated area or container where materials for the day's class or subject are placed prior to class, if the students are to pick up the materials themselves.

8.	Restricted Access: Materials for controlled student access should be stored in a location not easily accessible to students.

9.	Distractions: Unnecessary objects and materials should be removed from the room or placed in storage in the classroom to minimize distractions. The location of doors, windows, other students, reading groups, animals in the classroom, etc. can also serve as distractions and their locations should be considered when planning the arrangement of the classroom.

Various Seating Arrangements

Many variations in arrangement of student desks or tables are possible. In a large classroom there may be a special open area designated for "circle time" or similar activities for young children.

Seating for Lectures or Demonstrations

One traditional room arrangement includes rows of tables, individual seats, or desks with all students facing the same direction, This arrangement may serve lectures and demonstrations well, but discussion is somewhat hampered because some students have their backs to others. (Someone once said that it is a wonder we know how to communicate face-to-face, since we spent 12 years looking at the backs of heads.) This arrangement is also suitable for individual seatwork, providing there is sufficient space between individuals to limit contact and permit the teacher to move between rows or desks.

Traditional Seating Arrangement image

Seating for Discussion

Seating students in a semicircle or circle improves the climate for discussion. Each student can see everyone else. If students are seated at tables, they can be formed into a horseshoe or "u" shape rather than a true curved configuration.

Seating for Group Activities

Using tables or grouping desks/chair together enables students to work cooperatively more easily. Desks can be arranged so students face each other. If there is much teacher direction, it may be desirable to have the desks/tables arranged so that students have their sides toward the teacher, avoiding a situation in which some students have their backs to the teacher.

Alternate Classroom Seating Group Activities Image

Classroom Seating Group Activities Image

Procedures and Routines

Another important aspect of classroom management that effective teachers use is prevention or anticipation of conditions that could lead to inappropriate behavior. Engaging lessons that actively involve students, and implementing routines for transition times are two major preventative strategies.

Teaching and learning time can be preserved by developing procedures for those aspects of teaching that recur each day with predictability. These procedures can also minimize teacher time spent performing non-instructional duties. Examples of procedures and routines include taking roll, beginning the day or the class period with students involved in learning activities, transitions within the classroom, display of assignments, storage and distribution of materials, collection of student work, getting student attention, and redirecting student off-task behavior to the appropriate activity.

Establishing procedures and routine ways of doing business can prevent confusion and promote independence and a sense of security in the students because they know what is expected of them. It is far more efficient for each of 15 students to do something for themselves than to have the teacher do (or assist the student to do) the task for each student. Depending on the students' age and maturity level, they can also perform tasks for the teacher or assist the teacher or each other. Some teachers have their students apply for classroom "jobs" at the beginning of the year and periodically during the year.

Unlike rules, which can involve students in their establishment, procedures are determined by the teacher. A procedure is a specific sequence of actions to efficiently achieve an end result. Procedures have to be taught, just as content is taught. Explaining them to students should be followed by practice and frequent reminders before a procedure occurs enabling students to complete it correctly. Some situations for which procedures are commonly established are listed below. Procedures become routines when the same procedure is consistently used in like situations.

Beginning the Class

Getting Ready: It is important to determine and convey your expectations for your students upon their entrance into your classroom.

	You may want your students to be in their seats, with their materials, and ready to work when the beginning of class is signaled.

	One teacher instructs students to make sure they have two sharpened pencils before the start of class.

	Some teachers have a designated place in the classroom for students to pick up materials before they take their seats, rather than having the materials distributed by the teacher after the students are seated.

	Another teacher places the materials on each student's desk before students enter the room.

Signals: There should be a signal to indicate the start of class (as well as transitions during the day). The most common signals are a bell, a buzzer, a specified time on the clock, or an announcement by the teacher.

Involving Students in Learning Activities: Students need to be engaged immediately in learning activities when they enter the classroom. This beginning activity should be one that each student can accomplish independently (for example, practice or review) in a short amount of time. Teachers may choose to begin the day's instruction when all students have finished the beginning activity or at a specific time, with time allowed later to finish the opening activity.

	An assignment can be posted each day in the same location. Students are taught to look for the assignment and begin work immediately upon entering the room appropriately.

	Each student may have an individual folder stored in a wall file, pocket chart, or upright organizer. An independent, individual assignment is placed in each folder before class begins. Students take folders, go to their seats, and begin work immediately. (This can also serve as a way of taking attendance and providing the materials for students who are absent.)

Taking Attendance: The teacher's use of a seating chart to determine absentees is only one way of taking attendance.

	As students enter the room, students can indicate they are present by having each student move a movable marker to a specified location to indicate presence on a display of student names. Upon entering, the student moves his or her marker to the "present" location. Some teachers vary this practice by having the student indicate a "lunch choice," thereby indicating their presence.

	One middle school teacher has used a wooden board with a column of student names adjacent to two columns of peg holes - one for "absent" and the other for "present." Before students enter, all pegs are placed in the "absent" position.

For either of the two systems above, a student assistant or paraprofessional can be used to move the markers to the beginning position at a specified time each day.

Collecting Completed Work: This should be done with minimal distraction, disruption, and loss of teaching and learning time. Depending on the maturity of the students and the nature of the class, the procedure could have papers collected from all students at the same time or individually as students complete the work.

Work can simply be passed to the front (or left, or right) of each row. It can also be placed in an assignment box in a designated classroom area, or placed in student individual folders that are turned in with finished assignments in them. Different receptacles for specific types of work can be provided. Teachers sometimes use color-coded paper or containers to differentiate between work for different subject areas in self-contained classrooms or for different classes in middle school and high school.

	Some teachers of middle and high school students emphasize collecting something from everyone. If a student does not have the assignment, writes that on a sheet of paper with the date and turns it in so there is no question later about whether the assignment was turned in or not.

	One teacher uses the method above but has the student write the reason why the assignment was not turned in. When parents are contacted after the third instance, the student's note is attached.

Early Finishers: All students will not finish independent or guided work at the same time. Students who finish early should know what they are expected to do upon finishing each assignment. Students may place their assignments in individual student folders in the classroom. Appropriate classroom resources and choices should always be available (bookshelf, spelling practice, Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, computer time, learning centers, drill and practice with a peer, etc.) to occupy early finishers in accepted ways, or the choices can be rotated weekly. Students also enjoy the opportunity to CREATE games or puzzles for the other students. Doing word and number puzzles, and reading newspapers, and magazines may appeal to older students.

Late Finishers: Students who work at a slower pace should also know what is expected of them if they do not complete the work within the prescribed time. One technique is to place it in a folder to be completed at home (or at some other time during the school day) at the end of the work time so that it does not present a distraction during subsequent activities.

Leaving the Room: The conditions and times when (and if) students can leave the room independently should be the same from day to day. If some type of hall pass is needed, there should be no question about its use.

Students can be instructed to ask permission any time they need to leave the room.

Many teachers do not allow students to leave the room when instruction is going on unless it is an emergency.

Having a single re-usable hall pass limits the number of students who can be gone at any one time.

Another suggestion from a veteran teacher is to have one reusable hall pass for each destination of the common destinations. (bathroom, office, library, locker, etc.)

Hall passes can be color coded so that upstairs bathroom passes are only good upstairs. Or the color-coding can indicate the destination (library passes are blue, bathroom passes are green, etc.).

If there is no way to write the student's name, time, and destination on the pass (as might be true of reusable passes), some teachers of older students have them sign out, indicating the time and destination, when they leave and record the time when they return with the pass.

If a problem occurs in the school, it is important that the teacher can determine who was not in class at the time it happened.

Getting the Attention of the Students: Teachers use various means to get the attention of their students. Some lower or turn off the lights. Others may use a bell or buzzer. For still others, moving to a particular place in the room or simply stopping the instruction until students have quieted triggers the desired response in the students.

Interruptions and off task student behaviors

Occasionally non-instructional duties and student behavior interfere with teaching and learning activities. The teacher can give the class specific tasks to accomplish when these responsibilities take attention from the class. It is preferable to limit the amount of time devoted to such interruptions.

In the case of student misbehavior, effective teachers tend to be aware of such behavior and respond promptly. They frequently move through a progressive routine that involves eye contact with the student, moving into close proximity to the student, touching the student lightly on the shoulder, and using facial expression to signal displeasure. If it becomes necessary, the student can be relocated on either a temporary or permanent basis. Should it become necessary to devote full attention to the student, it is best to speak privately with the student.

Kounin (1977), in discussing effective teacher behavior (behavior that enhances student learning), speaks of teacher "withitness," i.e., a teacher's ability to be aware of many things going on in a classroom simultaneously. Although some people seem to be born with this ability, most of us have to learn and nurture it. It is important that you train yourself to become aware of every student, even as you deliver instruction to a large group or work with small groups or individuals at various places in the classroom. "Withitness" is the key to good classroom management and maybe your survival as a teacher.

Other Situations: There are many other situations for which teachers commonly develop procedures and routines. Some examples are listed below:

how and when students can secure individual help from the teacher or other students,
how and when students are allowed to move about the classroom,
the amount of conversation or talking that is permitted,
how and when restroom breaks are permitted,
how students are dismissed at the end of class or the end of the day,
how students move to the lunchroom and back
how, when, and by whom the classroom is cleaned up (trash on the floor picked up, etc.),
how, when, and by whom classroom rules are developed,
how students who are absent receive and make up their assignments, and
using the class (group) to hold individuals accountable and promote appropriate behavior.

We find that some high school teachers feel that procedures and routines are only for elementary or middle school age learners. Nothing could be further from the truth! We need good procedures and routines at any age to manage our lives and to be productive. The secret is tailoring the procedure to the age(s) and levels of understanding of the students.

This concludes Part 1 of the information on Classroom and Behavioral Management.

Go to the next section to check your knowledge (covering Section B).

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