Classroom Management

Throughout the past four weeks that I have been lead teaching at Costa Verde, one area of education that has consistently challenged me is classroom management.  Though I have seen many different classroom management tactics in my past practicum experiences, classroom management is much harder to implement than it appears to be.  It is extremely difficult to find and choose the tactics that work best for your personality AND for your students’ personalities.  My first week teaching, I felt like I had no control over the students; everything seemed a bit chaotic.  I am happy to say, however, that as the weeks went on, I began to implement some classroom management strategies that worked for my students and for me.  Here are some strategies I have been successfully using:

1.)    HAND CLAPPING—When I clap my hands to a rhythm, the students have to repeat the hand clapping rhythm.  After they finish the hand clapping rhythm, they must have “bocas cerradas” (closed mouths).  Though it sometimes takes my students a few rounds of clapping rhythms to fully engage in this classroom management technique, by the end, everyone is quietly waiting for the next directions.

    2.)    LOS EQUISes (THE X’S)—After noticing that my students were having a hard time keeping their hands and bodies to themselves during carpet time, I decided to place X’s (Equis5es), made out of masking tape, on the carpet in rows.  Whenever it is carpet time, the students must find an X to sit on, and that X then becomes their personal space.  Before placing the X’s on the carpet I was worried that the students would pick at the tape or ignore it.  However, after using it for just one week, it worked wonders!  I never once had a student pick at the tape, and they all enjoyed picking out an X and sitting down on it.  Furthermore, I noticed a lot more active engagement and participation from students while doing whiteboard activities like shared writing or math mini-lessons.  I am so glad that I decided to put these X’s on the carpet.

    3.)    BEHAVOIR CHART—After struggling in the classroom management department for a while, a colleague from the school office helped me develop a behavior chart.  While I was not too keen on the idea at first, I now am so thankful for the reinforcement it provides in my classroom.  The behavior chart has five spaces that say “día fabuloso” (fabulous day), “gran día” (great day), “buen día” (good day), “hacer opciones mejores” (make better choices), and “contactar los padres” (parent contact).  All the students have a clothespin with their names on it, and they all start out with their clothespin on un “día fabuloso”.  The goal is that all the students will remain at this spot throughout the entire day.  However, if certain studetns are struggling with making poor choices such as distracting their neighbors, running around the classroom, yelling in the classroom, hiding under the tables, etc., they are asked to move their clothespin one space lower.  On the contrary, if I find them working hard, helping their neighbors, paying close attention during class, etc., they are asked to move their clothespin one space up.  This classroom management technique works well for my students because it gives them a tactile and visual way to monitor themselves.  They can make whatever choices they want, but they are also aware of the consequences those choices can bring.  I have seen an increase in behavior awareness from the students and an increase in their intrinsic motivation since using this chart.  At the end of each day I write what space the students ended up on in their take-home planners.  In this way, parents are aware of the choices their children are making during class as well. 

Although classroom management is a hard thing to tackle, once you find a system that works for you and the students, the classroom becomes much more productive and peaceful.