As a lover of history, I am also a lover of castles. So let's make this one about every teachers' personal castle - the classroom.
The 2023-2024 academic schoolyear was the first time ever that I had my own classroom. One full school year in one classroom. It felt amazing. Well, except that for the second school in a row, my primary classroom was also the afterschool detention room.
I guess you can’t win them all….
Every other year of my teaching career, I have had to bounce between classrooms like a pinball in a machine. I wonder if any of the following sounds familiar. Have you ever had to:
- Cross through a busy hallway with a class of books and equipment?
- Run from one building to another, knowing a class of rowdy students waits impatiently at the door?
- Rush one class out the door, only to hop into the car and drive a mile to the other school site?
- Forgot some key equipment or printing, but only realised once you got to your new location?
I’ve done them all. Many, many times (especially the last point!) In those situations, it can be very hard to remain composed, especially when SLT try to hurry students in before you can set yourself up to teach. Students pick up on your emotions. If you are hurried, distracted and pressured, why should they be attentive, calm and measured in their learning?
The reason I start with this is because one of the key battlegrounds in behavioural management is understanding that your classroom is your castle. Students need to understand that when they step into the classroom it is you, the teacher, that is the point of authority. You make the decisions on learning. Right or wrong, your decisions around behavioural management must be followed.
And yes, you – not the bloody bell – dismiss the students at the end!
All of that can be undermined by a rushed entrance or a visibly harried teacher. In my experience, if you get the students fully compliant and in a positive learning environment as they enter the classroom, then you are far more likely to keep them on board for the full lesson.
So, what can be done to keep your castle secure from the malaise of madness and badness, and return it to gladness?
A lot of it is attitude. It doesn’t matter if the room is hot and there are no windows. It doesn’t matter if the boards have long since been torn and cut to shreds. That classroom, for that lesson, is your castle. They are swinging on YOUR chair. They are putting gum on YOUR tables. Children tend to do these things selfishly or without thinking, not maliciously. If somebody feels instead that they are defacing an individual’s personal property, they tend to be more understanding of why it is bad.
How then can you show your control of the classroom, even when you teach in a dozen different rooms and none of them match your dream layout?
- Get students involved.
If the room is your castle, then you need knights. Your students step up here. Volunteer students to hand books while you set up the laptop. Another student can wipe the board and write the date. Another is responsible for whiteboards (handing out, and putting them back in one piece).
Personally, I ‘ask’ with the clear tone that it is an instruction, not a request. Afterwards, reward those students according to your school’s positive behaviour policy - as a good lord of the realm should!
- Windows and doors.
Some teachers like doors open, some like them closed. Either way, the moment you get a second to do so, open or close the doors and windows to your preference – or get a student to do so.
This shows students you are making yourself comfortable and ready to teach, and they will reflect that too. It can also help you mentally feel like you can adapt the classroom to your preference itself, even in a small way.
- Find your ‘power position’.
Every classroom should have a space where you can see and be seen by every student. I find it helpful during the ‘do now’ phase of teaching (the first 5 minutes of recall information) to get up and quickly roam the classroom to ensure students are working. In an unfamiliar classroom, I use this time to ‘test’ out the best spaces to stand, where everyone can see me.
Once you find this space, go to that exact spot every time you give class-wide instructions. Let that spot be your tower, where your loyal subjects see you as you address them. Students will mentally begin associating that spot being occupied with new instructions coming in, and they need to focus.
- Leave time at the end to pack away for yourself
I get it. You have a full lesson to teach. Every minute matters. The plenary really is super important for assessing learning. But please, make sure you leave a good amount of time to pack away. When there are situations, you have to dart from classroom to classroom, the worst thing to do is end your lesson in chaos – especially if you kept the darling hooligans in a great state of learning for the rest of the lesson.
Leave time to pack away. If need be, your plenary can be cold called questions as students stand behind their chairs, so you buy yourself time to prepare for the mad dash to your next room.
- Entrance and exit routines are key
The start and end need to be orderly and structured. Trust me. Bring students in when you are ready. Reinforce positive praise and give clear, simple instructions. If you don’t have time to set up a PowerPoint with instructions on, then pre-prepare and have the do now on a sheet of paper that you or a student can hand out.
Similarly, don’t hit the end of a lesson and just kick out the students. Break the routine down calmly. Pack books away. Then stand behind chairs. Then when everybody is silent (and only then) do you dismiss, and definitely not as a horde all at once. Is there a minute or two left but they are already standing? Well, that isn’t chat time, cold call some questions from the lessons instead.
Do this regularly, and you will find that students know what to expect for future lessons, no matter what room they (or you) are in. It makes the rest of the year far easier.
- Be omniscient
Know all and see all. It’s obvious, right?
So clearly that instruction is impossible, but with the right attitude, it can seem like it, even if you might not even physically be able to see all students at once (pillars in classrooms can be a nightmare!). However, some tricks help here. As a year progresses, you should find you can fairly accurately figure out who is talking by their voice. Especially if they are a regular troublemaker. Students will be shocked you call them out, even if your back is to them.
Similarly, your seating plans should ensure your most challenging students are clearly visible as often as possible. Just because you are helping another student, doesn’t mean you aren’t keeping an eye on mischief-maker Michael (apologies to all Michaels in the world!).
Even if you can’t, or don’t feel confident enough to challenge misbehaviour from that student you think might have done it but cannot be sure, instead narrate to the class the correct behaviour, and reward someone for doing it right. The poor bugger who was messing around will instinctively feel that they have been caught, and will likely want to do the right thing themselves anyway.
All these tips, with just the right attitude (remember, firm but fair in all things!) should see you and your castle through to another siege my lord!
Good luck!