It’s back to school! The first actions of the teacher are scrutinized by the students. Some teachers are more successful than others in gaining respect in their class. The first decisions will partly condition the rest of the teacher / learner relationship. Thus, it is essential from day one to establish discipline in the classroom and to send a strong message to the students. Here are some tips for establishing discipline in your classroom:

1. Make an Investment Plan

Placing your students means organizing relationships in the classroom; it is by no means a waste of time since it is this that will allow you to prevent certain conflicts and subsequently create a calm and stimulating work atmosphere.

Making a classroom plan may seem like a totally arbitrary punitive act in the eyes of your students. However, if you do it from the first few lessons, you cannot be accused of placing your students according to the affinities they have developed during the first days of class.

A sheet, a nice drawing of the table layout of each of your classes, a tube of glue – for the more zealous, the photo of each student, other kind of art supplies guts.pk/shop/category/art-supplies/ and off to the creative workshop! This plan, if it gives you the impression of taking you a little time, will nevertheless save you considerably by allowing you to memorize the names of your dear pupils more easily!

These few tips can help you place your students.

• Never put a disruptive element at the bottom: it would take the opportunity to do something quite different.

• Try to surround disruptive elements with serious, calm students.

• Those who participate actively in class do not necessarily have to be put in the first row, on the contrary: play on the natural mimicry of some students by placing them in the middle of an area of ​​your room that is particularly quiet, or even asleep.

Theoretically, and in the best case, those who constantly raise their finger to speak should give ideas to those who snooze gently … At worst, the gymnastics they put in place to be the first to respond will keep the most passive awake…

2. Tell them about the class charter

So as not to break your head in making a placement plan, which will not be respected at all, or to move the disruptive elements throughout your lessons, the teacher explains to the students what they are going to do: they will define set the rules of the class. They discuss the rules of the class. What are we allowed to do in the classroom and what are we not allowed to do? Also, why are certain things prohibited?

In addition, not everyone can do what they want when they want because the classrooms would then be places of contention and places where there is a lack of values. Present the poster of the rules which will be grouped according to the right they guarantee (the pupils have the reduced model of the poster). Explain that the rules have been grouped together and that it is up to them to find out why even choosing the colors paints or acrylics guts.pk/shop/category/art-supplies/acrylics/.

3. Getting around in class

The teacher is the facilitator and has to sit in different places each time. He must see all the students in the class at all times, regardless of the arrangement of tables and students. His position in space is therefore never the result of chance or habit … if certain situations favor his presence on the board, he will gain, depending on his needs, by occupying all of his classroom space. so as not to freeze a partition of space, always symbolic: the desk for the teacher and the room for the students. For the teacher, it is not a question of going down “into the arena” when he is obliged to do so (conflict between students), but of positioning himself regularly in the class at the most suitable place, depending on the activity and management of the group. He will therefore take care to diversify his position to see what is happening in the class, to maintain the attention of the students and to be able to be with everyone, without privileging a space or a group of students. In doing so, the teacher remains attentive to everyone’s attitudes to ensure that they will not be the target of inappropriate provocations or jokes.

4. Give clear instructions

Before putting the students to the task, make sure that your instructions are clear. Write them on the board (number them even better). Display the repositories they can use to get more information on the screen, or using a magnet on the board. They will be able to find them more easily in their satchel. If you forgot to give an instruction and want to interrupt their working time, make sure you have everyone’s silence and attention before speaking. Otherwise, your words may only be understood by a few students.

Instead of raising my voice or turning off the lights when I want their attention once they work as a team, I use my phrase of silence: if you can hear me, raise your hand. I repeat it two or three times and usually I get everyone’s attention. However, I sometimes have to add the following sentence: if you have your hand up, keep your mouth shut.

5. Avoid being ‘buddy – buddy’

This is a common mistake new teachers make. You are not there to be friends with your students, you are there to be their teacher. We cannot speak of friendship because the difference in age, experience and knowledge means that we belong to two different worlds.

Students are fun and interesting and will want to be engaged, but to be the best they can be, you also need to establish that you are the authority, specifying boundaries and rules. It just means that on the first day, friendship is not your priority; try to establish a strong and healthy class relationship. Once you do, you’ll have plenty of time to become the coolest teacher.

6. Get to work!

It’s very simple: from day one, you have to take the time to start working. This not only helps get class started, but also shows that you are not going to hang around and that work is the main concern of every session. You might be tempted to spend the first class playing icebreaker games or just talking about the curriculum, or even getting to know yourself, but that’s a waste of time. You have the whole term or the whole year to get to know each other, but you also have a lot of work to do and a group of students who need to see that you take it seriously. Don’t waste time, even on the first day.

7. Show that you have mastered your trade!

It seems that to teach well, it would suffice to master your subject and have disciplinary knowledge to transmit. The rest would be innate, no doubt. A good mastery of the knowledge taught is a necessary condition for teaching. That is to say that the professor must have a thorough and broad knowledge of his discipline (s), as well as mastery of the questions included in the program.

Some teachers show their authority by shouting all the time, being too strict, or punishing. These are bad ways to establish authority. The best way to do this is to be a good teacher.

8. Be well prepared, and well organized

The good teacher prepares in advance when it comes to taking charge of a class. When planning, he must take into account his objective, namely the knowledge he seeks to impart. When a student enters the classroom, he must know what to do during the period from the daily menu. You can also post relay activities or puzzles that they can complete, in a notebook for this purpose, or on cards. Choose what works best for you. One thing is certain: this practice allows you to start the course on its own, without transition, and without you having to ask your students to be silent. To reinforce this routine at the start of class, use a reward system. Students will get used to it very quickly during the first few weeks of school.