1 Be in charge

As the teacher, and the adult, you are in charge. It is your classroom and you must actively and consciously make the rules and decisions, rather than letting them happen out of habit, poor organisation or at the him of the pupils. !emonstrate your in"chargeness by the position you take in the room# keep on your feet as much as possible and be here you can atch everything that is going on. $upils should be convinced you have eyes in the back of your head% $ick up the good things they are doing &see number ' belo (. )eep moving around the classroom to establish yourself as the focal point of interest and authority. *emember that the pupils need to feel safe# they can only do this if you are in charge. !o not +ustify or apologise for your rules, your standards or your insistence on compliance.

, -se positive classroom rules

$upils need to kno hat is e.pected of them in your classroom. /stablish a set of rules, no more than 0 or 1, hich make desired behaviour e.plicit# display them prominently in the room and refer to them fre2uently so that they dont disappear into the allpaper% 3he rules should tell the pupils hat to do, rather than hat not to do, eg !ont call out. $ut up your hand and ait to speak. !ont alk around the classroom. 4tay in your seat. !ont break things. 5ook after classroom e2uipment. $raise good behaviour and refer to the rule being follo ed. -se the rules to point out inappropriate behaviour, 6*emember our rule about 7 8ave a feature rule no and again, ritten on the board and tied to a special individual or class re ard to be given to pupils ho follo the rule.

' 9ake re ards ork for you

:ive pupils relevant re ards for desirable behaviours, starting tasks, completing tasks, follo ing class rules, etc. 3he goal is to establish the 8ABI3 of co"operation. 4tandards can be subtly raised once the habit has been established. 3he easiest, 2uickest and most appreciated re ard is descriptive praise. ;ther possible re ards, besides those used as a school" ide system are " a note home to parents " name on a special chart hich earns a later tangible re ard " being given special responsibilities " being allo ed to go first " having e.tra choices

0 <atch them being good

$raise is the most po erful motivator there is. $raise the tiniest steps in the right direction. $raise often, using descriptive praise, for e.ample, It can be annoying having to look up ords in the dictionary. I can see you are getting impatient but the dictionary is still open in front of you. =ou havent given up. ;r, I can see you dont ant to come in from break, but you are facing the right direction for coming in. Be illing to appreciate the smallest of effort and e.plain hy it pleases you. $upils ill not think you are being too strict and ill not resent your firm decision making if you remember to smile, to criticise less and to praise more. 3ell the pupils there ill be positive conse2uences for positive behaviour, then follo through and sho them. 4tick to your guns and dont be bullied into giving re ards that havent been earned. 4ome positive behaviours are easily overlooked. 3ry to remember to praise pupils for " home ork in on time " home ork in late but at least its in " orking 2uietly " good attendance " neat desk " not s inging on chair " smiling " contributing to class discussion " helping another pupil " not laughing at another pupils mistakes " promptly follo ing your instructions " earing glasses " using common sense -se the re ard systems of the school consistently and fairly.

1 Be specific and clear in your instructions

:et a pupils full attention before giving instructions. 9ake sure everyone is looking at you and not fiddling ith a pencil, turning around, looking at a book, etc. ;nly give instructions once# repeating can un ittingly train a pupil to not bother to listen properly the first time. 4mile as you give instructions. !ont be too ordy and dont imply choice hen there actually isnt a choice by tacking ;kay> on the end, or sound as though you are merely suggesting, ?ould you like to > 8o about > !ont you think you should > Be very clear in all your instructions and e.pectations. 8ave a pupil repeat them back to you.

@ !eal

ith lo level behaviours before they get big

5o level, or minor, behaviour infringements ill escalate if they are not dealt ith 2uickly and consistently. A pupils behaviour is reinforced hen he gets attention for it, but dont be tempted to ignore it. Aind a calm and 2uiet ay to let the child kno that you see e.actly hat he is doing and that there is a conse2uence, ithout making a fuss, getting upset or sounding annoyed. :ive your instructions once only. If the pupil continues to misbehave, instead of repeating your original instruction, try one or more of these actions " " " " " point to a place &eg on the board, on a post"it in the pupils book, a note on your desk( here you rote do n the original instruction at the time you first gave it use a description of reality, Alfie, you are tapping your ruler. stop everything and look at the pupil pointedly and ait for them to figure out hy descriptively praise those ho are behaving appropriately, praise the target pupil as soon as he complies ask other pupils hat is needed &the s2uirm factor(

Al ays follo through, even on minor infractions, so that pupils kno there is no point in testing. 3hey should kno hat ill happen. ;nly give second chances after a period of good behaviour.

B 3he conse2uences of non"compliance

8elp the pupil to do hatever youve asked him to do. If he has thro n pencils on the floor, help him to pick them up. If a pupil does not obey instructions straight a ay, do not give up. )eep aiting. $raise every little step in the right direction, even the absence of the rong thing. Aor e.ample, if youve +ust asked a pupil to stand up and hes not doing it, you could say, =oure not s earing no , thank you. !o not protect the pupil from the conse2uences of his action or lack of action. 3he pupil is making a choice and you ill have told him this, and given a clear arning of the conse2uence. A conse2uence should be uncomfortable and not upsetting enough to breed more resentment. 3he purpose of the conse2uence is to prompt the pupil to think, I ish I hadnt done that. 8ave a ready repertoire of easy to implement and monitor conse2uences. 3hese might include " loss of choices &eg here to sit( " loss of break time " loss of a privilege " sitting in silence for a set amount of time

C Aind a best for both outcome

Avoid confrontational situations here you or the pupil has to back do n. 3alk to the pupil in terms of his choices and the conse2uences of the choices, and then give them take up time. Ared, I ant you to leave the room. If you do it no e can deal ith it 2uickly. If you choose not to then e ill use your break time to talk about it. Its your choice. Ill meet you outside the door in t o minutes. 3hen alk a ay and ait. Doe, put your mobile phone in your bag or on my desk. If you choose not to do that it ill be confiscated, then alk a ay and ait.

E /stablish start of lesson routines

Fever attempt to start teaching a lesson until the pupils are ready. Its a aste of everyones energy, giving the impression its the teachers +ob to force pupils to ork and their +ob to resist, delay, distract, ind up, etc. ;ften this task avoidance is a smoke screen hiding orries about hat you are going to ask them to do. 8ave a routine ay of starting a lesson# a 2uiet activity that pupils can get right do n to, ithout needing any e.planation. 8and riting, copying the ?A53 and ?I5A from the board, spelling practice &familiar key language from the current topic(, mental arithmetic are good activities to set a 2uiet tone. !o not allo discussion or be dra n into discussion yourself G say there ill be time for that later and make sure you follo this through. If you take the time to establish this, lessons ill start themselves% =ou have that battle at the beginning of every lesson to get yourself heard. ont

1H 9anage the end of the lesson

!o not run your lesson right up to the last minute and then have to rush because the ne.t class is aiting. Allo time to ind do n, ans er 2uestions, put e2uipment a ay, refer to ?I53 and ho this has been met, outline plans for ne.t lesson, etc. 8ave a short, educational game up your sleeve if there is time to spare. 9anage the pupils e.it of the room, have them stand behind their chairs and ait to be asked to leave. Address each pupil by name and have them tell you some good ne s about the lesson, or you tell them something they did ell today. 4end them out one"by"one.