Why Classroom Rules and Procedures Fall Apart
Teachers Need an Effective Classroom Management Plan
Jan 14, 2009
There are four main reasons why students heed some teachers while others do not. By looking at these four areas of why rules and procedures typically fall apart, teachers can not only diagnose why this happens but work on how to fix it.
In developing an effective classroom management plan, teachers need to look at how they can enforce their rules and procedures so that they can create better classroom learning conditions.
Classroom Management Planning on a Personal Level
Teachers are often given advice on how to enforce rules and procedures for effectively running a classroom, but often, this advice doesn't take into account the teacher's style and personality. As a result, new teachers imitate other veteran teachers without actually knowing why they are doing it. Your rules need to be thought out in such a way that you are "in line" with them, with your beliefs and feelings.
It's alright to take a rule and procedure from another source (i.e. book, teacher), but teachers again, need to know for themselves why this rule and/or procedure is important for running their classrooms effectively.
Lack of Follow-through Procedures Creates Discipline Problems
Students like to test the limits of the rules and procedures and see how far they can go. When teachers lack follow-through procedures, students test the limits of the rules even more. Therefore, teachers need to design both warnings/consequences for infractions to these rules and procedures for dealing with them. New teachers therefore, need to develop ways to "keep track" and be consistent.
Enforcing Rules and Procedures Using Special Guidelines
The best way for new teachers to enforce rules and procedures is to find the CAUSES of disruptive behavior as opposed to setting up ways to immediately report discipline problems. When teachers locate these causes, they can prevent discipline problems before signs of them begin to even start. These causes tend to be located in:
- not creating a step by step warning system
- calling a third party too soon
- lack of follow through
- creating rules that do not suit a teacher's personality
- identifying disruptive behavior with the wrong student
Lack of Systematic Rewards and Punishments
New teachers need reward and punishment systems to reinforce their rules and procedures. Again, these systems should be those which teachers follow through with consistently all throughout the year.
As the school year goes on, some teachers' rules and procedures do not fall apart while other teachers' rules and procedures do. Enforcing rules and procedures should be done consistently and gradually in order to create an effective classroom management plan.
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