Setting up a Classroom System for New Teachers
As a new teacher, having an effective classroom system that your students understand and embrace is critical to a smooth transition into your first years of teaching. Here are a few basic guidelines for developing an effective classroom system.
- Develop your individual system: Effective classroom systems are simple and easy to remember. Begin by writing down all of the guidelines that you would like your students to follow within the classroom. From there, drill down to the top five guidelines that are most important.
- Keep each guideline to one short phrase: Take each of the five guidelines and reduce them down to an easy to remember phrase. Resist the urge to use any more than one line to communicate each guideline.
- Discuss the system: In order for students to embrace a new classroom system, they must first fully understand it. Discuss an overview of the classroom system thoroughly in the first few days of school. Then, select one guideline to discuss in detail each day.
- Engage the students with each guideline: As each guideline is discussed in detail, allow the students to perform that guideline as they would in their daily life within the class room. For older students discuss each guideline and ask why it would be important to the overall structure of the classroom.
- Develop a visual aid: Whenever possible, develop a poster or sign that discusses the classroom system and reviews each critical guideline. This should be placed in an area of the classroom where it can be easily viewed by all students. For younger students, the poster could use simple images or drawings that relate to each element of the system. Refer to the visual aid whenever the system or the guidelines are discussed to reinforce its importance and remind the students that they can always refer to it.
- Positively reinforce the system: As students test the limits of your guidelines you will have to enforce each of them as you see fit. However, a better way to ensure students observe the guidelines is to positively reinforce good student behavior early on in the year. Acknowledgement of observing the guidelines is often all students will need in order to embrace the system.
- Define the consequences: As you develop your classroom system, clearly define the repercussions for ignoring each of the elements. Develop a process where students that ignore the guidelines are provided with several warnings, each accompanied with a review of the guideline and description of the consequences if they ignore it again. Get the students to agree with the consequences in your initial review of each individual guideline at the beginning of the year.
Establishing an effective classroom system can create a controlled environment in which good students can excel and difficult students can improve their behavior. This will free you up as a new teacher to focus on learning instead of classroom management.
