Effective Classroom Management Principles

Classroom Management

Effective classroom management is an essential ingredients that promotes and enhances good study environment.
In the school system, it is not the headmaster or principal that manages the students. The teachers and other members of staff must cooperate to manage the classroom, children, resources and the environment.
Effective classroom management may include the use of;
Coercion through commands or punishment to get the children work together.
Teachers will need to understand the likes, dislikes and needs of each of the students in a given class.
Using rewards to motivate students into cooperating with their teachers
Also teachers can strive to create love and trust for their students, an attentive teacher will have a better shot at managing students.
The above in use, does not guarantee 100% cooperation but as time goes on, the students learn to understand their teacher, refrain from what they know their teacher dislikes or not to wait for instructions but do what they know their teacher would expect and this is the beginning of real discipline in the class.

Routine Classroom Management

One of the qualities of a good manager is that he does not try to do everything by himself but delegate’s responsibilities to his subjects, like a teacher.
In order to effectively manage a class, you ought to delegate daily routine operations to members of the class and request regular update and reports from them. ‘
Some of such routine operations in classroom management are: looking after the chalkboard, drinking water, notice board, attendance, pencils and rulers, collection and distribution of exercise books etc. All of these activities have to be assigned to specific student within a time frame.

Facilities Management

The class teacher will use facilities available to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. Among these facilities are those that make the children comfortable such as chairs, desks, chalkboard and shelves where possessions of the students can be safely kept.

The desk should be 5 – 7 degrees so that the children do not have to bend their heads when writing more than is comfortable.
The desks should have compartments where children can keep away books which are needed during a particular lesson. The student should have access to the class timetable.
Chairs should be positioned in such a way, that students can sit with feet flatly on the floor and back resting on the back of the chair; such will reduce back pain, help them work for longer periods and support to the hands when writing.
In tropical countries such as ours, lightening can be too much especially if it comes from the wrong directions. E.g. the lightening from the sun may strike the chalkboard making it difficult for students in specific sides of the class to see the board clearly.
To avoid these, the teacher must close windows, put up curtains or erect adequate screens. Fluorescent lamps are much better than bulbs as they produce light similar to daylight at night.

Managing Ventilation in Classroom

Every effort must be made to provide adequate ventilation because its importance cannot be over emphasised. Lack of ventilation can cause tiredness and cause dullness and drowsiness in the class.
Yes it is important that students’ attention should be conformed to give rest and comfort to their eyes, so make windows low enough for them to see outside or they will look for reasons to go outside.
When planning a school, colour of classroom walls are often times over looked, many schools chose white walls, but white reflects a lot of light and makes the classroom too bright, this is too harsh especially in open countries and has psychological effects on the children, instead make use of lighter colours that moderates radiation and helps the children feel relaxed.
Chalkboard should be black, green or white; white chalks should go on black and green boards, teacher should write clearly and use rulers to draw straight lines.
Avoid using your hands to point to the board as it blocks students’ view, use pointers instead. A teacher must not talk to the board, read over what you have on the board and be sure of your facts to avoid misinforming the students.