All teachers want to quickly learn the secret recipe on how to motivate students, but inevitably forget that the hardest part of teaching involves building an effective management system starting with your classroom management strategies and techniques.
New teachers often fall prey to the discipline game. Try not to “lose it” no matter how much you’re tested. If students see they’ve angered you, they know they’ve beaten you at the discipline game when you really need to be rethinking how to motivate students and develop more effective classroom management techniques.
New teachers often leave with a false illusion of teaching when they realize that they cannot apply of the educational theories they’ve been taught in education and teaching classes. many of these new teachers give up because they don’t get to quickly know what discipline tools work. They are not taught how to use empowering, modeling, resourcing, coaching, influencing, facilitating, cheerleading, advocating, mentoring, negotiating as an effective way of engaging and managing their students.
New teachers aren’t sure of how to present their classroom rules and procedures. They aren’t taught the importance of teaching as an performance art and that students by nature, will challenge various areas of classroom management. If students think there’s some wiggle room, they’ll wiggle. Take your rules seriously, and your students will too.
Another practical suggestion is to use a variety of practical enforcers. Teachers should constantly reinforce the behaviors they want to encourage by using a variety of positive enforcers such as free computer time, being first in line, or time to sit with a friend, to motivate students. “Whatever works” is always the best choice.
