Classroom Management

Almost always, when I see/hear teachers talk about classroom management they bring up the negative consequences they have for students. There are times when that is needed— a warning, phone call phone, office referral, or something else. Maybe I am the only one who thinks this way, but I prefer the exact opposite. I prefer positive reinforcement. When I was student teaching, I gave positive phone calls home— to students who consistently were on task, doing a good job, and generally just were being awesome. Even students who experienced an improvement— in work ethic or grades. I would email and call parents just to thank them and to let them know how great their child has been doing.

This worked WONDERS. Parents would be in tears, because they arenever told this. Why do we only contact parents when their child is doing something wrong? Why not right? Shouldn’t we be calling attention to thepositivethings happening in our classrooms instead of always focusing on the negative?

So many negative consequences can easily lead to students’ resentment to you as a teacher. Positive rewards (and I’m not even saying candy or things like that) I have found make a greater difference. Call students out for doing the right thing. Make sure you tell them individually. Make sure you tell their parents. Maybe make an office announcement once a week or month of a particular student/class. Students WANT to be recognized. They want their parents to know. Especially if a student is having trouble in other classes, their parent getting a call that at least in one class their student is doing the right thing, or is making an improvement is HUGE to them.