Effective classroom management is difficult when you’re angry!

As we approach the end of the year it is common to see a spike in classroom management problems as many students have a tendency to think the school year is over before it actually is…

Of course, a teacher must set the tone in order to maintain effective classroom management. However, when setting the tone, it is easy to get angry at students, and unfortunately, that anger will hinder your classroom management capabilities.

It is very important that teachers do not “lose it” no matter how much a student tests you. If students see that they have angered you, they know they have beaten you at the classroom management game. The bottom line is, you must control your anger if you want to be an effective classroom management teacher.

Here are some things to think about that may help:

1. Understand what angers you. These are difficult times and many of us are experiencing economic hardships in our lives. Just remember, it is not your students’ fault that the school district cut your wage, it is not the students’ fault that the school district has cut your planning time, or added classes to your schedule, or is threatening to cut your medical benefits etc. On that note, it is also not your students’ fault that your hot water heater broke or that you got in an argument with your spouse. The fact is, when you walk into the school each day you must leave your “baggage” outside. Bringing your personal problems into school will only lead to more classroom management problems during the day and that will only add to your stress level.

2. Make sure you never get into a shouting match with your students. As I have stated often, yelling is NOT a good classroom management strategy. In fact, it will actually backfire as you will lose the respect of your students…and once the respect is gone, so is your ability to manage the class.

3. Keep reminding yourself that it is often your “toughest” students that need you the most.

4. Make sure to handle your stress/anger in positive ways. Personally, I find exercise to be best way for me to handle stress. The hour I spend at the gym or the couple of hours I spend on my bike do wonders for my stress level. Of course, everyone is different and the key is to find positive ways to handle your stress. If you’re looking for some simple stress relief techniques I encourage you to visit http://www.1-800-Stop-Stress.com

The main point here is not to let your personal problems add to your classroom management problems. The students feed off the teacher’s energy so it is important that that energy is positive.

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If you’re still having classroom management problems then you need to establish some type of classroom management plan. There is no one simple trick that will solve all of your classroom management problems, but if you have some type of overall strategy or classroom management plan you will certainly see an immediate decline in classroom management problems.

Any solid classroom management plan begins by setting the rules and procedures. As I have stated over and over again, teachers must go beyond simply “telling” students the rules and procedures…they must actually model those procedures as well as have the students practice those procedures for themselves.

Just think about a typical middle school student for a moment…that student is going to have as many seven different classes each day, with different teachers, different personalities, and different classroom rules and procedures. Whose rules do you think the students are more likely to foll0w…the ones that were just given to them on a piece of paper and told to get signed, or the ones in which the students actually went through the motions of practicing those procedures themselves? The answer is obvious…

Furthermore, if teachers really want to reduce classroom management problems then they must present their classroom management plan with conviction! Any hint of self-doubt, questioning, or uncertainty, and the students will sense that there is some wiggle room. And believe me, if they think they can wiggle…they’ll wiggle.

Therefore, make sure to present your classroom rules and procedures with conviction and then make sure you model those rules/procedures AND have the students practice them as well.

Any classroom management plan that follows this format will see an immediate reduction in classroom management problems.

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Effective classroom management is not about being a drill sergeant or about scaring your students into proper behavior. The most effective classroom management teachers are the ones who know the significance of the student-teacher relationship.

There are many things teachers can do to improve the student-teacher relationship that will have a direct impact on classroom management.

Recently, I had the opportunity to observe a teacher who uses a student grievance procedure in her classroom. Every 2-3 weeks she holds a short “sound-off” session with her classes allowing the students to vent frustrations.

Not only does this allow the teacher to identify and address minor problems before they escalate, but the teacher also gains a great deal of respect from her students at the same time. And believe me, this respect goes a long way towards effective classroom management.

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As you may know I am a bit addicted to blogging

Blogging is simply the easiest way to share the most information with the most people…and it just got easier.

I just installed a cool “plugin” for all my blogs that gives you the ability to share the content of my blogs via email, social bookmarking, printing, or even saving the posts locally.

The plugin is called iBegin Share and it’s not just another typical bookmark plugin.

This plugin gives you the ability to:

* Save posts to social sites like Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Google, Yahoo, and more…

* Email the posts to your friends and colleagues…

* Save the posts as a PDF files or Word documents…

* Print the posts…

If you want to test it you will see share button right below this post and every post I have ever made on this blog. Just think how easy it will be for you to print, save, and share all the teaching tips from this site.

Until next time…

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