One of things I am working on this summer is another e-course to complement my original classroom management e-course (http://www.Classroom-Management-Tips.com)

However, this course will focus on how teachers should handle minor disruptions…as it is often times the minor disruptions that teachers themselves turn into major disruptions…

The course will be roughly 10 parts and I hope to come out with it before school starts in the fall though I thought I would start posting some of what I have already finished here…

So today’s post will focus on the theory of “least intervention”…

Regardless of how effective a teacher uses proactive classroom management strategies minor disruptions will still occur in the classroom.

Eliminating all classroom management issues is nearly impossible.

Some teachers use the strict approach by reacting to every minor disturbance while other teachers chose to simply ignore the misbehavior altogether.

There are problems with both of these approaches…

The problem with the strict approach is that it presents the teacher as a negative role model, and it may lead to an overall negative feeling in the classroom and towards learning and school in general. What’s worse, the teacher’s response may actual cause greater disruption to learning than the student’s original misbehavior.

On the other hand, if a teacher simply ignores the problem, the misbehavior will most likely NOT go away…In fact, the misbehavior will most likely escalate.

So what’s a teacher to do?

The answer is the teacher must find a balance between the two approaches. Many experts call this the “Law of Least Intervention”.

Basically, the teacher has a series of steps that require the least amount of teacher time and least amount interruption to learning. The teacher starts with the first step requiring the least intervention and if that doesn’t work quickly moves up the ladder to the next step which requires slightly more intervention and so on.

By using this approach the teacher can maintain a positive learning environment while at the same time maximize time on task.

Remember, the intervention should take the least amount of time…the least amount of teacher effort…create the least unpleasant feeling for both teacher and student…and have the least disruption to the learning environment.

Over the course of the next several weeks I will post some of the steps that I use on the ladder of least intervention.

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To gain an arsenal of effective teaching strategies that you can start applying to your very next class read eTeach: A Teacher Resource for Learning the Strategies of Master Teachers @ www.TeachingTeacher.com/

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