Techniques for preventing misbehavior in the classroom
Minimizing Attention
– Ignoring – do not pay attention to the offender;
– Eye contact – stare without judgment;
– Standing next to – come and stand next to them without words or eye contact;
– Use the student’s name: “And then, Vova, Peter the Great issued a decree…;
– Use self-expression – instead of, “Stop it immediately,” use, “Katya, when you whisper, I feel very annoyed because I lose my train of thought. Please stop.”
Interruption.
– Turn off the lights and be quiet – the trick works when the classroom is dark.
– Temporarily stop teaching: “Let me know when you can talk”, “Thanks for the silence”.
– Example. The teacher sits down next to the troublemaker and looks him silently in the eye. Then he may ask him, “You wanted my attention. I am listening to you.”
The trick is distraction.
Ask direct questions – “Roma, what assignment did you get?”
Ask for a favor, “Masha, go to the teacher’s room and ask for colored chalk, collect notebooks…”
Encourage good behavior
Don’t pay attention to a student’s bad behavior, but encourage the one who sits next to you and behaves well.
Use specific praise for expected behavior – “Thank you, Sveta, for finding the right page and sitting upright… Thank you, Vanya, for not making noise, but preparing for dictation…”
Praise different students.
Write the names of the best students for the lesson on the board.
Reception – transposition
Example. The teacher invites the student to spend 5 minutes in the thinking chair. This chair is unlike the others, standing anywhere in the classroom, separate from the other chairs.
Acting Techniques.
Go to the back of the classroom, continue the lesson from there.
Suddenly switch to whispers or basses. You can also suddenly start speaking slower and slower with each word – increasing the pauses and stretching the vowels.
Do a relay race on the speed. To mobilize the whole class in a short time, the conditions for such relay races should be very simple. Take turns standing up and naming, for example, an object in the room of a certain color or quality (or with a certain letter in the name). Any word can be called: for example, a feminine noun, the name of a literary character or a city, etc.
Playful discipline techniques
Unexpected beginning of the lesson (children cannot calm down, get involved in the lesson, noise)
“In a minute, have everyone say 1 sentence from the previous topic with the words: I know …”. If there are few children in the class: “Vasya knows that … and I know …”
“Stand up, stretch, smile at your neighbor to the right, to the left, to me. Today is going to be a very interesting lesson. The topic is coded on the board…
Attention Rainbow.
The teacher prepares seven white scrapbook sheets with a colored circle measuring 7 cm in the center. The color of each circle corresponds to one day of the week: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, purple.
The sheet is mounted on the board, and calm classical music is played. Students look at the circle in silence for 30 seconds, then hold the image of the circle in front of them for 30 seconds with their eyes closed. If the lesson starts after gym class or after a long break, it is better to start the lesson with this exercise. The exercise can also be used to relieve stress in the middle of the lesson.
Who hears me
If there is noise in the classroom, the teacher says quietly, “Who can hear me, raise your right hand.” Some students hear and raise their hand. This gesture will get the attention of some of the students. But usually these are the ones who have not directly participated in the disruption of discipline in class. The teacher then repeats, changing the tone and timbre of voice slightly: “Whoever can hear me, raise both hands.” Some students raise their hands. After that some more students will take their minds off the conversation and listen to the teacher. Next, they will also follow the teacher’s orders. Then the teacher says, stretching the words, “Whoever hears me, clap your hands twice. Claps are heard in the classroom, which are impossible not to hear, and they alert the others. The teacher then says loudly and audibly, “Whoever can hear me, stand up.” Usually after these words the whole class stands up. The teacher then invites the students to sit down and continues the lesson.
This technique is very effective but should not be used too often.
A friendly ECHO
To the teacher’s clap (or a rhythmic pattern of several claps) the class should respond with a friendly clap. Complications in the task-exercise can be: the leader beats out a series of claps (3-6) in a certain (complex) rhythm; the claps are replaced by tapping on a chair, wall, knees or stomping.
“Hands – Feet.”
The class tries to perform simple movements on the teacher’s command unmistakably. One clap is a command to the hands: they should be raised or lowered; two claps is a command to the feet: they should stand or sit down. If the hands are already up and one clap is heard, they must be put down, and if the children are already standing, by two claps they must sit down. Change the sequence and tempo of the claps.
“Do Like Me.“
In the midst of non-business noise, try saying clearly: “Everybody up!” – and stand up yourself. (Or vice versa, “Everyone’s down!” and sit down yourself.)
Your next line should be unexpected, for example: “Looked at the ceiling!” (variants: smiled, scratched in the back of the head, squatted, etc.). It is necessary to execute the command: look at the ceiling, scratch in the back of the head, etc.
