Weekly Tips Newsletter

Weekly Tip - The 3 P's of Classroom Management - 3 Part Series

Part III: Productive Students

The last “P” of classroom management is productive students. We’ve set up our positive environment that is non-threatening and encourages students to participate and cooperate. We’ve also defined our procedures so that everyone knows what is expected of them. These two elements help create the setting for a productive learning and work environment. When we feel comfortable and know what we are expected to do, a sense of trust and respect builds between teacher and student. Now that we’ve created the setting, we certainly can’t let it go to waste. That is where keeping students productive comes into play.

You’ve probably heard the axiom, “Busy hands are happy hands.” This is a saying that exemplifies human behavior. No one likes to be bored. Most of us feel the need to be doing something – especially something productive – to fill our hours. Even when we long for time to be lazy and do nothing, most people tend to fill their time with some sort of occupation. Did you ever have a temp job where the tasks you were given were supremely simple and completed in a short period of time? I know I have. I used to take a book with me to these jobs so that I would not be bored out of my mind for the rest of the time.

Our students are like this as well. They need to have their time filled with activities. Sitting still and listening for long periods of time cause restlessness. Most students have an attention span of 10 to 15 minutes maximum. Additionally, filling the extra time with repetitive worksheets or basic questions after a reading is not any more productive or inspiring. What our students need is to be excited about their learning and engaged in productive activities. Below are tips on developing lessons and activities that result in productive well-behaved students rather than misbehavior.

1.      Utilize the concept of mini-lessons. Teach in ten minute increments. It helps to organize your lesson topic into segments. Each segment is then addressed in a short period of time. After each mini-lesson, have students engage in a discussion or short activity that either practices, applies, or enhances the information/skill recently learned.

2.      Develop activities that range in the higher thinking levels as well as the lower. Many textbook related questions and activities tend to stay at the Knowledge and Comprehension level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Be sure that you go beyond these basics and stretch the minds of your students. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy keywords will help you develop engaging activities.

3.      Get students up and moving around the classroom. Post questions and/or activities around the room either on the wall or at different “stations.” Have students rotate in pairs or groups to each station and complete the activity and/or discuss the question. If you have a worksheet of questions that you are required by the district to complete, cut it up into sections. Paste each section on construction paper and post each in a different location. Have students rotate through each station to answer the questions. You are still doing the required work, but getting students up and moving at the same time.

4.      Utilize activities that help students discover information for themselves. This method is frequently used in upper level science classes, but can and should be utilized in all classes. Pose a problem and have students use the materials/resources at the station to solve the problem/issue. Place resources for researching topics in various parts of the classroom and have students visit each area to learn more about a particular topic.

Boredom is absolutely the most sure-fire method of cultivating unruly students. No one likes to be bored. Although we all know that there are times where we must buckle-down and do what is required whether we like it or not, there is no need for everyone to be comatose. Dry and dull lectures accompanied by repetitive worksheets are more than enough to get even the most well-behaved student feeling a little restless. What then is the effect on your more active students? They already have difficulty sitting still in class.

What students need is a way to learn the information in a manner that is engaging and fun. There are so many neat ideas for activities on the internet and in various book resources. Our books for example, Survival Kit for New Teachers (both editions) and Classrooms that Spark all contain chapters on motivating students and brain-based learning that offer various ideas for developing fun and engaging activities that stretch student thinking and meet learning objectives. There are other books available as well that give ideas for creative learning activities to be used in all classrooms. Check out Amazon.com for a plethora of resources. Type in your topic keyword and see what pops up. You might also type the keywords, engaging activities for students (or for a topic), into both Amazon and Google and see what you get.

Over the course of the year we will share and talk about different activities that will grab student attention and challenge student brains. I encourage you to share any ideas that you’ve used with your class resulting in students getting excited about their learning. It happens everywhere and should be encouraged at all grade levels, not just in elementary school. We must make learning come alive for our students so that they WANT to be in our classroom.

What happens when students want to be in our classroom? We have less misbehavior and more learning. So keep in mind those 3 P’s – positive environment, procedures, and productive students.