Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that

teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and
academically productive during a class. When classroom-management strategies are
executed effectively, teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both
individual students and groups of students, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate
or enhance learning. Generally speaking, effective teachers tend to display strong
classroom-management skills, while the hallmark of the inexperienced or less effective
teacher is a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not working or paying
attention.
While a limited or more traditional interpretation of effective classroom management
may focus largely on “compliance”—rules and strategies that teachers may use to make
sure students are sitting in their seats, following directions, listening attentively, etc.—a
more encompassing or updated view of classroom management extends to everything
that teachers may do to facilitate or improve student learning, which would include such
factors as behavior (a positive attitude, happy facial expressions, encouraging
statements, the respectful and fair treatment of students, etc.), environment (for
example, a welcoming, well-lit classroom filled with intellectually stimulating learning
materials that’s organized to support specific learning activities), expectations (the
quality of work that teachers expect students to produce, the ways that teachers expect
students to behave toward other students, the agreements that teachers make with
students), materials (the types of texts, equipment, and other learning resources that
teachers use), or activities (the kinds of learning experiences that teachers design
to engage student interests, passions, and intellectual curiosity). Given that poorly
designed lessons, uninteresting learning materials, or unclear expectations, for
example, could contribute to greater student disinterest, increased behavioral problems,
or unruly and disorganized classes, classroom management cannot be easily separated
from all the other decisions that teachers make. In this more encompassing view of
classroom management, good teaching and good classroom management become, to
some degree, indistinguishable.
In practice, classroom-management techniques may appear deceptively simple,
but successfully and seamlessly integrating them into the instruction of students
typically requires a variety of sophisticated techniques and a significant amount of skill
and experience. While the specific techniques used to manage classrooms and facilitate
learning can vary widely in terminology, purpose, and execution, the following
representative examples—taken from Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that
Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov—will provide a brief introduction
to a few basic classroom-management techniques (NOTE: While the general strategies
described below are widely used by teachers, the specific terms in bold are not):

 Entry Routine is a technique in which teachers establish a consistent, daily routine

that begins as soon as students enter the classroom—preparing learning materials,
making seat assignments, passing in homework, or doing a brief physical “warm-
up” activity would all be examples of entry routines. This technique can avoid the
disorder and squandered time that can characterize the beginning of a class period.
 Do Now is a brief written activity that students are given as soon as they arrive in
the classroom. This technique is intended to get students settled, focused,
productive, and prepared for instruction as quickly as possible.
 Tight Transitions is a technique in which teachers establish transition routines that
students learn and can execute quickly and repeatedly without much direction from
a teacher. For example, a teacher might say “reading time,” and students will know
that they are expected to stop what they are working on, put away their materials,
get their books, and begin reading silently on their own. This technique helps to
maximize instructional time by reducing the disarray and delay that might
accompany transitions between activities.
 Seat Signals is a technique in which students use nonverbal signals while seated
to indicate that they need something, such as a new pencil, a restroom break, or
help with a problem. This technique establishes expectations for appropriate
communication and helps to minimize disruptions during class.
 Props is the act of publicly recognizing and praising students who have done
something good, such as answering a difficult question or helping a peer. Props is
done by the entire class and is typically a short movement or spoken phrase. The
technique is intended to establish a group culture in which learning
accomplishments and positive actions are socially valued and rewarded.
 Nonverbal Intervention is when teachers establish eye contact or make gestures
that let students know they are off-task, not paying attention, or misbehaving. The
technique helps teachers efficiently and silently manage student behavior without
disrupting a lesson.
 Positive Group Correction is a quick, affirming verbal reminder that lets a group of
students know what they should be doing. Related techniques are Anonymous
Individual Correction, a verbal reminder that is directed at an anonymous
student; Private Individual Correction, a reminder given to an individual student
as discretely as possible; and Lightning-Quick Public Correction, a quick,
positive reminder that tells an individual student what to do instead of what not to
do.
 Do It Again is used when students do not perform a basic task correctly, and the
teacher asks them to do it again the correct way. This technique establishes and
reinforces consistent expectations for quality work.
 Classroom Management: The Assertive Approach
It may be assumed that teachers who are able to apply assertive discipline techniques
not only have more teaching confidence in their own abilities as teachers, but also get
along better with students.

The personality, philosophy, and teaching style will directly affect the teacher's
managerial approach to classroom management. There are various approaches, or
models that have been products of researchers and are applicable to classroom
management. These approaches are based on psychology, classroom experience, and
common sense. These approaches form a continuum from firm, direct, and structured to
flexible, indirect, and democratic.

Assertive Approach
This approach to classroom management expects the teacher to specify rules of
behavior and consequences for disobeying them. These rules and consequences
should be communicated clearly to the pupils/students during the first day of classes. It
is important that the learners know and realize that they should be held accountable for
their actions. The teacher can devise his rules based on sound criteria of imposing
sanctions for pupils/students who misbehave. For pupils/students who disobey rules for
the first time, receive "one warning and, then if they commit another infraction of the
rules, they are subjected to an increasingly serious sanctions."

It may be inferred that these techniques assume that firm classroom management
liberates pupils/students because it allows them to develop their best traits, skills and
abilities and provides them with psychological security in the classroom and an effective
learning environment. It may also be assumed that effective teachers usually handle
discipline problem on their own way and that probably teaching failure is directly related
to the inability to maintain adequate classroom discipline. This approach is perhaps
most effective at the secondary level where chronic student behavior problems normally
exist.
There are a number of suggestions for teachers who would apply assertive discipline as
an approach to classroom management.

 Clearly identify learning expectations

 Take decisive positions (Say, "This is good" or "That is not good")
 Use of firm (not soft or yielding) tone of voice
 Employ eye contact and meaningful gestures to supplement verbal messages
 Say no without guilt feelings
 Give and receive compliments spontaneously
 Place demands and set limits on the students and enforce them
 Point out consequences of behavior and explain why specific action is necessary
 Be calm and consistent; avoid display of emotion and threats
 Establish positive expectations for student behavior and try to eliminate negative
expectations about students
 Gain confidence and management skills in identifying and working with chronic
behavior problems in the classroom
It may be assumed that teachers who are able to apply assertive discipline techniques
not only have more teaching confidence in their own abilities as teachers, but also get
along better with students.

Assertive discipline is an approach to classroom management developed by Lee and Marlene

Canter. It involves a high level of teacher control in the class. It is also called the "take-control"
approach to teaching, as the teacher controls their classroom in a firm but positive manner. The
approach maintains that teachers must establish rules and directions that clearly define the limits of
acceptable and unacceptable student behavior, teach these rules and directions, and ask for
assistance from parents and/or administrators when support is needed in handling the behavior of
students.

The underlying goal of assertive discipline is to allow teachers to engage students in the learning
process uninterrupted by students' misbehaviour.
Part of this approach is developing a clear classroom discipline plan that consists of rules which
students must follow at all times, positive recognition that students will receive for following the rules,
and consequences that result when students choose not to follow the rules. These consequences
should escalate when a student breaks the rules more than once in the same lesson. But (except in
unusual circumstances) the slate starts anew the next day.
Assumptions of this approach include:

 Students will misbehave.

 Students must be forced to comply with rules.
 Teachers have needs, wants and feelings and the right to teach without interruption by students
misbehaving.
 Punishment will make students avoid breaking rules and positive reinforcement will encourage
good behavior.