Here’s a classroom management strategy for dealing with those pesky students who like to disrupt your lessons with immature, attention-seeking behaviour. 

I’ve often found that those students who ‘need’ to show off and crave attention benefit from being given the opportunity to do exactly that – albeit in a controlled way.  Please understand that this classroom management strategy is not about co...

1. Give latecomers as little attention as possible. Calmly, and without fuss, take their name (assuming you don’t already know it) and confirm that they are late: 

“John, you’re ten minutes late.” 

2. Direct them to their seat.  Quickly direct them to a seat and give them something to occupy them – they could watch the remainder of an explanation/demonstration or get on with a worksheet or writt...

Children need to be very clear about the consequences of their use of unacceptable language.  If there is no school policy in place then use your own – and stick to it so that they are in no doubt that certain behaviour is not acceptable. 

The oft-quoted strategy of staying calm applies equally well here.  No matter how profane the offence (and you don’t need me to tell you how creative they can ...

There are always going to be students who try to make us feel uncomfortable by asking increasingly personal, inappropriate, or just plain silly questions. This is especially common when we get a new class to teach. Whether it’s the start of term or a cover lesson it is a scenario which must be dealt with swiftly – otherwise your control over the class can be severely eroded. 

“Why are you late, s...

Here are a few classroom management strategies to help when working with a very challenging group of students. 

1. Divide and conquer. Split the group according to your seating plan. Tell them that if they want to sit with their friends they have to earn that privilege. Use a calendar to show the number of lessons there are left this year and tell them that as long as they work quietly and respec...

1. State what you want them to do calmly and clearly.  

The first thing to do is state very clearly what they are doing wrong and what they have to do to put things right.  You need to make their choices as simple as possible and leave no room for misunderstanding.  As usual there’s no need to get annoyed or raise your voice to show you’re in charge – just calmly make the statement in short, clea...

 Students arriving late: 

• Have lesson objectives clearly displayed and easily accessible materials for collection by the student with minimum disruption. 
• Have seating available for latecomers. 
• Establish and teach a routine for late arrivals. 
• Focus on what is being done right by having a reward system which recognises and rewards punctuality. 
• Be sensitive to individual pupil needs, worri...

These strategies and skills are best used in and around the school grounds with students who have – to use the technical term – ‘lost the plot’ and are becoming increasingly confrontational. The goal here is to de-escalate the situation and diffuse their anger and aggression before it becomes worse or turns into violence.   

1. Recognise the warning signs that something is wrong 

There’s always ...

Getting students to complete homework is a problem familiar to all teachers, especially with students who lack motivation. If they’re not working in class where we can stand over them, they certainly aren’t going to work at home. Here are six ways to encourage students to complete and return their homework – and none of them involve you dishing out a never-ending stream of detentions or making pro...

Once a student has actually made a start on their work it’s clear that at least two of the big de-motivators – fear (of failing or appearing to be a ‘goody two shoes’ in front of under-achieving peers) and inadequacy (feeling they lack the necessary skills to bother attempting the task) – no longer have influence. If they’ve made a start but not finished the work, then clearly something else has g...