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Being able to manage a class should be considered an important, if not, the most important skill a teacher must learn to master sooner rather than later. Classroom management skills does not come to one right away, it usually takes years or practice and failure before a teacher finds his or her own style. There are many factors that contribute to classroom management however, without it, even the best lesson will not matter if you have no audience. In order to figure out how to manage a classroom, one must look at their audience. Your approach towards young learners and adults will differ. Often from my experience, you have to find ways to motivate a young learner and make it as fun and worthwhile as possible. It is not to say that adults need motivation too, but most of the time, they already have their own goal and motivator in mind. Young learners need plenty of encouragement and a safe environment to do so. Young learners can easily be discouraged when they get something wrong or are scolded by their teacher or parents hence why a safe environment is needed in the classroom. Students should feel free to make mistakes and not get worried about it, this is a process of learning. We learn from our mistakes and try our best. Positive reinforcement is the most effective way of managing a classroom while motivating the student at the same time. If a student makes a mistake, it is important to be careful with your wording when addressing that student. Simply stating that the student is wrong, can have a negative impact. It is better to change our wording or simply state things like, “Good try”, “You’re on the right track”, “Ok…what else?” We do need to be careful though because if a student is off track, we try to put them on right track in a positive manner. In my opinion, the most important and best way to address classroom management is through active learning. Lessons should not be the traditional, rope-learning, lessons where they are constantly drilled then asked to complete worksheets. Active learning breaks up the “activate” phase of lesson through pair discussions, group work, sorting, etc. This is crucial as it is difficult for students, young or adult, to sit through an entire 30 minute “lecture” and be expected to remember everything that was said to them. Through small activities, opportunities for students to move around, discussions, sharing, etc. your classroom will practically mange itself. There are plenty of other classroom management techniques that can be used through the use of technology like a noise monitor, behavior chard, contacting parents, etc. but none if these are needed as long as you are prepared and understand the needs of your students. For young learners, create active and fun activities from them will keep them interested and at the same time teach them new content or skills without them knowing it. Engagement and good lesson planning are needed for classroom management otherwise those lessons that took you hours to prepare will be wasted.
