If you're trying to manage your classroom better, taking a more structured approach may be beneficial. Using information developed in the field of behavioral psychology, many teachers are developing classroom procedures that allow them to foster a stable environment with a strong focus on learning. These 5 techniques will help you create a classroom setting your students will love.

Be a Learner

Digging into classroom management textbooks will help you look at different ways teachers have taken control of the classes they've worked with. Kids have diverse minds, and they will present challenges that are unexpected. Having read case studies from other teachers in your classroom management materials, you'll be better able to recognize when a student is causing a specific type of disruption.

Prevention

The best way to maintain a strong environment for all your students is to focus on preventing outbursts. Foremost, rules need to be spelled out clearly in a manner that's appropriate for the ages of the kids. Children need to be able to understand what the consequences are and how responses follow from the established rules.

Be Specific

Working from classroom management materials, you can identify a model that's suited to your students' circumstances. It's also important to take the better part of at least one class period to talk with students about what the rules are and what the consequences will be. Do not hesitate to be excruciating in providing details, as kids will parse every word. This will reduce expressions of unfairness about the implementation of order.

Defusing

In a room with students actively causing disruptions, it's critical to avoid losing control of the group by defusing problems early. Instead of issuing a long list of immediate demands, focus on providing kids with one simple response they need to provide. For example, a classroom of disruptive students can be told, "Focus your eyes on me." Wait for compliance before proceeding with further instructions.

Support

Maintaining a warm, accepting and supportive attitude needs to be done independently of student behavior. One teacher who worked in a setting where students were known to commit felonies, for example, made a point to be in the gallery for court appearances. Not only will this foster a sense of loyalty among students, but it will recruit labeled troublemakers as advocates who can tamp down disruptions by discouraging unruly students from doing wrong by someone considered a good teacher.