Ch. 9: Classroom Tips

Here are some tips I got from Chapter 9 on how to create a classroom environment that is conducive to learning:

• Acknowledge that students can occasionally have an "off" day and not hold it against them.
• Communicate the message that all students deserve the respect of their classmates and are important members of the classroom community.
• Use competitive events only to create an occasional sense of playfulness in the class and only when all students have an equal chance of winning.
• Solicit students' ideas and opinions, and incorporate them into classroom discussions and activities.
• Give public recognition to students' contributions toward the overall success of the classroom.
• Institute a no-exclusion policy in group activities.
• Work on social skills with students whose interpersonal behaviors may victimize or alienate others.
• Enforce rules consistently and equitably.
• Plan for transitions.
• Take individual and developmental differences into account.
• Continually monitor what students are doing ("withitness")
• Ignore misbehaviors that are temporary,  minor, and unlikely to be repeated or copied.
• Consider whether cultural background might influence students' classroom behaviors.
• Teach self-regulation strategies.
• When administering punishment, use only those consequences that have been shown to be effective in reducing problem behaviors. 
• Reprimands should be given in private whenever possible.