There is one sure-fire way to prevent behaviour problems, build better relationships with your students, make them love your lessons and bag you a nomination for Teacher of the Year – add more fun!

All you have to do is put more fun in your lessons and the following ideas should help get you started. Some are silly, some are wacky and some are plain outrageous but I’m sure...

There will undoubtedly be students who don’t understand, students who don’t want to understand, and students who finish before everyone else. This will cause you problems unless you’re prepared for it by having strategies and systems in place to prevent and deal with disruptions. A student who needs support, for example, will demand your attention by shouting out, getting out...

Here are nine fundamental classroom management strategies which will have relevance regardless of the particular classroom problem you’re dealing with. Remembering these two important factors will help you succeed when confronting challenging students.

1. Be Vigilant

Teaching is a hard job. Sometimes there is so much going on in the classroom that we might miss a note being passed around,...

Students who can’t stand not having the ‘last word’ can be some of the most testing; they have an answer for everything.  Often it doesn’t even need to be a verbal retort, as a defiant roll of the eyes can get right under your skin.  Here are a few of my strategies for dealing with students who always feel that they need to be the last person to speak....

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...

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...

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...

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. 

...

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...

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...