Here are some helpful management tips to help you get through the month of May:
- Actively supervise: Your presence is crucial to maintaining classroom management. Although it is tempting to sit on a chair at a table or stand in the back of the room away from the children, that is also an invitation for your children to get distracted and cause trouble. Instead, be active, move around the room, pan and scan constantly, stand near the children that tend to have behavior problems. It is not about policing your children, but about interacting with them.
- Speak only when children are quiet and ready: Use attention getters to quiet your children down before giving instructions or moving on to your next activity. Do not yell or shout over your kids, this will only frustrate you and not all children will hear the given instructions. After an attention getter, try instructing the children to have their hands on their heads (nothing in their hands), eyes on you, and voices off. This will limit the distractions and help with transitions.