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Be The Master, Since you’re reading this blog, it means you’re a teacher. Which means you’re a real-life hero, and I salute you. Kudos! The fact that you’ve stumbled upon this blog proves another thing; you’re passionate about your work and your students and wish to help make the best possible humans out of them.
I think that’s amazing, and I want to help you. So, here goes.
Let’s first get one thing straight; there are no perfect teachers. After all, we are all perfectly imperfect. However, everyone can be the best teacher. How? The best teachers find ways to maximize their students’ full potential by crushing the classroom management like a boss.
Meaning creating a fun, positive environment in a classroom and building trust and strong relationships with their pupils. Building and maintaining solid relationships with your students is of paramount importance and hugely affects their academic success.
Trust is the most important thing
A trusting, engaging classroom with mutual respect leads to active learners and a thriving class. This has been scientifically proven. According to the American Psychological Association, once you build a strong relationship with your students, you will help them academically and socially.
Building these crucial relationships is no piece of cake. It requires love, respect, effort, and sometimes, some extra time from your hands. It can get challenging, but every teacher can become a master of classroom management. Some teachers do it naturally, and others… Well, they can learn.
So, let me share some of the best strategies to make your classroom as nurturing as possible.
When students feel safe and understood, their brains work in a better way. Neuroscience has taught us how positive teacher-student relationships work their favor, explained Understood.org.
- Positive relationships help with students’ motivation.
- Positive relationships lead to a safe space for teaching and learning.
- Positive relationships help create new pathways to learning.
- Positive relationships positively affect student behavior.
Sometimes it can be challenging to forge these essential relationships without it seeming a bit awkward and pushy. Luckily, I have some great tips for you.
Trying out these strategies can help:
- Provide structure. Kids need it because it makes them feel safe. It’s also proven to lead to better learning.
- Be enthusiastic and passionate.
- Teach with excitement about the content you’re sharing with kids because that can be contagious.
- Maintain a positive attitude.
I know this can be challenging. However, approaching every day with a positive attitude will transcend your students also.
Use your humor
Learning shouldn’t be boring, so use your noggin’ to find some fun ways to teach. Creative, engaging lessons are the way to go. Dry lecturing and mere notetaking should be a thing of the past.
Use their interests to your advantage
Find out your students’ passions and incorporate them into teaching.
Use storytelling in your lessons
Nothing stays in our minds like a compelling story, and it’s no different with students.
Show interest in their lives
Kids have lives outside the classroom, too. So why not learn about their interests and passions and show your support? Or better yet, encourage kids to think about how to turn their power into a career someday. Also, try not to overburden the kids.
Show them respect
Respect is a two-way street. Please, do not yell at your students and never demean them. Using sarcasm and embarrassing them will crush their motivation. Also, you will lose the respect of the whole bunch, not just the one kid you embarrassed.
Go the extra mile
Yes, I know. They don’t pay us nearly enough. But you did not choose this path for the money, right? Trust me, these kids will remember you went the extra mile to ensure their success. So, offer your help to those who might need it.
It’s time to master classroom management
Truth be told, many teachers struggle with this one. So many issues occur in every class, from chattiness and addressing negative behaviors to exhausting lack of classroom control. Although you can prepare a fantastic lesson, managing a classroom can get exhausting.
However, once you gain that control, that’s when the magic happens, and learning begins.
To get your students to fully participate, use the strategies I listed below. They are proven to help with students’ behavior and positively impact the learning process.
Create a class identity
Try this; decide on a class name at the start of the school year. Then, make a fun poll to make it interesting and exciting.
Make collaborative class rules
This is an excellent strategy for creating a cultivated classroom environment. Once you give the kids a chance to contribute to the rules of interaction, they will develop a sense of respect for their classroom, Be The Master
Build relationships
Make sure to build genuine relationships with your students. They will sense your investment in their well-fare, making a massive difference in their approach to class. Use the start of the year to do some surveys and fun get-to-know-each-other activities. This will create a safe space for learning and progress.
If you want to go the extra mile:
- Positive phone calls home
- Learn about the siblings attending the same school
- Home visits
- Personalized notes
- Eating lunch with kids
- Supporting their extracurricular activities every now and then.
Set the routines
Students need and thrive with clear set routines. Never assume kids know your expectations and give them clear points on what is expected of them. Make sure to provide them with opportunities to practice set routines and support positive behaviors. Also, don’t forget to explain the consequences of breaking those rules.
Reward and praise them
Think of some individual or group rewards system to motivate your students to contribute to your classroom.
When correcting your students, do it quietly. However, when praising them, you should do it loud and publicly. Give them a shout-out when they deserve it. That kind of thing can move mountains when it comes to young students.
The classroom environment is equally important
Be The Master in the classroom environment is as equally critical as an innovative curriculum, your vast knowledge, and desires. If you want your students to thrive, you should create a classroom environment that vibrates creativity, warmth, and openness.
You never know where your students are coming from. So, their classroom should be their safe space. A positive classroom environment always helps student-teacher relationships. So, go the extra mile to create that space. Better yet, you can all do it together and make it a real bonding experience.
The takeaway Be The Master
Choosing to be a teacher is challenging and sometimes downright exhausting. But teachers are more than just that; they are counselors, mentors, and sometimes parent figures. They can make a huge difference in how their students’ lives turn out.
So, if you want to make that change, build trusting relationships with the kids. Use the strategies listed above, and you’ll make a thriving classroom. Good luck! You can do this!
