What is the right blend for your classroom? For us, the right blend is to create a productive learning environment, one that is orderly and focuses on meaningful learning. To achieve that, good classroom management strategies and effective instructional pedagogies are necessary. The objective of The Right Blend is to help you find your preferred pedagogical style by offering strategies that teachers have tried and found useful. 

Downloadable Resources

Management Tips (for first day of school):

1. Lay expectations & ground rules briefly and clearly.
2. Make efforts to know your students' names.
3. Check that students are in the correct class. Update their particulars.
4. Ensure that before beginning a lesson, students are not restless. Before greeting them, ensure students are focused on you and not doing anything else. Wait for the entire class to be quiet. This is a signal to students that when you pay attention to them, they should do the same to you.
5. While teaching, if the student does something else, do not disrupt the whole class by calling out the student's name. Instead, while still talking, move towards the student and slowly take away whatever he is working on. In this way, you don't embarrass him publicly and your lesson can continue.

Classroom Management Tips

• If you want a class to keep quiet and give you some attention, try standing with an imposing stance in front of them in silence. Soon the whole room will be silent too.
• When giving comments about a student's work- be it art or a piece of writing, always point out an area that has been done well and praise the student first, then bring up the points/parts that can be improved, and show how it can be done. This way, the students would be more receptive to your intentions, and learn from it as well.
• It helps not to say too much sometimes - throw the students in the deep end of things once in a while. The emerging struggles and insights provide a powerful learning opportunity for both the teacher and the students.

• Class Meeting
  Instead of having to firefight each time a conflict occurs, why not have regular meetings in your class to address problems and solve them together as a class? This way, you build a community of supportive pupils who are able to help each other to solve problems.
  
  At the beginning of each academic year, I would prepare a blank exercise book and punch a hole at a corner of the book so that I can have it hung at a corner of the class. I would explain to my pupils that the book is the Captain’s log (you can call it anything you want). Every one of them can lodge complaints against other classmates or write praises about other classmates by penning it down in the book. To ensure accountability, all entries in the Captain’s log must include the owner’s name. Entries without the owner’s name will not be entertained. 
  
  In the beginning, I will look at the contents on the Captain’s log and will hold weekly class meetings to praise pupils and to address some of the issues mentioned in the log. Each class meeting begins with a praise to set the right tone. Even if there are no praises recorded in the log, you can highlight some good deeds that you have observed in the week and praise some pupils publicly. The idea is to let the pupils know that praises are more important than complaints. 
  
  Next, problems are addressed. In the meeting, both sides of the story are heard and pupils come together to come up with solutions. Sometimes, pupils are reprimanded or asked to make restitution for their misdeeds. Pupils also discuss how they could prevent similar unfortunate situations to occur.
  
  Sometimes, problems noted down in the captain’s log may be solved even before the meeting with the teacher. This is because the pupils in question may have calmed down after documenting the situation and may actually find a solution to the problem even before the meeting. Pupils also have the habit of crowding around the book to see if their names are mentioned in any conflicts so that they can resolve it before it becomes part of the meeting’s agenda.

• Know your pupils and call them by name. It is very important to acknowledge your pupils so that they will have a sense of belonging to the class. Get to know your pupils gradually from daily conversations, reading their journals and their other classmates. Talk to them individually and find out how they are coping whenever you have the chance to (you can even do this  when the pupils are helping you to carry some books to the staff room!).
• Accentuate the positive and always praise good work. Pupils will reinforce their positive behaviours and learn faster when he/she feels successful. Positive reinforcement also helps build confidence in pupils and they will in turn, follow and model the behaviour and use it when they are with their peers.
• Don’t give up on a student, or 'brand' him/her. It is damaging to put pupils down and even worse, if it is done in front of the class! Try to provide a time-out session if the undesirable behaviour of the pupil persists. Then, talk to the pupil in private and try to use questions to elicit answers from the pupils with regards to the consequences of his/her actions.
• Start a FROG Binder! 
  FROG stands for "FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH". 
  This is a binder to help the pupils (and parents) stay organized on a daily basis. 
  The binder has the following sections: 
  1. Yellow Folder for Homework, Spelling Lists and Revision Notes
  2. Green Folder for Important notes GOING home 
  3. Red Folder STOP - Keep at Home 
  Papers for review and then to be kept at home!

• Try ‘FAR’ reading - Five Minute silent reading After Recess
  Pupils tend to get restless after recess. They may not be focused and the first five minutes of the lesson immediately after recess may not be effectively used for teaching and learning. Hence, five to ten minutes of silent reading time can be allocated at this time. Different text types reading can be introduced or recommended for upper primary pupils. 
  Example:
  Monday: English fiction book
  Tuesday: Newspaper 
  Wednesday: Science book
  Thursday: Educational magazine
  Friday: Featured topic books
  
  If class group point system is implemented, reading managers can be considered to be appointed to help to monitor the silent reading programme after recess. Bonus points can be awarded if the pupil chooses to read the recommended text type for the day.

• Have a ‘wonder’ or ‘magic’ bag to start the day! Things to be added in this ‘wonder’ bag:
  - A timer: To be used to time the amount of time needed for a particularly class activity.
  - A call bell: To signal to the class to maintain silence or to be focused to pay attention to specific instructions.
  - 2 permission passes: To monitor the frequency of pupils who leave for a short restroom break.
  - Whiteboard Markers (at least 2)
  - A red pen: So that marking can take place anytime anywhere!
  
  

What makes students pay attention in class?

• The thought of passing exams.
• Interesting topics.
• Friends to chat with.
• When the mood is right.
• Teaching style.
• Lively teachers.
• When the teacher answers my questions.
• When teachers tell us jokes and we are not just faced with the thick textbooks.
• Air-conditioned room.
• Group work.
• When a teacher can control the class.
• Breaks in between a long lesson.
• Not too quiet a class, as it makes us sleepy.
• Sitting in the front row.
• Fun & games!
• Hands-on activities.