Take a moment to think back to your time as a student and recall some of your favorite courses.  Very likely, those courses were well organized, assignments were clear, lectures and classroom discussions were focused and interesting, and the professor conveyed a passion for teaching and compassion for the students.  How can you create such an environment in your own courses?

Effective classroom management entails meticulous planning but also a readiness to switch gears and move away from the script when necessary; it requires firm control but also a willingness to relinquish that control to take advantage of a teachable moment; it requires leadership but also a sense of compassion and understanding of your students.

Behavior Management ≠ Classroom Management, Education Week

Effective classroom management begins with strong organizational skills—preparing your materials carefully, practicing with the technology, and getting a sense of how to best organize and move around in the room, but that’s not where the planning ends. Consider these techniques as you develop your classroom management style:

Begin to establish an effective environment on the first day of class
First impressions are extremely important in setting the tone for the rest of the semester, so plan your first class carefully:

• Introduce yourself. Explicitly state the way you would like to be addressed.
• Consider offering an ice breaker to relax students and encourage interaction.
• Teach something; immediately begin to engage students in the course.
• Take class time to review the syllabus and emphasize important aspects. In fact, use the syllabus to begin building student engagement even before you meet with students by ensuring that it articulates learning outcomes, class format, and expected behavior.  During those first few hectic add/drop weeks, students appreciate an instructor who clearly and concisely presents a course overview.
• Expect some students to come in late. They’re getting lost, too!
• Consider setting community rules (e.g., regarding phones, laptops, talking, sleeping, eating, late arrivals, and early departures) with the students; they will appreciate the democratic approach.
• Start learning names right away; anonymity discourages student engagement.  Using props (name cards, photos, index cards), taking attendance (but remember that UConn policy prohibits grading attendance), and handing back papers and homework can help you to connect a name with a face.

Refer to First Day of Class for more information on first class activities and learning students’ names.

Interact with students regularly
Consistent interaction will help ensure rapport and reduce classroom management issues:

• Greet students as they enter the classroom
• Chat with them for a few moments—Consider opening class with a brief casual conversation about a current event or something interesting from the homework
• Intersperse lecture with discussion, group work, or video segments to encourage involvement and help students connect the content with real-world events and issues
• Ask questions (giving plenty of wait time) and respond to student comments
• Make eye contact with as many students as possible during class

Be ready to respond to challenges
The best way to avoid challenges in the classroom is to anticipate the possibilities ahead of time and plan accordingly.

What will you do if students consistently arrive unprepared?
Students spend only about half the time preparing for class as faculty expect. When faculty expect students to study more and arrange class to this end, students are more productive (National Survey of Student Engagement, 2004).

How will you handle disruptive students?
Frequently we hear instructors lament the poor behavior of students in the classroom. UConn instructors are not the only ones who are noticing declining classroom courtesy (Schneider, 1998). This decline in courtesy and civility is resulting in frustration for instructors and students alike, reduction in student learning and student retention (Seidman, 2005).

Feldman (2001) characterized four general types of classroom incivility:

• Annoyances;
• Classroom terrorism;
• Intimidation of the instructor; and
• Threats or attacks on a person or person’s psyche.

These four types of incivility range from arriving to class late (annoyances), to monopolizing classroom time with personal agendas (labeled as classroom terrorism by Feldman), to threatening to go to the department chair with complaints or give negative course evaluations (intimidation), to threats of physical violence or even physical attacks. The impact of each of these types of incivility on learning varies greatly but all of these types of incivility can disrupt the learning process.

Be proactive. When it comes to promoting classroom civility, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Expectations for behavior should be included in your syllabus, presented on the first day of class, and revisited as necessary. Along with elaborating on your expectations, the consequences for violating these expectations should be specific and consistently explained and enforced. UConn’s standards should also be included so all students are aware of university policies and what is expected from them as citizens of the university community.

Be specific. Contrary to what you may think and hope some college students have not learned how to behave appropriately in the classroom. Therefore, it is necessary to provide very specific expectations. Rather than telling students to “be respectful,” provide them with examples. Can students disagree with the opinions of others? Can they ask questions while you are lecturing? Can they record your lecture? Alternatively, must they express their dissenting viewpoint or ask questions in accordance to certain expectations? If so, explain what those expectations are expectations.

Be in control. By studying university policies and thinking through possible problems you can develop a plan of action. Although you cannot anticipate all occurrences, you can develop plans that will help in many different instances. Whether the incivility was something you addressed in your syllabus or some type of unexpected incivility, typically, immediate action is necessary to demonstrate that you have control of the classroom. The specific action taken will depend upon the infraction. UConn provides information on student conduct on the website for Community Standards. Incivility should be carefully documented along with how you handled the situation and the student’s response.

Be a model. Your own behavior serves as a powerful representation of how you want students to behavior in the classroom and treat you and their classmates. You cannot demand respectful behavior from students if you are not respectful of them.

How can you encourage students to become engaged? It can be difficult to determine why quiet students are not contributing: Are they shy or introverted by nature, do they suffer from anxiety or depression, or are they simply unprepared? Here are a few ways to tease out discussion: