Behaviour Management Guide for ECTs

Particularly following Covid-19, getting behaviour right early on and building positive relationships with classes is vital. Whilst some ECTs may feel that they have made a great start and are looking to maintain their positive class environment, others may be more concerned and less supported in their first term. Regardless of your situation, it is never too late to improve behaviour in your classes.

Prospero’s in-house team of former teaching professionals provide below a range of top tips from their own experience in education.

3 Ways for Early Career Teachers to Improve Classroom Behaviour

1. Clear Classroom Entry

Students may have missed the routines and consistency of school so much that they cannot wait to return to the classroom and resume learning. However, others may have become so used to the inconsistency of home life that sticking to school routines is more challenging. Either way, remember: your students should not be allowed to cross the threshold to enter your classroom without meeting your behaviour expectations.

Having an entry routine is an essential part of classroom management. Greeting students at the door builds a positive start to your lesson – and combined with an engaging starter / DO NOW activity – reinforces your expectations and ensures that students are ready to learn (because you don’t let them in if they’re not!).

Routines are not limited to the start of your lesson. Transition routines for exiting the classroom, tidying up, self- and peer-assessment and even the distribution and collection of resources and books can save time and remove distractions. If you feel that any of these aspects of your classroom practice could do with fine-tuning, request that another member of staff pops into your lesson for this section to advise, and ask to observe a colleague who is strong with their transitions.

2. The Signal for Silence

Establish a signal for silence, for example a countdown or raised hand, for when you need to deliver clear instructions to the class. Continue to insist on 100% silence when you ask for it, and be consistent with your own expectations. Avoid letting your classes slip into bad habits with an excuse like ,’Oh, they’re just a noisy class, they’ll settle down eventually…’

If you are struggling to gain 100% silence, try giving tricky students jobs/roles of responsibility whilst you give instructions. Try changing your lesson planning to include group work or work that doesn’t even require you to talk so much (then there can be no excuses!).

NOTE: If you are really struggling to gain or maintain silence, then don’t ask for it! Plan your lessons to avoid the need to give extended verbal instruction, and just get the students active earlier on. Ensure that you praise those making the right choices throughout.

3. Planning Positively

Planning your routines and expectations is the most important step in crafting a positive classroom environment. The more students are busy ‘doing’ something, the less opportunity they have to misbehave. In fact, in our experience we would estimate that 95% of poor behaviour stems from children not knowing or understanding what they need to do next, or fearing making a mistake and going unnoticed in lessons. Remember, most students will be craving the thrum of classroom activity this year: they want the comfort and security of knowing you are in charge, and that there are clear tasks and challenges for them every day.

Here are some questions to consider if students are losing focus within your lesson:

• Are students engaged with a starter/DO NOW activity as soon as they enter the classroom?
• Are your instructions clear? For example, are instructions displayed on the board/worksheet as well as verbally explained?
• Are the activities challenging? Activities that are too easy or too difficult will result in boredom and misbehaviour.
• Are your activities accessible? Is there appropriate differentiation, e.g. modelling, scaffolding and structuring of the work to enable all students to access the learning and be challenged?
• Do students know that you’re going to check on their progress? Make sure there is a challenging time frame and a certainty that their learning is going to be checked or assessed.

All of these questions can be considered at the planning stage and discussed during PPA time if you are able to share this with colleagues.

As mentioned above, do not be afraid to ask other teachers how they establish routines in their classroom. Your colleagues will understand the challenges you are facing but may not know you need support if you don’t ask. Middle and Senior Leadership should be able to assist and advise on more serious behaviour issues.

Get Further Support with Behaviour Management

The Training and Development Team at Prospero are all experienced teachers who are more than happy to advise on any issue you might be having.

We love to hear from you: please do get in touch with any needs regarding behaviour management or other classroom topics. Contact us at training@prosperoteaching.com.

We also recommend that you take our free CPD-accredited Behaviour and Classroom Management Course.