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I am currently a student teacher in a 3rd grade. I am having some difficulties with behavioral and classroom management. I know these skills take time and experience to develop. What are some strategies and/or methods that some people have seen work best? Do you find putting students in rows versus groups helps with this management? I would love to hear all responses. Thank you.

Hi Peter,
I know that this is an issue shared by all of us in classrooms. There is a discussion thread on this topic entitled Classroom Management that might be worth your reading. It has several suggestions there. I know other teachers will share their strategies here as well.
I have been subbing in a fourth grade classroom for a little over a week now. I noticed that the classroom teacher had so many daily routines in place, that I hardly had to be there. The students knew exactly what to do and when! So one suggestion would be to establish certain classroom processes that take place each day. I think students want these schedules to help them stay organized and on task. She also had lots of different job assignments that get new persons assigned to them each week: line leaders, lunch and attendance count leader, group monitors (to pass out and collect papers for their table group), library book returner, etc. The students love being responsible for things. The teacher had little pouches on a bulletin board and on Monday of each week, new students were assigned for each job. The new names were placed in the pouches. Is your cooperating teacher preference to have children desks in any particular arrangement?
I hope this helps.
Carolyn

Peter, also check out videos for "power teaching." Many are free on Youtube and are PERFECT for the elementary setting.

Hi Peter-- Carolyn noticed that "the classroom teacher had so many daily routines in place, that I [as a sub] hardly had to be there." This points out the difference between routines and regimentation. I worked with a teacher who would tell students exactly what to do and how to do it--from lining up when leaving the room to turning in assignments. When he was out, his classes were a nightmare for subs, because the students did not have drill sergeant to issue orders. So having routines become automatic is good and makes for an effective and efficient classroom environment. But that takes work--the routines Carolyn noticed did not happen without a lot of modeling and feedback from the teacher, who probably started off with a few basic structures. But it's worth the effort. MaryB

I would also look at the webinar archives for the Next Generation Science Standards. I have been taking these webinars and I have picked up a lot of classroom management tips to pass on to my pre-service teachers. Particularly check out the webinar on the ELA, Math, and Science Common Core standards. Great video resources on how to set up a classroom environment in which students feel comfortable sharing their ideas.

Peter, I have been teaching for 3 years now and I find that each class brings a different set of behaviors each year. I teach junior high, and I choose my battles. I have a core set of procedures (less than 6) and I use love and logic in my classroom.

Always keep a sense of humor. Forget the nonsense about putting chechmarks on the board Go to the kid driving you nuts and talk to them. They will have other issues. Just get him/her on your side

Behavior and classroom management is a very important thing to establish at the very beginning. I am finishing up taking a classroom management course now and I have learned that establishing effective rules and procedures are the key to managing a classroom. Not only must you come up with the rules including student input, but you must also teach the rules to the students. This ensures that they will have a clear understanding of the expectations of their conduct in the class. Also, as a tip for advice, I would strongly recommend you get a book written by Harry Wong called "The First Day of School". This book entails all of the effective teaching strategies and classroom management techniques for us to have/use as teachers in the classroom setting. Good luck.

For behavior and classroom management, you might want to look into the books by Harry Wong called the First Day of School. It has a lot of good tips in it.

Our school corporation brought in Ruby Payne (A Framework For Poverty) when our city dramatically changed socioeconomically about 10 years ago. It was a huge help for all us to help understand some issues students were dealing with. I think she still has some seminars on-line you could look at.