To support students in learning, participating, and engaging with one another and themselves, Teaching Artists should provide clear frameworks, maintain boundaries, and co-generate with students the expectations and community agreements for the program.

What Is Classroom Management?

Classroom management is a set of frameworks one can use to effectively create and nurture a supported learning environment while planning for focused engagement from all learners. The focus is on sustaining and developing the systems and practices (such as co-generating a classroom contract or saying students’ names correctly) that build the thriving ecosystem of your classroom. It is important to recognize that learning, participation, and engagement looks different for everyone, and Teaching Artists (TAs) can make space for these different modes of participation. Approaches can look different from classroom to classroom depending on the needs and age of the students, as well as the art form and project.

Setting Yourself Up For Success

Having an approach to classroom management before you begin a residency or workshop can mean the difference between an effective or ineffective teaching experience. In addition to preparing a classroom management plan, one approach to starting off a workshop is to establish community agreements or rules of the classroom in collaboration with the students. Empowering the students to use their prior knowledge of the classroom and one another can increase the likelihood that the agreements will be upheld.

In a planning meeting for an Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classroom, ask Classroom Professionals what classroom management techniques are currently being used. You may have more success utilizing a technique students are already familiar with, such as rhythmically clapping or holding up two fingers to focus the classroom.

Make sure the Classroom Professionals hand over a calm classroom (and make sure you return a calm classroom at the end of the lesson). As a Teaching Artist that comes in from outside of the students’ normal day-to-day school experience, it is important to establish a rapport with the students from the start, to assert one’s role in the class, and to set clear transitions into and out of your lesson to set the tone for the residency.

Getting Started And Ongoing Practice

• Create a classroom contract at the start of the program that makes expectations and consequences clear. Support students in generating an agreement or set of guidelines that everyone can follow when participating in the program. Phrase agreements using positive language (e.g., “Treat others with kindness” versus “Don’t be rude”).
  • Use clear, concrete, concise language—use of metaphor or flowery language may be confusing for some students.
• Look at the physical layout of your classroom. How can the layout support your classroom management and goals for the day as well as support individual access needs? Are there students who need to be closer to the teacher/board, need easy access to supportive equipment such as headphones, etc.? Consider different ways to arrange the space to best meet the needs of your students. Explore Group Formations for more information.
• Establish classroom rituals and practice them. Classroom rituals are most frequently used during the beginning or end of a session. Some examples include one-word or one-movement check-ins, a group stretch, a freewriting, taking a breath all together, etc.
• Say hello! A personal greeting can go a long way in building a relationship with your students.
• Use clear, one-step directions. If you notice students are confused by your instructions, try writing them out in a simple list, with visual diagrams.
• Learn students’ names and their correct pronunciation. Learning a name is one way of showing care and respect for others. Take time to write names down phonetically if that helps you learn how to pronounce them. If it’s not possible to learn the names in the time you have with them, is there a thoughtful way to communicate that?
• Integrate verbal and nonverbal cues and signals into your residency. Verbal and nonverbal cues and the use of hand signals can not only make it easier for you and your students to communicate with each other, but also support students in directing focus to particular information or people and space in the room.
• Utilize the expertise already in the classroom. At the first planning meeting, check in with Classroom Professionals to find out what classroom and behavior management strategies they use. Take a moment in the first class for students to teach you cues or signals they use in their class. Remember to write them down as you go or between sessions; many classes could mean many cues.
• Provide structures for resolving conflict. Share with students a framework they can use that includes steps, along with thinking and speaking prompts.
  • Here is an example: The Morningside Center outlines three tiers of Restorative Practices:
    1. Community and relationship building.
    2. Community and relationship repair and conflict resolution.
    3. Reintegration after a removal or other kind of absence.
• Example framework:
  • Assume positive intent.
    • Think: Maybe they didn’t notice what they did.
    • Say: “Did you notice ___?”
  • Advocate for yourself.
    • Think: They won’t know how I feel if I don’t tell them.
    • Say: “When you ___, I feel ___. I need you to ___.”
  • Let everyone tell their story.
    • Think: Everyone deserves to be heard.
    • Say: “I want to hear how you feel, too.”
  • You can always get a Classroom Professional.
    • Think: I’m not getting what I need right now.
    • Say: “Mx. Jones, I need help with a conflict.”
• Set clear expectations for classroom behavior and each activity. One such tool for establishing and maintaining classroom and activity-based expectations is called CHAMPS. CHAMPS is an acronym that stands for Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation, and Success.

In ICT classrooms, you can demonstrate each element of CHAMPS to students for additional clarity:

• • Conversation: Can students talk to each other during this activity?
  • Help: How do students get the teacher’s attention and their questions answered?
  • Activity: What is the task/objective? What is the end product?
  • Movement: Can students move about during this activity?
  • Participation: How do students show they are fully participating? What does work behavior look/sound like?
  • Success: When students meet CHAMPS expectations, they will be successful!