Teach English in Xinglong Zhen - Jining Shi

Discipline is a word that has always created mixed feelings in me. Ever since I had embarked on a teaching career I had to come into grips with that word over and over again. My innermost dream has always been to learn to make my lessons full of love and harmony, base them on mutual companionship with my students. My ideal classroom would be a safe haven for my students where they could always be supported and guided whenever needed. Besides, it would be a place where everyone would feel important, free to express himself without being judged for that. I was sure I did not want to be one of those teachers who maintain discipline using such destructive punishment methods as raising voice, humiliating or threatening another human being. At the same time my peaceful and friendly approach did not always work out the way I intended. I was continuously told by my colleagues that discipline is an act of love that creates a healthy environment in the classroom if used appropriately. I believed it was so. That was why later on I have been trying to find out sustainable discipline strategies. Classroom discipline is defined as strategies a teacher uses to manage student behaviors and attitudes during the lesson. The importance of these strategies should not be underrated. If used in a consistent way, they can help to turn the whole lesson into a highly effective procedure where every student and the teacher himself gets a chance to experience personal growth. Discipline can be compared to an invisible backbone of the lesson which if functioning correctly nourishes and sustains every member of the lesson. So what does it take to conduct successful classroom management? What are the most effective strategies that a teacher can apply to reduce the chances of students misbehaving? Firstly, it is of crucial importance to make sure that personal boundaries are set which means that the teacher lets kids know what he finds acceptable and unacceptable in their behavior in teacher-student and student-student interactions. A set of rules should be set and carried out consistently. Otherwise, if students see that the teacher neglects the rules himself, they would have less respect for these rules themselves. If the teacher is not sure that he is going to stick to the rule, it is better not to set it. Secondly, in order to have fewer issues with classroom management, the teacher should keep the track of the classroom dynamics. The more engaging, exciting and varied the activities are, the less are the chances of students being naughty. It is of vital importance to reach out every kid, to make sure that the activities used in class resonate with all the different styles of learning the students have. In other words, taking into account the theory of multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner could be of great advantage for the teacher. What should be done under no circumstances is using physical punishment or bullying. The worst thing the teacher can do is to show that he is losing control. It is wise of the teacher to stay grounded and confident whatever situation occurs in a class. Thus, kids can feel safe and protected. It is quite evident that young learners tend to trigger painful aspects of the teacher's inner child at times, push him to his limits to see the level of his resistance, but it is necessary for the teacher to always show that he is in control of the situation and can deal with his own issues and traumas outside of the classroom. Moreover, I believe that any troublemaker is a kid who craves support and understanding most of all. Usually that little troublemaker turns out to be a very vulnerable kid with low self-esteem who desires attention and love. Moreover, if we pay closer attention we would see that it is the very inner child of the teacher that gets vulnerable and starts seeking support. So, why not to make an effort and open up your heart to that troublemaker and shower him with personal warmth and care, and heal your personal wounds at the same time? What are some other methods that the teacher and students can benefit from? There are several techniques I use in my practice. One of them is maintaining eye contact with students and changing the pitch of my voice. Eye contact helps to acknowledge the presence of the kid and show him that you notice him, that he is in your focus. Also it can show that you are not pleased with the way he acts. It is significant to stress that you are not satisfied with the way he acts, not with him. The alteration in the pitch of the voice has a lot of advantages as well. Firstly, it makes the lesson more lively and helps the teacher to manipulate kids' attention. Secondly, the voice can show different emotions and make misbehaving kids understand when they are required to stop. Thus, it keeps them within the required limits. Physical touch can bring dreamy kids' attention back to here and now or calm down fidgeting students. Another great strategy is using breathing techniques to make students more concentrated and focused. What is also beneficial about breathing is that it recharges and boosts energy levels. Undoubtedly, movements play a huge role in a lesson with young learners. Dancing or moving around has a calming and cooling effect. Chanting is another wonderful tool I often make use of. What I like about chanting is that it helps to refocuse kids' attention. Besides, it is an enjoyable way to remember vocabulary or sentence structures in a fast and easy way. Personalizing activities like giving the characters on the board kids' names captures their attention in a split of a second. In most cases such kind of an activity amuses kids, makes them laugh which in its turn leads to the reduction of levels of stress or anxiety. It is universally accepted that young learners are pure in self-expression. This means that they have no fear of expressing their emotions and being themselves. They are always honest in their states of being. The key point is that most often their behavior functions like a mirror the teacher can see his strengths and weaknesses in. The main question is whether the teacher has enough courage to look into that mirror and accept the reflection he will see. The moment he does that, a lot of possibilities of self and mutual improvement open up.