Whole Class Management Ideas

Before you can involve your students in cooperative learning activities or other active engagement lessons, you'll need to establish clear procedures for classroom management. Feel free to tweak the strategies below to make them work for you!

• Establish Procedures - Good classroom management is essential to effective cooperative learning. You'll need to have a clearly defined set of procedures so that the kids know your expectations. Don't even try to implement the "fun" teambuilders and classbuilders described in the next section unless you have a good grasp of classroom management. Think through every aspect of the day, to include use of restrooms, lining up for lunch, morning routines, dismissal procedures, etc. Ask a veteran teacher for ideas on managing these day-to-day routines effectively.
• Create Classroom Rules - Involve your class in discussing the importance of rules and creating a set of class rules. Refer to the PDF file entitled Creating Classroom Rules for some ideas about how to do this in a cooperative classroom.
• Use the Stoplight Management System or another effective whole-class management strategy - If you teach elementary school, you might want to look at the Stoplight Management System description on my website. I have used this management system with great success for about 10 years.
• Implement a Quiet Signal - You'll need to have a fool-proof Quiet Signal. You can have a hand signal, a bell, a clicker, or even a rainstick! You need something that can get the students' attention in 3 to 5 seconds.

• Work Zone Strategy - This simple technique gives students a visual to show your noise level expectations for specific activities. Use a large sheet of red, yellow, and green construction paper to simulate each color of a stop light. Write the words on each color as shown in the illustration. (Red - No Talking, Yellow - Whisper Voices, Green - Inside Voices). Introduce the Work Zone posters and discuss your expectations for different types of activities. Brainstorm situations that might be appropriate for each color. When you post one of the signs, say something like, "Our Work Zone color right now is yellow. You may use whisper voices to discuss how we use math in every day life." If students don't respect the Work Zone limits, have them pull a tag on your Stoplight board or use your existing management system. The colors just provide a visual reminder of your expectations. Assign a student to change it when you verbally signal a chance in acceptable noise levels.
• Erase-a-Letter Strategy - If you feel your class is too noisy during cooperative learning activities, there are ways to teach them to control their noise level. Just use the Erase-a-Letter technique. Before you start a CL activity, write the word STOP on the board. Teach them how to whisper and how whispering sounds different from regular voices. After that, erase a letter from the word STOP on the board every time you hear anything above a whisper. When they lose all their letters, put an end to the CL activity and immediately move into individual seatwork. Let them know that if they want to do the CL activities they will have to work more quietly. About an hour later (or the next day if you don't have the kids all day), try another CL activity. If you reinforce this consistently, you'll find you can really manage the noise level
• Raffle Ticket Reward System - Sometimes students get into bad habits like blurting out comments or getting out of their seats without permission. They need something tangible to remind them to follow the classroom procedures. I have found that using raffle tickets helps tremendously. I give students 2 raffle tickets to start the day. They can't write their names on their tickets until the end of the day. If they break a classroom rule, I take a ticket. If they lose both tickets, the next time they disrupt the class, they have to pull a tag on the Stoplight board (described above). Students can also earn tickets for staying on task or doing excellent work. At the end of the day, I collect all tickets and do a drawing for a small prize, class money, or a treat. Friday is popcorn day - I pop a bag of microwave popcorn and draw out tickets to see who will share the popcorn. I keep the tickets all week and get rid of them Friday afternoon. You might not want to use this all year, but it does help students become aware of the frequency of their disruptive behaviors.
• Behavior Reflections Form - This graphic organizer can help students determine the causes and effects of their disruptive behavior. Behavior Reflections Form - This graphic organizer can help students determine the causes and effects of their disruptive behavior.