Maintaining an organized and well-managed classroom is essential to a successful learning environment. Your classroom expectations must be set out from the very beginning, and you must enforce these expecations daily. If the rules change from day to day, teachers will have to devote more time to discipline than to education.
The key elements for a successful classroom are:
1. Students have clearly defined expectations for class routines.
Students should know exactly what to do when entering your classroom. From collecting papers and other supplies for the day, to starting a warm up activity, the routine must be the same every day. This will ensure you have a couple of minutes at the start of class to check attendance and take care of other administrative duties.
2. Clear rules and expectations that are enforced each day.
Students should be a part of setting the rules and expectations, and once an agreement is made betweent the teacher and students, expectations must not be lowered. If a teacher shows signs that he/she will let some things "slide", students will continue to push the envelope to see how far they can go.
