Managing

If effective teaching just involved making decisions about what to teach, how to teach it, and how to make students believe that learning is important, job satisfaction ratings for teachers would probably be much higher than they typically are reported to be. Every teacher knows that classroom disruptions are among the greatest deterrents to the best laid plans for effective instruction. Discipline is consistently identified as a concern on public and professional opinions polls about education. Few of us are comfortable in situations that are unstructured and chaotic; this is particularly true for classrooms. Most students need and function better in orderly environments. This is why managing is a key component of effective teaching. Effective instruction requires managing the complex mix of instructional tasks and student behaviors that are part of every classroom interaction. This means making decisions that control and support the orderly flow of instruction. To do this, effective teachers make decisions about classroom rules and procedures as well as how to handle disruptions, how to organize classroom time and space to be most productive, and how to keep classrooms warm, positive, and accepting places for students with different learning styles and performances. Effective managing involves using three principles:

1. Prepare for instruction
2. Use time productively
3. Establish positive classroom environment

Prepare for instruction means making decisions about what to permit, tolerate, and control in the classroom. In doing this, effective teachers establish classroom rules and communicate them early in the school year. They teach students the consequences of following and not following their rules, and they handle rule infractions and other classroom disruptions as quickly as possible after they occur. An overriding concern for many effective teachers when preparing for instruction is deciding ways for students to manage their own behaviors. The goal of preparing for instruction is to try to anticipate, avoid, and address problems that might disrupt the orderly flow of instruction. Use time productively means making decisions that maximize the amounts of time students spend actively engaged in learning and minimize the time spent on activities not related to learning. This means establishing routines and procedures, organizing physical space, giving clear directions, setting transitions between work sessions, allocating time to academic activities, and maintaining an academic focus. The goal of using time productively is to get the most out the time teachers spend teaching and students spend learning. Establish positive classroom environment means making decisions about ways to motivate students, interact positively, and create supportive, cooperative classrooms. Students like school more when their classrooms are pleasant, friendly places. Students like school more when teachers are accepting and caring. An overriding goal in classrooms of effective teachers is positive interaction that fosters active student responding. The goal of establishing a positive class­ room environment is to make the classroom a place that students like and where they enjoy learning. The main content of the course is a set of tactics that illustrate specific ways to actively address each principle and strategy when providing effective instruction.

Component	Principle	Strategy
Managing	1. Prepare for Instruction	Set Classroom Rules Communicate and Teach Classroom Rules Communicate Consequences of Behavior Handle Disruptions Efficiently Teach Students to Monitor Their Own Behavior
	2. Use Time Productively	Establish Routines and Procedures Organize Physical Space Allocate Sufficient Time to Academic Activities
	3. Establish Positive Classroom Environment	Make the Classroom a Pleasant, Friendly Place Accept Individual Differences Establish Supportive, Cooperative Learning Environments Create a Nonthreatening Learning Environments

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