Bill is right, no teacher can always get every class under control on his own. Most teachers need support to cope with 'uncontrollable' classes, but if any class is still 'uncontrollable' after senior management intervention something in that school is seriously awry. How can a staffroom full of educated and skilled teachers be turned inside out by a classroom of teenagers without so much as a GCSE between them? In broad brushstrokes, if you have a class like this, do as little whole-class teaching as it takes to get students working, and then work on the behaviour of the class, starting with the ringleaders - most children are followers rather than leaders and if you can get to the leaders in the right way you will start to see a difference. Good luck. If you want my top-27 tips for teachers - one for each year I worked as a teacher - let me know. 'Be yourself, everyone else is taken'. (Oscar Wilde)
Great comment especially the bit about whole class teaching. I know I struggled in my beginning of my teaching career attempting to get a class under control while teaching. If many students in the class aren't even able to sit and listen to you for five minutes, there's little point in trying to teach them anything. I would give them lots of exercises that require little explanation and instructions but that would keep them occupied. I would then go around making sure they're ALL on track and quietly working away - anyone who was trying to disrupt would be immediately dealt with. And it's not that I wanted all my classes to be in complete silence but until the behaviour was under control, that was how I did it. They need to know that you're in control and that there are rules in the classroom that bed to be followed. All the fun, communicative classes won't work unless there's order and respect.
I think it takes time, through a mixture of Bill Rogers and Phil Beadle I've definitely calmed my teaching approach down and I no longer shout in class but sometimes I feel the urge to lose my calmness.
I enjoyed this video but I wonder just how well you can teach the calm, confident authority which Bill Rogers exudes here and which he obviously demonstrates in his classes, to others who don't naturally have it?
I've just discovered these videos with Bill Rogers. I've had a rough beginning this year with my two classes, but hopefully his strategies will help.
Bill is right, no teacher can always get every class under control on his own. Most teachers need support to cope with 'uncontrollable' classes, but if any class is still 'uncontrollable' after senior management intervention something in that school is seriously awry. How can a staffroom full of educated and skilled teachers be turned inside out by a classroom of teenagers without so much as a GCSE between them? In broad brushstrokes, if you have a class like this, do as little whole-class teaching as it takes to get students working, and then work on the behaviour of the class, starting with the ringleaders - most children are followers rather than leaders and if you can get to the leaders in the right way you will start to see a difference. Good luck. If you want my top-27 tips for teachers - one for each year I worked as a teacher - let me know. 'Be yourself, everyone else is taken'. (Oscar Wilde)
Hi John, I'd love to continue this conversation with you
@@chrischongreflections Please feel free to do so, Chris. Are you a teacher yourself?
Great comment especially the bit about whole class teaching. I know I struggled in my beginning of my teaching career attempting to get a class under control while teaching. If many students in the class aren't even able to sit and listen to you for five minutes, there's little point in trying to teach them anything. I would give them lots of exercises that require little explanation and instructions but that would keep them occupied. I would then go around making sure they're ALL on track and quietly working away - anyone who was trying to disrupt would be immediately dealt with. And it's not that I wanted all my classes to be in complete silence but until the behaviour was under control, that was how I did it. They need to know that you're in control and that there are rules in the classroom that bed to be followed. All the fun, communicative classes won't work unless there's order and respect.
I think it takes time, through a mixture of Bill Rogers and Phil Beadle I've definitely calmed my teaching approach down and I no longer shout in class but sometimes I feel the urge to lose my calmness.
I enjoyed this video but I wonder just how well you can teach the calm, confident authority which Bill Rogers exudes here and which he obviously demonstrates in his classes, to others who don't naturally have it?
Asking for 4 minutes silence controlled with a stopwatch really works for me