The first thing a teacher must do for the classroom is identify the types of behaviors that will not be tolerated and those behaviors that are ideal. For instance, bullying others, acting disrespectfully, talking out of turn and touching other students inappropriately are examples of behaviors a teacher may not tolerate inside the classroom. Once the types of behaviors are identified, the teacher creates a set of classroom rules or guidelines for students to follow.
It is a teacher's responsibility to educate students on the behavioral rules at school. After the rules and guidelines for the classroom are drawn up, teachers read them to the class. It is also a good idea for the rules and guidelines to be posted in the classroom where students can see them. Then, the rules are used as references and reminders to students to always act accordingly. The rules should be easily defined and use language students understand.
Classroom management involves teachers monitoring student behaviors. Monitoring efforts include talking to students about their behaviors, correcting poor behaviors as soon as they occur, not letting negative behaviors go unaddressed, catching students behaving well and even rearranging the classroom if necessary to separate students or reduce distractions.
For a teacher to reinforce the behavioral rules of the classroom, a consequences and reward system may be instituted: negative behaviors are met with adverse consequences and positive behaviors are rewarded. An example is if a student throws something in the classroom, the student will be punished with a consequence, such as time out, skipping recess or staying after school for detention. In a positive example, students who display good behaviors for one week might get a special reward.