Some of these ideas may not work for you since I teach 4th. The best thing
that I have found to help maintain classroom management is proximity. My
classroom is arranged so that I can walk in front of or behind eveyone in
the class. I am always walking around my room so that I am in close contact
with everyone. This also allows me to check their work constantly and
hopefully catch any misunderstandings as we go.

I also like to let my kids move whenever possible. I use whiteboards a lot
and have them hold their answers over their head so that I can see their
answers. This gives me fewer papers to grade and I can instantly see who is
having difficulties. Sometime if we are checking multiple choice, I'll
assign each corner of my room a letter and they take their paper with them
to the corner of the room that goes with their answer. They have to show
their paper to someone close to them to prove that they really picked that
answer and are not just following the crowd. I then explain the correct
answer and why the other answers weren't correct. Again this helps me to
quickly see who is having difficulties and will need more help.

Some of my children like to stand as they work. I don't have a problem with
this as long as they are not disturbing anyone around them. I have several
places in the back of my room where the people who like to stand can go and
work. These places are also available for the people who like to work by
themselves. I do have to keep an eye on certain areas to keep people from
gathering and talking when they should be working.

This last idea probably won't work for your grade, but it works great in the
lower grades. I have a wooden apple that someone gave me several years back
that I use to help with the little things (talking, not sharing, etc.).
Whenever someone does something that I have asked them not to they get the
apple. This means that they will owe me 5 minutes of their recess time.
However, if someone else breaks a rule they get the apple and the first
person is off the hook and does not owe me anything. It's kind of like
playing hot potato. Whoever is the last person to have the apple when we go
to recess is the only person who will owe the 5 minutes. This is easy to
keep track of and I have found it does wonders for keeping those minor
distruptions under control. Whenever my class starts to get out of control
I just mention the apple and they quickly calm down.

I hope some of this will be useful to you. Let me know if something didn't
make sense.

TN

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