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11 Research-Based Classroom Management Strategies

Discover kernels—simple, quick, and reliable ways to deal with behavior challenges.

Do unresolved behavior issues keep you awake at night thinking about what strategies might enhance responsible decision making and increase academic learning time? It’s natural to feel personally and professionally challenged—as I have, too many times to count.

The good news is that there are some research-based strategies called kernels that you can add to your classroom management toolkit.

What Are Kernels?

In a 2008 paper published in Clinical Child and Family Psychology , Dennis Embry and Anthony Biglan describe kernels as “fundamental units of behavioral influence”—bite-size strategies that are validated by mountains of empirical evidence and teacher experience. (Barry Parsonson’s “ Evidence-Based Classroom Behavior Management Strategies ” offers another deep dive into the research.)

Embry and Biglan describe how a kernel might help the parent whose child is struggling to get out the door on time for school: “Alone, such a complaint does not merit implementing parenting skills training. However, a simple behavior change strategy, such as the ‘Beat the Timer’ game ( Adams and Drabman 1995 ), in which the child receives a reward for completing a behavior before the timer goes off, could solve the problem, and prevent parent-child conflict.”

Particularly at the beginning of the year, before you’ve had a chance to develop deeper relationships with your students, kernels can offer useful approaches to classroom management. Administrators and coaches recommend kernels because implementing them with fidelity is intuitive and observable. They require neither special training nor expensive consultants.

11 Classroom Management Kernels

While veteran teachers may read the annotated list of kernels as common knowledge, their ubiquity is an advantage. You’ll often find them embedded in more complex constellations of evidence-based behavioral programs because of their effectiveness in cuing self-awareness, self-regulation, and pro-academic dispositions.

1. Nonverbal Cues: A teacher can use subtle body movements (like proximity) or more explicit hand signals to cue self-regulation. One popular cue involves moving to the front of the room and making eye contact with the high schooler who is acting out, then pausing until you have the individual’s attention. Younger students are less familiar with social cues and might require a verbal signal to accompany the nonverbal cues. Example: “What should you be doing right now?”

2. Nonverbal Transition Cues: Kids can become so immersed in an activity that they might not notice your attempts to shift them into the next learning event. Ringing a bell or turning lights on and off are unmistakable signals that shift attention to the teacher or a new task. Asking a class to collectively decide what signal to use can be a community builder.

3. Timeouts: Hundreds of studies support the timeout strategy , which is now considered an indispensable component of many evidence-based behavior management systems. Unlike the dunce cap punishment, which intentionally shames and stigmatizes students, a timeout is now used in progressive classrooms to provide an emotional breather in a less socially charged area of the room. It’s also a way for students to decompress, reflect on and enhance their self-awareness, and then return to their seats with improved self-regulation.

4. Over-Correction: Younger students may find classroom routines foreign or overwhelming. Take the time to model the appropriate procedure and then rehearse it three times or more until each step of the routine becomes second nature. After these rehearsals, my second graders took pride in executing the required actions quickly and perfectly for the rest of the year.

5. Notes of Praise: A private note left on a student’s desk praising improved classroom effort is a powerful reinforcement, especially when the note is heartfelt . Studies also show that sending positive letters home improves kids’ self-management and decision making.

6. Private Reminders: When partnered with discreet praise, private reminders to students about how to act responsibly increase on-task behaviors. Researchers recommend using short and unemotional reminders.

7. Greetings: It might seem like an insignificant gesture, but greeting students by name and making a positive statement enhances their self-regulation and increases class participation. Example: “Hey, Marcus. How is my brilliant student today?”

8. On-the-Spot Corrections: During a lesson, don’t leave behavioral missteps unaddressed . Immediately, briefly, and without drama, cue students about responsible conduct. Example: “What should you be doing right now? Right. Let’s see that happen.”

9. Mindfulness Practice: Citing numerous studies , Emily Campbell writes that teaching a student to meditate or practice nasal breathing (inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth) enhances emotional regulation. This animated gif helps students (and teachers) learn the technique.

10. Notice and Comment: The Peacebuilders website shares several “ Minute Recipes for Building Peace ,” such as recognizing changes in student behavior and showing interest. Example: “I really like how you’re acting today. Did something happen to make you feel better about your group?” Noticing and commenting sends an unmistakable and powerful message: I care.

11. When-Then: Another intervention published by Peacebuilders, “ When-Then ” helps students make responsible decisions—but also leaves the choice in the students’ hands: “When you start talking to me with a lowered voice, then we’ll problem-solve this situation.”

An overwhelming number of studies recommend that classroom instructors systematically teach self-regulation, relationship management, and responsible decision making at the beginning of the school year, so implement these kernels soon.

Classroom Management That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Every Teacher

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How does classroom management affect student achievement? What techniques do teachers find most effective? How important are schoolwide policies and practices in setting the tone for individual classroom management?

Table of contents

Rules and Procedures

Disciplinary Interventions

Teacher-Student Relationships

The Student's Responsibility for Management

About the authors

Robert Marzano is the CEO of Marzano Research Laboratory in Centennial, CO, which provides research-based, partner-centered support for educators and education agencies—with the goal of helping teachers improve educational practice.

As strategic advisor, Robert brings over 50 years of experience in action-based education research, professional development, and curriculum design to Marzano Research. He has expertise in standards-based assessment, cognition, school leadership, and competency-based education, among a host of areas.

He is the author of 30 books, 150 articles and chapters in books, and 100 sets of curriculum materials for teachers and students in grades K–12.

The late Debra J. Pickering consulted with schools and districts nationally and internationally as vice president of field services for Marzano Research Laboratory. She passed away in 2020.

In addition to her work with schools, Pickering coauthored (with Robert Marzano) educational books and manuals, including  Dimensions of Learning ,  Classroom Instruction That Works ,  Classroom Management That Works , and  Building Academic Vocabulary .

With a combination of theoretical grounding and more than three decades of practical experience, Pickering worked with educators to translate theory into practice. In later years her work continued to focus on the study of learning and the development of resources for curriculum, instruction, and assessment to help all educators meet the needs of all students.

Pickering had a master's degree in school administration and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis in cognitive psychology.

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• Springer Nature - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Investigating the teacher’s perceptions of classroom management and teaching self-efficacy during Covid-19 pandemic in the online EFL courses

Zahra akbarzade farkhani.

1 Islamic Azad University, Quchan Branch, Quchan, Iran

Ghazal Badiei

2 Islamic Azad University, West Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

Farzad Rostami

3 Islamic Azad University, Baneh Branch, Baneh, Iran

Associated Data

The data will be available upon request.

During the coronavirus pandemic, online education continued to expand across varied educational factors. Therefore, the teachers had to develop and change some of the strategies used in their classes previously. Online classroom management is a synchronous-based online learning environment in education that is worthwhile to modify. For this purpose, the current study sought to understand the perceptions of classroom management and teaching self-efficacy by Iranian EFL teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Concerning sampling, 100 male and female English teachers constituted the study sample. Data were collected via Online Teaching Self–Efficacy Inventory questionnaire through different online platforms. The findings reflected that EFL teachers could select appropriate classroom management during online and face-to-face classes. In addition, the teachers had a positive attitude toward managing the classroom during the Covid-19 pandemic. The implications of this study may open up new perspectives into successful pedagogy for, teachers and students in outbreak days.

Introduction

Classroom management is one of the most critical issues in educational settings (Yilmaz & Cavas, 2008 ) and vital in constructing effective learning environments (Akar et al., 2010 ). The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic made countries change their instructional system. Traditional face-to-face teaching, that was using for many years, was replaced by entirely online e-learning courses. In the meanwhile, the management of the online courses changed, and new strategies were adopted. Several studies supported that classroom management has correlations with some variables including self-control, responsibility, psychological well-being, and discipline, influencing academic outcomes (Bean, 2007 ; Brophy, 1988 ; Fareh, 2018 ; Jones & Jones, 2004 ; Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003 ; Savage & Savage, 2009 ; Wang et al., 1993 ). Moreover, evidence suggests that teachers with professional classroom skills impact learners’ behaviors positively (Emmer & Emertson, 2013 ; Fareh, 2018 ; Raider-Roth, 2005 ; Walker, Ramsey, & Gresham, 2004 ).

Although many studies have been carried out about classroom management, few papers directly investigate the potential role of technology in online classes (Cho et al., 2020 ). In an online educational setting, recently teachers have been able to practice classroom management in computer-simulated classes- rooms (Judge, Bobzien; Maydosz, Gear, & Katsioloudis, 2013 ) or connect with classroom management coaches online (Rock et al., 2013 ). However, the investigation of teachers’ insights of classroom management during online classes has been less exported particularly in EFL Iranian context. Acquiring such information will provide a deeper understanding of challenges related to classroom management and online courses to find an advanced solution and improve a well-adjusted educational system that is forced to be integrated with technology. Hence, the current research addresses the following research questions.

• What are the EFL teachers' views on online classroom management?
• How confident do EFL teachers feel in preparing, conducting, and managing online courses?
• What are teachers’ perceptions toward the kind of applications used during online courses?

Review of literature

One of the key factors of professional teacher competence, and effective learning in face-to-face or online classrooms is classroom management. There are multiple definitions of classroom management. Brophy ( 1996 ) introduced it as “actions taken to create and maintain a learning environment conducive to successful instruction” (p. 5). In addition, Marzano ( 2003 ) proposed “establishing and reinforcing rules and procedures, carrying out disciplinary actions, maintaining effective teacher and student relationships, and maintaining an appropriate mental set for management” (p. 88). Later Weber et al. ( 2018 ) noted crucial variables underlying classroom management including monitoring, which refers to keeping teachers’ awareness of events continuously that may happen in the classroom (Gold & Holodynski, 2017 ; Kounin, 1970 ; Wolff, 2015 ). For example, feedback, appreciation, and prompt responses to misbehaviors are included in this component (Doyle, 2006 ; Evertson & Emmer, 2013 ; Little & Akin-Little, 2008 ).

Another variable is how to manage momentum (Thiel et al., 2012 ). It refers to making a balance between little wasted time and activities in the class (Pianta et al., 2012 ). Also, it contains clarifying the instructions, fulfilling the purpose and the structure of the lesson, appropriate materials, providing group focus and classroom conditions (Doyle, 2006 ; Kounin, 1970 ). Another significant aspect of classroom management is establishing rules and regulations which can positively affect learners' behavior (Emmer & Emertson, 2013 ; Fareh, 2018 ; Raider-Roth, 2005 ; Walker, Ramsey, & Gresham, 2004 ). In 2004, Jones and Jones published a paper about classroom management in the context of three approaches entail counseling which focuses on maintaining learners under discipline, behaviorist approach which concentrates on modification techniques for learner’s undesirable behaviors, and preventive approach which emphasizes to hinder learners’ misbehaviors.

A large and growing body of literature has investigated the importance of classroom management. In this regard, Kounin, ( 1970 ) reported this factor increases learning, reduces interpretation, and maintains an influential environment. A positive correlation was identified between teachers ‘classroom management and learners’ achievement (Hattie, 2009 ) and academic optimism (Murray & Zvoch, 2011 ). This component creates an effective learning environment (Fareh, 2018 ) influences teachers’ mental health, and can keep them from burnout and stress (Friedman, 2006 ; López et al., 2008 ). Moreover, the role of teachers’ experience in providing effective classroom management has been investigated in different studies to emphasize the distinction between knowledge and vision of the classroom among experts and novice practitioners (Gold & Holodynski, 2017 ; Wolff et al., 2017 ). In this field of study, one of the scales of classroom management is the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale developed and validated by (Martin & Sass, 2010 ). Behavior management is associated with teachers’ attempts to prevent and respond to learners’ misbehavior, but instructional management comprises goals, plans, rules, that teachers apply to provide instructions in a class to engage learners.

Classroom management in EFL context

The evidence presented in literature manifested that “classroom management as inherently equal to all subject matter areas and so ignored the distinctive characteristics of classroom management for specific content areas” (Macías, 2018 , p. 155), whereas he believed that according to eleven language teachers’ characteristics introduced by Borg ( 2006 ), three dramatic factors including the use of target language, patterns of interaction, and communicative competence influence classroom management in EFL context. Macías ( 2018 ) elaborated that, In the EFL context, teachers should apply medium language to give them instruction when students might not understand by the term of interaction patterns or group work, which might not be essential in other subjects.

Different studies exist in the literature regarding classroom management. Lee and van Vlack’s ( 2018 ) research on 127 English south Korean teachers showed that “Enjoyment and, surprisingly, anger also correlated positively with classroom management self-efficacy, while frustration correlated negatively. This shows a significant relationship between teachers’ emotions and classroom management self-efficacy” (p. 12). They suggested that future studies could be done as longitudinal research or on a larger sample. Akman ( 2020 ) examined 608 secondary school students in Turkey and found that “classroom management was an important element influential in students’ perceptions of confidence and stress” (p. 341). The suggestions for future studies were conducting mixed-methods research and considering a larger sample. Egeberg et al.'s ( 2021 ) mixed-methods research investigated 50 Australian teachers’’ perceptions about classroom management. “Effective classroom management is multidimensional including caring relationships, high expectations, and opportunities for engagement, participation, and contribution (p. 121). It was not in the EFL context. Recently Traditional face-to-face teaching has been shifted into online courses. It is required to update teaching strategies in a virtual classroom context.

Online classroom

The characteristics of an online classroom identified by Lathifah et al. ( 2020 ) are as follows: (a) the class session must be in real-time connecting the teacher and the students synchronously, (b) the teacher and the students are distinguished by location, and (c) the class uses a platform closed for certain people (p. 264). Although virtual class lacks physical contact between teachers and learners and managing the rules is demanding, this sort of class is more flexible to attend and learner-based (Rufai et al., 2015 ). The term online classroom refers to the whole teaching–learning procedures carried out in online ways. According to Taghizadeh and Amirkhani ( 2022 ), online teaching includes planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and administering the online materials in the classroom; online courses can be as successful as face-to-face experiences with effective teachers' management. Ghateolbahra and Samimi, ( 2021 ) mentioned that "the professional development of online education, especially in the field of classroom management, requires a set of practical strategies, knowing how to communicate well with students, having an effective classroom management program, and managing asynchronous discussions and online teamwork" (p. 510). The study suggested that more research should focus on teachers' knowledge and skills in effective classroom management in other disciplines and at different levels.

Durak and Saritepeci’s ( 2017 ) mixed-method study, among 52 teachers as participants, found that technology use positively influenced classroom management. According to the results of these studies, teachers emphasized the level of their teacher's IT literacy as the most significant element of classroom management in technology-assisted courses. Durak and Saritepeci ( 2017 ) added although it seems that younger teachers could be better at using technology in classroom management, the result of their research was vice versa. The critical factor was that older teachers with higher experience had fewer problems managing their classrooms. Most of the previous studies related to classroom management were from the general perspective of teaching, and the investigation of the role of this factor in foreign language teaching context is missing and less explored (Macías, 2018 ). Although the vast amount of classroom management research was based on face-to-face classes, a systematic review conducted by (Cho et al., 2020 ) suggested that “there is a pressing need for scholars and practitioners to view the landscape of possibilities when it comes to classroom management and technological advancement” (p. 2). Evidence shows it is a need to investigate how teachers view the management of online classes in the EFL context that the current paper tries to cover this gap through a quantitative study.

Methodology

Participants.

It was difficult to find enough participants during the coronavirus pandemic. The survey was performed online and sent to 377 EFL teachers through some web-based platforms (Telegram 36%, WhatsApp 57%, and others about 7%). Among 339 teachers receiving the survey, only 100 answered the questionnaire. Among the participants completing the study, there were 65% females and 35% males, with an average allocated time of eleven minutes. The teaching experience ranged from novice researchers to those with more years of experience. All of the participants attending this study came from Iran, of whom 44.4% were teaching at intermediate to upper-intermediate levels of private language institutions, 45.5% at public education, and about 10% didn't mention their teaching place. Most of them held an MA or BA degree in different branches of English studies, including English literature, English teaching, English translation, and some teachers were Ph.D. candidates in English teaching. All of them had about three semesters teaching online. For non-probability sampling, the participants were selected based on convenience sampling.

The classroom management subcategory was extracted from Online Teaching Self-Efficiency Inventory (OTSEI) to answer the preceding research questions and collect the data from participants. The questionnaire is based on the work of Dr. Kevin P. Gosselin in Australia (Gosselin, 2009 ). It was the primary research questionnaire (See Appendix A). OTSEI is a Likert scale survey consisting of 46 items to assess online teaching, management, and efficacy of the teacher (Maddux & Gosselin, 2012 ). This questionnaire was used because classroom management is one of its categories. According to that, it was adopted and only nineteen related items were used in this study. These items examined teachers’ competence for online teaching, including how confident EFL teachers felt in preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses and whether they evaluated the learners in online classes, checked assignment, provided feedback, and set the learning goals in the online classroom. Also, there is a lack of domain-specific research instruments for measuring the online classroom management of EFL teachers. Data collected from OTSEI across each stage provided the necessary information for this quantitative research. Some online school teachers were supposed to answer the scale to indicate how confident they were in accomplishing the activities by selecting a number for each question on a scale ranging from 0 (No confidence) to 10 (Complete confidence). It is noteworthy that the questionnaire also included some subcategories. The sections include selection of technological resources, virtual interaction, unit content migration (the ability to successfully transfer instructional materials from face-to-face to online units), online courses alignment, online resources, and web-based unit structure (the ability to construct and design an online team including a clear organizational structure and facilitating software and communication guidelines). In addition to the information gathered in the survey, some demographic information such as the age of participants, gender, ethnic identity, current teaching position, years of experience, and online teaching experience was also collected (see Appendix A). Alpha reliabilities of the ranking scales ranged from 0.84 to 0.95, reflecting suitable internal consistency. The average variance accounted for the five single-factor scales ranged from 45.93 to 64.38%, with an average of 53.16% of explained variance, providing evidence for good factor validity (Stevens, 1996 ).

Procedure and data analysis

This study was carried out among English teachers from different cities in Iran. The EFL teachers received the English version of the OTSEI questionnaire through a web-based platform. To keep themselves healthy and away from infection to Coronaviruses, the participants were reluctant to be interviewed face to face or observed. Thus, the questionnaire was the best choice to be sent out to the participants online and sent back to the authors. Although filling in the questionnaire was taking about ten minutes, some participants delivered the questionnaire late, about a week to ten days, because of different problems such as not having enough time or engaging in online classes. They answered the questionnaire anonymously, but each participant left an email address in their answer sheet for any other request in case of need. They sent a word document of the survey that they filled out for the authors.

When the schools closed their doors to face-to-face instruction, English language teachers had to manage their classrooms via online courses. Therefore, all the subjects had online teaching experience. After data collection, this questionnaire was addressed by calculating means and standard deviations of the teacher classroom management in online teaching courses through OTSEI survey scores for the five measures, including the selection of online resources, virtual interaction, and units content migration, online course alignment, and web-based unit structure. Descriptive statistics were applied to describe the collected data. Finally, SPSS software was used for analyses due to the normality of data.

Examining the first research question

The first research question of the current study aimed to investigate how EFL teachers viewed online classroom management. It means whether they could manage their online classes similar to face to face ones or they could adopt a teaching style that allowed for the facilitation of learning through guidance.

Table ​ Table1 1 displays the participants’ numbers and the respective percentages of responses for each questionnaire item related to online classroom management. Every item begins with (in the context of online units, I could …) for example, in the context of online units, I could get students to work together in my classes. The items are arranged on a scale ranging from 0 (No confidence) to 10 (Complete confidence).

The participants’ numbers and the respective percentages of responses for each item of the questionnaire related to online classroom management

0 = no confidence, 10 = complete confidence

As indicated in Table ​ Table1, 1 , the number of participants who responded to the items with an inclination towards the complete confidence end was substantially higher than those who responded to the items with a tendency towards the no-confidence. For instance, scrutiny of item 19 indicates that only 17 (17.3%) of the responses belonged to 0 while 82 (82.7%) of the answers belonged to the 10. Other items in the above table follow the similar pattern, and few participants checked 0 as no-confidence scale. Thus, it can be concluded that EFL teachers were confident in their online classroom management.

Examining the second research question

The second research question of the present study explored how confident EFL teachers felt in preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses. Whether or not they evaluate the learners in online classes, if they check assignment, get feedback, get the learning goals in the online classroom. Table ​ Table2 2 shows the participants’ numbers and the respective percentages of responses for each questionnaire item related to preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses.

The participants’ numbers and the respective percentages of responses for each item of the questionnaire related to preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses

As presented in Table ​ Table2, 2 , the number of participants who responded to the items with an inclination towards the complete confidence end was considerably higher than those who answered the items with a tendency towards 0. For example, a look at item 36 shows that only 19 (19.1%) of the responses belonged to 0, while 81 (82.9%) of the answers belonged to10. Other items in the above table follow a similar pattern. Thus, it can be concluded that EFL teachers in the current study were confident in preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses so that the online classroom could not affect the quality of classroom management and applying interaction strategies.

Examining the third research question

The third research question of this study explored teachers’ perceptions toward the kind of applications used during online courses and selecting the best one for their teaching. Also this question explored the way the teachers learned to use new technologies in their units. Table ​ Table3 3 depicts the participants’ numbers and the respective percentages of responses for each item of the questionnaire related to teachers’ perceptions toward the kind of applications used during online courses.

The participants’ numbers and the respective percentages of responses for each item of the questionnaire related to teachers’ perceptions toward the kind of applications used during online courses

As seen in Table ​ Table3, 3 , the number of participants who responded to the items with an inclination towards 10 was considerably higher than those who answered the items with a tendency towards 0. For instance, in item 11, only 16 (16.1%) of the responses belonged to the no-confidence end, while 83 (83.83%) of the answers belonged to the complete confidence end. Other items in the above table have a similar pattern. Thus, EFL teachers showed confidence in using the kind of applications in online courses. The results reflect that even though the teachers have difficulty with digital literacy and working with different platform in contraction with learners, they mediated various applications well to better control the class and qualify the online courses as they performed in face to face classes.

The present study sought to understand EFL teachers' perceptions towards classroom management during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first research question of this study concerned EFL teachers’ views on online classroom management. The results suggest that EFL teachers were confident in developing online courses and managing the online environment and instructions. They could adopt some teaching styles that allowed for the facilitation of learning through their guidance and conveyed their face-to-face class management strategies to online courses. This result confirms the finding of Diamond Hicks ( 2012 ), who explored the correlation between classroom management and some other influencing factors such as self-efficiency through the same questionnaire which authors applied in the current research paper. Moreover, the results of the present investigation are in accord with a recent qualitative study that performed by (Rufai, Alebious & Adeakin, 2015 ). The current paper indicated that although virtual classes lack physical interaction between learners and teachers, managing this sort of class is more flexible to attend. It can be also learner-based such as the typical situations of teaching in which EFL teachers are capable of establishing a positive social climate that engages students in learning via an online course. The other objective of this study was to explore how confident EFL teachers felt in preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses. In other words, this question aimed to see whether the teachers could effectively align learning objectives, unit assignments and learning activities, assessment strategies, and procedures with online courses. Examining the ten items of the OTSEI questionnaire exclusively concerned with this question showed that EFL teachers were confident in preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses. This means that in an online course, the EFL teachers can indicate their ability to manage the learning environment by providing whatever is necessary to have good teaching. On the other hand, when the online course alignment by the teacher is suitable, as Kirtman ( 2009 ) mentioned, there are similar learning outcomes whether the teacher teaches in a traditional or online class. In consistent with the findings of Francis and Oluwatoyin ( 2019 ), the results showed that online classroom management was easier and the class atomospher was cooler when teachers improved their various technological knowledge.

The last research question explored teachers’ perception toward the kind of applications used during online courses for managing the online classroom. In the context of online teaching, it is necessary to select appropriate technological resources. In other words, the teachers must have the ability to choose, utilize, and determine the appropriateness of technology for managing the classroom well in online courses to enhance the students' learning and enrich instruction. This study concluded that EFL teachers could select the appropriate software application to use in their classes to deliver materials to the students and develop their instruction despite the problems like internet speed and weak digital platforms that Iranian teachers have been encountered. This outcome agrees with a study (Bates and Poole, 2003 ), indicating that effective teaching enables the teachers to look at the use of technology to improve teaching and learning in complementary ways. As a result, they can make the right choices of using media and technology to enhance education significantly. In the same line, Graham et al. ( 2020 ) and Taghizadeh and Amirkhani ( 2022 ) conducted a research by means of questionnaire. They mentioned that teachers might view technology integration as beneficial when it increases productivity and social influence and fosters pedagogical changes. However, the results indicated the learners and teachers are required to improve their digital literacy and behavior to facilitate the management of online classes.

This study was an attempt to contribute to the effect of online teaching on classroom management by EFL teachers during the time that the way of teaching changed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The findings of the current study illustrated the importance of online courses and managing the classroom while showing that EFL teachers could select appropriate materials for teaching English and manage their classes even in the online teaching context. Furthermore, it showed that EFL teachers were confident in preparing, conducting, assessing, and aligning online courses. They could use technology and suitable software applications to develop their instruction and manage their online classes as they did in their face-to-face courses. In addition, there was no difference between male and female teachers in this procedure. It can be a good opportunity for teachers to improve their technical skills to use in their next face-to-face classes in the future. Thus, most teachers have no problems with managing the classroom in online courses.

One of the implications of the study can be for instructors and educators who may think to design the factors of online management classroom and other dimensions of education. The results of the present study contribute to directing teachers to consider potential strategies that fit online classes. In addition, it can help educators and other researchers to continue exploring the way technology and online platform affect how teachers can act in online classes and rethink some strategies that can help them to enrich their teaching and student learning. Moreover, according to the findings of this research and other similar projects, policy and curriculum makers must consider that there should be a review of teaching and its methods in the post-Corona era and some online teacher training courses can be held for teachers to be able to manage their online courses more efficiently because it seems students and teachers are interested in online education, although there are some problems in this area. One of the limitations of this study was utilizing one instrument to gather quantitative data. However, researchers could obtain more profound results by considering qualitative data. The same research can be carried out via a broader population, with more participants from different parts of the world. Moreover, future studies can use some other instruments such as observations, surveys, and other data analysis methods. The impacts of other variables such as age, gender, socio-economic status, technology importance, and distress of teachers were not studied in this research and need further investigation.

Acknowledgements

I would like to appreciate the participants and editors of the study.

Author contributions

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

No funding was available for the present study.

Availability of data and materials

Declarations.

All author has no competing interests.

Publisher's Note

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Contributor Information

Zahra Akbarzade Farkhani, Email: moc.oohay@75dijamidabarsan .

Ghazal Badiei, Email: moc.liamg@eeidabG .

Farzad Rostami, Email: moc.liamg@97rdazraF .

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College Minor: Everything You Need to Know

14 fascinating teacher interview questions for principals, tips for success if you have a master’s degree and can’t find a job, 14 ways young teachers can get that professional look, which teacher supplies are worth the splurge, 8 business books every teacher should read, conditional admission: everything you need to know, college majors: everything you need to know, 7 things principals can do to make a teacher observation valuable, 3 easy teacher outfits to tackle parent-teacher conferences, research-based classroom management strategies you can’t afford to skip.

For learning to be effective, teachers have to master classroom management strategies. A disciplined classroom is one that’s ready to learn. These research-based top techniques from experts will help your students focus better and learn more.

Say hello. A little recognition goes a long way. By beginning each class with a personal greeting to every student, you’ll know right away who is having a good day and who may need additional attention.

Set the expectation. Students can’t meet your expectations if you don’t tell them what they are. Show them how good classroom behavior looks. Better, be part of a schoolwide approach. Use PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support) and apply it consistently in your classroom by explicitly teaching the behaviors you want to see.

Make your rules simple. Students who have difficulty understanding a long list of directions will also have difficulty understanding complex behavior rules. A short list of brief rules is more effective than a laundry list written to “catch” every misbehavior.

Master step one. Wait to give directions until everyone focuses their attention on you. Whether you say, “All eyes on me,” or “Line up without talking,” make sure everyone does it. If they don’t, take a deep breath and start over, again, waiting for compliance.

Praise the positive. Many of your students will demonstrate excellent classroom behavior. Praise them for it. Praise the students who are still learning, too, by pointing out what they’ve done right.

Focus on one behavior at a time. Tell children everything they’ve done wrong, and you’ll overwhelm them. When kids know they’ve messed up, they may feel downshifted. If so, they’ll be unable to pay attention to your teaching, and their behaviors may escalate. Instead, tell students the one thing you’d like them to work on first. When they’re good at it, move on to the next one.

Delay the discussion. Not everything requires immediate attention. If an angry child shouts at you, let her know that what she has to say is important, but you can’t listen until she calms down and speaks in a regular voice. Tell the student you’ll check back in a few minutes to see if she’s ready to talk without being angry. Be sure to follow up.

Show understanding and sensitivity to cultural norms. They might not mean disrespect in your culture. The child who refuses to look you in the eye when you’re talking to him may cast his glance downward out of cultural respect.

Practice makes perfect. You may find yourself tempted to allow for behavior that’s “good enough.” If you’ve asked your students to enter the room in a single file and they rush the door like shoppers at a sale, you must ask them to start over and try again. Repeat until all students have done what you asked.

Be efficient. Plan enough activities for your classroom so that you don’t have to drag out learning tasks. Use the steps above to teach students how to prepare for the lesson, conduct themselves during it, and transition to something else afterward.

Think of these classroom management strategies as “active ingredients” in classroom management. They are the kernels of influence when it comes to influencing behavior .

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• Published on April 14, 2020
• |  Blog
• | by Kenton Levings

Research-Based Strategies for Dealing With Disruptive Students

Over  50 million students  attend a public school in the United States, taught by 3.2 million full-time teachers.

However, the teaching profession has a very high turnover rate. About 8% of teachers quit and pursue a new profession, or retire, each year. And in some states, as many as  40% of teachers leave the job after five years.

This is due to a variety of reasons, but disruptive students they cannot control is one of them. In this article, we’ll look at some research-based classroom management strategies that will help you in your day-to-day teaching.

We know teaching is a challenging profession, but we aim to help make it easier for you by giving you the tools you need to succeed. After all, we don’t want students to lose out on committed and competent teachers because of disruptive behavior.

Read on for more information on some of the best research-based strategies for classroom management.

How Disruptive Students Can Create a Ripple Effect

Disruptive students and their behavior create a ripple effect that can create problems for your entire class. Not only does it create stress for you, as the educator, but it can also create stress for the students.

While not all students want to be in school, some are keen to actually learn the material at hand. Those students will be left behind, especially if disruption becomes a huge problem.

In some cases, a child can be so disruptive that it makes lessons impossible. You may even have to find a way to cater to that child specifically to ensure the class gets their adequate time with you.

Or, because the child is disruptive, other students may see the student not  being adequately disciplined . As such, they may feel that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want because you have such little control over the classroom.

Do not let that happen to you.

Creating Expectations From the Outset

According to a thorough  2018 study in the Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism , creating expectations from the outset helps reduce disruptive classroom behavior.

If students know what to expect from the beginning of your course, they’re more likely to follow the rules than if the rules are ambiguous.

Many teachers start their term or semester thinking students already know they should be quiet and stay in their seats. While that may be a given for students in higher education, it isn’t always for students in K-12.

Throughout the years of their education, students will have had teachers discipline them differently, or offer different rewards to them. Some teachers employ ongoing rewards and discipline, and these are laid out at the beginning of the course.

While you may have to take more drastic measures as the year wears on, it is a good idea to layout expectations on the first day. If you’re in a high school, creating a syllabus for your course is a great idea. It can help prepare students for higher education and give them, in writing, what you expect of them.

At this point, you can state that talking or disruptive behavior can affect their grade, their free time, or whatever mode of discipline you wish to employ.

Do not just put this in the syllabus, but go over it with the students verbally.

Research-Based Classroom Management Strategies Involve Getting to Know Your Students

The same study that we mentioned above also states that getting to know your students on a personal level creates a decline in disruptive behavior.

We all have our favorite teacher. We may even have a teacher from school that we keep in touch with via Facebook or email every once in a while. That teacher may have been why you decided to go into teaching the first place.

All teachers begin their career aspiring to be “that teacher.” But few rise to the occasion. They may become so overwhelmed that they find it impossible to get to know their students personally.

And depending on how many students you teach, having a personal relationship with all of them can be difficult. But, if you can get to know them and respect them as people, students will, in turn, respect you.

Taking time to get to know your students in and out of the classroom is very important. You may wish to employ games in the classroom that foster teamwork or help students feel connected to each other and you.

If you can, create a club or after-school activity for your students, and let all of them know about it. Fostering these relationships is essential for you and your students alike.

You likely already know that students who display disruptive behavior are sometimes students who have complicated home lives. As such, they may not always share the root of their disruptive behavior with you, leading to both of you becoming frustrated.

Having close relationships with your students allows you to understand why your students act the way they are. Maybe your student has to watch a younger sibling late into the night for their parent. Or perhaps the student is experiencing abuse, or their parents have financial difficulties. Sometimes, the behavior comes from the fact that the student has an undiagnosed learning disability and the frustration that arises from that.

If any of the above is the case, a close relationship allows for them to confide in you, and for you to look for ways to help mitigate the home issue as well as classroom behavior.

Free-Time as a Reward

This tip is an old one, but a good one. It’s tried and true and is part of a 1 978 edition of the academic journal, Psychology in the Schools.

For this strategy, you can either choose to treat your students as a team or as individuals. According to the study, treating students as individuals worked better than as a team, but they both were effective in reducing classroom disruption.

When your students are working independently, you can then use having a certain amount of free time per week as a reward. The reward will be contingent upon their performance. If a student performs well, they will get the maximum level of free-time. If a student does not perform well, they will not receive free-time at all.

In this experiment, the threat of not receiving free-time made students buckle down and study. They worked as a team often, but the study found that “every man for himself” approach worked best.

If your students are doing something like silent reading or writing essays, measuring performance may not be a good way to mete out rewards. As such, you may wish to adapt to giving free-time based on their classroom behavior.

The “Good Behavior Game” to Curb Disruptive Behavior

Another oldie but goodie is the “Good Behavior Game,” this one comes from the  Fall 1973’s Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis .

The “Good Behavior Game” markedly reduces disruptive behavior as the students are now working as a team. With this game, you’ll need to divide your students into two or three “teams.” You can do this by creating groups within your classroom, or pitting classes you teach against one another.

Establish a reward students want if they’re on the winning team. If your school has uniforms, you may wish to organize a free dress for the winners. Or, you can do something like having a pizza party with the winners.

The “Good Behavior Game” should have clear rules, and you should deduct points for disruptive behavior accordingly. Creating a system at the beginning of the term is an excellent way to do so. Students will be marked down 1 point for talking out of turn, 5 points for getting out of their seats, and so on.

Keep track of the points throughout the term or quarter, making it clear when a student has lost a point. The team with the most points at the end of the term wins.

Try and ensure you can do something like this every quarter or term. Having your students do this every year is too much for many, and they may lose interest if they cannot visualize the reward.

Keeping Students’ Behavior in Check

We know that using research-based classroom management strategies for disruptive students is the best way to keep them in line. We also understand it can be incredibly challenging to do so, and sometimes you need extra support.

We’d like to invite you to sign up for our monthly managing students’ behavior webinar by  clicking here .

Additionally, if you’re a school psychologist, special education director, school counselor, or behavior interventionist, we’d love to speak to you about our software. It helps you create legally-defensible intervention plans in just under 1 hour.  Click here  to schedule your 30-minute demo.

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