I was going to write this blog about traditional classroom management as that is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this year. Instead, I will shift the focus slightly to something more relevant given today’s teaching environment, digital classroom management. A report from the National Center for Education Statistics says that in 2017 “about 21 percent of public schools and 13 percent of private schools offered any courses entirely online.” This number has only increased since then and more so due to COVID complications. Being able to skillfully use what we know about classroom management in the online learning environment will be a significant tool for teaching this coming school year.
According to the team at Edutopia, the proven practices of in-person classroom management should not be discarded simply because of instruction transitioning online. In our physical classroom, we often design and us the space available to us intentionally to build an atmosphere of learning. The same can happen online by providing clear areas for your online students to find the resources they need. This may mean preparing a very thorough tutorial video showing students where all of their resources are since they might not be clearly visible like in a physical class.
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| Photo from Study.com |
Just like you would do with a physical classroom, you need to have clearly defined online office hours and contact information so your students know how and when they can reach out to you. Be present when you are working with them virtually, minimizing as many distractions as possible in both your environment and theirs. Since you won’t be able to chat up your students in the halls, be sure to reach out to them regularly through a variety of means.
The general rule of thumb, if it works in a physical classroom it works in an online one. As a teacher, you might have to learn some new ways of establishing your classroom management plan when doing distance learning and adjust your own habits accordingly but in the end, your students will adapt under your guidance and examples.
