URSULINE CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING: DISRUPTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

Establishing expectations for behavior early in the course can support students’ willingness to engage in learning activities and prevent possible conflicts. Involving students in establishing those ground rules helps build relevant and meaningful guidelines with greater consensus.

• Focus norms on observable conduct and behavior and plan to discuss them with the class.
• For the syllabus and first day of class:
  • Discuss disciplinary assumptions & practices
  • The purpose of discussion as a course practice
  • The rules of engagement
• Make a clear statement that in your classroom, discriminatory language or conduct is not tolerated. Include the statement in the syllabus, on the class LMS Moodle, and state it verbally in class.
• State the course learning goals. Specify what you want students to learn and why. 

Faculty Focus:

Advice for the First Day of Class: Today We Will  by Jennifer Garrett and Mary Clement EdD

Advice for Teachers: Dare to be Strict by Joseph W. Trefzger, PHD

Love the One You're With: Creating a Classroom Community by Cynde Gregory

State of Mind in the College Classroom by Stacy Roth

Cell Phone Policies: A Review of Where Faculty Stand by Maryellen Weimer, PhD

Helping Students Make the Right Call on Cell Phones by Pete Burkholder, PhD

Teaching Students the Importance of Professionalism by Angela F. Keaton, PhD

4 Faculty:

Classroom Management by Lisa Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Managing Misbehavior in the College Classroom: Cult of Pedagogy by Jennifer Gonzalez

Surviving Class minus Your Cell Phone by Rich Barlow

CRLT Center for Research on Learning and Teaching:

Responding to Disruptions or Disrespect from the University of Michigan

Understanding Student and Faculty Incivility in Higher Education by Kristen A. Frey Knepp (As posted in the Journal of Effective Teaching)

The longer we talk, the more students we lose. College instructor Chris Biffle demonstrates micro-lecturing, the crucial Whole Brain Teaching classroom management technique that not only breaks information into understandable chunks, but also has a built in check for student comprehension.

Whole Brain Teaching: College: Classroom Management

Whether you are aware of it or not, classroom management decisions are guided by your personal beliefs and knowledge about how people learn. 

How do you:

• choose to assess student learning?
• hold students accountable for coming to class prepared?
• have students interact with material and each other?
• establish a collegial classroom atmosphere?

Observe different perspectives on classroom management for:

• Student accountability
• Developing appropriate relationships with students
• Facilitating interactions between students for optimal learning
• Communicating expectations to students

The following links, videos, and resources are from faculty across the states, working in colleges and universities.

Effective Classroom Management: Indiana University Bloomington

Holding Students Accountable: Indiana University Bloomington

Setting the Tone: University of Toronto

Addressing Classroom Disruption Butler University

Best Practices for Managing Disruptive Behavior University of Washington