Introduction (5 – 10 minutes)

• Begin with this or another prayer:
  Dear Jesus who gathered children into your lap and loved them,
  Be with our teachers this day as we gather to learn about and reflect on creating positive learning environments for our children. We understand that these children come to us from different backgrounds and experiences. Our goal is to offer all children love and encouragement and gentle reminders for appropriate behaviours. Guide us through our work now, so that we may enhance the effectiveness of our classes in order to bring your word to our Sunday school.     AMEN

Introduce the session by saying:

Classroom management can be a difficult task for even the most experienced teachers. It can be even more daunting for a Sunday School teacher who may have to deal with a ‘non-permanent’ classroom, varying numbers and ages of children from week to week, and limited contact time with children, only seeing them once a week or less. You will be given information on how to establish a classroom conducive to learning and strategies for encouraging positive behaviours and interactions among the children in your class.

• Ask all participants to offer a definition of classroom management and its importance.
• Give the following (possible) definition:  Classroom management refers to the practices and procedures used by a teacher to ensure that instruction and learning will take place.
• Have participants complete the 12 questions from ‘What is Your Classroom Management Profile?’ (appendix I). These questions will get participants thinking about how they currently manage their classes.  Scoring and debriefing will occur after the presentation.

2.  Presentation (5 – 10 minutes)
Many aspects of a classroom must be effectively managed in order to create a positive learning environment. The following should be considered when preparing for your teaching (included as a handout in Appendix II: Classroom Management checklist):

        Teacher

• Take care of yourself first. If you maintain a positive attitude the children will too.
• Get to know the children in your class as individuals. Ask parents to complete a ‘Personal Profile Sheet’ (appendix III) to begin a discussion with each child. The information collected should be appropriately destroyed (eg. shredded) at the end of the Sunday School year.
• Establish and be consistent with rules and behavioural expectations. Discuss consequences of violating expectations. Clearly display expectations and consequences.
• Try to anticipate potential conflicts. Think through how you can prevent something from happening.
• Be a positive role model. Exhibit the behaviours you expect of the children.

        Time

• Prepare a file of extra activities for children who finish early.
• Arrive early enough to prepare and set out materials.
• Complete projects, crafts, activities etc. yourself or with another child ahead of time to appropriately determine time requirements.
• If needed, carry parts of the lesson to the following week. It’s better to allow the learning process to occur naturally than to ‘finish what I’ve planned’. If you’re in a team teaching situation where someone else will be finishing the lesson, be sure to communicate clearly what has been completed and what needs to be done.

        Environment

• Should be appealing and welcoming but not over-stimulating.
• Appropriately sized for the number and age group of the children. The younger the children, the more space is required for movement.
• Free from noise and distraction as much as possible.
• Adequate temperature and lighting.
• Space for visual aids and displaying children’s work.

        Presentation of Materials

• Provide exemplars or models of an end product.
• Provide a variety of learning experiences. (Refer to Multiple Intelligences information: appendix IV)
• Provide written and verbal directions.
• Appropriate age and interest level for the children.

        Children (and their behaviour)

• Immediately recognize and reinforce (reward) desired behaviours.
• Create classroom guidelines with students so they have a sense of ownership over the expectations in the classroom.
• Develop a system or code using (Strategies for Managing Misbehaviour’ appendix V) to let students know when behaviour is not acceptable.

3. Activities
Review ‘Strategies for Managing Misbehaviour’. In small groups, discuss situations in which each strategy could be used.  Direct participants to strategies 4 and 5. Ask them to practise what they would say to children. For strategy #6, ask participants to generate a list of acceptable consequences for major misbehaviours.

Score results of ‘What is your classroom management profile?’ to determine each person’s classroom management style. Scoring is explained on the question sheet. Have participants discuss with a partner their management profile and what they are currently doing well and what changes they would like to make.

4.  Debrief

Ask participants to write down a personal reflection of one or two concepts that he/she learned and how that can be applied to the classroom.

As a group, you may decide to create (at a later date) a general list of behavioural expectations for large group activities as well as for individual classrooms. Expectations change and will become less lenient when larger groups of children are together.

End with this or a similar prayer:

Lord,

Help us to have the strength and integrity to know when a difficult situation calls for patience and when it calls for discipline. We pray for the ability to be fair and consistent with all our children even when we are challenged the most. We are here in service to you to teach your word and example to your children.     AMEN