There are many things that teachers do in the classroom that contribute to whether or not they receive respect from their students. Some teachers just have a commanding personality and don’t have to employ as many strategies to keep their classes in line. Otherdo teachers not excel in this area and they have to put in more effort. Below I talk about the two most important areas of classroom management that I have found bring respect from students.
The first week of a class the students are usually a bit tentative to misbehave while they are feeling you out. This is the time that you should be extremely clear on what you will accept, behavior wise. As part of your lesson during this first week go over how you want students to behave during each activity that is done in your class. Be sure to mention what the consequence is for breaking one of your rules. It is important that during these first few weeks you don’t let anyone get away with breaking your rules. The word will eventually get around that you are strict and that you will give a detention, or whatever the consequences are at your school, without hesitation. Students respect a teacher who makes it clear that he or she will enforce the rules. When a teacher is inconsistent with enforcing consequences students and parents alike get upset. A teacher who enforces the rules every time, no matter who broke them, may not be loved at first, but he will be respected.
While enforcing your classroom rules is essential, it is also important to let your students know that you don’t enjoy giving out detentions or whatever it may be. It really is just more work for you. This leads to the second most important strategy to gaining your students' respect. Keep a positive attitude and let your students know that you are there to help them learn the subject. Some teachers are seen in a negative light by their students because they focus on discipline all the time. Instead of showing enthusiasm for their subject area they seem to enjoy threatening the students. So, enforce your rules when you need to, but don’t dwell on the discipline. Let your students know that you don’t enjoy giving out punishments, but that you do it so others can focus on learning what you are teaching. A student who misbehaves can understand why he is being punished if you explain how his behavior took you away from teaching. If this same student feels like you punished him because you don’t like him, then he will most likely be disrespectful in the future.
So make your classroom rules very clear from the start and let everyone know that you will enforce them. Don’t be overzealous in your enforcement, but be consistent. Make sure your students know that you don’t enjoy handing out punishments. You do it so you can keep the class focused on your subject matter. Be consistent and fair and you will earn the respect of your class.
