Classroom management and Young Learners

Classroom management can sometimes be a challenge for new and experienced teachers but there are some great options out there. Too often teachers use stars and although these can be somewhat effective there are much better options out there, also the star system can reward behavior which should come from an intrinsic motivation rather than something external. Stars also just aren't right for every class some students respond well but others don't. Below I will list some great classroom management systems that you can try with your young learners classes.

Class Dojo - My favorite has to be Class Dojo, I frequently use it in my classes because it is easy to manage and fun. You create a class, you input students names which in turn gives each student an animated monster. The idea is that you give students points for good behavior and take away points for bad behavior. When you do this it gives the student the reason why for example: Javier +1 point for working hard or Enrique -1 for not doing homework. You can then set targets for rewards such as 100 class points = sweets or stickers etc.

• Ease of use: 8/10
• Effectiveness: 10/10
• Student friendliness: 9/10
• Age range: 4 - 13 (Older teens may find this a bit babyish).

 https://www.classdojo.com/

Tom & Jerry - This is a good system to use with really young learners and is really simple. This system gets students policing each other, and is very young learner friendly. You can make your own Tom & Jerry cut outs which you stick to the board. If the children are good Jerry moves closer to the cheese, if the children misbehave Tom gets closer to Jerry.

• Ease of use: 9/10
• Effectiveness: 7.5/10
• Student friendliness: 9/10
• Age range: 7 and under

Wildcard - This one is great for Teens, it is fun, cheeky, and quite effective if you can build up a good rapport with your students. If students are good as a class they get points which can be used to claim a reward e.g games time, chocolate, free English time etc, If students are bad you can make them do something mildly embarrassing like sing a song in front of the class or do a silly dance like Gangnam Style. It works because it makes you seem less harsh than traditional Classroom management, and makes classes more fun (also teens love rewards and hate embarrassment.

• Ease of use: 6/10
• Effectiveness: 8/10
• Student friendliness: 8/10
• Age range: 11+

(This system has to be used with the best intentions and in a fun way, or may cause problems)


Game - Yes classroom management can be a fun game, put students into teams and create a 4 by 3 board on the table. You can play several games in fact for example you can move students so many spaces depending on how good they are and reward the first team to reach the end of the board, or you can be more creative. You can play a little game called machine gun where groups who are good choose a square which has a symbol which i turn alters points e.g Heart = 2 points, Crown = 5 points, Bag = steal another teams points = sad face = - 2 points. Again at the end there should be a prize, this will add some energy and make Classroom management more fun.

• Ease of use: 6/10
• Effectiveness: 9/10
• Student friendliness: 10/10
• Age range: 8+