WHY TEACHERS MUST REFRAIN FROM YELLING?

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite imagination and embed a love for learning. Teachers are role models who fit into the cast of motivating and inspiring young children.”

But apart from being role models, teachers have to tirelessly perform a plethora of activities – planning creative lessons, copy correction, assessments, preparing question papers, sundry activities, administrative work and whew! The list seems endless!

Now add to this ever inflating list, the job of developing skills in our scholars, of motivating them and inspiring them…(which I do feel is our monumental responsibility)

So basically, we are multi-tasking! From the time we get up, say, at 5:30 in the morning, to the time we crash on bed, we as teachers are preoccupied, among other worldly things, with thoughts about our noble profession.

And, when we are so engrossed in our jobs, POOF! a day comes when our classroom management just does a twist and turn! We enter our class fully prepared to take our lesson and what we encounter is complete MAYHEM. Students are talking, some are shouting, they are not listening, nor are they acknowledging your presence and yes there is complete chaos.

The vein in our temple starts throbbing, something snaps inside us and all hell breaks lose… and WE START SHOUTING AND YELLING!

Keep Quiet!......... Can’t you understand?....... Is this a fish market?

And that too at the top of our pharynx! Now the question arises…. Did we do the right thing?

The answer is a strong NO.

Why yelling and shouting will never work as a Classroom Management Strategy?

1. THE SEMBLANCE IS SHORT-LIVED: When you shout at an unruly class, your class will  return back to normalcy but it is going to be short-lived. The behavior of the students will not get modified as the students might become disruptive again. Knee-jerk reaction to any problem pertaining to classroom management is never a solution.

2. YOU LOSE YOUR SCHOLARS’ RESPECT: Ah! “Respect” – the golden word in the Teacher-Student relationship. Once lost, can never be earned back. Students, especially teenagers, simply detest at being shouted. If you shout at any scholar, his / her self-esteem gets shattered to smithereens.  And once he/she starts detesting you, believe me , you as teachers will have a tough job throughout the session as the child might become rebellious and never cooperate with you.

3. THE SCHOLARS WILL TUNE YOU OUT: Yes, the teachers who are in the habit of shouting and yelling as part of their classroom control strategy, tend to be the losers in the end. Harsh, it may sound, but it’s the truth. The more your voice meter reaches to “shouting level”, the more students will refuse to listen to you. They will form the opinion that shouting is your habit and in the end, no purpose will be met. Ultimately, even if you shout, students will tune you out. That’s perhaps not what we want.

4. “SHOUTING” GIVES THE REINS OF CLASS CONTROL IN THE HANDS OF STUDENTS: Yes… the more we shout, the more we jeopardize our class-control. The students take pleasure in watching us shout. They come to know that the teacher’s temper is under their control. Do we really want to give this satisfaction to our students? Think about it.

5. YOU CREATE A BAD IMPRESSION PROFESSIONALLY: Just imagine….you are shouting in your class and your superiors or colleagues pass by. They will form a quick-opinion about you that you are not capable of controlling your class. That’s like a professional suicide (maybe a hyperbole….but true nonetheless!)

So now the question crops up …. What can be done to bring a disruptive class under control?

TIP # 1 Stay calm. Count till 5 to let your anger subside, and then deal with the situation.

TIP # 2 Always respond….never react. When we respond, we tend to analyze the situation at hand and then take a proper decision.

TIP # 3 Make your students aware about your classroom management plan. Give clear instructions as to the consequences they will face if they are undisciplined in the class. Consequences may range from losing certain previleges or even detention.

TIP # 4 Make some signals to bring a class under control. Let the children know about these signals. For eg. Clapping, Using some phrase…like Macaroni & Cheese…. And students will reply Everybody Freeze. Be careful not to overdo this lest it loses its importance.

TIP # 5 Lastly, form a healthy relationship with your scholars built on mutual trust and respect. Infuse creativity in your teaching and make your lessons interesting. This will make the scholars look forward to your period.

LETS CREATE HAPPY SCHOLARS & HAPPY TEACHERS! 

HAPPY TEACHING!!!!