As a teacher / educator, you manage the behaviour of your pupils usually without giving it a thought. Your pupils want to learn, after all, that is why they're in your classroom in the first place. However, if things aren't going 'right', it's easy to blame the class dynamics as a whole, or individual pupils. This needs to stop. As the responsible adult, you are to blame.

Your first lesson with a class

If you're new to the class, some pupils will want to 'dig' down into your real life, asking you questions like 'what do you like', 'where do you come from', 'how old are you', and yes, if you're male you will be asked the obvious 'are you gay, sir?' It's important that you don't allow these people to 'lead' the class. Not only are they trying to dig through your 'professional' life into your personal life, but are trying to distract you from your lesson and to see how you respond to such questions. It's important you curtail this as soon as you can. Exactly how you do this, depends on your overall personality. A simple, 'This is not appropriate,' should usually suffice.

I've seen too many young teachers deal with these questions as they would in their personal life, either, by answering the questions - which only lead to more questions - becoming flustered at all the questions, throwing out their much 'rehearsed' lesson plan - which itself is a bad idea anyway - or, by taking offense when asked some questions and becoming annoyed.

It's not working!

Teaching is about entertaining your pupils as well as educating them, if you have to tell them to pay attention, maybe what you are saying is boring. Maybe you are not explaining it clearly. Maybe they just don't understand. You need to respond to the needs of your class, and address them. Just as a conversation is a two-way process, you can ask your pupils exactly what they understand, though, you should be able to 'see' if they don't.

If the classroom dynamics is not working, try a new seating plan. It's your class! Moving pupils around can have a dramatic effect on the class as a whole. Sitting two people together may cause a spark of hatred, or, it may provide negative energy which a few may feed off, or conversely, it may lighten the class up. If this is your first class, go in prepared with a new seating plan. If you are more confident, ask your pupils who and where they'd like to sit. Remind them to behave maturely. You will have the final say. Not only will they appreciate the 'freedom' (ultimately, they don't, and you have the final word!), they'll be responsible for their own learning! Watch the pupils interact on the playground if you can to see how the islands of groups can get along with each other. Remember though, to cater for individuals, taking into consideration such things as eye and hearing problems, and other special needs, without publically drawing attention to them.

It's STILL not working!

Misbehaviour gets your attention - doesn't it? Maybe the person who's misbehaving wants / needs your attention to feel good about themselves, and the recognition it brings. So, as soon as you can, praise the repeat offenders for doing something right. If it's something as minor as having their tie tied properly, or sitting down quickly and quietly, make sure you praise them - publically or quietly - whichever you think will work best for that pupil. By giving them the recognition of doing something positve gives you two powerful areas of leverage for if they misbehave later in the lesson: it's pointing out you have noticed them when they weren't doing anything wrong, and also allows you to say something along the lines of "Oh, Johnny, I'm upset. You came into the lesson so well and sat down quickly! You're having a great lesson so far, please don't spoil it now." Patronising it may sound, but change the wording to suit the pupils and try it out!

If little Johnny is running about not listening to what you say, even though you've seen him sit down attentively with another colleague, tell him. Explain that this other colleague would be upset at the thought of him misbehaving like this.

What else?

If you need to punish in the form of detention, be swift about it. Punishments should be followed up quickly otherwise the pupil will feel 'picked on'. After-school detentions are one way of punishing the pupil, but you are only legally entitled to keep them for so long without parental permission. However, there is a time where you can give them detention, and which they really hate... break and lunch time! For added effect, you will probably need to fetch them infront of their peers at lunch time. Be polite, explain / remind them about the lunch detention and why. See the detention as a time for repairing the relationship between you and that pupil. The work missed is secondary to the relationship. If you just make the pupil work in the detention, they probably didn't understand the work in the first place and will only resent you more.

There are so many possibilities to try for classroom behaviour management. Talk to other teachers about the pupils you have problems with, observe other teachers when you can, if you are a student you will have observation time to ghost a class, try and focus on their behaviour and how others deal with it. Ask a senior teacher for help. They will give you experienced advice that work for the children in your school. You must understand the school behaviour plan, its rules and stick to it. This will ensure consistency across classes.