Classroom Management to Support Student Learning
Chronic Misunderstanding
of Verbal Directions
Randomly moving from
one activity to another
without finishing
Difficulties maintaining
appropriate distance from
another student while
standing in line
Difficulties standing still
while waiting in line
Chronic misunderstanding
of nonverbal cues
Constant talking
Difficulties staying in the
seat
Constantly needing to
leave the room
Frequently losing items for
class
 Slow the rate of speaking.
 Use visual cues to help with the explanation.
 Use simple statements.
 Have students paraphrase. Check for student’s understanding.
 Limit movement when presenting directions to give a consistent sound projection.
 Use checklists or picture directions to lay out instructions and expectations.
 Limit the number of activity centers or choices.
 Specify the sequence of activities the student needs to follow – use picture schedules to help
the student follow the sequence.
 Define what needs to be done before beginning another activity.
 Place a marker or direct the student to locate a landmark to help judge the appropriate
space.
 Have the student stand at the end or at the beginning of the line to limit the amount of
spatial factors needed to understand acceptable distances between people.
 Place a white board or magnet board in the waiting area. Guide students to create
sentences, words, or designs using the material.
 Engage the students in a constructive task without bothering other students. Try to keep the
child active and busy.
 Make sure that the verbal message matches with the nonverbal signals when talking with a
student.
 Provide direct instruction on how to notice what body position, vocal intonation, and
gestures imply.
 Provide practice understanding non-verbal cues in a non-threatening environment.
 Seat the student in a location with minimal distractions.
 Use a visual cue or "talking gauge" that can be moved to show when talking is too much
without competing with or adding to the noise.
 Use a gentle touch on the shoulder to help as a reminder.
 Have the student keep a notebook when they feel they must talk but it is inappropriate.
Encourage them to write down their thoughts and allow another time for them to present
their thoughts.
 Have the student sit on a stool or T-stand.
 Provide opportunities for the student to move.
 Allow the student to use a lapboard and work on the floor.
 Have the student work at a table to provide room for movement.
 Allot specific times to get a drink of water.
 Specify days when the student can perform errands.
 Clearly outline the expectations. Do not negotiate with the student about leaving the room
(excluding emergencies).
 Have a general area for basic supplies. Keep pencils and paper available. Keep an additional
set of books in the class.
 Keep room neat and organized. Have students partake in the clean up at the end of each
day. This will help the students to become aware of the location of the materials in the
room.
 Toy shelves stay neat and organized by taping a photo of the toy on the shelf and then
matching the image with the real thing.
 Each child has her own space to store her book bag, lunchbox, and extra clothes. The cubby
is labeled with his name and photograph
Frequently forgetting to
turn in assignments
Difficulties maintaining an
efficient work pace in
school
Lack of motivation
Difficulties waiting to be
called on in class
Difficulties responding in
class
 Establish a routine to turn in homework. Have student place assignments in the "in" basket
as they enter the classroom.
 Use a weekly syllabus when assigning homework. Send a copy to the families each week, and
post one in the classroom.
 Maintain a homework routine. Keep homework routines simple and manageable.
 Establish an organizational system with the student. Provide assistance until the student can
manage the system.
 Gradually phase out the support as the student becomes more independently organized.
 Use sand or visual timers to help the student experience specific lengths of times. Have the
student select how many flips of the sand timer before there is a break, or show hands on a
manual clock for when deadline is complete. Gradually increase the length of time before
there is a break.
 Print and use a visual clock.
 Lessen the length of an assignment. Grade assignments on accuracy rather than the amount
of completion.
 Use non-stressful instructions.
 Break large assignments into manageable tasks. Establish with the students the goal to
complete the assignment. Set check times to have selections completed if the child does not
find this too stressful.
 Use rubrics to provide a reminder of the expectation of the assignment.
Present tasks in manageable pieces, clearly define the grading expectations.
 Clearly define the purpose of the lesson.
 Follow difficult tasks with tasks that the student enjoys or can complete successfully.
 Alternate types of tasks. Follow paper and pencil assignments with an active task.
 Have the students participate in selecting topics of studies or materials to use. For older
children, you can have them help in creating their own schedules. Even older children may
enjoy visual reminders rather than straight text.
 Be specific when the student is going to be called upon.
 Establish at the beginning of the school year the importance of raising the hand and waiting
to be called to contribute. Hand a child a visual card for raising a hand as a reminder if they
forget.
 State the importance of wanting to hear the ideas of every student and the benefits from
learning from each other.
 Ignore the student who calls out and select another student to answer the question.
 Provide extra time for students to respond to a question. Allow student more than 10
seconds to gather a response before providing prompts or selecting another student.
 Give the student a signal before calling on the student.
 Teach other students to be patient while another student is gathering his thoughts.