How to gain classroom management skills

Practical tips: -Proximity is one of the best low-energy tools around. You'll learn to ID the feistier students when they come in, and you can be in their general proximity to head off the off-task behavior before it gets destructive. (Knowing names helps a lot with this as well.) Students rarely misbehave intentionally when they know they're going to get caught; if you're right there and they know you're watching you'll head most of it off before it starts. Plus, when things do start to go off the rails, you'll be right there to redirect when it starts. -Redirection is key. If you tell them just to "stop doing that" without giving them an alternative, then the only thought in their heads is still about misbehaving. You can generally ask them "what are you supposed to be doing right now?" and they'll tell you and you can shuffle them off to that activity. Presumably they're visiting the library for a reason, so they should be able to tell you. If not, have a redirect ready: "I've got a good book over here that I think you'll like..." -De-escalate whenever possible. Correcting a student in public, in front of their friends, might seem like a good tool because it will embarrass them, but that almost always has the opposite effect: it forces them to do something so they can save face, which will escalate the conflict more than either of you wants. When you need to have the serious talk with a student do it in private, away from their friends. They will be much more likely to treat you honestly and with respect when they don't have to put on a show for their friends. -Know what consequences you have available to you, and follow through with them. Don't ever dangle a consequence in front of your student that you are not willing to follow through on, hoping they won't call you on it. Assume they will, so you'd better be willing to put your money where your mouth is. So it's best to start small and build from there, and that's where your specific situation comes in. What behavior intervention systems does your school have? They almost certainly have some sort of Response to Intervention system already in place that you can slot into. What privileges do you control? Some school libraries have computers, for example, which means you can limit their free time on the computer. Talk with their teachers for a better handle on it. The absolute worst thing you can do is come up with some consequence and then back off on it, or (worse) not have your admin back you up on it. -Students have to know the consequence of their actions before you enforce them. Give them a chance to back down and ensure that they know what will happen if they continue doing whatever thing they shouldn't. That means the ball is in their court and they decide what happens next. This might mean having a list of "library rules" posted somewhere, or it might mean reminding a student of the consequence before they escalate to the next level. If you don't have a set of clear library rules and feel you need to create some (or that students/staff need reminding of them), tell teachers that the next time they come in you need 5-10 minutes for a "how to use the library effectively" lesson. General thoughts: You also need to divorce yourself from the situation -- you are not the one deciding to inflict punishment upon these students, they are the ones deciding to suffer the consequences of their own actions. You see yourself as "mean" when you think your actions are unjustified, which means you need to set up your library so that you're not the one making the decisions: every student needs to know what the library rules are when they walk in the door and the consequences for not following those rules. That way, when a student breaks a rule you're not arbitrarily coming down from on high to inflict some random punishment: both you and the student know the rule and the consequence for not following it. Then it's their responsibility for what happens, not yours. That means really removing yourself from the situation -- don't show anger, don't show frustration, don't show anything, really, beyond a pleasant-but-firm demeanor. They are not angering you and you're punishing them; they are simply causing a consequence to happen when they pull books off the shelf. You get to stay pleasant, even sympathetic, when you're enforcing the consequences: you wish this didn't have to happen, but they can't go out to recess because they pulled books off the shelf and have to help clean them up. If one of them gets really angry about it, shrug it off because it is 100% not about you: it's what needs to happen to ensure the library remains a useful common space for everyone, and yeah this consequence totally sucks but it's less than the harm inflicted on everyone if the library isn't cared for. You'll notice some reframing in there as well, away from punishment/discipline and towards consequence. That helps reframe it in both your and students' minds that this isn't some arbitrary action taken by you (which would be mean), but rather the natural result of students breaking known rules. That helps you take yourself out of it.

Don't be snarky or sarcastic. Express clearly and directly your expectations (this can be verbal or posted somewhere all the students can access) and the consequences that will follow if those expectations are not met. Follow through. What age group are you working with?

I was in the same boat as a school librarian who just sort of fell into it without taking any of the school librarian-oriented classes in library school. I can't say I ever got very good at classroom management before I bailed (it was absolutely the most physically stressful job I've ever done, and I've done a fair amount of manual labor -- and the pay was terrible), but I did come up with some tricks that worked for me. All disputes over books in my library were resolved with Rock, Paper, Scissors, because I could not be bothered to referee that stuff. That worked pretty well to curb bickering over things I didn't care about ("Ms. Librarian, I saw that book first!") and turn it into something they enjoyed. I'm not sure what ages you're responsible for, but if the kids tearing books off shelves are old enough to have a clue how to reshelve appropriately with instruction, that's the best punishment you could possibly give them. They're much less likely to mess the place up when they're helping maintain it (even if it is under duress). More broadly, you could turn the last few minutes of a library period into a tidying period, where all the students do a little to get the place shipshape for the next class. One thing I don't think gets addressed well for school librarians or teachers is voice preservation. The job is really ridiculously hard on the voice, and anything you can do to lessen the amount of speaking you do is a good thing. Especially with older elementary and up, consider introducing them to audiobooks as part of storytime. This has a few benefits aside from just saving your voice: you can supervise better when you're not reading yourself, they get to hear how other readers might interpret the text, and they become familiar with another method of accessing text that may help them later. Note that there are often audio versions of picture books available, too, and you can make eye contact and point out parts of the pictures while the recording plays. Classroom management's much harder if you've talked yourself hoarse, so try to develop good habits to avoid that early on.

Try to keep in mind that you're not being "mean" by correcting students' behaviors. Learning appropriate library behavior is part of the educational value of their visits to the school library. It is therefore part of your job to teach them appropriate behavior. Needlessly scaring or insulting children would be mean. It is not mean to let them know when they've overstepped the bounds of good behavior, and teach them how to behave better. Do you have a list of library rules, and is it communicated clearly to students? You may be able to head off some problems by starting the year with lessons on appropriate behavior, and by reviewing the rules several times in subsequent weeks. Try to phrase rules in positive terms, when possible: "Take only three books off the shelf at a time" rather than "Don't pull all the books off the shelf," or "Speak respectfully at all times" rather than "No disrespectful behavior." Once you're satisfied that the students KNOW the rules, when you see them misbehaving you can intervene with a question, which may feel less "mean" than a direct correction. ("Joe, how many books did you just take off the shelf? . . . And what is the rule for how many books we take off the shelf?") You might also be able to shape students' behavior for the better by giving them frequent, specific praise for following the rules—positive reinforcement, or "catching them being good." I taught college for a while, not grade school, but I learned a lot about classroom management from reading about behaviorist principles in http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/fashion/25love.html.

What ages are the students? Your reprimands will sound different when you're talking to second graders than if you're talking to High Schoolers, who should KNOW better. Use positive directions of what you want them to do, "I need you to be gentle when you're selecting books." "If you take a book off the shelf, please bring it here so that we can re-shelve it." "Please use your inside voice." Now if someone is going buck wild, it's perfectly okay to say, in the loudest voice you possess, "KNOCK IT OFF!" Also, you should know what your schools discipline and referral process is, and have the forms you need should anyone get up on their hind legs and challenge you.

Good stuff above for preventing problems/lack of clarity on rules. So, what about when problems come up anyway? Often, you don't even need to give them direct instructions on what to do, though this might vary by age. (With some kids, particularly older ones, that can set you up for a power struggle.) My first line of defense is just describing the results of their actions. "Hey Jimmy, having your books spread out through the aisle like that is going to make it hard for people to walk through here." "I think that table next to you is having some trouble concentrating when you're speaking at that volume." The vast majority of the time, that's all that's needed. If that fails, giving choices helps too. "If you want to have your books spread out like that, feel free to use one of those tables over there. Otherwise, let's move them off to the side where they're not in the way." Ultimately, if a kid is having a ton of trouble controlling him/herself and is disrupting the activity, just make it clear that certain standards of behavior are a condition of being part of the activity or the environment. "When you talk over other people, Jill, it makes it hard for people to enjoy this activity. It seems like you need a minute to calm yourself down; go ahead outside, and come back in when you're ready." (Adjust the last part as needed if the child can't get it together. Occasionally, you may need to give them a set amount of time, but it's usually better to let them figure it out themselves.) Note that the last one only works if the kid actually wants to be there. If not, well, you probably want to work on that, too. If you're looking for something to read on interacting with kids, Haim Ginott is a great place to start.

Do you have any special jobs or roles you can dole out to encourage good behavior? Special Library Assistant, Check-Out Helper, Chair Person (puts back all the chairs that have been moved around), Scribe (if you're writing up rules or takeaways from the day's lesson, a student can help)...they could also be lower-profile tasks. I remember my elementary school librarian took me aside once and told me in confidence that she wanted me to help her review some books and decide which ones were good for a section that I was interested in. I assume this was a way of getting me to sit and focus, or some other goal, but wow was it an effective tool - from then on, I was on her team, keeping an eye on my library, etc. Giving a kid a job is powerful.

One more thing that I use constantly in my elementary classroom and I consider to be a lynchpin of my management and things flowing smoothly-- For any routines or behaviors you want to reinforce, objectively name everything you see the students doing, with an emphasis on the positive/prosocial behaviors. E.g. as children are arriving in the morning, I basically do a running play-by-play, naming behaviors I see, "I am seeing children quietly taking their folders out of their backpacks. I notice boys and girls at the blue table working so diligently on their editing work. I am seeing Alex greet her classmates in a kind and friendly way. Did you notice how Victor pushed in his friend's chair as he came to the carpet? What a helper." Etc. As if you are a sports commentator objectively stating what is going on in the game. Or when it isn't going well: "I am seeing some children running to the line. Let's try that again." It's powerful.

Harry Wong's http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0962936022/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ can help. Do you have lesson plans? Do you have themes and read alouds? If not, it may be too much unstructured time for the kids. Have you had an interactive lesson going over appropriate behavior? What to do and what not to do? You can make it a game for the kids. All you need to remember is that most kids are doing their best, and they're often acting up because they don't really know what rules are in place.