Top 15 Measures to Establish Classroom Discipline Every Homeroom Teacher Should Know

On the first day of receiving students from the lower grade, teachers need to demonstrate firmness while also integrating teaching with games. Foster a friendly relationship between the teacher and students. This means that the teacher must be both firm and resolute while expressing gentle, loving, and caring feelings for the students.

Firmness here does not mean adopting a cold, stern attitude. If too strict, it will create a barrier between the teacher and students, giving a sense of difficulty in approaching and unfriendliness. At the same time, it will make the class tense, heavy, and sometimes the teacher may generate aversion from the students, which is undesirable. Importantly, every teacher needs cleverness, subtlety, and the application of firmness in a flexible manner, along with tolerance and gentleness, for students to perceive the teacher's affection while ensuring the quality of education.

Remember not to be excessively strict or cold with the students; just maintain respect alongside firmness with the students and discipline with oneself, then your class's discipline and order will undoubtedly differ.

For elementary school, the class activity is scheduled as the last session of each school week. It's a time for each student to self-assess and evaluate their individual and collective learning activities after each week of study. Simultaneously, it's an opportunity to plan activities for the next study week, aiming to successfully complete the class's annual plan. The class activity session is conducted under the management, supervision, and educational impact of the homeroom teacher.

During the class activity sessions, the teacher reviews the week's work: The entire class discusses the tasks completed during the week and identifies positive aspects that need to be maintained for the upcoming period.

Example: The class has a student who often arrives late, so the teacher reminds the student to be punctual. Commendation for exemplary students.

Aside from the homeroom teacher, the class leadership team plays a crucial role in creating and maintaining classroom order. Students assigned to the leadership team develop leadership skills, becoming more assertive, flexible, and confident. They have opportunities to showcase themselves, having been trained in life skills. This ensures that they will have the courage to apply these skills in the future, standing out among their classmates. Some teachers have proposed innovative ideas, such as 'Changing the leadership role of the Class Leadership Team,' bringing about immediate changes in their homeroom classes.

For example, a class may have the following roles: 1 class president, 1 deputy in charge of academics, 1 deputy in charge of labor, 1 deputy in charge of Literature - Physical Education, 4 team leaders, 4 deputies, group leaders, and table leaders.

• The class president's task is to manage the first 15 minutes of class, monitor the class's overall activities, compile competition results, and lead the weekend activity session.
• The deputy in charge of academics monitors overall academic discipline and compiles assessments for the weekend activity session.
• The deputy in charge of labor is responsible for assigning, monitoring, and encouraging labor and hygiene tasks in the classroom and designated areas, as well as coordinating care for preschool facilities. This is then assessed during the weekend activity session.
• The deputy in charge of Literature - Physical Education oversees cultural and artistic activities, extracurricular activities, and compiles assessments for the weekend activity session.
• Team leaders manage team activities as assigned by the class president and deputy.
• Deputies collaborate with team leaders to supervise team activities and take charge when team leaders are absent.
• Table leaders check books, study materials, and the attire of team members.

Every student can participate in the class leadership team, from the class president to the table leader. Each student serves in a position for 1.5 to 2 months, then rotates to different positions.

After each rotation, the homeroom teacher, along with the entire class, evaluates each student's performance in their respective leadership roles, drawing lessons from the experience. Throughout their term, students assigned leadership roles strive to fulfill their duties. They become more enthusiastic, interested, and responsible because they see this as an opportunity to demonstrate their roles in class activities. At the end of the week, the homeroom teacher and the Class Leadership Team assess and draw lessons to make timely adjustments. Eventually, class discipline improves.

Teachers must understand the academic abilities of each student to group them effectively: Differentiation based on student characteristics. Teachers need specific methodical plans to enhance student learning. Only by precisely and relatively accurately understanding the proficiency levels of each student in the class they teach or educate can appropriate measures be taken. This is especially important for both high-achieving and struggling students. Through this, the overall class learning quality improves, and assessment becomes a way for teachers to classify students.

Effective assessment allows teachers to:

• Evaluate the general level of the entire class or grade
• Identify students with significant progress or sudden decline
• Provide timely encouragement or assistance to these students

Assessment creates opportunities for teachers to consider the effectiveness of the following:

• Improving the content, methods, and organization of teaching currently undertaken by the teacher
• Enhancing their teaching through scientific educational research

Teachers acknowledge students' contributions and, in doing so, educate them about right and wrong behaviors. This helps students leverage their existing strengths. Alongside building order and discipline for students, teachers also cultivate students' self-discipline.

Example: At the beginning of each day, the class leader instructs everyone to take out their books to review the lessons learned during the past week or to review individual assignments.

Gradually instill self-discipline and encourage self-study when the teacher is absent. Based on this foundation, teachers can confidently manage students remotely. Recognize and reward students promptly for their achievements, praising and commending exemplary behavior within the class to inspire others.

While studying, students must maintain order and avoid making general announcements to the entire class. Similarly, during playtime, they should adhere to the rules, avoiding loud noises and table banging. They must learn to collaborate with peers to accomplish tasks assigned by the teacher.

Especially for first-grade students transitioning from kindergarten, their psychology is dynamic; they love to play and engage in activities. Since early childhood, they have organized games to play with each other at home and at school. Understanding the psychology of these students, teachers should incorporate playful methods into teaching activities across all subjects. Through play-based learning, students grasp lessons more quickly, making class sessions more relaxed and enjoyable. Additionally, they learn to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to real-life situations. Through games, students also develop essential skills and enhance their self-capabilities.

Teachers need to arrive early to check and review assignments with students. This task should be done regularly at the beginning of the class for better effectiveness.

If there are students in the class struggling with their studies, teachers must contact parents or visit their homes to understand the reasons. For students facing difficult circumstances, teachers need to empathetically investigate, visiting their families and proposing support measures to help them.

Teachers must consistently grade assignments thoroughly to promptly understand the students' learning situations, enabling timely corrections and providing guidance for improvement. Teachers should also actively seek effective teaching methods to enhance the efficiency of their instruction.

During the teaching process, the teacher is the organizer, guiding students in their learning. Students must be self-aware in their studies to grasp knowledge. Therefore, teachers must apply various learning methods to bring out the positive aspects of students.

Weekly and monthly competition movements are indispensable for homeroom teachers. Students enjoy praise for their achievements, and acknowledging their accomplishments today motivates them to perform better tomorrow.

Understanding this psychological aspect, teachers should organize competitive activities daily, weekly, and monthly. Daily, teachers record competitive scores for each group on the class board. Weekly, they plan competitions for students, providing a detailed schedule in a prepared notebook. Teachers reward students with different prizes to maintain their interest.

When launching weekly and monthly competitions, teachers should align with the school's competition guidelines. At the end of each week, allow students to freely express opinions, provide feedback, and rank each other. The teacher acts as the final judge, ensuring a fair and unbiased evaluation that students appreciate.

Through these competitive events, I observed significant improvements in class discipline—study hard, play hard. Students voluntarily adhere to class rules and regulations. The quality of study hours has noticeably increased.

The homeroom teacher should instill in students standards of attitude towards society, labor, others, and themselves.

Example: During a class, a student named Ngoc works individually while the teacher is lecturing. How should we handle this?

Solution: The teacher must ensure that Ngoc stops their work immediately without disrupting the class. The teacher can ask a question related to the lesson and call on Ngoc to answer. If Ngoc cannot answer, the teacher can call on another student. It is certain that neighboring students will answer correctly. The teacher praises those students and reminds Ngoc to pay attention during class. If Ngoc repeats this behavior, the teacher should encourage and remind them at the end of the class, allowing Ngoc to learn from the experience and develop self-awareness in studies.

Alternatively, if there is a trend of vulgar language in the class, the teacher should immediately launch competitions such as 'Speak well, act well' to address this issue. Daily, the Red Star team monitors the performance of each individual and group, timely reminding students not to use vulgar language. At the end of the week, the Red Star team summarizes and ranks the competition results for each group. If any students improve and show progress, the teacher should praise and encourage them promptly. In general, to address this issue, the teacher must intervene repeatedly and consistently.

Teachers can also initiate the movement 'Keep books clean, cultivate beautiful handwriting' through authentic stories like 'The Calligraphy Master,' 'Good Writing, Beautiful Characters,' etc. Combine this with paying attention and encouraging students with poor handwriting, and praising and setting examples for students with beautiful handwriting, selecting their books for the neat handwriting competition.

The family plays a crucial role in building class discipline and the academic quality of students. Therefore, there must be close collaboration between the homeroom teacher and parents. Recognizing this importance, at the beginning of the school year, the teacher organizes a parent meeting to announce the tasks, plans, and striving targets for the academic year. They also communicate student regulations and certain rules regarding class discipline for each grade. After discussing the teaching, learning, and class discipline, the teacher collaborates closely with parents to educate the students.

When performing homeroom duties, the teacher needs to:

• Organize and conduct parent-teacher meetings as set by the school.
• Visit and communicate directly or via phone with students' families when necessary.
• Invite parents to the school to discuss the education of students in case of unusual or urgent situations.
• Maintain regular contact with the Parent Association Executive Board to enhance the activities of the parent association in educational work.
• For each homeroom activity, invite the Head of the Parent Association to attend extracurricular activities.
• Establish a relationship between the school and families through communication books and phone calls.
• Provide parents with the contact number of the homeroom teacher for convenient communication when needed.

Setting positive examples and reminding students with slower progress have a clear impact in each class. If praised in the right place and at the right time, students tend to progress even more. Alongside praises, teachers must use serious reminders for students progressing slowly. In daily class sessions, teachers often highlight good examples such as students who exhibit a strong sense of learning, actively participate in constructive discussions, maintain cleanliness when coming to school, and encourage classmates to keep the classroom tidy.

From these positive examples, students learn from each other, and they become more conscious of their activities within the class. Besides showcasing examples in class, teachers need to emphasize positive examples in moral reading exercises for students to follow. Teachers should pay special attention to students who are not well-behaved. If any student shows improvement and good behavior, they should be praised and encouraged promptly.

Alongside implementing and maximizing the effectiveness of communication books, homeroom notebooks, notes from class leaders, deputy class leaders, subject representatives, and head of departments, many homeroom teachers creatively transform the management and education process into a self-education journey for students using a simple yet meaningful tool.

That tool is the 'Personal Notebook.' Students independently record their achievements, learning experiences, tasks pending, and their disciplinary awareness in this notebook, validated by teacher and family signatures. Every week, the homeroom teacher checks and provides feedback in the notebook.

Collaborative work is one of the effective measures to enforce and implement with high efficiency. Sometimes, there are tasks, situations, or contents that a teacher cannot handle alone, and in such cases, seeking support from the school administration, Youth Union, or subject teachers becomes necessary.

Collaboration Content: For effective teaching; to monitor, examine, and encourage the collective and individual learning process; homeroom teachers regularly gather opinions from colleagues about their own and other classes; engage in direct discussions with colleagues about specific class issues to collectively propose unified educational solutions; suggest students' opinions on teaching and learning activities to relevant teachers...

The homeroom teacher must understand the school and Youth Union's plans for coordination and timely disseminate them to students. Regularly motivate, encourage, and remind students to actively participate in youth activities and competitions initiated by the Youth Union. Consistently motivate, encourage, and remind students to adhere to the rules and regulations set by the school's disciplinary committee.

The homeroom teacher explores the background and personality of individual students, understanding their weaknesses and strengths. Collaborate with subject teachers, the school, and families in educational activities.

Teachers should be patient and persistent, assigning suitable tasks based on students' capabilities. Encourage and promptly acknowledge their achievements. Plan for class representatives to establish pairs of students progressing together. Always communicate timely information about students with their families and vice versa.

It's crucial to be approachable, friendly, and attentive to listen to the concerns and thoughts of individual students, collaborating with subject teachers and families for effective education.

Beyond the cultural lessons in class, extracurricular activities organized by the Youth Union provide an effective means to cultivate team spirit. In these activities, students can sing, dance, tell stories, recite poems, participate in quizzes, engage in recreational activities, and various other forms based on different themes. Each participation is an opportunity for students to demonstrate team spirit, discipline, and honor for the class collective. Notably, their sense of self-discipline is prominently displayed.

During extracurricular activities, pay attention to promptly encourage creative thinking and proactive attitudes, creating situations for students to self-manage and take turns controlling the activities.

After each Moral Education class or extracurricular activity, teachers should provide ideological and emotional guidance to students, guiding them to relate to real-life situations, enhancing students' awareness after the session to shape a positive character.