It is no small feat to have the attention of students during lessons, a number of teachers can attest to this. Maintaining connection and at the same time ensuring the best learning outcomes from a lesson can be somewhat perplexing.

Yet however much it can be challenging, it is still very crucial for learners to follow any lesson productively without disturbances, and this, educators say can be achieved mainly by teachers ensuring that they are in complete control of the classroom.

Classroom control for teachers is defined as the ability for the teacher to be in charge of what’s taking place in class for that particular moment during a specific lesson.

Valence Mushinzimana, the deputy headmaster in charge of discipline at Lycée de Kigali says it’s vital for a teacher to have total control and awareness of the learning that is happening in class. But how does a teacher achieve this?

First and foremost, Mushinzimana says as soon as a teacher steps in a class, their presence alone should be the first to assume classroom control.

This he says will be enough to get all learners engaged in whatever they will be teaching.

In fact, he notes that teachers are supposed to have a class in order and that this includes making sure that every learner has all it takes for the learning to take place.

He hence says that setting learning objectives including the topic to be taught is vital.

"Once learners know the objective of the lesson, it puts them to a task of knowing that at the end of the lesson they are supposed to be having knowledge on specific issues or content,” he explains.

It’s important to identify what hinders successful learning to come up with proper strategies. / File

Jane Nakaayi, the head of the department of languages at Riviera High School agrees with Mushinzimana saying that teachers are supposed to share the lesson objective with the learners so that they get to know what is expected of them.

And these objectives she says should be clear, achievable and shouldn’t be so many because in case they are, learners may become overwhelmed with the whole thing thus becoming hard for them to achieve.

"Once learners are aware of this, they will pay attention because at the end of the day, they are supposed to have learned and achieved something,” she says.

Nakaayi says if this is not done (when teachers don’t set what they are going to teach) the probabilities of the learners losing direction are high.

For example, she says some of the things that can be noticed in learners when they are not paying attention include; most of them sleeping off, talking behind the teacher, excusing themselves to go to the toilet or interrupting others in the middle of the lesson among other destructive behaviours.

When this is observed, Nakaayi says teachers should be able to know that they are signs of a failed classroom-control, therefore, working to improve on it can ensure a better environment to teach.

Need to be creative

Mathias Nkeeto, a mathematics teacher at Green Hills Academy observes that at times learners can lose interest in a particular topic explaining that there may be a number of reasons including getting bored or not understanding why they have to learn the content at that particular time or they already know what the content is all about.

Some of them, Nkeeto says  could be lacking the motivation to be at school, so as a teacher, there is a need to create motivation for the class and find out why some of the students aren’t interested to learn a given topic.

Nakaayi says at their school, they have what is called a ‘hook’ or a ‘starter’, which is supposed to be prepared by the teachers to hook the learners into the teacher’s lesson.

"This is just one of the strategies/lesson plans that a teacher is supposed to come up with to ensure their classroom is controlled.”

She also says ‘the hook’ helps teachers to ensure that students are helped to get away from the previous lesson and concentrate on the current one without getting confused.

"This kind of strategy is important because it brings learners close to the topic and what you are going to teach, and with it, it’s easier to control the entire class,” she says.

Mushinzimana points out that as a teacher, knowing methods that they are relevant with a particular time is important.

He gives an example where students are from lunch and the weather is hot. Here, he notes that it’s ideal to change the learning environment and if possible, learners can be put outside classroom, just to make sure there is nothing that will make them loose attention.

When a teacher is able to identify what hinders successful learning, Diana Nawatti, a head teacher at Mother Mary Complex school, Kigali says it helps the teacher to come up with different strategies that will ensure effective learning.

She says coming up with group work, encouraging peer learning, listening to students and also letting them suggest how they would like to be taught are just some of the methods that can be applied to make sure the teacher manages their class well.

Besides, Nawatti says that as a teacher, making your lessons more interesting is important because it makes all students yearn for more.

"Another vital aspect that most teachers tend to forget or literally ignore is verbal motivation. This may seem less important but to a big extent, it helps learners get hooked to the lesson,” she says.

They should do this by identifying different abilities with every learner and applauding them.

However, she notes that it’s important to change teaching methods explaining that repeating the same methods throughout a year is not only boring but also makes learners shift their attention and focus on other things.

Importance of classroom control

Having good classroom management as a teacher, helps in achieving the objective of a particular lesson.

Nkeeto says when you are fully in control of the class; it also creates a conducive environment for the learners to learn and at the same time, for the teachers to deliver their content.

On the other hand, he says classroom control also fosters peer learning and that when a class is organised, the students will be able to learn for themselves and also from others.

If a teacher is able to meet their objectives with every lesson, Nakaayi says in the long run their syllabus will be covered and at the same time have confidence that at the end of the year, the students will be in position to perform well in their examinations.

"This is one way of quantifying or evaluating the teachers’ work, which shows that the teacher has been able to deliver what is, expected of them throughout the term or a year.”

editor@newtimesrwanda.com