Working for discipline. How can difficult classrooms be managed?

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 11 Punkte, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, language: English, abstract: The teacher of the 21st century has to draw up not only a lesson plan, dealing primarily with the content and the structure of the lesson, but also has to reflect about how to instil discipline into pupils. This is especially true for the first few weeks with a new class, which, as will be shown, is a particularly critical period in which, ideally, the authority of the teacher should be establishmed. If this opportunity is missed, it will be very difficult to establish authority, especially in difficult classrooms. Furthermore, it has to be kept in mind that already a small number of students who misbehave might be able to prevent the whole class from learning effectively. This makes discipline an essential part of classroom management. As indicated by its title, the work at hand deals with the question how difficult classrooms can be managed effectively. As will be shown, establishing authority and maintaining discipline require careful planning by the teacher as well as a good deal of flexibility and the ability to adapt to different circumstances. The first chapter deals with problem of lacking discipline in a general way and offers some definitions important for the topic at hand. In the second chapter, first some remarks are made about discipline methods and strategies. As will be shown, there are several approaches from which the teacher must choose the most appropriate, although, in dealing with difficult classroom, his choice will probably be rather restricted. Furthermore, the topic of effective reprimand and punishment is dealt with.