15 March 2023
Effective classroom behaviour management as a cover supervisor job
Effective classroom behaviour management as a cover supervisor job is crucial. Behaviour management is a constant challenge in the classroom and can take up a lot of teachers’ time and energy, impacting pupils’ learning. School environment studies (2022) have suggested that “pupils lose between 10-20 days of instructional time over the course of an academic year.” Therefore, understanding pupil behaviour and using effective behaviour management strategies, especially for cover supervisors, can help create a positive learning environment for pupils.
The key to effective behaviour management is trying to minimize disruption. Disruption can be anything that hinders a pupil from their learning. Examples of disruption in the classroom can include:
- Arriving late to lessons.
- Students off task talking to friends.
- Not having the correct equipment.
- Calling out answers and being slow to start tasks.
When you take a cover supervisor job with Pathway Education, we help you set effective routines for high expectations of behaviour, reducing disruption, and increasing learning time.
By using effective routines, simple instructions, and setting high expectations for behaviour, disruption can be reduced, and learning time increased. This is particularly important for cover supervisors who step into various classroom settings.
Entering the classroom:
Routines and high behaviour expectations can be introduced as pupils arrive for lessons and enter the classroom, helping lessons to start calmly and efficiently. Effective routines can include:
Ensuring you greet pupils at the door as they arrive for the lesson.
Requesting that they enter the classroom calmly with no chatting.
Giving them a “countdown” time to be sitting at their desk with their equipment out and ready to start learning.
Praising the students who have followed your instructions and entered calmly and ready in the required time.
Using instructions such as “one minute to be seated with your equipment ready, thanks, class.”
Some disruption, even in the best-managed classroom, is inevitable, so the aim is to get students back on track as quickly as possible. Cues can be used to remind pupils of expectations and to check for lesson understanding. This is especially relevant for a cover supervisor, who may need to establish these routines in various classrooms.
If you are looking for a career in special education needs (SEN) teaching assistant or SEN learning support officer register with Pathway Education today.