Trade secrets!

The first rule of classroom behaviour management is to learn the students' names. Knowing names is power, control and, more importantly, a way to issue praise and rewards. As well as a student who is misbehaving being shocked when you either call out their name or silently write it on the 'frowny' side of the board as a final warning (coupled with 'the glare', of course!), students who are behaving well and working hard are absolutely thrilled when you write their name on the 'smiley' side of the board, meaning they're getting an achievement point and you actually know who they are!

Learning names is obviously a huge issue when you're just covering absent teachers' classes and asking the students is a waste of time. Most of them think it's absolutely hilarious to give the wrong names, even swapping exercise books or planners around so I have no hope of knowing if I've got the right name.

I don't usually have to issue too many sanctions but I do like giving achievement points, but this can be just as disruptive to the flow of the lesson if I have to keep asking their names, so what I do is hand out these star-shaped post-it notes. The students write their names on them, hand them back to me at the end of the lesson and I can issue their achievement points without any fuss.

Before half term, I'd given out some stars to a few Year 11 boys sitting near the door. They'd been a little cheeky but as soon as I gave one a star for working well, they all wanted one and focused on their work. Their Head of Year came in to speak to someone, looked at the boys, smiled 'knowingly' at me and asked me if they were behaving themselves (obviously they're cheeky to everyone!). I said 'Yes - show him your stars, boys!' and they all proudly held them up, grinning from ear to ear. I honestly thought the HoY was going to collapse with laughter! Today I had the same class and as they arrived, I heard excited shouts of 'IT'S THE STAR LADY!'

The second rule of classroom behaviour management is... learn the power of the post-it note!

:-DDD