Seventeen Classroom Management Strategies for Students Who Wander During Lessons

Many of the classroom management strategies we discuss have a more general application. Let’s take a look at some strategies for students who need to move during class time. The first thing we need to determine is what need the behavior is trying to satisfy. Our best guess of the top three possibilities is a good start. Monitor the student’s behavior and her response to her actions and words. That’s the best way to find out which of your explanations is correct and decide how to respond.

When the student is wandering around and you talk to him, if he responds appropriately, then you can be pretty sure it is your attention he is seeking. What are some ways you can be proactive and give this student the attention he wants from you?

1. Have a short (10-30) second chat with him when he walks into class. What did you do yesterday night? I like your shirt. Make sure to do this for each student at least once a day. (Small investments, big profits).

2. Solicit their responses or ideas as you teach the lesson and respond to what they say to reaffirm that you are interested in and value what they have to say.

3. As soon as he has finished teaching the lesson, stop by his desk and talk to him. You can reinforce the way you started so quickly. You can also ask if you have any questions about what to do. There may be some common link between the lesson and your interests that you could discuss.

4. At home, ask him if he has everything he needs. Do you have any questions about your homework? Good luck with tonight’s game.

If the student only goes from their desk to one of their friends’ desks, they are probably trying to satisfy their need to belong. The best classroom management strategy Meeting this need is to incorporate group activities into your program.

1. Arrange your classroom so that students are seated in groups of two to six people. The groups should be as heterogeneous as possible. Include boys and girls, high and low achievers, students with special needs, different ethnic backgrounds. And yes, even friends.

2. In each subject have time for group activities.

3. For group activities, assign each student a specific role and alternate roles each day.

4. Be sure to include at least one activity each student is good at so they can excel and make a positive contribution to the group.

5. Change groups frequently so that everyone can work with all the other students at some point during the year.

If this behavior only occurs during math class, then the wandering is probably an avoidance behavior.

1. Talk to the student and find out what worries him about mathematics.

2. Do some informal diagnostic work to see what aspects of the curriculum of the last few years you have not mastered.

3. Offer to give her extra help outside of class time.

4. Visit shortly after teaching the lesson (not always first). Ask him to work on the first question until he gets stuck and then raise his hand.

5. Make friends with someone who can answer your questions right away.

6. Check back with him several times to make sure he understands what to do and how to do it.

7. Make sure you have several correct examples that you can refer to at home when doing your homework.

8. If getting work done at home is a problem, try setting up a homework room at your school. There will be many more like him who could use some quiet, supervised time to complete the task.

Whether wandering can be attributed to ADD or ADHD, that’s a story for another day.

Tea classroom management strategies discussed above can be used for many students in your class. Making them part of your daily routine will eliminate problems before they occur…the best way to manage your class.