LANTITE Classroom Management Strategies 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During independent work time, a teacher circulates the room and briefly checks each student's progress. This practice is best described as:
- Proximity control
- Active monitoring (Correct answer)
- Assertive discipline
- Contingency management
Correct answer: Active monitoring
Active monitoring involves purposefully moving through the room to check understanding and deter off-task behaviour.
Question 2: A student makes a rude comment to a peer. The teacher quietly addresses the behaviour privately after class rather than publicly in front of peers. This approach:
- Avoids dealing with the issue and encourages repetition
- Protects the student's dignity and reduces the chance of escalation (Correct answer)
- Is inappropriate because other students need to witness consequences
- Delays consequences so long that they lose effectiveness
Correct answer: Protects the student's dignity and reduces the chance of escalation
Private correction preserves the student's dignity and avoids power struggles that can arise from public reprimands.
Question 3: The 'least intrusive intervention' principle in classroom management means teachers should:
- Always ignore minor misbehaviour
- Begin with the simplest corrective action before escalating (Correct answer)
- Immediately involve parents for any misbehaviour
- Refer every incident to the school counsellor
Correct answer: Begin with the simplest corrective action before escalating
Starting with the least disruptive intervention preserves instructional time and avoids unnecessary escalation.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes 'preventive' classroom management?
- Punishing misbehaviour swiftly before it spreads
- Designing the environment and routines to reduce the likelihood of problems occurring (Correct answer)
- Consulting with parents before any behaviour issues arise
- Removing disruptive students from the room proactively
Correct answer: Designing the environment and routines to reduce the likelihood of problems occurring
Preventive management focuses on proactive environmental design and clear routines that make misbehaviour less likely.
Question 5: A new teacher struggles with classroom noise during group work. Which strategy is most likely to be effective?
- Ban all group work activities
- Establish and teach a clear signal for attention before group work begins (Correct answer)
- Continuously shout over student noise to regain attention
- Reduce lesson time to minimise noisy activities
Correct answer: Establish and teach a clear signal for attention before group work begins
A pre-taught attention signal (e.g., a raised hand or chime) gives students a consistent cue to stop and listen.
Question 6: In the context of classroom management, 'withitness' (Kounin, 1970) describes a teacher who:
- Is comfortable with student-centred learning environments
- Demonstrates awareness of all student behaviour across the whole room at all times (Correct answer)
- Integrates current cultural trends into lessons
- Allows students to set classroom rules collaboratively
Correct answer: Demonstrates awareness of all student behaviour across the whole room at all times
Kounin's 'withitness' refers to a teacher's ability to know what is happening in all parts of the classroom simultaneously, signalling this awareness to students.
Question 7: When planning a lesson, allocating time for a calm, structured 'warm-up' activity as students enter the room primarily serves to:
- Fill time while the teacher takes the roll
- Settle students and signal the transition from social to academic mode (Correct answer)
- Give early finishers something to do
- Replace the need for a lesson starter
Correct answer: Settle students and signal the transition from social to academic mode
A structured entry activity channels students into a focused mindset and establishes a productive tone from the moment they arrive.
LANTITE Classroom Management Strategies 3
During independent work time, a teacher circulates the room and briefly checks each student's progress.
This practice is best described as: