The Four Cs of Successful Classroom Management

"Is it our job as educators to establish 'classroom control,' or are we to endeavor to create a healthy classroom learning environment?"1 The four Cs of classroom management - commendation, communication, consistency, and content - represent one of the quickest and most successful ways to establish a safe, healthful, and fun environment at any level, especially in elementary schools. Use your content in transitions, such as singing a song while you are passing out the scarves for a movement activity, performing a chant with body percussion as you enter the classroom with the students, singing tonal patterns with solfège as you pass out the dry-erase boards for a notation lesson, or allowing individuals to improvise new rhythm patterns.