As adult educators, we often shy away from terms rooted in the business world. We have students, not clients; we have classrooms, not venues; we look for educational gains, not the bottom line. Still, a term like "management" can be a useful construct as a way to talk about all those extra-content aspects to teaching that make a class a comfortable environment or one filled with conflict.

What do we mean by classroom management? According to Wesner (1999), "Classroom management is a planned effort on the part of the teacher to make the classroom a comfortable place for students to learn." How we structure class time, attend to the needs of a multi-level class, plan for periodic student conferences—all of these elements relate to classroom management and take an enormous amount of teacher energy. A great deal of the literature on classroom management focuses on elementary and high school and offers advice for preventing and addressing discipline problems. But some educators take a broader view on the topic. For example, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (2002) looks at the following categories when defining classroom management: getting off to a good start, keeping the class flowing, cooperative learning, anticipating and handling problems. By unpacking what we mean by classroom management and by looking at teachers' strategies for facilitating a well-run class, we can expand our understanding of, and increase our repertoire of classroom management techniques. When teachers are comfortable in the role of effective manager as well as effective content area teacher, everyone benefits.

Effective classroom management, especially in adult education programs, can help students feel comfortable, safe, respected, and challenged, leading to student empowerment rather than detracting from it. New teachers, however creative and well-steeped in their content areas, often have no way of anticipating classroom management issues that can blindside and derail the teaching and learning process.

Establishing Guidelines with Students
Creating a comfortable climate for adults means including them in the decision-making process from the beginning of the class cycle. In fact, some progressive educators would maintain that it is largely students' responsibility in an adult education class to develop the guidelines and expectations they will follow throughout the cycle. According to Brigitte Marshall, (2002) an adult educator from Oakland, California, "The foremost goal of classroom management techniques should be student responsibility. Involving learners in the establishment of class rules and procedures helps develop student responsibility as well as the student support that is critical to the success of classroom management techniques. Simple strategies can give learners control over how a classroom functions and can encourage them to make decisions collaboratively, solve problems, think creatively, and exercise responsibility. Suggestion boxes provide opportunities for student input on issues from interpersonal conflicts in the classroom to furniture layout. Instructors and learners together can develop a list of classroom jobs and a job-assignment rotation."

Establishing guidelines with student involvement illustrates a proactive stance in the classroom and helps prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Early in the learning cycle, teachers and students can discuss guidelines for maximizing their learning time in and out of class and for treating each other respectfully. They can ask questions like (Hopkins, 2005):

• How do you want me to treat you?
• How do you want to treat one another?
• How do you think I want to be treated?
• How should we treat one another when there's a conflict?

While most adult education programs have institutional attendance and other requirements, an in-class set of agreements created by students personalizes the rules and makes them more binding since students are responsible to each other. For example, at the Taunton Public Schools ABE/ BCC Partnership program, students created a student handbook: a manual by students, for students to introduce the program and give students guidelines and other information. Most adults are willing to engage in this process, especially when literacy, writing, language, and grammar skills are made explicit in the process.

Clarifying Expectations
Like younger students, adult learners want to know what to expect—for the day, the week, and the entire learning cycle. When teachers have a blueprint for teaching—from daily lesson plans to syllabi—and when they share this plan with students, classroom management is facilitated. Having a blueprint doesn't foster rigidity: even with clear expectations about where the class is headed, a teacher can still be responsive to teachable moments or unusual opportunities for ad hoc learning that arise in the class.

Many teachers, including myself, have difficulty with time management within the microcosm of the classroom. It feels impossible at times to stop an intense classroom activity or discussion. We don't want to derail students' enthusiasm. For this reason, the use of a buzzer or timer may be helpful as an auditory reminder to stop and move on. Even if we choose to ignore the timer, at least that choice is a conscious decision.

Effective classroom management often involves knowing students and paying attention to cues; facilitating effective transitions between different stages of the class; setting up and maintaining good student records, and of course, developing and using strong instructional strategies.

Classroom Climate
How does creating a positive classroom climate connect to classroom management? Some of the literature in this area refers to classroom climate as the physical nature of the teaching/learning space. Is it clean? Does it smell good? What sounds do you hear in the classroom? Are there supplies at the ready for teachers and students so you don't waste time searching for pa-per, pencil, chalk, markers? Of course, all the successful management strategies in the world cannot substitute for teaching from the heart. Excel-lent teachers must truly care about their students and carry a passion for their work into the classroom. They must be able to see the big picture at all times (well, most of the time) as they attend to daily routines. It helps, too, when a teacher feels comfortable with her authority without being authoritarian. But an effective management structure can allow passionate, caring teachers to work even more effectively with their students; it helps provide a container, of sorts, for all the quirky, wonderful, messy, and very human stuff that happens in the classroom.

Notes:
Wesner, M., Erwin, D. & Hanlon, E., Concept Definitions
students.ou.edu/E/Deborah.L.Erwin-1/concepts.htm

Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, Classroom Management
www.jhu.edu/gifted/teaching/classroom.htm

Lenore Balliro is the editor of Field Notes. She can be reached at: lballiro@worlded.org