Make students think about their behavior not just follow commands

I know its challenging for new ta's to learn how to manage students in the classroom, especially CK and CL students.

Ultimately we want students to be motivated to behave well. Discipline should come from the students and management from the teach and TA.

Here are a few tips we may help:

1. If you are asking the class to do something - listen, stand up, make a line, take out your books etc., make sure you have all students' attention before you speak to them. Don't speak while students are speaking. Use an action, hand signal, or other special sign that you want them to be quiet and look at you. (I use a countdown with my hand, 5,4,3,2,1 - students learn my expectation that at 1, I want their full attention).

2. Encourage students to consider their actions by asking them questions. Ie: When all the students have seated themselves on a line and one student remains off to the side, seated at a table, not moving to seat themselves, ask them, 'Look at all the students seated, why aren't you?'
Or if two students are chatting and misbehaving, get all the other students attention and ask them, 'Look at Peter and Sam, are they behaving well?' Make the other students aware that this is not good behavior. Then ask the two boys if they want to listen and play a game, or take a break and be removed from the class for 25 seconds - which means you need to tell their parents.

3. Make examples of the students who are doing well. This means, when you are trying to get the students attention, as soon as one student is sitting still and looking at you, praise them aloud so that all the other students might hear: 'Wow, Look at Tracey. She is a super student right now.' After you praise one student in this way, others will start to follow, and then you praise them.

4. Ask the parents to elicit from students at home what we want our students to do to be super shane kids. They can use Chinese to ask this, and the students should answer, 'listen to the teacher, sit unless asked, and be happy.' If the parents ask the kids once a day - it takes less than one minute! But it will re-enforce our work in the classroom.

Any other suggestions? Let's hear them!