Keeping the classroom clean and tidy

This is one area that new inexperienced teachers tend NOT to focus on.  However, personally as part of my routine, I put high emphasis in getting students to be involved in keeping their classrooms clean and tidy. Regularly, I would also set good examples by going into the class slightly earlier to tidy the class up before the students arrive.

According to Malcolm Gladwell “Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference”, he listed “three rules of epidemics”:

1. The law of the Few
2. The stickiness factor
3. The power of context: Human behaviour is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment.

On the topic of “the power of context”, Malcolm brought out the NYC’s Broken Windows Theory, which states that monitoring and maintaining urban environments in well-ordered condition may prevent further vandalism as well as escalating into more serious crime.

Applying the power of context into the classroom context, the little thing of “keeping the classroom clean and tidy” may actually have a greater impact on the overall vandalism or major crime rate in school.

Personally, I would involved the students in maintaining the classroom so that they themselves have a sense of ownership and by doing so would give them more motivation NOT to litter in class.

It is little things that count (provided the fundamentals are already taken care of).