Most teachers know that communication is one of the most important components of the education process. 

This is true—but it’s also true that communication means more than just words. It’s how you present yourself as a physical presence in the room.

In this article, we take a look at nonverbal classroom management strategies, including things like proximity signals and silent redirects. The goal is to develop a presence that facilitates your goals as a teacher without the need for constant verbal correction.

Understanding Nonverbal Classroom Management

Nonverbal management, of course, does not mean eliminating spoken communication. It means enforcing your classroom rules and boundaries with your physical presence in addition to your spoken directives.

 The idea is to always facilitate a productive learning environment without the need to constantly remind students what is expected of them.

For example, a teacher who is extremely good at nonverbal classroom management can:

• Better Preserve Relationships with Students: Constant verbal redirects can have a demoralizing or even instigating effect on relationships with students. If you can redirect their behavior more subtly, it preserves the relationship while maintaining balance and control.

  
  

• Save Your Energy: There’s also a personal quality-of-life consideration. Educators often struggle the most in situations where behavior consistently interferes with learning. It’s an exhausting and demoralizing classroom experience that can very easily lead to burnout. Constantly switching from teaching to disciplining can also very literally exhaust the mind. Nonverbal redirects take some of the friction out of that experience and may save you a little bit of time in the bargain.

  
  

• Maintain Lesson Momentum: Constant verbal correction can be extremely disruptive to the learning experience. Nonverbal redirects are an effective way to enforce rules without interrupting the flow of your lecture.

Many teachers use nonverbal redirects as a sort of first line of defense. It’s a good way to handle first-time off-task behavior and maintain the flow of lectures when you are in the middle of teaching. 

You should still use verbal redirects for misbehaviors that continue to occur—and, of course, in situations where student safety is at risk. It’s also necessary when non-verbal corrections are not effective. 

Proximity Management

Proximity Management is a nonverbal redirect that relies on your physical position within the classroom.

 The idea is that students will modify their behavior naturally when an authority figure is nearby. It's the same sort of logic that inspires every car on the highway to slow down by a factor of about five mph when they see a highway patrolman. 

Establishing physical closeness to students in response to minor rule infractions will often keep them accountable without requiring any additional response.

There are a few popular techniques:

• Active Circulation is a classroom redirect strategy that relies on actively repositioning yourself as you teach. This will require you to walk up and down rows of desks. Maybe politely ask students here and there if they need help. This technique is effective because it will be harder for students to misbehave when they feel their teacher could come by at any moment.

   

• Strategic Positioning. While it's most natural to stand at the front of the classroom during a lecture, Strategic Positioning instead has you adjust your presence to be near students who are prone to distraction or disruption. Naturally, this could result in escalation depending on how it is executed. Occasionally positioning yourself near kids who disrupt can keep them on track. But camping next to a few students at all times may make them feel just as targeted or ill at ease as they might have through regular verbal redirects.

  
  

• Proximity Graduation is a sort of hybrid model in which you begin your positioning in a more natural place, like the front of the classroom, but progress closer to students as behavior slips into unacceptable territory. Incremental Proximity Graduation saves a little effort on your part and also gradually trains students to expect higher levels of scrutiny when their behavior strays from expectations.

 The extent to which you use this strategy may depend on several factors, including the size of your classroom, the types of disruptions you're experiencing, and the age of your students.

 For example, proximity-related redirects might be a source of anxiety for primary-grade students, whereas children in middle school will be more aware of what your physical positioning within the classroom signals.

Silent Redirects

Silent redirects are a little more targeted than proximity cues. Here you are correcting a specific behavior from a certain student — you're just doing it without using words. It’s an ideal response for minor infractions, including:

• Students demonstrating off-task behavior

• Bad behavior that has manifested only once

• Situations where verbal redirects would disrupt the flow of the lecture

Silent redirects may also just be the most effective method of handling certain students. That, of course, is a discretionary decision. Here are a few common silent redirect strategies.

• Establish Eye Contact: Sometimes, simply pausing for a moment and developing eye contact with an off-task student is enough to get them on track again. The key is to retain eye contact for about five seconds in total silence and then resume teaching without communication. It sounds simple, but it is uncomfortable — particularly the first few times you do it.

  
  

• Hand Gestures: There are certain universally recognized hand gestures that may get your classroom back on track. For example, a raised hand is an easily understood signal that indicates your need for quiet. Hand gestures are a good way to encourage a heightened level of attention in situations where undesirable behaviors are not directly defiant.

  
  

• Proximity with Nonverbal Redirects: You can also combine both strategies by approaching a specific student who is misbehaving and tapping on their desk, or in some other way redirecting their attention back to what they were supposed to be doing. This strategy can, with enough repetition, create that same adversarial relationship between certain students that is often the result of ongoing verbal corrections. However, it is a way to get your classroom back on track without disrupting the flow of your lecture.

These techniques are ideal in situations where the infractions are minor. They are not appropriate for physical infractions or rapidly escalating behaviors. 

Conclusion

Mastery of nonverbal redirects is not necessarily going to cure all of your problems. However, they are another tool to keep in the bag. Not only will they improve your classroom management ability, but non-verbal classroom management is also a great skill to highlight on a job application.

Teachers know, of course, that there’s no miracle cure for undesirable classroom behaviors. Still, the more ways you have to address these problems, the better off you will ultimately be.

If you’re interested in more high-impact classroom management strategies—as well as tips for finding great jobs in education—sign up for Zen Educate.

 Not only will we provide resources just like this one, but we’ll also connect you with tools and strategies for finding rewarding work in the field of education.