How consistent are you in your classroom management?
Classroom management is hard to learn from a textbook, even if you have read Harry Wong’s First Days of School. Until you are actually in a classroom, it is hard to know exactly how you will respond and react to certain situations no matter how prepared you are. Here are 4 classroom management tips to point you in the right direction to calm the chaos: in the classroom.
Develop Your Classroom Management
Learning classroom management is an essential skill for teachers and substitutes and will help calm the chaos in the classroom before it gets out of control. In college, I learned great ideas and tips for classroom management, but nothing truly prepares you for those first few minutes and days like actually being in the classroom. You do need to have some basic ideas of how you want your classroom or tutoring sessions to run, but also be flexible as you hone this skill. You will continue to hone your classroom management system over the years and in different settings. So many of my good ideas are a bit outside the box and came out of situations that needed a bit of creativity.
For example, I developed a secret code hand signal to warn my students that their behavior needed improvement. This serves me well in the halls, during assemblies, and on field trips. Nobody likes being called out in public but often it’s needed for classroom management. Hence the code. All my students know what it means, but no one else does unless they are former students. Over the years the hand signal also became a visual symbol that I draw on the back of my ID badge and a code word that I used with my daughters. It works as well as the stern eye your mother gives you across the room!
I still have flashbacks of trying to subtly wave my badge around during a school assembly so that the misbehaving 4th grade student might catch a glimpse of the secret code drawn on the back! And the students sitting nearby nudging the offender and pointing discretely (or not!) at my badge.
Involve the Students
However, even bigger than having a management system is the premise behind it. My students know that there are rules to follow in the classroom, but my students also know that teachers have rules to follow, too. Allowing students to break rules and misbehave is breaking teacher rules set up by the administration. Conversations like this help give order to why we set rules and how communities function together.
Another layer in consistent classroom management is telling my students that as long as they follow a few select rules, I will have their back. First, they are to follow all my rules. Second, if another adult reprimands them for something that I am ok with them doing, they are to reply politely to that adult and stop the action. Then they can talk to me about it. So long as they replied politely to the adult and stopped the action, I will back them up. This was not something that occurs very often, but I do not want my students to argue with another teacher or substitute who might do things differently.
Have Simple Rules
My classroom rules are fairly simple variations on telling the truth, working hard, being kind to others, etc. I have a mailbox on my desk where students can leave me messages about anything they want to ask me or discuss. I meet with them as soon as I have time.
Have consequences that are consistent and fair. If you knock down someone’s pencil box, you need to help clean it up. If you forget your name on your papers on a regular basis, you need to practice writing your name. If you make a mess at snack time, you clean it up. If you need to know how to clean it up, I teach you to sweep, wipe tables, and vacuum.
Be Consistent
I run a tight ship. Students often tell me after a few days that they think I am more fun than they had heard. I ask them not to clear up that rumor! I am both firm and fun.
I encourage my students to problem solve, give proof for their arguments, and tell them that knowledge is power. If they argue about who has the right answer, I tell them to prove it. (Cue the flipping of textbook pages as they both try to prove their answers.) I also teach them to acknowledge when they are wrong and apologize if needed. Because this is a normal occurrence in my classroom, it is not a huge embarrassment to acknowledge being wrong, but a normal part of the learning experience and community.
Chaos abounds where mutual respect, rules, and high expectations do not. Rules and boundaries can be freedoms, not punishments. Classroom management can encourage independence and pride in a job well done not discouragement and obedience out of fear. Whether I am teaching in the classroom, substituting in someone else’s room, or tutoring online, I am always setting high expectations, encouraging independence, and building community. I ❤️ my job!
More classroom management tips
https://tailorjoy.com/in-order/
https://tailorjoy.com/be-honest/
Ready to calm the chaos at home?
https://tailorjoy.com/the-middle-years-calming-the-chaos/
https://www.tailorjoy.com/the-middle-years-the-consequences/
https://www.tailorjoy.com/the-middle-years-the-promises/
Table Talk: What teacher has the best classroom management style? How consistent do your kids or students say you are? Is it better to be firm or fun as a teacher?
Ready to CLEAN the chaos in the classroom? Read the next blog post!