Classroom management is tough for any teacher, these are the 5 skills that will set you up for success.
New names, new faces, new classes, new relationships, new dynamics, and new challenges tend to cause sleepless nights for teachers every August! It’s like the Sunday Scaries but...Monday was actually an entire semester long.
The surest way to combat these late summer nightmares is to build up your repertoire of classroom management skills.
Because you don’t want to just get through the school year…you want to thrive and these are the classroom management skills that will help you do it!
Classroom management is how we do everything in our classes, not simply how we manage behavior. Often, we as teachers think of classroom management skills as what we do to correct student behavior.
While this is certainly a component of our set of management skills and techniques, we must expand our thinking to include how we construct expectations.
This starts the first day and at the beginning of each class with teaching students how we structure our classroom procedures. This will help you avoid the small distractions and inefficiencies that lead to larger issues later in the year.
This phrase can guide the planning for your classroom management approach:
Clear, consistent communication creates conscious connections and conscientious communities.
Communicate with students by greeting them at the door of your classroom, helping them to find their seats, and involving them in the process of establishing classroom norms and rules.
By clearly communicating with each student and involving them in the process, they will feel more invested in the classroom environment and will be more likely to meet and exceed expectations.
As teachers, we want students to understand the connections between the concepts that we teach in our curriculum and their own lives, so our approach to classroom management should follow the same guidelines.
The rules and norms we set with students do not exist to control them as individuals; they exist to create a safe environment for them to explore new concepts, engage with new ideas, and forge new relationships. These are all possible when we communicate clearly with our students.
As students enter to begin the day, meet them at the door with eye contact, a smile, and a personal greeting. Setting this expectation for yourself each day will make students feel more comfortable in your classroom and will ensure that the first interaction you have with each student is a positive one.
Change things up by asking students how they are doing or by providing some words of encouragement as they enter. This time can also be a great way to follow up on previous interactions that might not have gone well. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are strongly encouraged!
Greeting students is the first step, but creating consistency and clarity means that students know:
Using affective statements can also be an important component of clear communication. By expressing your own feelings you will set a standard for how students communicate with you and with each other.
While establishing classroom norms and expectations, allow your students to contribute to the conversation. Investment in the system leads to greater levels of engagement with that system, so giving students the opportunity to set their own rules will allow them to monitor their own behaviors and regulate one another, too.
Your students will also interestingly arrive at many of the same expectations that you will have for them, especially older students who are accustomed to classrooms and how they work effectively.
A community built from positive interactions and consistent communication will be able to handle the accountability that comes with the plan.
When students do not meet the expectations…redirection, and restoration are in order. Consider the different approaches that students need and which they respond to best, then implement those approaches for them consistently.
You likely have key housekeeping procedures for beginning, transitioning throughout, and ending class. Monitor students during these times to ensure that these happen and give students the tools necessary to meet the requirements you have all established for the room.
This extends to academic and social interactions, too; be consistent in reinforcing the positive behaviors you want your students to exhibit!
When procedures happen smoothly, reflect on why.
When procedures fail, reflect on why.
When students interact positively with you and other students, reflect on why.
When students interact negatively with you and other students, reflect on why.
Encourage students to reflect on their behaviors, their lessons, their struggles, and their growth. Metacognition through reflection will reinforce the learning that happens during class and should be built into your lesson plans on a regular basis.
Behavior think sheets are also a great way to kickstart the restorative process for students who falter with expectations.
Your classroom management plan needs to work for you and for your students. Set yourself up for success by explicitly communicating your plan and involving students in the process at each possible opportunity.
Communicate early and often to create and sustain the positive environment that you and your class deserve. Remember, it’s ok to smile!
New names, new faces, new classes, new relationships, new dynamics, and new challenges tend to cause sleepless nights for teachers every August! It’s like the Sunday Scaries but...Monday was actually an entire semester long.
The surest way to combat these late summer nightmares is to build up your repertoire of classroom management skills.
Because you don’t want to just get through the school year…you want to thrive and these are the classroom management skills that will help you do it!
Classroom management is how we do everything in our classes, not simply how we manage behavior. Often, we as teachers think of classroom management skills as what we do to correct student behavior.
While this is certainly a component of our set of management skills and techniques, we must expand our thinking to include how we construct expectations.
This starts the first day and at the beginning of each class with teaching students how we structure our classroom procedures. This will help you avoid the small distractions and inefficiencies that lead to larger issues later in the year.
This phrase can guide the planning for your classroom management approach:
Clear, consistent communication creates conscious connections and conscientious communities.
Communicate with students by greeting them at the door of your classroom, helping them to find their seats, and involving them in the process of establishing classroom norms and rules.
By clearly communicating with each student and involving them in the process, they will feel more invested in the classroom environment and will be more likely to meet and exceed expectations.
As teachers, we want students to understand the connections between the concepts that we teach in our curriculum and their own lives, so our approach to classroom management should follow the same guidelines.
The rules and norms we set with students do not exist to control them as individuals; they exist to create a safe environment for them to explore new concepts, engage with new ideas, and forge new relationships. These are all possible when we communicate clearly with our students.
As students enter to begin the day, meet them at the door with eye contact, a smile, and a personal greeting. Setting this expectation for yourself each day will make students feel more comfortable in your classroom and will ensure that the first interaction you have with each student is a positive one.
Change things up by asking students how they are doing or by providing some words of encouragement as they enter. This time can also be a great way to follow up on previous interactions that might not have gone well. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are strongly encouraged!
Greeting students is the first step, but creating consistency and clarity means that students know:
Using affective statements can also be an important component of clear communication. By expressing your own feelings you will set a standard for how students communicate with you and with each other.
While establishing classroom norms and expectations, allow your students to contribute to the conversation. Investment in the system leads to greater levels of engagement with that system, so giving students the opportunity to set their own rules will allow them to monitor their own behaviors and regulate one another, too.
Your students will also interestingly arrive at many of the same expectations that you will have for them, especially older students who are accustomed to classrooms and how they work effectively.
A community built from positive interactions and consistent communication will be able to handle the accountability that comes with the plan.
When students do not meet the expectations…redirection, and restoration are in order. Consider the different approaches that students need and which they respond to best, then implement those approaches for them consistently.
You likely have key housekeeping procedures for beginning, transitioning throughout, and ending class. Monitor students during these times to ensure that these happen and give students the tools necessary to meet the requirements you have all established for the room.
This extends to academic and social interactions, too; be consistent in reinforcing the positive behaviors you want your students to exhibit!
When procedures happen smoothly, reflect on why.
When procedures fail, reflect on why.
When students interact positively with you and other students, reflect on why.
When students interact negatively with you and other students, reflect on why.
Encourage students to reflect on their behaviors, their lessons, their struggles, and their growth. Metacognition through reflection will reinforce the learning that happens during class and should be built into your lesson plans on a regular basis.
Behavior think sheets are also a great way to kickstart the restorative process for students who falter with expectations.
Your classroom management plan needs to work for you and for your students. Set yourself up for success by explicitly communicating your plan and involving students in the process at each possible opportunity.
Communicate early and often to create and sustain the positive environment that you and your class deserve. Remember, it’s ok to smile!
New names, new faces, new classes, new relationships, new dynamics, and new challenges tend to cause sleepless nights for teachers every August! It’s like the Sunday Scaries but...Monday was actually an entire semester long.
The surest way to combat these late summer nightmares is to build up your repertoire of classroom management skills.
Because you don’t want to just get through the school year…you want to thrive and these are the classroom management skills that will help you do it!
Classroom management is how we do everything in our classes, not simply how we manage behavior. Often, we as teachers think of classroom management skills as what we do to correct student behavior.
While this is certainly a component of our set of management skills and techniques, we must expand our thinking to include how we construct expectations.
This starts the first day and at the beginning of each class with teaching students how we structure our classroom procedures. This will help you avoid the small distractions and inefficiencies that lead to larger issues later in the year.
This phrase can guide the planning for your classroom management approach:
Clear, consistent communication creates conscious connections and conscientious communities.
Communicate with students by greeting them at the door of your classroom, helping them to find their seats, and involving them in the process of establishing classroom norms and rules.
By clearly communicating with each student and involving them in the process, they will feel more invested in the classroom environment and will be more likely to meet and exceed expectations.
As teachers, we want students to understand the connections between the concepts that we teach in our curriculum and their own lives, so our approach to classroom management should follow the same guidelines.
The rules and norms we set with students do not exist to control them as individuals; they exist to create a safe environment for them to explore new concepts, engage with new ideas, and forge new relationships. These are all possible when we communicate clearly with our students.
As students enter to begin the day, meet them at the door with eye contact, a smile, and a personal greeting. Setting this expectation for yourself each day will make students feel more comfortable in your classroom and will ensure that the first interaction you have with each student is a positive one.
Change things up by asking students how they are doing or by providing some words of encouragement as they enter. This time can also be a great way to follow up on previous interactions that might not have gone well. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are strongly encouraged!
Greeting students is the first step, but creating consistency and clarity means that students know:
Using affective statements can also be an important component of clear communication. By expressing your own feelings you will set a standard for how students communicate with you and with each other.
While establishing classroom norms and expectations, allow your students to contribute to the conversation. Investment in the system leads to greater levels of engagement with that system, so giving students the opportunity to set their own rules will allow them to monitor their own behaviors and regulate one another, too.
Your students will also interestingly arrive at many of the same expectations that you will have for them, especially older students who are accustomed to classrooms and how they work effectively.
A community built from positive interactions and consistent communication will be able to handle the accountability that comes with the plan.
When students do not meet the expectations…redirection, and restoration are in order. Consider the different approaches that students need and which they respond to best, then implement those approaches for them consistently.
You likely have key housekeeping procedures for beginning, transitioning throughout, and ending class. Monitor students during these times to ensure that these happen and give students the tools necessary to meet the requirements you have all established for the room.
This extends to academic and social interactions, too; be consistent in reinforcing the positive behaviors you want your students to exhibit!
When procedures happen smoothly, reflect on why.
When procedures fail, reflect on why.
When students interact positively with you and other students, reflect on why.
When students interact negatively with you and other students, reflect on why.
Encourage students to reflect on their behaviors, their lessons, their struggles, and their growth. Metacognition through reflection will reinforce the learning that happens during class and should be built into your lesson plans on a regular basis.
Behavior think sheets are also a great way to kickstart the restorative process for students who falter with expectations.
Your classroom management plan needs to work for you and for your students. Set yourself up for success by explicitly communicating your plan and involving students in the process at each possible opportunity.
Communicate early and often to create and sustain the positive environment that you and your class deserve. Remember, it’s ok to smile!
Trent currently lives in Lexington, KY and works as a high school English teacher. During his
eleven years in education, he has served as a teacher, department head, mentor, and coach; his
experience includes work with PBIS, Special Education, MTSS, SEL, Restorative Practices, PLC
and SLC Frameworks, Academic Interventions, Curriculum Development, New Teacher
Induction, College and Career Readiness, and Summer Program Coordination.
New names, new faces, new classes, new relationships, new dynamics, and new challenges tend to cause sleepless nights for teachers every August! It’s like the Sunday Scaries but...Monday was actually an entire semester long.
The surest way to combat these late summer nightmares is to build up your repertoire of classroom management skills.
Because you don’t want to just get through the school year…you want to thrive and these are the classroom management skills that will help you do it!
Classroom management is how we do everything in our classes, not simply how we manage behavior. Often, we as teachers think of classroom management skills as what we do to correct student behavior.
While this is certainly a component of our set of management skills and techniques, we must expand our thinking to include how we construct expectations.
This starts the first day and at the beginning of each class with teaching students how we structure our classroom procedures. This will help you avoid the small distractions and inefficiencies that lead to larger issues later in the year.
This phrase can guide the planning for your classroom management approach:
Clear, consistent communication creates conscious connections and conscientious communities.
Communicate with students by greeting them at the door of your classroom, helping them to find their seats, and involving them in the process of establishing classroom norms and rules.
By clearly communicating with each student and involving them in the process, they will feel more invested in the classroom environment and will be more likely to meet and exceed expectations.
As teachers, we want students to understand the connections between the concepts that we teach in our curriculum and their own lives, so our approach to classroom management should follow the same guidelines.
The rules and norms we set with students do not exist to control them as individuals; they exist to create a safe environment for them to explore new concepts, engage with new ideas, and forge new relationships. These are all possible when we communicate clearly with our students.
As students enter to begin the day, meet them at the door with eye contact, a smile, and a personal greeting. Setting this expectation for yourself each day will make students feel more comfortable in your classroom and will ensure that the first interaction you have with each student is a positive one.
Change things up by asking students how they are doing or by providing some words of encouragement as they enter. This time can also be a great way to follow up on previous interactions that might not have gone well. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are strongly encouraged!
Greeting students is the first step, but creating consistency and clarity means that students know:
Using affective statements can also be an important component of clear communication. By expressing your own feelings you will set a standard for how students communicate with you and with each other.
While establishing classroom norms and expectations, allow your students to contribute to the conversation. Investment in the system leads to greater levels of engagement with that system, so giving students the opportunity to set their own rules will allow them to monitor their own behaviors and regulate one another, too.
Your students will also interestingly arrive at many of the same expectations that you will have for them, especially older students who are accustomed to classrooms and how they work effectively.
A community built from positive interactions and consistent communication will be able to handle the accountability that comes with the plan.
When students do not meet the expectations…redirection, and restoration are in order. Consider the different approaches that students need and which they respond to best, then implement those approaches for them consistently.
You likely have key housekeeping procedures for beginning, transitioning throughout, and ending class. Monitor students during these times to ensure that these happen and give students the tools necessary to meet the requirements you have all established for the room.
This extends to academic and social interactions, too; be consistent in reinforcing the positive behaviors you want your students to exhibit!
When procedures happen smoothly, reflect on why.
When procedures fail, reflect on why.
When students interact positively with you and other students, reflect on why.
When students interact negatively with you and other students, reflect on why.
Encourage students to reflect on their behaviors, their lessons, their struggles, and their growth. Metacognition through reflection will reinforce the learning that happens during class and should be built into your lesson plans on a regular basis.
Behavior think sheets are also a great way to kickstart the restorative process for students who falter with expectations.
Your classroom management plan needs to work for you and for your students. Set yourself up for success by explicitly communicating your plan and involving students in the process at each possible opportunity.
Communicate early and often to create and sustain the positive environment that you and your class deserve. Remember, it’s ok to smile!
The opening of a new school year can be daunting for both new and veteran teachers.
New names, new faces, new classes, new relationships, new dynamics, and new challenges tend to cause sleepless nights for teachers every August! It’s like the Sunday Scaries but...Monday was actually an entire semester long.
The surest way to combat these late summer nightmares is to build up your repertoire of classroom management skills.
Because you don’t want to just get through the school year…you want to thrive and these are the classroom management skills that will help you do it!
Classroom management is how we do everything in our classes, not simply how we manage behavior. Often, we as teachers think of classroom management skills as what we do to correct student behavior.
While this is certainly a component of our set of management skills and techniques, we must expand our thinking to include how we construct expectations.
This starts the first day and at the beginning of each class with teaching students how we structure our classroom procedures. This will help you avoid the small distractions and inefficiencies that lead to larger issues later in the year.
This phrase can guide the planning for your classroom management approach:
Clear, consistent communication creates conscious connections and conscientious communities.
Communicate with students by greeting them at the door of your classroom, helping them to find their seats, and involving them in the process of establishing classroom norms and rules.
By clearly communicating with each student and involving them in the process, they will feel more invested in the classroom environment and will be more likely to meet and exceed expectations.
As teachers, we want students to understand the connections between the concepts that we teach in our curriculum and their own lives, so our approach to classroom management should follow the same guidelines.
The rules and norms we set with students do not exist to control them as individuals; they exist to create a safe environment for them to explore new concepts, engage with new ideas, and forge new relationships. These are all possible when we communicate clearly with our students.
As students enter to begin the day, meet them at the door with eye contact, a smile, and a personal greeting. Setting this expectation for yourself each day will make students feel more comfortable in your classroom and will ensure that the first interaction you have with each student is a positive one.
Change things up by asking students how they are doing or by providing some words of encouragement as they enter. This time can also be a great way to follow up on previous interactions that might not have gone well. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are strongly encouraged!
Greeting students is the first step, but creating consistency and clarity means that students know:
Using affective statements can also be an important component of clear communication. By expressing your own feelings you will set a standard for how students communicate with you and with each other.
While establishing classroom norms and expectations, allow your students to contribute to the conversation. Investment in the system leads to greater levels of engagement with that system, so giving students the opportunity to set their own rules will allow them to monitor their own behaviors and regulate one another, too.
Your students will also interestingly arrive at many of the same expectations that you will have for them, especially older students who are accustomed to classrooms and how they work effectively.
A community built from positive interactions and consistent communication will be able to handle the accountability that comes with the plan.
When students do not meet the expectations…redirection, and restoration are in order. Consider the different approaches that students need and which they respond to best, then implement those approaches for them consistently.
You likely have key housekeeping procedures for beginning, transitioning throughout, and ending class. Monitor students during these times to ensure that these happen and give students the tools necessary to meet the requirements you have all established for the room.
This extends to academic and social interactions, too; be consistent in reinforcing the positive behaviors you want your students to exhibit!
When procedures happen smoothly, reflect on why.
When procedures fail, reflect on why.
When students interact positively with you and other students, reflect on why.
When students interact negatively with you and other students, reflect on why.
Encourage students to reflect on their behaviors, their lessons, their struggles, and their growth. Metacognition through reflection will reinforce the learning that happens during class and should be built into your lesson plans on a regular basis.
Behavior think sheets are also a great way to kickstart the restorative process for students who falter with expectations.
Your classroom management plan needs to work for you and for your students. Set yourself up for success by explicitly communicating your plan and involving students in the process at each possible opportunity.
Communicate early and often to create and sustain the positive environment that you and your class deserve. Remember, it’s ok to smile!
The opening of a new school year can be daunting for both new and veteran teachers.
New names, new faces, new classes, new relationships, new dynamics, and new challenges tend to cause sleepless nights for teachers every August! It’s like the Sunday Scaries but...Monday was actually an entire semester long.
The surest way to combat these late summer nightmares is to build up your repertoire of classroom management skills.
Because you don’t want to just get through the school year…you want to thrive and these are the classroom management skills that will help you do it!
Classroom management is how we do everything in our classes, not simply how we manage behavior. Often, we as teachers think of classroom management skills as what we do to correct student behavior.
While this is certainly a component of our set of management skills and techniques, we must expand our thinking to include how we construct expectations.
This starts the first day and at the beginning of each class with teaching students how we structure our classroom procedures. This will help you avoid the small distractions and inefficiencies that lead to larger issues later in the year.
This phrase can guide the planning for your classroom management approach:
Clear, consistent communication creates conscious connections and conscientious communities.
Communicate with students by greeting them at the door of your classroom, helping them to find their seats, and involving them in the process of establishing classroom norms and rules.
By clearly communicating with each student and involving them in the process, they will feel more invested in the classroom environment and will be more likely to meet and exceed expectations.
As teachers, we want students to understand the connections between the concepts that we teach in our curriculum and their own lives, so our approach to classroom management should follow the same guidelines.
The rules and norms we set with students do not exist to control them as individuals; they exist to create a safe environment for them to explore new concepts, engage with new ideas, and forge new relationships. These are all possible when we communicate clearly with our students.
As students enter to begin the day, meet them at the door with eye contact, a smile, and a personal greeting. Setting this expectation for yourself each day will make students feel more comfortable in your classroom and will ensure that the first interaction you have with each student is a positive one.
Change things up by asking students how they are doing or by providing some words of encouragement as they enter. This time can also be a great way to follow up on previous interactions that might not have gone well. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are strongly encouraged!
Greeting students is the first step, but creating consistency and clarity means that students know:
Using affective statements can also be an important component of clear communication. By expressing your own feelings you will set a standard for how students communicate with you and with each other.
While establishing classroom norms and expectations, allow your students to contribute to the conversation. Investment in the system leads to greater levels of engagement with that system, so giving students the opportunity to set their own rules will allow them to monitor their own behaviors and regulate one another, too.
Your students will also interestingly arrive at many of the same expectations that you will have for them, especially older students who are accustomed to classrooms and how they work effectively.
A community built from positive interactions and consistent communication will be able to handle the accountability that comes with the plan.
When students do not meet the expectations…redirection, and restoration are in order. Consider the different approaches that students need and which they respond to best, then implement those approaches for them consistently.
You likely have key housekeeping procedures for beginning, transitioning throughout, and ending class. Monitor students during these times to ensure that these happen and give students the tools necessary to meet the requirements you have all established for the room.
This extends to academic and social interactions, too; be consistent in reinforcing the positive behaviors you want your students to exhibit!
When procedures happen smoothly, reflect on why.
When procedures fail, reflect on why.
When students interact positively with you and other students, reflect on why.
When students interact negatively with you and other students, reflect on why.
Encourage students to reflect on their behaviors, their lessons, their struggles, and their growth. Metacognition through reflection will reinforce the learning that happens during class and should be built into your lesson plans on a regular basis.
Behavior think sheets are also a great way to kickstart the restorative process for students who falter with expectations.
Your classroom management plan needs to work for you and for your students. Set yourself up for success by explicitly communicating your plan and involving students in the process at each possible opportunity.
Communicate early and often to create and sustain the positive environment that you and your class deserve. Remember, it’s ok to smile!
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