A Secret Strategy That Makes Classroom Management Easier

During the first few weeks of a new school year, I try to identify students with natural leadership ability. Typically, two or three strong leaders will emerge from a class of thirty.

My only criterion is that the other students look up to them. This doesn’t mean that these natural leaders are top students or that they’ve been particularly well behaved in the past (sometimes it’s better if they’re not). They are simply students who hold the most sway with other students.

I’ll pull them aside and say:

“I’ve noticed that many of the other students look up to you, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in helping me. What you’d be doing are things like encouraging others, being a good friend, and being a role model for your classmates. Your help, though, must be in secret. Just between us. Are you interested?”

I’ll have occasional meetings with this small group to role-play ways they can help. But most of our interactions are informal.

I’ll walk next to one of them on the way out to recess and say, “Hey would you do me a favor and ask Sean if he wants to play soccer with your group today?” Or I might say to another leader, “Vanessa, will you encourage Katie to stay on-task when your science group meets this afternoon?”

Eliminate Bullying

One year, before the first day of school, I noticed a girl on my roster named Laura. Laura was bright and had an eccentric personality. She had also been picked on incessantly—horribly—in years past.

I intended to put a stop to it.

So during the first week of school, I defined what bullying is and what it looks like, made clear what would happen if any student was caught bullying, and then modeled/role-played what they should do if they become a victim of bullying.

But the most powerful thing I did was to find a student with leadership ability willing to provide small acts of friendship. I didn’t ask this student to hang out with Laura, nor did she. I just asked her to keep an eye on her and act like a protective big sister.

When this student would walk back to class after recess with her arm around Laura’s shoulders, it communicated clearly to everyone that (1) picking on Laura was off limits and (2) maybe we should be friends with Laura too.

As a result, Laura was never picked on, made fun of, or meant to feel less than a valued member of the classroom. Predictably, she blossomed.

Being The First

Another way leaders can be helpful is by being the first to follow your directions, the first to give their attention when you ask for it, and the first to kindly and gently remind others to do the same.

Whenever I start a new school year, particularly with a challenging group of students, I figuratively start pulling them on board my program. I identify who is with me—and pull them closer—and then start picking the others off one-by-one.

Eventually, those not-so-hardworking students, those with behavior problems, and those who mope and complain, become outnumbered. Then overwhelmed. Finally, they become convinced that school is better, more fun, and more interesting being part of the class, and they give in and come aboard.

I’ve discovered that identifying student leaders early and soliciting their help as role models gets the rest of the class on board quicker—and helps keep them there.

A Catch

Identifying leaders willing to influence other students can make classroom management easier. But there is a catch. You must also be a leader. You must be someone they want to help, a person they trust, respect, and admire.

Otherwise, it won’t work. Your leaders will be reluctant to help, they’ll be sloppy and ineffective, and they’ll lose interest. They may even begin to cause trouble.

Students with leadership ability are going to use it. And if you don’t help them direct it in a positive way, it may not always be used for good.

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