Of all the responsibilities you have on the first day of school, teaching your classroom management plan is número uno in importance.
After all, your success as a teacher hinges on your ability to manage your classroom.
That’s just the way it is.
Teachers who are nonchalant about classroom management, or who see it as a nuisance, won’t be nearly as effective as those who place it at the top of their list.
To put it more plainly, experts in classroom management are better teachers—hands down.
They’re also happier, more confident, and have healthier relationships with students.
So right out of the gate, after a few opening remarks, you’ll do well to dive right in and show your new class exactly what is expected of them . . . by teaching your classroom management plan in a way they’ll never forget.
Here’s how:
Be Clear
Bring your classroom management plan into high-def focus for your students, making it clear and comprehensible—because ambiguity and confusion are the enemies of effective classroom management. Leave no doubt as to what constitutes following and breaking your rules by shining a light on even the most nuanced misbehavior.
Be Passionate
It’s rarely subject matter that motivates students. It’s the teacher and the passion she brings to the lesson. Given its importance, teaching classroom management is the time to let it out. Allow your students to see the real you, the one determined to create a classroom experience beyond the norm, the mundane, and the colorless—while reaching toward the extraordinary.
Be Dynamic
Teaching classroom management is a physical experience. To make it real for your students, to make it unforgettable, you must dramatize, model, and perform your way through your plan, vividly showing them what both following rules and breaking them looks and feels like. Walk them through each progressive step a misbehaving student would take.
Be Contrarian
Use the how-not strategy to demonstrate the most common rule-breaking behaviors students engage in. Sit at a student’s desk and show them how not to get your attention, how not to ask a question, or how not to behave during lessons. They must see and experience what isn’t okay in order to fully understand what is.
Be Interactive
Involve your students physically in teaching your plan. Let them role-play scenarios. Allow them be the teacher while you play the part of a student. Gather them around you, encourage questions, let them take an active role. After all, they have more at stake and more to gain from quality classroom management than even you do.
Be Thorough
Surprises lead to confusion, resentment, and ultimately more misbehavior. Make sure there is no misunderstanding. Make sure your students know precisely where your boundary lines are. Otherwise, they’ll be forever uncomfortable, unsure of themselves, and unable to relax and enjoy the freedom within your boundaries.
Note: The idea of allowing freedom within boundaries is a critical element of exceptional classroom management (a trade secret). To read more, see the first chapter of Dream Class.
Be Skeptical
For review, ask your students to show you how to ask a question or how to get up to turn in work or how to attend during lessons. Make them prove they understand. Have them demonstrate what following rules does and doesn’t look like. If you like, depending on the grade level, you can even devise a written test.
How Often, How Long
One of the most common questions I get is how long should it take to teach your classroom management plan. An hour or so a day for the first week of school should be enough for initial learning.
After that you’ll want to review every day for the next three or four weeks. Sometimes this review will only take a few minutes—or as long as it takes to read aloud your plan.
Other days you may want to review entire sections in detail. After three or four weeks, if you’ve been thorough with your teaching, chances are you’ll revisit your plan only occasionally throughout the year. Once per week being a good rule of thumb.
Make It Important
Students are quick to buy into and follow whatever the teacher deems is important. And so when classroom management is shown to be a priority, even if it feels like a complete cultural shift from what they’re used to, your students will go right along in agreement.
They’ll be on board, supporting your desire to make your classroom a special place, bereft of bad attitudes, negativity, rudeness, disruption, and disrespect.
Every student, deep down, when shown the way, wants to do well. They all want to experience the feeling of being more than what they thought they could be. They all want a chance to be a part of something unique and meaningful and remarkable. We all do.
So on that first day, and throughout the first week, when you paint for your students a vigorous and vibrant picture of what a dream class looks like…
That’s exactly what you’ll get.
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You say, “One of the most common questions I get is how long should it take to teach your classroom management plan. An hour or so a day for the first week of school should be enough for initial learning.”
I’ve been subscribing for a couple months now. You have some great tips but, like the quote above, you seem to be gearing your tips for elementary teachers. For instance, you say we should review our classroom management plan for an hour a day! Well, I’m a middle school teacher, and I see my students for about 50 minutes a day.
Hi Mark,
Although the strategies and solutions are effective and equally geared for both elementary and middle school teachers, a majority of readers are elementary teachers—and thus, when I write an article, I have this in mind. Most of the time the tweaks a middle school teacher might make are evident—but not always. And I apologize for not being clearer in this case. As a middle school teacher you don’t have near the volume of procedures an elementary teacher does, and so you generally don’t need the same amount of time devoted to teaching your plan. The age and maturity of the students is also a factor. As is, as you mentioned, the limited length of each class period. Having said that, I recommend using the first full class period to teach your CM plan. After that, I’d cut the amount of time you spend on it each proceeding week, depending on your class(es) and how well they understand and follow the rules and procedures you’ve already taught. If you wish, shoot me an email with more details regarding your particular situation/grade level/subject area, and any problems you’ve had in the past, and I’m happy to be more specific.
:)Michael
Michael,
I’m wondering the same thing as Mark. I teach at two schools, an elementary school and a middle school. At the elementary school, I see students once a week for 40 minutes (I teach music). At the middle school, I see students two or three times a week (usually it alternates) for 65 minutes each time. I’m already planning to do procedures for the first full class, but what about afterwards?
Hi Beth,
I’m not sure what you mean, but I definitely want to help you. If you don’t mind emailing me with more specifics, I’m happy to help you sort through your unique situation. Thanks for the question!
Michael
Following along on the previous comments, I’m wondering if you feel that your tips apply as well to high schools? I’m about to start my 5th year teaching and I’m determined to become effective at classroom management (a real weakness of mine). I’ve been studying your articles with great interest, but I wonder if you could address any adaptations that would make sense for this age group. Thanks.
Hi John,
Yes, I do, to a point. I think the key to classroom management, regardless of age, is to have firm boundaries of behavior and a classroom your students look forward to coming to every day. That is this website in a nutshell. As for adaptations, I’d love to have a conversation with you sometime, because that is a huge question that might need it’s own website. I will say that I think that most of the strategies should work with, for the most part, obvious tweaks and changes. Although I haven’t taught high school, in my experience with K-8 students, the older they are, the more critical it is to build relationships with them.
Michael
Thanks for your quick response, Michael. I am particularly interested in your opinion on what an appropriate classroom management plan would include in terms of rules and consequences for an inner city high school classroom (science).
Hi John,
I understand what you’re asking. And I’d love to give you a set of rules and consequences specific to your Science classroom, but only you can do that. Read the article The Classroom Management Mindset. It explains how to create a set of rules that matches your unique situation.
🙂 Michael
I have been following this site for around a year. I teach secondary school and have found the information useful. Adjustments have to be made for older students, but the basic ideas are still the same and can be implemented for a range of ages. In response to some if the questions above, I think you need to have confidence in yourself to adjust the strategies as you see fit.
Sure, I understand that only I can determine what rules make sense in my situation. On further reflection, I guess the piece that I’m having trouble with is what to use as a 2nd consequences. Time Out seems integral to this system, and that makes sense to me, naturally if the class is an engaging and interesting experience, the students are going to want to be a part of it. But I don’t know if that applies in my classroom situation–crowded room, immovable desks, etc. Do you (and others reading this [thanks Michael Anderson]) think that Time Out in the classroom works with high school students?
Thanks again for your attention. I really do appreciate the wisdom that I have found here!
John
Hi John,
You don’t have to call it time-out, but if a student disrupts your classroom after an initial warning then he/she should be separated, in some way, and not allowed the privilege to participate and be a regular member of the class.
Michael
I love your articles Michael, keep them coming. I have had a dream class for the past two years, suddenly I’m the teacher who always has the Good class :). I am a full-time kindergaten teacher and because of scheduling I will be teaching science for 1 hour a day in grade 6. That’s 1hour of grade 6 science in 4 different grade 6 classes. The management aspect of this is scary for me. How am I going to connect with that many students over 1hour a week each, how can I manage time outs, and what can I do about more serious consequences, when a letter doesn’t come back. We don’t share the same recess or lunch times and after school is not an option. Also , I ‘m not sure how to start the year with these 4 groups, they will be trying to learn management expectations from at least 4 other teachers as well .
Thank you so much
Susan
Hi Susan,
Although it is more of a challenge to build rapport with students you see only once a week, you have one wonderful advantage. Because science is inherently fun and interesting, you have built in leverage. That is, a built in reason why your six-graders will want to be involved in the class and follow your rules. Of course, this underscores the importance of teaching in a way they look forward to. Do this, and you won’t have any problems. As far as sending a letter home, if you absolutely can’t do it, then simply replace it with a phone call.
Michael
we are now 4 months into the school year and I am still having classroom management problems. how do you suggest I correct this? by starting over today as it is the first day of school in teaching the rules and following up with the consequences or___?
Hi Julie,
Yes, if things aren’t going well, then you should absolutely start over. Here is an article on this topic: Losing Control . . .
ps I teach kindergarten
Hi, I’m back with another question. What does one do if, *while* teaching the rules and consequences with detailed modelling, a child chooses to misbehave? E.g. While explaining the rules and consequences, a child speaks out or side-talks. Does one make an example and enforce the rule/consequence immediately? Or should a teacher stop, use the misbehaviour as an example, and say to the class what *will happen* once the classroom routine is fully taught and established?
Hi Carolyn,
If a student is disrespectful in his or her behavior, then enforce a consequence and explain later. Otherwise, if you’re in the middle of teaching your plan, you can use it as an example of what calling out or side-talking looks like.
Michael
Thank you for your advice- I feel I am a stronger teacher thanks to your articles and suggestions. I do have a question- this year I have a student who is dual identified (Asperger syndrome and gifted) his “behaviors” are quite disruptive at times and need I say- draining. I know you have written several articles about difficult students, but I’m not sure all of your advice will work with him. Any thoughts or suggestions you can offer before I lose my mind?
Hi MG,
It would be irresponsible of me to offer specific advice on a very specific case. Having not observed the child myself, my advice could potentially be way off, which wouldn’t be fair to you.
Michael
Can I start this say after spring break, reteaching all my procedures and routines? How do you do all of this in the middle, nearing the end of year? Is it ok to start all over? help please!
Hi Erika,
We have a few articles on this topic, but yes, you can start anytime you like. 🙂
Michael
Hi,
I am a second-year elementary art teacher. I see my students 40min a week. I am trying to organize and set up routines for different situations in my class and have come up with what I think are too many different ones. (How to properly wash and put paintbrushes away, How to properly collect scrap clay and place it in reuse buckets, and so on.) I feel like i’d be using a lot of their art time up just going over the many different routines that they wouldn’t even have time to create anything. Any suggestions? I was thinking of just going over project-specific routines when I start a project and reviewing them again at the beginning of other lessons with the same routine.
Also- I know that it helps a lot with management when one of the rules is that students have to raise their hands before getting out of their seats. Dues to the nature of my class (not having enough materials for each table to have enough supplies) students often have to leave their seats to exchange materials. I feel like if they had to raise their hands every time it would be a constant demand and students would be waiting for permission for longer than necessary. Any solutions? Thanks so much!
Hi Lauren,
The best way to handle it would be, for example, to save teaching the paintbrush routine until the day you’re actually going to use them. And then once it’s set, it’s set for the year (with a brief review). As for your second question, as long as you define what is and isn’t okay, and model it for them, allowing them to borrow materials without permission shouldn’t cause any problems.
Michael
I am going to be substituting. Should I even try to have my own set of rules, or should I just find the teacher’s rules and review them orally with the students? How about consequences?
Hi Linda,
It’s best to use and review the teacher’s rules and consequences, but be ready with your own if they don’t exist.
Michael
Hi Michael,
I see my middle school students only twice a week for 40 minutes. On day 1 this week I taught them and modeled the classroom management plan. On day 2 I began enforcing the consequences, but in less than 10 minutes lots of students were already getting sent to Time Out, and I was running out of space to send some students, which meant other students got away with not following directions. The rule repeatedly being broken had to do with raising hand before speaking or leaving your seat. Many students were blurting out, getting out of seat, and talking while others or I was talking. What should I do on Day 3 to have a more effective plan and a better year? Do I need to give the students one class to practice with the rules before I enforce consequences? (Was that last class considered the practice day?) Should I give a reminder before the Warning for the first few weeks of school since I only see them twice a week?
Thanks. I really appreciate all of these articles that you have written. They have helped me out tremendously.
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
It sounds like you went a little fast. Yes, I would reteach your plan and make sure you practice before putting it into place. If you’re using a CM plan for the first time, then yes, it’s okay to have two warnings instead of one for a couple of weeks. If you only see your students twice per week then I highly recommend Classroom Management for Art, Music, and PE Teachers. Regardless of what you teach, you qualify as a specialist teacher. The book will give you insights on your unique situation that you won’t find on the blog.
Michael
Would you recommend CM for specialist for a high school teacher who sees students every other day for 90 minutes?
I would Steve. Although you would have to make (mostly) obvious tweaks, I think it would be beneficial.
Michael
Hi Michael,
Your articles are extremely helpful and when your suggestions are put into practice, the results in my classroom are positive and relationship building. However, as a Middle School Teacher I experienced an event that has me rattled!!!
I was threatened by an angry Grade 8 student who pulled a gun on me! I froze! I know I had to protect my students and me, but how AT THE MOMENT? Please help!