If you don’t know exactly what does and doesn’t constitute breaking your class rules—with zero gray area—then you can’t be consistent.
You also can’t be trustworthy or manage your classroom effectively.
Just the way it is.
Luckily, there is something you can do this summer to ensure your consistency for next school year. It’s a simple exercise that removes all uncertainty from your classroom management plan.
It takes just a few minutes, but it will create an automatic mental signal notifying you the moment to enforce a consequence.
The way it works is that you’re first going to jot down all the different misbehaviors you’ve seen in your classroom over the past three years or so. Be as detailed as possible. Take your time and list them from top to bottom.
Once that is finished, next to each misbehavior note the rule it breaks. Sometimes the misbehavior will break more than one rule, which is perfectly okay.
Write down the one that fits best. The rule broken is far less important than knowing a rule has been broken.
This part of the exercise alone is worth its weight in gold because it begins imprinting your brain with an image of the misbehavior along with the accompanying rule. You see, one of the biggest reasons teachers struggle with consistency is because they freeze.
The uncertainty of whether or not a rule has been broken causes them to hesitate, second-guess, and ultimately move on without giving a consequence. This is extremely common.
It’s also difficult to fix without doing this exercise.
But once you’re able to recognize immediately the exact behaviors that break your class rules, being consistent becomes easy. There is, however, one more step that will cement the images in your mind in a way you’ll never forget.
After you’ve placed a rule next to each misbehavior, you’re now going to visualize a student breaking each rule and you calmly following through.
You may want to take your time with this one as well. However, there is no need to memorize. You see, your brain has an amazing, photographic way of remembering whatever you rehearse in your mind’s eye.
The behavior itself, then, when played out in real life in front of you, will prompt a reflexive response.
It will light up the hippocampus and hippocampal gyrus regions of the brain. It’s like someone yelling “Now!” into your ear, enabling you to enforce without thought or stress or fear you’re getting it wrong.
You’ll be Pierluigi Collina, who is considered the greatest soccer referee of all time, calling ’em like you see ’em.
Just close your eyes and watch as a student—perhaps the one that caused you so much frustration in the past—engages in each misbehavior on the list and you methodically enforcing a consequence.
If you’re following our recommended classroom management plans, then you know that enforcement will look different depending on whether you’re using the high school or elementary e-guide.
No matter.
The exercise will eliminate every shred of incertitude and allow you to be truly consistent, day in and day out. It will allow you to protect your students from interruption and free them to love being part of your class.
Which is the one true secret to effective classroom management.
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Michael, this is great. I plan on doing this soon. Thanks for all that you do not just for me but for teachers all around the world.
Do you have a classroom management guide for middle school to go with your elementary and high school ones? I teach 7th and 8th grade, and would LOVE to get my hands on one of yours that’s created for that grade level! Or, do you think the high school plan would be most appropriate?
Thank you for all the knowledge you provide. A caring colleague pointing me to you saved me my first year at our school, and now I’m still learning 5 years in, but confident that I’ll continue to improve thanks to smart classroom management!
Hi Sierra,
I purchased Michael’s HS plan and he does recommend it for Middle School as well.
Cheers,
Shaun
This is such a simple and smart idea. I often silently question whether what I just saw a student do actually constitutes a rule violation. Taking the time to list all the actions and behaviors that have been known to occur, and relating them to a rule being broken, will solidify the cause and effect relationship between them.
I think it will also help teachers decide if certain behaviors, while annoying, are really rising to the level of breaking a rule. Sometimes you honestly just don’t know if you’re nit-picking or reacting to a legitimate infraction!
I recently purchased your classroom management package, which is very reasonably priced, and I’ve already made my rules and parent letter on google docs. I certainly will make a list of misbehavior, add the rule broken, and practice how you explain so simply in your package. I can’t thank you enough for this, because if one can’t handle classroom management, it makes everything else that much harder! Thanks so much!
What package are you referring to?
I purchased Michael’s classroom management download for $7. It goes through rules, consequences, and how to implement them in every situation you might encounter. It’s great!
Hey Michael!
Thank you for the helpful information! In your classroom, when do the consequences “reset”? For example, if a child has misbehaved Monday and then misbehaves later in the week such as Thursday, do you continue with the next level of consequences such as “time out” or do you return to a “warning” as the consequence?
When misbehavior is infrequent with a child, I’ve struggled to know which level of consequence I should enforce.
New start with each day!
Just the refresher we need to move forward with confidence. I also found it helpful to reread this article on the same topic: https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2019/04/27/class-rules-gray-area/
Hi Michael,
I love the visual, or the visualization of students breaking the rule and visualizing enforcing the rule. I will start practicing.
Do you recommend a general review of rules the first day and then go into more details of the rules the following days? And can we start enforcing rules on day 1?
Thank you Michael! I needed this. I’ve been thinking about this during the summer. This will help me!
Michael,
I made a “Quizlet” study set based on my (high school) classroom rules. A couple of days after I go over them in class at the beginning of the year, we have a “Quizlet Live” team competition. The students enjoy it and it helps them hold each other accountable for knowing my rules.
But what about a typical 7th Grade classroom? I’m not sure which plan to follow.
What plan do you recommend if I am teaching middle school? Do I go high school”or elementary? I am single subject 7th grade
Although it does fit under our class rules (respect), if someone constantly ruins/hides school and other classmates things is a warning or time away enough?