Recently, I was asked whether I was good at classroom management my first year of teaching.
I said yes but failed to explain a couple of important caveats.
First, I had a remarkable role model.
All four years of high school I took a class from an English teacher named Bill Heyde, who through his example showed me what good teaching and effective classroom management looked like.
And second, I focused on two things at the exclusion of nearly everything else.
At the time, it’s all I knew. I hadn’t yet developed the principles and strategies we recommend here at SCM. Those would come later.
But that first year I walked in with just two things. And I was absolutely committed to doing them. Why I had so much confidence in them I’m unsure.
They were just ideas at the time based on watching Bill in action and the summers I spent working with kids at the YMCA. But they made all the difference then, and still make all the difference today.
The first is that I did everything I could to make my students love school.
I didn’t have any special games or tricks up my sleeve to make this happen. I wasn’t a great, or even good, presenter. I didn’t know the curriculum very well. Nor did I know how to create compelling lessons.
I just made sure they were having fun.
I told lots of stories. I used funny voices when I read aloud. I acted out scenes from just about every subject. I brought humor to almost everything I did.
I was also just plain nice. I said hi a lot. I smiled and gave fist bumps. I played games with them out on the playground. I asked how they were and then listened to what they said. I believed in their potential and let them know it.
It was really simple.
The second thing I did was hold them accountable for disrupting the class. I made a rough poster out of construction paper where I listed a set of basic rules. I gave one warning. I had a couple of time-out desks. I made clear my expectations and modeled my plan.
I laid it all out up front. I sent home an information packet for parents to make sure they too knew what was expected.
And it worked. It worked really well. The kids indeed loved being in the class and were remarkably well behaved. The same two things, which are now important principles of SCM, are just as effective today as they were back then.
In fact, they’ve become even more important in this day and age.
The lesson is that although there is a lot here on the SCM website, and in our books and guides, you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have it all memorized. You don’t have to know every strategy inside and out to have a great year.
You just have to make sure you get these two things right. The rest you can learn and add to your game as time goes on.
PS – If you like this article, please share it.
Also, if you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.
I needed this Michael. Thank you
Bravo! Great summary.
I love your advice. It’s as simple as that; be nice, have fun and play with them.
My issue is I get a little impatient. I have to work on that.
Thanks for what you do. I read all your articles.
Patricia
I remember what a seasoned friend, who is a first grade teacher, said when a group was commenting on all the goals and new guidelines that were being imposed. She said “ I used to have a big list of goals but now I just have one. That they don’t cry”. Her class is always fun, interesting and many smart and outstanding kids have come from her classes. She just retired after 45 years.
You’re a great encourager, thank you!
Thank you Michael! Sometimes you just need to find the perfect balance and I think you have accomplished it… thanks for sharing
Thank you. It will be of great help for educators
Thank you for the simple summation: have fun, be nice, hold accountable.
Sounds like you had a great English teacher for 4 years. How wonderful for you and your teacher to have 4 years together to develop that respectful relationship! In my high school, I only have a handful of students that I get the amazing opportunity to have a second year. One of the things I enjoyed most in Elementary was that I had the same students k-5 in a school with very low turnover. Not only did I know exactly where they were with content from day one, but I also knew how to best reach and connect with them. Consistency and continuity are so important and often overlooked.
Just the message I needed to hear to know we are on the right track here at our school. I am the sole Link Crew advisor in our small rural town. I came in today to prepare for that all important first day of school Freshmen Orientation. Link Crew’s goal and my goal as a classroom teacher is just as you stated… to love school from the first day on. Thank you for the simplistic truth of what I have felt for the almost 40 years of teaching World Language. More administrators, politicians and new teachers need to hear this message so they can follow their hearts and create the magic they know they were born to create.
I wish it were that easy. The 2nd part especially.
Stuff happened in my class. I knew it happened but I didn’t always know who did it. I hated that. It turned me mean. I wasn’t fun (that and working til 10 pm every night, loosing sleep, and still not being able to keep up with the grading and lesson planning workload…by the 2nd week I walked into the class already fatigued and ready to snap).
It’s why I tutor now. One on one I can make it fun. And I can redirect kids without it even feeling like discipline most of the time, without creating that negative atmosphere that I just couldn’t seem to escape in the classroom. And one on one I catch EVERYTHING. In a class of 30, I really don’t know how that’s done.
With 30 while I was writing out the detention slip for one student the rest of my class was getting away from me. It was a mess.