So you’re stressed and fed up and decide to give SCM a try.
You click through our website until your eyes are sore. You read a couple of our books. You download one of our classroom management plans.
You take notes and study and deem yourself ready to roll.
The day comes and you teach your new plan to your students. You explain in detail. You model. You check for understanding and promise to follow through.
You’re certain you’ve done everything right.
And it bombs.
Not five minutes after teaching your plan, your students are right back at it; misbehaving as if nothing has changed. So what happened?
There are three possible reasons.
1. It’s midyear.
When through several months of the school year you show yourself to be one person, your students won’t believe you when you all of a sudden claim to be someone else.
Of course they’re going to push back. Of course they’re going to challenge you. Of course they’re going to pretend nothing has changed. It’s human nature. They do it because they don’t think you’re serious.
They assume that you’re just another teacher making promises you won’t fulfill—because that’s been their experience in the past.
2. You lack confidence.
Whenever you turn over a new leaf, whether trying a new diet or forming a new habit, it’s only natural to be unsure of yourself. Confidence develops over time.
However, your students can sense it. They feel it in their bones when you’re less than 100 percent committed. Show any weakness—tone of voice, posture, non-verbal expression—and they’ll know it.
To the degree you’re uncertain, your class will test you. They’ll force you to either stick to your guns or bend to their own demands.
3. You were tentative.
When you taught your plan, you were watching to see how your students were reacting instead of focusing on delivering your message. Without realizing it, you were hedging and softening the sharp lines of your boundaries.
You were lightening the shock of change. You were saying the right things but with caveats and qualifiers. You were warming them up to the idea of full accountability instead of sticking your flag in the ground.
But what this does very effectively is communicate to your students that they decide whether and how much they accept the new you. It opens the window of choice, which should be battened down and sealed.
No Retreat, No Surrender
In the end, none of the three reasons above matter.
Yes, if you mentally prepare yourself beforehand, fully commit, and teach with boldness and clarity, you can avoid much of the push back. But the truth is, and this is key, your students have to experience your consistency.
They have to be confronted by it, deal with it, and accept it. They have no choice. You prove yourself only through your follow through that you’re not the pushover you were before.
You can be nervous and fumble over your words. You can be the worst communicator of all time and do all three of the above and then some. And although it may take longer, if you’re consistent, you’ll get there.
You will get there.
So ignore your doubts and mistakes. Pay no heed to your second thoughts and fears that say that you can’t or they can’t. And just follow through. Show up everyday and do it, pushback be damned.
Accept nothing less than what you know is best for your students. No retreat, no surrender.
The truth is, they want discipline. They want high standards. They want to be part of something special. They crave it deep inside, beyond their awareness. It doesn’t matter who they are or where you work.
But you must survive the breakers to reach to the smooth glass of the sea. You must keep your eyes on the horizon, digging toward the setting sun, never looking back.
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Wow, Mike! I definitely needed this. I have had a little push back from my students in my new school. This article is particularly empowering. Thank you.
Yes! All true. One important missing ingredient (that you also write about extensively) might be fun, exciting & challenging lesson plans. Kids WANT to cooperate when they are engaged in meaningful activities that build a sense of classroom community. Design lessons for the toughest customers and everyone else will come along for the ride. Leave them wanting more, “And next class you get to….!”
I totally agree! I will also add that if you don’t make sure to smile a lot and be the kind of person your students like, you may also get kids testing you. I made that mistake the first year when I wanted to be super clear on the rules, I forgot to also be nice, and my students definitely pushed back! Since then I make sure to smile and laugh a lot. I see a huge difference!
Good stuff as always! It’s taken a few years but I’m finally more confident. I’m noticing it coming out in small ways like, “We can either go thru this material you don’t understand & then have a test tomorrow….or we can just have a test now.” …and following thru. But when I say it confidently they get it and start listening.
And, saying out loud, “Let’s see who I can call out for not paying attention to read the next slide.” It surprises everyone to hear a teacher talk so honestly and they start to get that I’m not going to pull punches anymore.
The kids are still comparatively a mess to how I was as a student, but I was so scared & introverted as a kid, that’s a bad comparison.
What do I do when there are no consequences? There is very little support from the administration, no after school detention, we are not allowed to take them from recess because it counts as PE hours, not allowed to give homework, and threatening or actually calling home only works for some. I have almost 400 different students on my roles and I see over 100 students a day. I haven’t the time to be calling many parents everyday.
I make “participation” which is basically following the rules 40% of their grade. They get up to 10 points a day. I don’t get too scientific about it but I do keep a small notebook at my desk to make notes on behavior thru the class. They are still far from perfect but seeing their grade plummet just bc they’re talking does get their attention. The hard part is 1) actually giving a kid a 0/10 if they deserve it, 2) not continuing to threaten but just give them the bad grade and let them experience the consequences. Good luck!
Similar situation here, but the classes are not graded, either (elementary specials). Zero leverage. (And no, some students don’t care about missing out on the fun activities in the class.) Now what?
Brenda, explain to them in gentle but inflexible tones that you’re really on their “side,” and want to see them having a pleasant day in school. ( Forget about the lecture on how important their education is; some of them are really given to instant gratification and won’t grasp the import of what you’re saying.) Then just continue to explain, again in gentle but inflexible tones, that you can’t allow them to disturb your class and don’t want to be giving them a hard time, but really, they will be the one making that choice. So what kind of “hard time” might you be speaking of? Arrange in advance ( don’t spring an unpleasant surprise on a fellow teacher) for them to spend the specialty session in a setting they really don’t want to be in e.g. a prominent seat in a class a few grades higher than their own where the students will more than likely make them feel uncomfortable; or, maybe, sitting in an office with staff that has been asked in advance not to be “nice” to this student, but rather aloof and uncommunicative; or in whatever other setting in the school is “normal” to others, but you know won’t be “fun” for them to spend time in. That might make them realize that they prefer behaving in your class after all.
It’s certainly worth trying…
Wow. You are my shero— 400 students? Where? Doesn’t sound like a caring environment—
Thank you for the encouragement.
Wow. I really needed to read this post. This is the section that stood out to me: “When you taught your plan, you were watching to see how your students were reacting instead of focusing on delivering your message. Without realizing it, you were hedging and softening the sharp lines of your boundaries.” This has been me for sure. I teach 6, 7, and 8. This year, I’m embracing your plans, Michael. And I mean “embrace.” I am going in with confidence and relief that this plan is simple, straightforward, and fair to me and the students. Thank you for all you do for teachers.
This post made me realised what to work on. I will be more confident to assert what I have considered to be a fair boundary and not worry about students’ reaction.
This post was not written by AI, right? It’s too close home…