The strategy is counterintuitive and therefore doesn’t reach many teachers.
When a class gets off track, the tendency is to talk. It’s to rehash, remind, and redo. It’s to circle-up the community, lecture and rebuke.
And while you may see temporary improvement, it’s unlikely to result in real, enduring change.
The truth is, when your class becomes consistently wayward, you need something more. You need to send the message that you’re serious about learning and conduct most conducive to it.
You need to tighten your boundaries.
Not just hold them. Not just firm them up or further define them. But to draw them in and ask more of your students.
After all, they’ve just proven that they can’t handle the freedom within the boundaries you currently have. So you must adjust to match their needs.
How this looks depends on your grade level and personal choice.
Maybe you stop allowing your students to talk between transitions. Maybe you require them to stand behind their chairs and wait for your signal before sitting.
Maybe you add more routines, or more detailed routines—like, for example, a slower, straighter walk to lunch.
It doesn’t matter what it is. But limiting existing freedoms, or otherwise requiring more discipline from your students, is the one thing guaranteed to get their attention.
It communicates more clearly than any words that if you can’t to protect their learning and enjoyment of school with the current hedge, then you’re going to replant it closer.
Although your class may be fun, and you may be kind and pleasant, you will accept nothing less than excellence.
Pulling in your boundary may not be intuitive to you, but it’s logical to them. It makes sense. It triggers understanding. It shakes their intrinsic system and awakens their purpose for being in your classroom.
It’s a powerful strategy.
And it will work immediately if you do it with confidence. Remember, good teaching and classroom management requires boldness.
Show fear in the face of losing control, become stressed and emotional, and behavior will get worse, not better. Calmly and confidently tighten your boundaries, however—even in just one little area—and they’ll give in. They’ll acquiesce.
They’ll get the message and bear down on what’s important.
Once you have control and impeccable behavior, proven over time, you can remove the new line. You can extend the boundary and allow more freedom and responsibility.
But only if good behavior stays.
And it will. Because you showed your students undeniably that you mean what you say.
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Anyone who is struggling with managing their classroom needs to READ this blog weekly and IMPLEMENT the strategies in their classroom, including this one. Yes, there may be occasional times where you think a strategy will not work for you or you disagree in some way. But if you implement 95% of what you see here, then you will go from frustration and tears, knowing that your class is not what you want, to having your dream class, every year. I know, because I did it. Thank you Michael for all that you do.
What if the student has ODD and ADHD? Impulsivity happens daily and you’re told he can’t help it. Does this student or students like him get more chances? A different plan?
I have a student with these exact diagnoses. I have been able to see that he does have some control over his behavior and therefore do not hold to the thinking that “he can’t help it.” I believe that it is harder for those students but they have to be taught strategies for managing in the classroom. I have used Michael’s “removal from being part of the class” successfully with this student. The moment we don’t hold these students accountable, we have lost our classroom and our society.
More boundaries often help these students thrive because there is safety in the clear black and white boundaries. It’s hard to trust a teacher that keeps moving the goal posts and changing the rules. (I was one of those students and my favourite teachers were those that fairly implemented boundaries consistently). You might get flack for implementing the techniques, but it’s usually from staff that aren’t witnessing the magic happening in your classroom. Those staff members may question your tactics, but the protests are short lived from students since they end up loving it. They now can learn, have fun, and trust the teacher they work so hard behave for.
We have stations for refocus and movement around the school. I have a high behavior population on our school.
Outside of my classroom is one of them as well as the water fountain.
When I see a kiddo struggling, I have the ADHD, ODD, and ADD kids, I take them aside and ask if they would like to take a movement break and grab a drink of water?
Usually they take me up on it, go out and do their exercises and are back in the class and get back to work.
On other occasions, when they’re struggling beyond simple breaks, we have behavior support.
Sometimes, depending on the kid, I give them movement breaks in the classroom, or have them take a “letter” to the office.
Just a quick reset and it helps.
Your articles help me guide my student teachers. Thank you.
I am struggling with my first year in kindergarten and several students who talk loudly and others who don’t complete station work. I am not sure how and when to implement consequences. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I have tightened the reigns on my students a good bit this year. There has been such an atmosphere of lack of engagement and dependency that they take a long time to get started on an assignment and/or take a long time to complete it and/or do it according to the directions I have given. I used to start and stop activities according to the times that were set for each subject. Now, we continue until the assignment is finished, regardless of whether it goes into their snack time, recess, etc. My phrase is: “We can do it on my time, or we can do it on your time.” I DO NOT give them feedback about the time and they are therefore usually totally surprised when they find out what they have missed. It still happens sometimes, but now I have some students on board who will pick up on what I’m doing and work on getting things moving with the other students. It has been a LONG process, but it has totally lowered my stress level!
Several students have joined our already ‘tricky to manage’ class late in the year and have existing behavior/learning challenges.
I need a behavior plan that I can rely on and with this class it does not seem like one plan will work for all… some need firm structure and boundaries, but many (ASD, EBD, etc.) flare up hugely with this “line in the sand” thinking. Our option status public school uses Positive Discipline. I am at a loss.
I agree that the boundaries will enforce them to self-regulate or practice self-control they need to self-manage their behavior to stay with the expectations.
I also appreciate that you highlight the importance of boldness in the implementation of this practice. This is such a subtle but important quality needed to combat further testing of boundaries. I must mentally remind myself I am doing this for the benefit of the students.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll implement it starting next class! =)
As mentioned in another comment I would like some clarification on how diagnoses such as asd and odd affect your implementation of your behaviour management plan with that student. As far as I know you have never addressed that topic. When I see recommendations in psychological reports to ignore minor misbehaviour etc. my heart sinks.
I would also like some direction on managing small groups of students, which I actually find more challenging than a large class.
When you get a chance, please check out the archive or use the Search box. These topics have been covered. However, I will put them on the list to cover again in the future.
As a mother of a (now 37 year old) son with severe ADHD and is on the spectrum, I heartily agree with Michael! These often highly intelligent children have to live in the real world someday, where bosses will not ignore or excuse an employee who gets up in the middle of a meeting to dance or (as my son did once while working at a grocery store) who sets up a bowling alley in the back, using fruit as balls and pins! As a teacher, I have found what Michael says to be true— all children, but especially these precious ones, find safety and security in structure.
When my class starts down this path. A new seating chart often works magic. Recently I realized I had a huge problem with the water dispenser outside of my door in the hall.
A new seating chart, I even changed the direction of most of the desks, moved the water dispenser, and things were much better.
A problem that had arisen, was so many kids were gone daily, that I had kind of let that aspect go. Kids sighed with relief when they came in the room.
I teach the same kids all day long, with one session with new kids coming in for two classes. But I often have two seating charts for the day used at different periods.
As for alphabet children – do try and set up their seats toward the door, so you can remove them from the room quickly and easily if needed. Sometimes I have sent a kid to the hall to wait for me, while then without the distraction I can get the rest of the class back on track. I am just a teacher of middle school and just offering what has worked for me.
Mrs K
I am a first year teacher in residency with a background in higher ed. I currently teach ELA to troubled juniors and seniors at a very impoverished high school. I have a handful of students who care enough to show up and do the work. The rest are openly hostile and angry. Tightening boundaries just makes them defiant (as a group), or else they don’t show up at all. I need strategies for these kids, something outside of developing relationships and rapport. I do my best, but there’s not enough time in a semester to develop strong personal relationships with 90 troubled, traumatized, and cynical students.
Where can I find strategies for my particular situation?
Thank you for reminding us to “Calmly and confidently tighten your boundaries”. I often find myself getting emotional or showing my feelings. I needed the reminder that “good teaching and classroom management requires boldness.”