If you stress over the possibility of misbehavior, then it’s a sign your classroom management is in need of an overhaul.
You see, when you take on, mentally or otherwise, even an ant’s toe of what should be your students’ burden, you ease the healthy load of accountability on their shoulders.
It’s a phenomenon of teaching as certain as gravity.
But most teachers aren’t aware of this. They don’t realize that when they fear misbehavior, they naturally and subconsciously behave in ways that cause more misbehavior.
Some examples:
- Fidgeting and pacing nervously, which creates tension in the classroom and excitability among students, which is one of the biggest causes of misbehavior.
- Showing through their disappointed reactions, facial expressions, and emotions that misbehavior gets under their skin, which encourages more of it.
- Adding dirty looks, lectures, and talking-tos to their consequences, which causes resentment in students and a desire to get even.
- Looking away and pretending they didn’t see what they just saw, which makes them inconsistent and untrustworthy.
- Dulling their personality and keeping a lid on fun because they’re afraid to lose control, which ironically results in students creating their own form of fun.
Again, most teachers don’t realize they’re even doing these things. Rest assured, however, if you fear misbehavior, you’re doing some or all of the above. No matter how good an actor, it’s something you can’t suppress, hide, or avoid.
So what’s the solution?
The solution is to let your classroom management plan do the dirty work for you. Lean on it entirely to manage behavior. Accept only the responsibility to follow through.
This includes allowing your plan to take on your emotional burden.
As long as you teach your plan thoroughly so that your students know it backward and forward, and you’ve eliminated all gray areas, you’re free to never again worry about misbehavior.
This doesn’t mean that misbehavior will never happen. What it means is that you can rest in knowing that you’re handling it in the most effective and efficient manner.
When students realize through your fair and detailed explanation and calm follow through that you are not your classroom management plan, and that the plan is for them and their protection and freedom to learn and enjoy school, everything changes.
They begin to feel the load of responsibility. Accountability works as it should. Misbehavior takes a nosedive and you’re able to build rapport effortlessly with every student in the class.
You’re just a referee, nothing more, doing what you promised.
None of the responsibility for misbehavior sticks to you. It can’t because you don’t fear it or justify it away. It weighs on them, however, ever the more. It leaves them with zero excuse and nothing and no one to rail against.
It leaves a void filled with reflection and the conclusion not make the same mistakes. This all happens naturally and predictably no matter your grade level or where you teach.
It’s been tried and tested over decades with thousands of teachers just like you.
Combined with the freedom now afforded to you to create great lessons, trusting relationships, and a class your students love and look forward to, leaning on your classroom management plan is the lever that works with every student.
It has to. Because it’s human nature. It’s reality wrapped in universal truth. It’s why emotionally you shouldn’t care a fig whether your students misbehave.
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I wanted to update you on a situation I’m dealing with in class. I have five students who seem unaffected by the downtime I implement. They show no interest in working, and it’s becoming a serious challenge.
I’ve been giving them progressive warnings – the first, the second, the third… – but even after two downtime sessions and the threat of a note to their parents, nothing seems to change. They persist in their disruptive behavior.
I was wondering if you had any ideas or advice on how to handle this situation. I want to ensure that all students can benefit from a calm and productive learning environment.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Talk soon,
What’s the next comsequence in your CMP? I’m certainly no expert, but an in-person parent-student-teacher-admin conference may be the next natural step.
Find out what is most important to them. Do they have any strong interests? Music, sports, anime, etc? Incorporate their interests in your lessons to show you value them and to give them something to engage their dopamine receptors.
This is very helpful. Thank you 😊
Your advice and encouragement continues to pay off big dividends in my middle school classroom. Here’s a topic idea, and something I’m working through myself. What if, you get your students in task for independent work time, you’re happily observing your industrious little workers, and then a paraprofessional in your room proceeds to have an out loud conversation with a student they are assigned to help? I have a few things I’m trying, and it’s going okay, but not stellar. I welcome advice and input on best practices with how to best guide and work with Paras to help them understand and follow “the plan”.
Davina
As an IA and was a para for 3+ years in moderate – severe I see it myself & it’s frustrating that it should be simply common sense🤯
I advise to just be straight with them – if their student needs to be taken outside the classroom then do so.
Lisa
You always have the best classroom advice. I would love to see more advice geared towards kindergarten students.
I’m sure you’ve addressed this issue but what is your recommendation for bathroom passes in large (50-80 students) middle school instrumental music classes? My management plan requires students to “go” during the first or last five minutes of class but there are often so-called emergencies. The power of suggestion is quite powerful! When I deem an emergency request to be legit then it seems many students have “emergencies”. I’m searching for a sensible plan that encourages student accountability in this area.
While I love the theory behind most everything I read on this blog, I really would like to have some specific examples of behavior management plans that take away emotions, puts the accountability on the student and that I CAN teach forward and backward.
What are some specifics that really work?
Hi Ann,
When you get a chance, check out the Classroom Management Plan and Rules & Consequences categories of the archive (bottom sidebar). You can also find complete plan e-guides in the sidebar.
Thank you for all of the fantastic content! Do you have any advice for ways to implement the classroom management plan for substitutes? I’ve searched the archives and didn’t find anything. I’ve applied many of the general principles, but I wonder if you have ideas for a more specific approach. Thanks!
I, too, am seeking this. Thanks for posting, Nicki. Michael, your techniques are so helpful and I apply many of them, tweaking one or two based on what seems to work the situation. Eg. I try not to write names on board under sad face any longer, but still do so for happy face and this does seem to be desirable to students. I also prioritise follow through with my plan in a calm and consistent manner. Because relief (substitute) teachers may not have the continuity with a class to establish the plan over time, I go in pretty hard with some straightforward rules (which I relate to the particular school’s values) – usually Working, Respectful, Quiet and Helpful. I then implement the plan as soon as students mess up by calling out, not following instructions etc. This works pretty well with the average class, but I would like advice on what I could do with a class with a high number of students misbehaving from the start
. Sometimes it’s hard to identify exactly who is doing what when we’ve only just met! I have halted teaching and called for Admin previously to stop the rot, but would appreciate any other advice on what I could try.
I teach 7-th grade. Should I buy the elementary or the high school plan? Thanks!
Hi Regina. I think that Michael says in the intro to his plan, that 7th grade could be either plan, depending on the maturity of the students. I teach 7-9 and I have been using the High School plan and loving it. However, I think I might buy the Elementary School plan too, to better understand time-out. The high school plan doesn’t have that, but I have noticed that a few of my 7th grade students that are less mature, or independent, have needed time sitting in a chair in the back of the class, to be able to think about their actions. They have actually done better when they have a little space away from their peers. But most of my students don’t need that. So, you might want to try them both. Or try the High School plan first, and see how it goes. Either way, the cost is so minimal and the benefits are nearly priceless (and I promise I am in no way connected with the business side of Smart Classroom Management – just a grateful teacher who has benefited highly from it).