A danger in trying to improve classroom management is that you tighten up.
You become tense and wooden. You’re so intent on following your classroom management plan and holding students accountable that it changes your personality.
Somewhere in the back of your mind you think you have to present a facade of austerity to maintain consistency.
This is very common.
But the result is that while behavior improves in the short term, your classroom becomes less desirable. Your relationship with your class suffers. The joy of learning and coming to school deteriorates.
In other words, you’re no fun.
To be effective at both classroom management and inspiring students to want to listen and learn, you must retain a yin-yang quality to your teaching.
It’s the extremes of every-single-time accountability—defined by your classroom management plan—combined with the authentic embrace of your personality that creates a well-behaved classroom that students love.
Only by tightening your consistency and loosening your “self” can you create the leverage to move your students in the direction you want them to go.
Embracing your humor, openness, and kindness is what unlocks your natural charisma, rapport, and influence.
You need both.
In this day and age, one without the other will fail. Real impact, the kind that results in galloping academic motivation and achievement, must contain sky-high standards and a teacher students like.
Likability isn’t just helpful. Not anymore. It’s required.
If you’re not getting what you want from your class, then you must push the extremes. Every class has a price. Keep pushing on each end of the yin-yang envelope. Extend the distance between them until the dam breaks.
The counterpoints of clear and strict boundaries of accountability on one side and a classroom your students look forward to on the other, which is largely a function of your likability, is the secret.
It’s the overarching theme of this website and every one of our books.
When I first started teaching, this two-pronged approach all I had. I brought non-negotiable accountability and probably more silliness and fun than I’d recommend today. And it worked. It worked really well.
I spent the next 15 years or so testing, adjusting, and reverse-engineering everything I was doing day-to-day to create the exact individual strategies that support this secret.
Again, you must have both.
When in doubt about what you’re doing or whether it’s working and if you should make changes, it always comes back to this. The yin and the yang.
PS – A note to the trolls: This is one article. There are 800+ on this website. I don’t and can’t include every strategy that supports everything that is written here.
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.
Thanks for sharing, I love the analogy, it makes a lot of sense and is focused on the solution strategy.
Thank you, it’s always good to hear the message that keeping to rules alone isn’t enough, relationships and having a classroom children want to be part of is important too.
I completely agree thanks for putting this into words , it’s what I have felt but never seemed to have seen it in writing after 6 years of teaching. I am still trying to find the right dose of Ying Yang that’s the hardest. I have messed it up once by concentrating on the consequences and strictness in class without the fun and my students hated me. That class lasted for 3 years until I could start anew with another class and learnt about the right balance. Thanks so much Michael !
Thank you very much indeed, Michael! This is a problem I have had an improvement my class management, so I’m very glad to see you addressed this issue. Most helpful!
This is so true!! Some of my students last year described me as “strict but fun.” I take that as the highest compliment!
Thank you for this! I think that is what I am missing…the fun along with the consistency.
I’m a former classroom music teacher and I started learning about SCM before I left the classroom, but now I am practicing the methods with my own kids as we homeschool. On the days I am able to fight for consistently following everything, we have great days! Just need to master the consistency. Someday (like in 18 years) I may be back in the classroom and I want to go back strong!
You hit the nail on the head with this one! I couldn’t put my finger on what was happening in my room, but this is it. Thank you!
As I returned to teaching, maintaining good classroom management was a big challenge. Your content has really helped. Just this week with two seperate groups of middle schoolers I placed firm boundaries without being mean and found compliance. In another situation, I basically placed students in timeout while we played a game (and they were purposefully causing the class to lose) and found great success. Being clear, firm, and playful is quite a dance, but I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. Mike, thank you for sharing your wisdom. It is so helpful!
I make “fun” lessons be my first priority… I work hard on consistently enforcing classroom management, but sometimes am not as good at that. I have found that being fun and kind is more important, at least for me. The kids WANT to be good in my class – because they like me, I guess. When I enforce the rules I call it “helping” them. I’m helping them not get in trouble by changing their seat, or removing their distraction. I do it with a smile and a joke and mostly they accept it with a smile too. 🙂
I resonate deeply with this article; it’s so true. I liked it so much that I read it twice. Thank you!
A colleague said once that we must be feared and loved simultaneously. This really extends across any management role, including teaching and parenting. The yin and yang…I love it! Thanks for sharing.
This post is sublime: the sublimity is embedded in the juxtaposition.
Thank you!
Thanks,
I think the likeability factor always needs to relate well to our personality and to the specifics of a class / cohort. So, by embracing authenticity, getting to know yourself and your students, and perceiving the energy in the classroom you will be able to give the best that you’ve got in class and draw the students on your side.
Great Article
Michael, I agree with what you’ve said. However, I am what people would call a “seasoned teacher” and I have found my class of first graders just don’t always get my tried and true jokes and comments that previous students in the past did. Oh well, I guess it’s time to retire.
A quick google search tells me that:
“Yin is the cold, dark, night, still and substantive. Yang is the hot, bright, day, moving, and function.”
So presumably Yin would be the clear, strict accountability, and Yang the fun, silly joy of class.
Thanks, Michael!