There is a simple way to get better at classroom management week after week.
It involves doing one small thing.
This one thing takes just minutes a day and isn’t a behavior strategy.
In fact, it’s something you do after your students leave for the day.
So what is it?
It’s to keep a record of every misbehavior. You see, the simple act of tracking is shown to improve performance no matter the field.
And it happens naturally, without you having to do anything other than a brief daily review.
The reason it works is because whatever we pay close attention to tends to get better. This is why food diaries are so effective in helping people lose weight.
According to research, keeping a journal of everything you eat results in greater weight loss. (One 1,700 person clinical trial at Kaiser Permanente showed twice as much weight loss as those who didn’t keep a journal.)
Keeping score, so to speak, sparks an intense desire to improve—even if you do nothing else but notice your numbers, regardless of whether they went up or down. It’s the same reason video game developers add a scoring component to every game.
It’s a powerful internal motivator that keeps people playing and craving improvement.
Practically, what keeping a record does for classroom management is cause you to be more consistent. It causes you to calmly rely on your classroom management plan and utilize the strategies we teach here at SCM.
They work. And seeing the numbers drop over time is deeply satisfying. It brings a level of peace and learning to your classroom that you’ll never want to lose.
I recommend keeping track of every rule broken, what the exact behavior was, and which consequence was given. Record the total number of misbehaviors for the day and circle it. Review your new entry at the end of each day and one more time before the next.
And that’s it.
Essentially, by maintaining an accurate record of misbehavior, you’re leveraging your natural, instinctive inclination to grow, learn, and improve.
It also helps shift your focus away from your students, and how their misbehavior annoys and frustrates you, and toward your ability to influence and change their behavior.
It opens your eyes and allows you to see the power of good, solid classroom management.
It shows you in a way you can’t deny that it’s not about your students. It’s about you and your own performance. You decide, not them, what kind of class you have.
And keeping the numbers will prove it to you.
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.
With all due respect, who has the time to do this? Not to mention the memory to sit down & recall every single misbehavior that has happened throughout the long day? I think this would be great if everyone had “extra time” at the end of the day. However, I’m so exhausted by the last bell, and all I want to do is get the heck out of there & go home! But instead of running out of there, I have to make sure I am ready for the next morning.
Years ago an amazing teacher taught me a quick trick to monitor behavior of any kind. I pre-print all student names onto medium size address labels. I keep the labels on a clipboard and as soon as I see something noteworthy, positive or negative, that I most likely will forget later, I jot the note down on the label. At the end of the day I peel off that labels and stick them into my student binder. One of the best pieces of advice I have been given over the year. I can see patterns, remember talking points and have backup during conferences, etc.
Hi Kerry,
Once you have your tracking system in place and know your students, it can be done. I work in an urban district and using Michael’s basic rules with your explanation of how they apply to your classroom- works. It is well worth your time if you want a manageable class. I have seen an improvement in my class. You HAVE to follow through. If say you will call a parent- then you had better.
Kerri,
I have been doing this for years-it has become my habit and an integral part of implementing my behavior plan. I keep my class list on a clipboard and, along with a checkmark for their attendance that I keep with me, I mark a tally for each behavior step I implement with the student. The list has enough boxes next to it for a week, so it helps me see the progress over time. I keep all the “Daily Sheets” in my files so I can reference it as a longitudinal data on any given students behavior [i.e. Sam tends to get a reminder and a warning on Mondays after spending time at his dad’s house]. It has become a habit and the students recognize that you are being fair and not just forgetting where you are in your behavior plan with them-instead they KNOW that you’ve kept track and have been consistent.
Totally agree. In addition, I’m a PE teacher so I see every student in the building. Recording all behaviors would literally take me a whole day. I work at an inner city elementary School.
I have such a socially and emotionally immature class this year that we have a lot of “rule breaking” every day. I’ve never had a year as bad as this. While I’ve slowly seen some improvement, we’ve got a looooong way to go. Sometimes, by the end of the day I can’t remember all the rules that have been broken or the number of times. Do you have an easy way to track them throughout the day? Should I make a checklist/ tally marks to track throughout the day? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Sharon!
I know what you mean! This year is very difficult. What I found works well for me is to print out my seating chart each day and record the behavior on that. I write the date on it. I use my own shorthand (P for unauthorized phone use, M for a mask reminder, T for sidetalking, and so on…) and then check marks next to the notation for each subsequent infractions that type. I keep it on a clipboard and the clipboard stays in my hand or within reach all day. That way I can record it in the moment and not worry about recalling who did what at the end of the day. It’s the same clipboard I keep my lesson plans and To-Do list on.
I, too, have noticed some improvement but it’s very slow. Slow and steady wins the race, I keep telling myself.
Take care and good luck!
Jenn
I did this (retired now), but I kept my seating charts in a plastic sheet protector and wrote behavior notes on it daily for all 9 classes I taught. I color coded the overhead pens I used for the days of the week, so I knew what day the behavior occurred. I copied the one page each week for records, instead of having a new set of seating charts per day. It provided a great record for conferences and students knew that if I had my pen up, someone was getting a note – quite a tool in itself.
I have made a copy of the rosters for my classes. They’re for attendance but I have begun using them to track behavior. You can rename the columns at the top. Depending on the class I choose 1 rule to focus on for the week. Hope that helps.
Class roster. Everyone’s name. Tally marks with a little note. Keep it on a clipboard that is with you at all times/easily accessible. Lifesaver. Makes it simple and easy 🙂
Why not try focusing on the behaviors that they have done “right”? Name the behaviors you want to see and then “reward” those either verbally, with points, or whatever system your school has in place. I find this can be so effective when they are regularly breaking known classroom rules, being selfish, unfocused, talking in the hallway, talking when you are teaching, etc. They do respond to positive reinforcement. Try just a few things you want to change. It is a process but often you will see a difference right away.
I think one of the issues with tallying “good” behaviors is that so many of those behaviors should be constant, so they can’t be counted. For instance, it is easy to track how many times a student gets out of their seat without raising their hand in one period, but how do you track how many “times” they stay seated? Just from a data-gathering perspective, it makes more sense to track misbehaviors than the other way around. But I do agree that it is also important to recognize when students are improving and doing what they are supposed to be doing. It’s just that expected behaviors can’t always be tallied. Above-and-beyond or exceptional behaviors can though! And those should definitely be rewarded as well.
Because rewarding expected behavior is a path to disaster. You may see changes doing it, but they are temporary, and will not last the month, let alone a lifetime.
Hi!
I use a tally board with the 4 rules for elementary.
1. Listen the first time.
2. Respect your classmates
amd teachers on the building
3. Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat. Unless you have times when students can get up amd move, but this MUST be communicated first.
4. Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself. Personal space. No exceptions.
I go over these every morning for my 5th graders and tell
Subs to go over them as well. It works, but you have to stick to it and be reasonable,
I’ll start on Monday!
I have a simple spreadsheet with my students names along the left column and put the date in the columns at the top. The list is on a specific clipboard that is always handy when I’m on class and whenever we leave the class for lunch, gym, assemblies, etc., the list on the clipboard goes with me. My students know what the clipboard list is for and when they see it in my arms, they have been taught and know that expectations are the same no matter where we are in the building.
As an infraction takes place, I simply put a check in the box on that student’s row, under the designated date. This way, it helps me keep track of infractions without trying to remember if someone received a warning, or time out already.
I’ve used the SCM system and this lost on the special clipboard procedure for the last 5 years and it makes my life much less harried and confusing. Hope that helps!
Gigi
Hello! would you happen to have a shareable copy? thankyou so much
I created a Google form where I select the student’s name from a drop down list and then have preset options of incident details and consequence to check off or customize accordingly.
I do this as an assistant principal, so I have a separate drop-down for each teacher with all the students in his class listed in his drop down.
On the back end I can then see each entry, with a time stamp – exactly when I entered the incident – and I can also filter the results if I just want to pull up one individual student’s record.
It works really well for me and is really easy to set up.
Hi Yosef.
Would you be willing to share a Google link to this form? I use Google all the time as a teacher and would love a view only form so I could make a copy and change as needed for my classroom.
This sounds wonderful.
Thanks for considering,
Carla
So impressive i want to share these with teachers at my school
I would like to use this in my PreK classroom. I have been attempting to implement this plan but it needs to be modified a bit for 4 yr olds. Any advice?
This feels like a terrible idea. Why would I want to leave my workday thinking about all the negative things that happened? For anyone already feeling demoralized about their teaching, this would be a toxic practice. When you leave your classroom at the end of the day, take a moment to remember the humanity of the amazing people you get to work with, reflect on your day and what you accomplished, and leave with hope for the next day.
Amen, sister! This is is very wise advice. I believe what we visualize and focus on, we can manifest. So why not manifest a peaceful, respectful, loving classroom of students?