Many years ago, before I started SCM, a district administrator who knew of my fascination with classroom management came to see me.
She wanted me to visit a teacher at a nearby school.
She didn’t tell me why, only that I would enjoy it. So I called the teacher up and he agreed to let me observe his class as long as I did the same for him.
A few days later I was sitting in the back of his classroom. What I saw over the next couple hours upended what I’d previously believed about classroom management.
The first thing that jumped out at me, however, was that his students were happy. Lots of smiles, open body language, and an eagerness to learn. Beyond that, they were impeccably behaved.
I jumped in and participated in the activities and wandered around during independent work.
The students were focused on their projects and assignments but relaxed. They were open, communicative, and excited to share with me the work they were doing.
But what most surprised me was their teacher.
When we first met before his students arrived he was socially awkward. He dressed older than his age, a tie and vest, neat and dapper. His voice was soft and monotone. His personality was mild-mannered, obsequious, and unusually formal.
He did smile, however, and was friendly. But there wasn’t much warmth or expression. He reminded me of a courtly concierge at a five-star hotel.
When his students began filing in I expected his personality to change. I assumed he’d be more outgoing. But he wasn’t. He was the same, if not stiffer. He appeared to speak and gesture less than he did when it was just the two of us.
The juxtaposition of his muted personality and his students’ spirited enthusiasm was hard to reconcile. But after spending an entire morning with his class, I began to understand his secret.
There were five things in particular that stood out and that he relied on to make such a powerful impact on his class. It was clear he was narrowly focused on just these five, which allowed him to stand head and shoulders above the average teacher.
As you read through them, noticed how well they match SCM principles.
1. The environment.
Absolutely impeccable. His room was like nothing I’d seen before or since. The Louvre before the doors open for the day would come closest. I take pride in my own room’s neat appearance, but his was on another planet.
It was not only clean and organized, with cabinets and drawers labeled and color-coded, but it was aesthetically pleasing. Beautifully minimalistic, which enabled students to focus and be immersed in an environment that screamed “excellence is expected.”
2. The routines.
He mentioned to me that he taught his everyday routines to perfection and explained in detail the importance of taking pride in how well they’re performed. His students completed them fast and were zealous to impress him.
There were a lot of routines—more than I’d seen before in another classroom—which freed him to observe and verify they were done correctly. They also formed the backbone of his effort to bring purpose, motivation, and responsibility to every student.
3. The rules.
Remarkable because of their simplicity, his rules and consequences were nearly identical to mine. (The same set we recommend here at SCM.)
Two students broke rules while I was there, calling out to him without raising their hand.
He followed through calmly. His personality didn’t change whatsoever while going through the steps he had clearly modeled for his students. He wasn’t concerned or stressed when it happened. He enforced and moved on.
4. The lessons.
He didn’t have great lessons in the performative sense. He didn’t seem to have the ability to engage, tell stories, or inspire students from the front of the room, which for me is something I’ve always enjoyed and relied on to capture and hold attention.
He showed me, however, that there is another way.
He replaced performance with activities and projects students love. He got them moving and building and creating through his innovative ideas. His lessons were centered on how to successfully achieve the goals he gave them. He spoke briefly and then got them working.
5. The observation.
He watched his students like an osprey perched above her chicks. He did this not only because he could protect them from disruption by enforcing his classroom management plan, but because he would learn what they needed from him to get better.
He stepped in to help more than I recommend and at times did some of the work his students were able to do. He couldn’t seem to help himself.
However, he provided a lot of clear and technical detail. In other words, he didn’t drown them in platitudes and empty praise. Rather, he made it worth their while by giving help that fed their momentum.
The Takeaway
As discussed in The Happy Teacher Habits, I still believe in teaching compelling lessons from the front of the classroom.
In the book, I detail how I plan such lessons in a short amount of time, grab student attention, and draw them into a flow experience similar to how kids become enraptured while playing video games.
Done right, it’s a cheat-code to instilling a love of learning.
But this one visit proved to me that a few of the other principles we recommend here at SCM, when lifted to an unusual level of excellence, can overcome the advantages of delivering compelling lessons.
It showed me that when you seek perfection in just a small number of areas, the overall impact can be so great that it all but eliminates the need for teacher charisma and personality.
Add this ability to connect and build influential relationships, however, work on giving better, more compelling lessons, and you can see why and how SCM is so effective.
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I am a retired special education teacher and enjoy reading your articles. All the things I wish I was taught.
This is great, but vague. I would have liked to have read about the many routines he had that created the structure, purpose and motivation you refer to. I would have liked to have read the rules that he had, and examples of the activities that you refer to. I find that when outlined in a vague manner, people don’t always envision what the author is actually describing.
I’m going to make a guess based on my experience with Michael’s website, articles and videos. It is vague in this article because he goes into so much detail about these things elsewhere in other articles. It sounds like the rules, activities and routines are very similar to what Michael uses and teaches here.
I agree with Nicole.
I love this! Thank you for showcasing a teacher who has a unique style of connecting with kids. Too often I see teachers who let kids do whatever they want get high praise for having good relationships with kids.
I love this. I strive to this. However, I have an honest question…. How do other teachers keep their room neat as a pin? I try. I really do. I fail. Over and over. See, in the past? I tried to use moments throughout the day when students are working to put things back I their spots and tidy up, but then I tend to miss opportunities to observe, reinforce our principles in behavior, etc. I would love specific tips on this without needing to stay an extra hour every day to clean up supplies.
Btw – I’m a second grade teacher and I do have students be responsible for their every day supplies – I’m speaking of teaching materials, manipulatives we don’t use every day, copies of things – and other paperwork that is always inevitably stackingg up in some way or other.
Thanks!
Hi Emily,
I’m a fellow 2nd grade teacher! Angela Watson is another teacher mentor that I follow and learn from. One principle she teaches that has always stayed with me is, “Don’t make it easy to find; make it easy to put away.” For me, that means drawers! I have drawer systems for EVERYTHING: weekly copies, math chapters, reading units, Homework, assignments to be graded, writing portfolio collections, etc. While I do maintain some filing systems in my room, those are for lessons and units I only access once or twice a year. My frequently used materials all go in drawers. They make it VERY easy for me to put things away, and they keep the paper clutter contained. All my math manipulatives are stored in tubs on a shelving unit. My books are also maintained in small tubs. Beyond that, I do spend 20-30 minutes afterschool each day resetting my room. I wipe off tables and counters, restock table tubs, tidy any books that need to be put away, and make sure the room is ready for the next day. I hope this helps!
The gentleman sounds like a hands on teacher. Not all teachers stand at the front of the room to engage with compelling stories and a performance. I talk no more than 5 minutes and I’m an art teacher. We’ll revisit later with further instructions but we dive in fast and I teach one-on-one as I walk around the room. I think both ways are valid and it also depends on the subject matter and teaching style.
The environment is an absolute must. One thing Covid gave me through “art on a cart” was an insight into classroom environments. The classrooms that were orderly also had a management system and routines. Even supplies were color coded. Who left the marker on the floor? We knew the answer.
A couple of rooms were so cluttered and hard to walk across and in turn were chaotic. Sure, students were happy and felt loved by their teacher but couldn’t find a dang thing in their desk to work with. The management style was to raise your voice or lower your voice. That didn’t work for me when I had their classes for specials.
I would love to hear the comments the fellow had on your classroom and if he had any takeaways from your style of teaching.
I really appreciate this article! I’ve been following you for over 10 years and have learned so much from you. But I don’t have the personality that you do. I focus on building positive relationships with my students, but I don’t have engaging stories and I’m just not funny. I wish I were different, but I have had to accept that I can’t change my personality. So this is a relief to read. Seriously. I’ve read your books and articles, and every time I have felt that I was less than, or discouraged because I felt like I was misssing this dynamic personality piece and there isn’t really anything I can do to change that. I think I can let go of that and focus on the other things that I can do really well, while still focusing on strong relationships and adding fun to my classroom and lessons.
My take away is that as teachers we do not need to be the speaker or main attraction the entire lesson. Using our words sparingly and concisely will lead the lesson better than explanations that go on forever. Get in and get out. Then stick around to observe, monitor and point out. Love the idea that an entertainer’s degree is not a prerequisite to quality teaching. dt
I loved reading this article too, but like K. Miller, I find it vague as well. I’d like to know more about his routines and examples of his activities and technical details that he provided.
I’ve been receiving your articles for about 7 years now and try to follow your advice closely. I’ve been praised as having the best classroom management that my assistant principal has ever seen in an elementary teacher where my students follow our routine precisely, and are engaged and focused throughout my lessons. However, I feel as though I over explain and repeat myself too often. I feel that there is always room for improvement.
I see the benefits of this modus operandi. You mentioned that the teacher was awkward even before the class arrived. If I’m not awkward, but an extrovert comfortable amongst people – how do I reign in my personality and humor? Through discipline I guess. Or is teaching unsuitable for me? Does it have to be a conflict?
Great question! I love making jokes, being silly, and talking with students, but I’ve found that I tend to pay for it later. I doubt teaching is unsuitable for you. But unfortunately, I think we do need to be more disciplined. I know I need to bite my tongue or forgo the laugh I think I’d get in order to maintain an orderly and attentive class.
I love this story! It actually brought me to tears. This is my 33rd year of teaching, and I know of some amazing teachers who are not the most charismatic. Like you, I rely on my ability to tell stories, use humor, and use discussion to get kids engaged. Not every teacher has that talent, but they can still be quite amazing. I am very envious of this teacher’s ability to keep his room so neat. That is something I continually strive for.
I love your articles and your ideas. Thank you for sharing this story. It reinforces that every teacher can be amazing when they play to their strengths and hold high expectations for themselves and their students.
I wonder what this teacher’s subject was? I teach 6th-8th Spanish. My younger students do more hands on work after I explicitly teach vocab, whereas my 8th graders are more teacher led due to it being Spanish 1 and I’m teaching them to read, write, listen, and understand in the target language. Sometimes one has to do explicit teaching, and sometimes one is coaching.
Are there any videos available that model and demonstrate what you are explaining?
Would this work for PreK?
20 students?