For many teachers, you get one shot.
If you don’t establish effective classroom management within the first few days of school, you’ll never get there.
The window opens the moment the bell rings on day one and closes less than three weeks later. Because, you see, for students it’s an opportunity for a fresh start, a new leaf to turn over, a better path to choose.
Therefore, they’re at their most open, most attentive, and most willing to follow a real-deal leader. And if you don’t strike when the iron is hot and prove you’re legit, then it becomes more difficult the cooler it gets.
So from the jump you must:
- teach your classroom management plan in great detail.
- boldly set your expectations.
- model routines precisely and explicitly.
- observe and supervise like a hawk.
- enforce every rule transgression.
- reteach sloppy performance until perfected.
- refuse to accept less than excellence.
- lead your students from one success to the next all day long.
Otherwise, bad behaviors, bad habits, and bad attitudes will grow like autumn azaleas.
It’s classroom management 101.
You’ll wake up one day and wonder what happened. Where did it go wrong? You loved your class so much the first couple weeks and now you dread seeing them.
The truth is, you got lulled by your new leaves into thinking that they were different. They were special and didn’t need you to be so clear, so detailed, and so uncompromising with your standards.
But can’t you just start over again?
Yes, you can. You can start over anytime you like. However, our experience here at SCM is that few teachers actually do.
The reason is confidence, or lack thereof. The potential for aggressive pushback from students, and even more brazen misbehavior, is so great that they fear taking the stand they should have taken the first day of school.
To put it plainly, they lost control and are now afraid to do what it takes to get it back.
So they endure it. They get up every day and face the music of their weak classroom management. Stressed out and exhausted, they resolve themselves to waiting another year before finally getting it right.
Don’t let this be you. You have the best opportunity you’re ever going to get to have the teaching experience you really want.
But it doesn’t last. You get three weeks max. And you have to grab hold of it from the first moment of the first day of school.
The countdown is on.
Will you be ready?
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When you reteach because behavior declined, do you still enforce? Or do you assume they didn’t know the rules enough so they can’t be held accountable? Or would omitting a consequence in such a reteaching case be inconsequential? Thanks
This is an excellent question that I plan on covering in next week’s article.
thanks! Looking forward to it.
What you said resonated with me. This upcoming August I’m aiming to take advantage of that beginning of the year and teach my classroom management plan
Students are vulnerable on that first day with a new teacher and new classmates. In most cases, if they do try to test you it’s going to be in a small way that coaxes you to think, “Eh, it was just a whisper to their friend while I’m teaching. I’ll let them get away with it and I’m sure they’ll not do that again.” I feel so much pressure on the first day to have the perfect balance of firm and fun.
Hi,
I just purchased the Elementary Classroom Management book and not able to download it. States “I do not have access”
You’re school district is blocking it. Try from home and different device or email us with an alternative email address.
I did it after Christmas last year. I cleaned up my room, took down any extraneous stuff from the walls, rearranged the desks and streamlined everything. It worked pretty well.
This year I will start fresh and I am looking forward to a great year.
A great reminder.
Stating there is ‘only’ a window of three weeks contradicts what you wrote in other articles. There you said that it is never too late to start over and reteach your plan.
Hi Jeffrey,
When you get a chance, finish reading the article.
Hi Michael,
Sorry if I came on too strongly.
It just confuses me that you say:
But can’t you just start over again?
Yes, you can. You can start over anytime you like. However, our experience here at SCM is that few teachers actually do.
and then later on in the article you say:
But it doesn’t last. You get three weeks max. And you have to grab hold of it from the first moment of the first day of school.
Hi Jeffrey,
The first statement is absolutely true. You can start over anytime you like. The second statement refers to the better and easier opportunity to teach your classroom management plan from the very beginning—when students are at their most eager.