Classroom Management Blueprint that Actually Works

It does not matter if you are a new teacher or a veteran teacher. Classroom management is going to be one of the keys to your success and effectiveness as a classroom teacher. It is impossible to teach your class if your students are being disruptive and/or disrespectful. So, what can you do to ensure that your class is well-behaved and effectively managed? The following are seven strategies proven to help get your class on the right track.

Routines

One of the key things to you being successful as a teacher is having set routines. Students need stability, and routines are a way to help create that stability.

You need to have a set way of doing things in your classroom. You need to have a set system. I always like to start with a bell ringer in the mornings. While I am taking attendance or doing some other mundane task, I have my students complete a bell ringer.

It is best practice for these bell ringers to be based on the skill/objective being taught that week. Bell ringers serve two main purposes:

• Since they are based on the skill that you are covering for the week, they can be used as a quick and easy assessment.
•  Bell ringers can also serve as busy work to keep your students busy while you finish those mundane tasks like attendance, collecting excuses, or checking for homework.

As far as procedures go, my students must make sure that their pencils are sharpened before class begins. They should also get whatever materials they need prepared before the class begins.

After they have completed their bell ringers and done those other little mundane tasks, we can begin our lesson.

Activation of Prior Knowledge

Before beginning any lesson, activate your students’ prior knowledge and pique their interest in the topic. There are a variety of ways to do this. Some of them include:

• Showing movie clips of the lesson
• PowerPoint presentations
• Word splashes
• Brainstorming
• Anticipatory guides
• Open-ended questions
• Graphic organizers

I like to tell my kids what we are going to be doing. I like to state our objective for the day or for the week. This way, the students know what they are supposed to be learning. Now, we are ready to begin our lesson.

During the lesson, continuously check for understanding. You can check for understanding by asking them questions throughout the lesson. Most of these questions should not be at the basic level. They should require your student to do some critical thinking. They should force them to dig deeper. You may even want to add some questions that will require your students to do some research outside of class. Make sure that you don’t call on the same student all the time.

Proximity Counts

I am not a proponent for teachers having to stand all day. In truth, I am against the practice. However, I know the value of proximity. A teacher should move around his/her class. This is a way to check for knowledge and to put out any little fires that may be about to start. Your continuous movement makes you visual to all of your students. And, this will help to keep your students on task.

I also like to surprise my students by calling their names unexpectedly to answer questions. This is a tactic I use to keep my students engaged in class.

Build Relationships

Having a good relationship with your students and with your parents is the key to great classroom management. So, how do you build those relationships with your students and their parents?

• Let them know you care. Be involved in what your students do outside of class. Attend those extracurricular activities.
• Introduce yourself to your parents/students early. You may even want to introduce yourself in the summer if you know who your upcoming students will be.
• Learn their names. Use it often.
• Keep good contact with your parents.
• Learn what interests them.
• Build trust
• Be consistent

Here are things to include in your introductory letter/email:

• Your name.
• What you teach
• Your expectations
• Your classroom rules and regulations
• Explain your classroom procedures
• Your educational background
• Some tiny personal information

Clearly Defined Rules

From day one, be sure that your students know what your expectations are. They should know what the classroom non-negotiables are. Go ahead and explain the classroom rules on the first day of school. Don’t just explain them. Make sure that you make them visible too.

Make it Visual

Hang your classroom rules up in your room where your students can see them. This way, they can be they can be directed to the rules at any moment. I also like to give my students a written copy of the rules and expectations. You may even want to send a copy home of your students’ parents. If you send them home, document it. Have your parents to sign the paper and return it to you. This gives you proof that your students and your parents know the rules. Once it is returned, make a copy. Send the copy back home. And, you file the originals in each students’ folder.

If you send the letter home and the student don’t sign it, then document that it was sent home. I like to make at least 2 to 3 attempts to have papers signed. Document the day. Document each attempt. Document that there was “No response” or if the parent responded but didn’t return the letter. This is a way to cover yourself in case something should come up.

Lessons should be Relevant

Students don’t care about what you are talking about unless it impacts them directly. Our students want to know what immediate effect this is going to have on them. They want to know:

• What immediate reward are they going to get from the lesson?
• How is the lesson going to help them?
• Why should they care?

Do not talk to them in future terms. Instead, emphasize the “now.”

Remember, our students are in the age of TikTok. They are in the age of Instagram. They live in the era of high-tech video games. Everything has to be instant. As a result, they want to know what instant effect the lesson will have on them. They want to know what instant results they are going to get from your class. So, have an answer for them. Once they know that the lesson will have an impact on them, they are more likely to pay attention. This will help decrease any classroom disruptions.

Own their Own Learning

Get your students to take ownership of their own learning. Make them active participants in their learning. Involve them in making the rules for the class. Allow them to have classroom roles. Let them teach a lesson or two. Encourage them to make the class truly theirs. And, this is going to help your classroom management.

There is no trick to successful classroom management. Instead, it requires careful planning and implementation of systems.