flywithlivHave you ever had a class that just won’t stop talking? Do you feel like you’ve tried every classroom management strategy in the books? Do you leave your lessons feeling exhausted and hopeless, thinking you never want to teach a class again?
I know exactly how you feel. I’ve been there too, and still sometimes, I am! I am a Canadian secondary teacher currently in my second year of teaching in London, England. And if you have heard anything about teaching in London… you probably have heard it is quite an interesting experience. Despite the challenges, though, I learn something new every single day that helps with behaviour management in my classroom. I know that when I return back to home to Canada to teach, I will definitely implement these strategies in my classroom!
When it comes to managing your classroom, I have some news for you. Classroom management is never a quick fix – it is quite often a work in progress over the span of a few weeks, if not months.
However, do not let that discourage you. You need to remember you have a class of around 30 kids, each with their own needs and learning abilities. You are just one teacher and cannot always meet every single child’s need on day one, and that’s okay. You will get there over time!
I am not an expert on classroom management. However, some of these classroom management strategies have worked wonders for me. Here are some classroom management strategies
1. Entry and exit routines
This has been an absolute game changer for me, especially since I always seem to have students after their breaks when they are over-energized and excited, as well as the last period on Friday afternoons when they are mentally ready to go home!
- Entries – I have my students line up outside of the classroom in a straight line, quietly facing forwards. There have been times where I have stood 15 minutes outside of the classroom waiting for them to do what I have asked – and that’s alright too. Be direct with your instructions – “straight line, facing towards the door, quietly.” If a student is struggling to follow these instructions, I will often ask them to come stand next to me and when the students are allowed into the classroom, I have a chat with this student. It may be useful to get another teacher or SLT to come help with this in the first few weeks, as well.
- Exits – Having a clear exit routine keeps students (and your classroom!!!) orderly and ready for the next lesson. It establishes that while in your classroom, students must behave appropriately. Often, I have students organize their work area. This could mean picking up garbage and throwing it out, packing up their backpack with all their belongings, and putting books I am collecting in a neat pile in the middle of their desk groups. They must stand quietly at their desk when they are done. Then I dismiss them table by table, or even student by student, if I see them ready a long time before the rest. This also provides other students a good example of what it takes to be the first student dismissed from class, and encourages this behaviour among others.
2. NOISE
This is something I found on YouTube within my desperation for classroom management strategies. It is an excellent visual way for kids to see how their talking can get out of control. This also allows them to keep themselves in check, as well as encourage others in the class to keep quiet.
How it works: You write N O I S E on the board, underline NO. Each time the class gets too loud and you can’t get their attention, take off a letter (ex. take off E). When you get down to N O, this means NO recess, or NO lunch break. Usually, I keep in the whole class for the first few minutes. Then, I let go the kids who have been listening the whole time.
3. Level 0
In order for our students to know what is an appropriate noise level, we need to demonstrate it to them, and then repeatedly support them in achieving this. I do this by using Level 0.
- Explain to your students, “We have 5 noise levels in this classroom. When I do a countdown (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0) at 0 I need complete silence. Now, I’m going to countdown from 5 and you’re going to show me what level 0 looks like when I say 0.”
- Additionally, I get students to try different noise levels. Together, we try to be at Level 1 (whispering), Level 3 (normal talking to a partner), and Level 5 (talking to a group). Finally, I let them know that the class should never ever be louder than Level 5!!!
- This may take some practice. If you find they are not following this, then use NOISE. If you have a select few that aren’t following this rule, you might have to give those kids a time out, keep them in for recess, etc.
4. Be direct – no waffling!
As a Canadian, this was a hard one for me to learn. We grow up always using “please” and “thank you” with people. However, you need to remember if you use please with them, they will think what you asked them to do is an option. You must tell them what to do (kindly, of course).
- For example, instead of, “Jimmy, can you please put that pencil away.”
- Say: “Jimmy, put that pencil away. Thank you.”
***Saying Thank You at the end is extremely important!!!***
5. Stars and Postcards
Always always always, you must praise the positive kids first. This is very difficult to do all the time because often, you want to tell the kids doing something wrong, to stop. I totally get it.
Here are two ways to bring attention to the kids that are amazing examples of good behaviour in your classroom:
Stars – Draw a star on the board. Under the star, write down names of students that are following your instructions. For example, when I have asked students to get started on their work, and only a few have begun, I write down their names on the board and announce how they are doing an amazing job getting on with the work.
Postcards – this takes up a little more time. In our school, it’s a school wide initiative that happens every week. Year groups have an assembly where they announce the students who have shown exceptional behaviour, and those students receive a postcard home to show their parents for it.
Something you could do instead, is to write postcards every week (not many – it could be as little as 3 and as much as 10), and announce it the end of your class that week.
6. Microscripts
When this was first introduced at my school inset day, many teachers were against the idea. A lot of them laughed, and challenged the idea, “how could this work?”
Me, being desperate to try anything and everything, took a shot at this. And I am shocked myself, how it worked like magic!
If a student is not following instructions (ex. talking over you, yelling, not doing work, playing games, etc.) you approach them with this microscript:
Something that might help with enforcing this microscript is to make sure you emphasize the school values throughout the year. These values could be kindness, be respectful, be safe, etc. Have a poster displayed with these values in the classroom. Maybe, you could come up with these values together as a group. Referring to these values helps to emphasize the importance of them and fosters a cohesive classroom community.
7. The Five Magic Steps
- Microscript – this is where you use the microscript above to emphasize the values of the classroom, and remind the student of previous positive behaviour that you have seen from them before
- Reminder – you remind the child that you have already spoken to them and they are still showing this behaviour. I will take a whiteboard marker and write an R on their desk to give them a private, but visual reminder.
- Warning + The next step – You warn the child that you still have not seen a change in behaviour from them and that the next step will be a consequence (ex. 5 minute time out, staying in for recess, staying in for lunch, a phone call home).
- Consequence – deliver on the consequence you told the student you would give
- Reflection + Restorative Conversation – After any consequence, you need to have a conversation with the child one-on-one where they reflect on the situation and their behaviour. The focus here is to get the student to reflect – what happened? how do they think it affected others? themselves? What can they do differently next time? Often at the end of this conversation, I also make it very clear: if this happens again, I will be calling home.
All in all, I want to emphasize that most of all, your students need routines and consistency. When you begin to implement some of these strategies, they will MOAN and GROAN and you will get some push back in the beginning. That’s OK. Keep going with these routines and your students WILL ADJUST! Just make sure you are consistent!
Some other classroom management ideas can be found here or here.
Best of luck! If you there’s any classroom management strategy that works for you, let me know in the comments!
