As teachers get ready to greet their new groups of students or reunite after a break with their current class, it is important to keep classroom management at the top of your mind. There are so many things that go on during the day and having a solid classroom management plan is incredibly helpful to make sure your plans run smoothly. In this blog post we share five different strategies that will help you move forward with the best classroom management plan possible.
It is important to remember that all students and teachers are different. What may work for one group may not work for another. Consider these ideas and see if they will work for your classroom!
Get to Know Your Students
As simple as it sounds, getting to know your students on a personal level can be incredibly helpful when it comes to classroom management. Most teachers believe that building a strong relationship with their students is the very foundation of a proper classroom management strategy. Getting to know your students shows that you care and gives them a sense of belonging. Start the school year with a fun questionnaire that is not academically focused. This can quickly give you insight into your students and give you a heads-up on their interests and hobbies!
Let Students Help Establish Guidelines
At the very start of the year or after welcoming students back after a break, it is so important to develop classroom guidelines as a group. Hearing from your students and letting them decide what is important to them provides more ownership and a sense of autonomy. Give students 10 to 15 minutes to brainstorm different ideas and guidelines that are important to them. Then, have students share their ideas as a group and record the guidelines on a poster. Once all of the important guidelines have been recorded, display the poster in the classroom to refer back to throughout the school year.
Have Open Communication With Families
Creating relationships with your students' families is essential for classroom management. It is important to students and parents that you are all seen as a team, which means everyone is on the same page and understands the classroom goals. Sending home positive messages or letting families know what is going on in the classroom is vital. Taking the time to send home a weekly email recapping the week gives families an idea of what to work on with their students and creates talking points for families at home. Also, taking five minutes a day to send a family member a positive note about their student’s work or habits can make a huge impact. So often, teachers are unable to truly celebrate all of the greatness that happens in the classroom. Taking a few minutes to dedicate to positive student interactions can really strengthen relationships and improve classroom management.
Establish a Morning Routine
It is difficult to know what goes on in a student's home each and every day. For some students, it may be challenging to transition from that home life to school. Creating a morning routine for your students may help them switch from “home mode” to “school mode,” which will ensure a smooth transition leading to a calm classroom environment. Make sure students are aware of the routine. During the first couple of weeks, create a poster detailing the routine so students can refer to it when they come in each day. Also, give students time to master the routine. Make sure you are modeling expectations so students know what to do and when. Take this time to get to know your students and possibly share an SEL lesson or something not academic-focused during this time.
Prepare for Early Finishers
Having a planned day will help students stay focused with activities to work on and lessons to learn. When students have idle time is often when classroom management breakdowns occur. Creating proper routines and procedures for students to complete when they have finished an activity is very important. This may deter students from bothering their neighbors and keep them on task. After assigning a task, make sure students are clear on what to do if they finish early. Be precise on where they turn the task in or if they hold on to it, what the noise level should be in the room, and their options of what they should do directly after they finish. This will keep your students on task and focused, especially during independent work time.
Overall, when thinking about classroom management, it is important to be consistent, insistent, and persistent in your routines and procedures. Creating visuals, modeling, and providing reminders the first few weeks of school will ensure a smoother start to the year and a great classroom management foundation.
