Many teachers struggle with managing their classroom because they start every year without a classroom management plan. Classroom management is not one of those things that you just make up as you go, instead you need a classroom management plan. In this article I am going to tell you some common mistakes that teachers make, I am going to give you some classroom management strategies, and I will help you develop a solid and effective classroom management plan for any age classroom.
BUT If you teach 5th grade or younger grade stay tuned because I have 2 BONUS Freebies at the bottom of this article that could help give you some classroom management strategies. If you don’t want to read the article you can Download your Posters or Editable Rewards Now!
This article is not just a classroom management plan for elementary teachers this is for any teacher. I did not type up a sample classroom management plan, instead I am teaching you how to make a classroom management plan.
After you develop you classroom management plan you then click here to learn how to develop a classroom community.
What is a classroom management plan?
Well, it is basically just your plan on how you want to deal with behavior in your classroom. Students need to know what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do, as well as the consequences for their wrong choices.
The importance of a personal classroom management plan is so that your students know your expectations from the minute they walk into your classroom.Then you will need to continue to control and manage their behavior efficiently throughout the entire school year. Developing a classroom management plan sounds a lot harder than it really is.
First, let’s identify some mistakes you need to avoid.
Common Mistakes Teachers make with their Classroom Management Plan
1. Wait until day 2 or 3 to start applying expectations.
I have heard of many teachers that wait until day 2 or 3 to start using their behavior management plan. They say that the students are usually behaved on day one and they want to take the time to develop relationships with their students. So they use this the first day of school as a way to just get to know the students without introducing any rules and procedures. Please do not do this!
It is still 100% possible to develop a relationship with your students AND teach rules and procedures from Day 1. I know because I do it! As soon as my students walk in the door, if they enter “crazy” out of control or all over the place I stop them and say “Oh let’s try that again”. We line back up outside and I say my expectation is for you to walk in quietly unpack your bag and sit at your desk”. This sets the tone for them realizing that I have high expectations and that I hold them accountable for their actions.
I then will go into a fun activity after this like a get to know you activity BUT I am very clear on how I expect them to act and if they get out of hand during the activity I make sure to stop them and go over my expectations again. So it is always my focus to have a little fun (so they don’t consider me a MEAN teacher), BUT I also stop misbehavior at the very beginning so they know they can’t walk all over me! So start setting your expectations for how you want them to act in your classroom from Day 1 or better yet, minute 1.
2. Forget about Incentives and Positive Rewards
Alright, lets face it ya’ll we all work better for a reward! I know that even us as adults work harder when we know we are going to get something out of it. Many teachers remember to put these types of positive rewards in place for instance classroom cash, a ticket system, or a point system, BUT they forget to reward these things often. This is a major mistake, if you forget to pass out the positive rewards then they will not work.
You will hear many veteran teachers that tell you to pass out positive rewards like crazy in the beginning so that the students will “buy in” to your system. Honestly they are not wrong, BUT you cannot, I repeat cannot, just start gradually forgetting to pass these out or you will find yourself struggling to handle classroom behaviors in the middle to the end of the year. Many teachers start feeling overwhelmed and then forget to pass out rewards because we just can’t add anything else to our full plate. Side note: If this is you then you really need to check this out and join our challenge here.
So be sure to pass out your positive rewards OFTEN, as in a minimum of a few times a day, EVERY DAY, of the school year.
3. Don’t follow through with consequences
We have all been here!! Even the teachers with amazing classroom management plans can easily forget to follow through with a consequence. Especially if it is the end of the day and the student is supposed to serve their consequence tomorrow. Why? Well, let’s face it, we sleep at night and forget after we have graded a ton of papers. So many times its not that we are push- overs, it is just that we have so many things going on in our heads to remember that we just forget some things.
So how do we fix this mistake? We develop a system, a place to quickly write down or keep track of who has consequences and what they are. IF you forget even just once your twice your class will start to feel you are inconsistent and will not follow your expectations because they know you will forget. Honestly, I am speaking from experience on this one!
So now that you know what mistakes to avoid you can develop a Solid Classroom Management Plan!
To start, you need to know your philosophy of classroom management.
This means you need to know what type of teacher you plan to be, so basically you need to know your personalty and your noise level tolerance. If you know these two things it will help you come up with your philosophy of classroom management.
Most everyone will include the idea of having a loving, accepting, and hardworking classroom community in their classroom philosophy also known as their philosophy of teaching. Although, when it comes to your philosophy of classroom management , you ONLY need to focus on how you will MANAGE your class.
Write down how you expect your students to act and how you will treat them. This will help you figure out what type of classroom management will best fit your teacher personality.
Next, you need a behavior management system.
Your behavior management system is simply just your rules and the consequences that come with them. You can come up with basic rules on your own or you can choose to come up with them as a class. No matter what way you choose just be sure that your rules state your expectation in a positive way. Well you might ask, what do you mean by this? Here is an example, instead of saying “No Hitting” you should say “We will keep our hands and feet to ourselves”.
It is good to revisit your rules often, and have them posted where your students can always access them. I have even observed some teachers that have them recite a mission statement every morning that includes the rules. You can find a list of examples of classroom rules in many places all over the internet.
When it comes to consequences for your behavior management system you could do basic things like take a away recess time, lunch detention, etc. Or the consequences that I prefer are natural consequences.
Natural consequences are consequences that come natural from the student’s poor choice. Things like taking students out of the group activity (because they are struggling to stay on task) or write an apology letter stating 3 things they like about someone (because they said something hateful or mean to another student).
No matter which type of consequence you prefer, the most important thing is having them,making sure that your students know what they are, and following through with your consequences. If you follow these basic steps you will have an effective behavior management system. This leads to the last step.
Lastly, Follow through with your Classroom Management and Discipline Plan.
No matter what type of classroom you desire to have, the most important thing you can do is follow through with your plan. If you set up a ticket reward system then you need to pass out tickets. If you say that they will owe you laps at recess, then you need to remember to have them walk laps. When you tell them to stay at a whisper, but they are talking, then stop them and have them try again, and if they fail again there needs to be a consequence, like going to silence.
If you are consistently following through with your system, then your kids will know that it is solid and to follow your expectations. Also be sure to have a mixture of behavior management strategies in place so that your students are always working towards something new.
Now that you have all the information, you just need to come up with your own way of doing things. So what is your classroom management plan? Let me know in the comments below.
If you are a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade teacher read on to learn about your Bonus Freebie!
Now that you know how to develop a solid plan, I have some ideas of classroom discipline and positive rewards that you can use in your classroom. Behavior management in the classroom is not easy but hopefully these ideas can help with the majority of your class.
It includes printable rewards that are done for you and also an editable one so that you can type in any reward you see fit. Get it now!
If you are a Preschool-2nd grade teacher you can grab these Posters for Free!
My friend Kayla developed these posters to help you develop a classroom community. In her article she even teaches you 7 ways to create a classroom community. Classroom community and behavior management are two things that can help you tremendously as a teacher. Grab these posters now!
