Classroom management is one of the hardest parts of teaching and there is no quick fix. It sure does help if we share our successes with each other so we can try to make sense of it all. Ever since my post last year
about
never using behavior charts and the
“Take A Break” station, I have
received oodles of questions about how to make it all work without charts and
stickers, etc. so I have written it all down in a series of several posts.
Classroom management is the absolute foundation of an effective
classroom teacher.
It doesn’t matter how lovely the lesson, how cute the classroom or how
magnificent the materials - if chaos is king – the kingdom will fall.
While there are many practices that build up a strong classroom
management foundation, I have found that are three fundamental necessities:
- well established routines and procedures
- developing a classroom community and respectful relationships with each
other , and
- love ‘em like they’re your own.
Let’s start with routines and
procedures.
“They’ve been in school for (fill in number here) years. They ought to know how to walk in line and
sit on the carpet!” Yes, they should
know. And most of them do know. But what they don’t know is how YOU want them
to line up and sit on the carpet. They
have come from many different homes and classrooms and have been taught lots of
ways to walk in a line. They all have a
little different perspective on how that works.
Until we have shown them EXACTLY how they should walk in a line – we are not going to get the line we expect.
Think about it from a teacher’s perspective. You go to work in a new school and it is time
to take the kids to recess. Now, you
know how to take kids to recess. You’ve
done it a thousand times. But this time,
you get fussed at by admin because you didn’t (fill in procedure here).
“You should have known to do that – we went over it in the faculty
meeting at the beginning of the year.
All the other teachers did it.
Weren’t you listening?”
“Wait – you told me that once at a meeting where you told me a million
other things and I’m supposed to remember that along with all the other new
stuff I’m trying to learn this new school year?!”
Now it sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
So now what?
Think of developing classroom routines and procedures in the same way
we approach instruction.
Scaffolding!
Model the procedure. Practice it
with them. Let them practice on their
own, slowly shifting responsibility to the students.
Here’s how I introduce procedures:
Model
Never assume they know anything.
Model exactly the behavior you want.
Observe and Share
I ask the kids the watch what I do and be ready to share what they
noticed. I model the procedure exactly
how I want the kids to do it and let the kids tell what they saw. They will tell all (or most) of the
important components of the procedure.
It is so much more meaningful when they discover it for themselves
instead of listening to the teacher tell them how.
I model it again and name each step while I do it.
Practice
Now I ask a couple of volunteers to show the class the procedure. Again, I ask the kids to watch and notice. The kids will share what they saw.
This time I ask a group of kids to model the procedure. Repeat the noticings and sharings. I do this until everyone has had a chance to
model and share.
Now the whole class will practice the procedure and debrief with what
they did correctly and where there were shortcomings.
This is where we can make or break it.
This is where we think the kids have it so off we go. Nope.
They have it for right now. But
we have to do the whole procedure again tomorrow. And the next day. And until they are doing it completely
correctly every time.
It can be very tedious, but it is so worth every minute!
Once the school year gets rolling, I go through every procedure in our
class about once every week.
Which procedures should we teach/model?
All of them. Every single thing
I want them to do in a particular way.
Anything I want them to manage on their own without my assistance. Every transition, every station, every space they use.
Here are a few from my list during the first few days:
How to:
Enter the room
Walk through the room
Sit in a chair
Get out of a chair
Walk to the carpet
Sit on the carpet
Leave the carpet
Turn in classwork
Enter the cafeteria
Get out recess equipment
Manage personal book boxes
Get in a line
Walk in a line
Go to the restroom
Get a sharp pencil
Go to the trashcan
(essentially, every single transition of the day!)
I have had teachers tell me that this is too rigid and too
controlling. While on the surface it may
seem that way, in reality, I have afforded my students a great deal of freedom
by helping them know and practice classroom procedures so well. Because of the well established routines and
clear expectations in the classroom, the kids know what to do so that
everything runs smoothly and there are minimal interruptions. As the year progresses, I can give the kids a
great deal of autonomy and choice because I know they will be able to handle
it.
In my class, kids take care of all of the above procedures and many
more without ANY help from me at all.
They get up and go the restroom, water fountain, garbage can, pencil
cup, etc. without asking me permission or signaling me. They know what to do, how to do it, when it
is appropriate to do it, and our day
moves on smoothly. I have so much more
time because I have shifted the responsibility for daily routines to the
children. I do not need to control their
every move. I simply need to teach them
how to move about our day so they can do it on their own.
Now for the “what ifs”
What if they don’t do it
correctly?
Call them back without anger or frustration. Briefly review the procedure. Ask them to do it again.
Be sure to notice the correct behaviors (without naming names!) and
praise the hard work they are doing. Do
this as many times as it takes.
Yes, you might have to remind some of them the same thing every.
single. day. But, remember. They are children. They are human. They are not perfect. They are not adults. They are not your minions.
Treat them like you would want a teacher to treat your own child.
What if you have one or two kids
who just won’t comply when everyone else is following the procedure?
Of course you will have those kids.
Some kids can’t help it and some are just downright disrespectful.
Remember, being responsible enough to follow procedures
affords the kids a great deal of freedom and choice. Logically, if you are not following
procedures, then you do not earn the freedom and choice. I would urge caution here. This should not be a “you didn’t follow
directions so you don’t get to (fill in the activity here).” I usually approach it on an individual basis
and in private with something like, “In order for our classroom to be a great
place to spend time together each day, it is important that we all do our part. I am concerned that I see you not following the
restroom procedure. For the rest of this
week, instead of being able to go to the restroom whenever you like, I will have
three designated opportunities for you and I will monitor those times for
you. When I start to see you becoming
more responsible again, I will start to give the choice and responsibility back
to you.”
I am very careful to approach this in a helpful, guiding way, rather
than with a punitive/punishment type
attitude. Even though I may be mad enough
at that kid to spit nails, I cannot let him see that. He must know that I am helping, not
punishing. I try to be quick, clear, and
not argue with them.
You will have kids that are disruptive to the point of not being able to manage these transitions and spaces. When teaching procedures doesn't work - meaning they know the procedure but are unable or unwilling to follow them, it's time to move into modification, and rewards and consequences. More on those here:
Update: I added an item to my store that can be helpful in establishing procedures. Check it out if you 're interested:)
