The third quarter of the year can be the best or the most challenging part of the year.
The good part: students know the routines and expectations, and there are fewer interruptions with holidays. (Although snow days are always fun, at least in the southeastern U. S.!)
The challenging part: the winter blues are a real thing for both students and teachers. And if the routines and expectations are not firmly established, student behavior can be difficult to deal with.
Is it time for a classroom management reset? If so, try one of these strategies.
First step: Change up the classroom environment.
1 – Change your seating arrangement. Separate the students who are having trouble staying focused and on task.
If necessary, “isolate” some students (assuming you have furniture and space to have them sit by themselves).
You might even arrange your seating so everyone faces the front of the classroom. It might sound “old school,” but it’s worth a try until you have your students’ complete focus and attention.
2 – Clean up your space. Orderly spaces help maintain orderly behavior. (That also sounds very old school, but it’s true!)
3 – Get rid of piles of paper. Straighten up shelves and bookshelves. Put away any resources or books that you are not currently using. Clean off your own teacher space. Designate some time for your students to clean their spaces (tables, desks, cubbies, binders, folders).
Keep your classroom as organized and orderly as possible.
4 – Review any problematic routines or procedures. If everything in your day feels problematic, focus on the worst (or most irritating) routines or procedures. When/if those improve, move on to other parts of the day that are causing problems.
If you need help teaching/reviewing procedures, here’s a link to my free course!
5 – Be consistent, insistent, and persistent. Follow through on your consequences when rules or expectations are not being followed. You don’t have to be mean, but you do need to sound like you mean it.
6 – Use timers for transitions and encourage your students to beat their best times. This helps make a game out of routine tasks.
Next step: Have a plan for every moment of the day. Planning your day is one of the best classroom management strategies.
7 – Having a plan is important, but you must be flexible. Not everything will go according to plan. Have a list of sponge activities (here’s my list) and fast finisher activities.
8 – Incorporate engagement strategies into every lesson. Here’s a list!
9 – Incorporate movement where possible. For example, you could do simple calisthenics and yoga stretches in your classroom, take a quick walk, or jog outside if you have a good space for that.
10 – Implement some silent working time. Allowing talking in low voices does not work for some classes. Silence (or maybe playing quiet instrumental music) might be exactly what your class needs.
And finally: Work on building those relationships.
11 – Greet your students at the door in the morning or when they come to your class. Speak to every student and smile. You will be pleasantly surprised at how this helps you start on a positive note with each student.
12 – Another way to liven up a routine is to use attendance questions. Here are some suggestions!
13 – Learn about your students’ interests and build relationships with families. Think about incorporating dialogue journals as a way to build relationships with students.
I have lots of tips for building relationships and communicating with families in this course!
14 – Address individual problems individually. Have private conversations with students who are having difficulty.
A good way to start these conversations is to ask how things are going with them. They may open up. If not, start describing (in a calm way) what you see them doing or what you are noticing about their behavior.
Ask if they have noticed the same things. Ask them if they understand why these behaviors are a problem for them. Make sure you emphasize the fact that you are here for them and that you want to help them resolve their issues.
Talk about what you might do together to help them improve their behaviors. When you have an agreement with them, be sure to emphasize, again, that you care about them and you are here to help them do and be their best.
Ask yourself, “What does this student need right now?” and go from there. Sometimes you find things out that you had no idea were happening.
This won’t solve everything, but it can help a lot and is always worth a try.
15 – Notice the positives and teach your students to do the same. Focusing only on what needs to be “fixed” or what isn’t going well will quickly bring you down.
Designate an appreciation time in your morning meeting or as a closing activity at the end of the day.
Leave positive post-its on student desks, thanking them for something they are doing well. (Try to do this for every student within two to three weeks, then start all over.)
16 – My favorite bottom-line strategy: default to compassion. Simply asking, “Is everything okay?” goes a long way.
Here are a couple of bonus strategies that will take more planning in advance:
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17 – Talk with your grade-level team about possibly “bouncing” students to another classroom. This works incredibly well if the group dynamics in your classroom are making it difficult for students to get back on track.
Sometimes, a change of scenery and a fresh start in another room are all it takes to get a student reset and refocused. Make sure that you are returning the favor to your team!
18 – You may have heard of “ketchup and relish” days. This is when you set aside time for your students to either “ketchup” on unfinished work (or have time to practice classroom routines/procedures they have not mastered yet) or “relish” some free time. You could schedule this once a week or once every two weeks. (Of course, you can call it whatever you want if you don’t like the “ketchup and relish” idea!)
Remember: nothing works for all students all the time. But having a “menu” of options is helpful because you will always have something else to try.
I hope these strategies help make your classroom a better place for you to be, no matter the time of year!
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