No matter the time of year, you can reset your upper elementary classroom environment.
Your classroom environment is the “feel” of your classroom (tense and stressed, chaotic, peaceful and pleasant), the interactions between teachers and students, and the routines and procedures (or lack thereof) that make your classroom run like clockwork.
Notice that I am not calling this classroom “management.” All we can really “manage” is our behaviors and responses to student behavior.
With that in mind, here are some ways to reset the environment in your upper elementary classroom.
1 – Watch your voice. You don’t have to be mean, but you do need to sound like you mean it. Your students will not take you seriously if you use a pleading tone. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. There’s a big difference between saying, “Sit down” or “Sit down, please” versus saying, “Could you please sit down?”
2 – Here’s the “mean what you say” part: you have to follow through on your expectations and consequences.
If you say students should raise their hands before speaking, hold them to it. Say something like, “Raise your hand first.” Then call on someone else. When the student raises their hand, immediately call on them to show them that you recognize that they are following the directions.
If you tell students homework should be turned in on Friday, follow through on whatever consequences you set for missing homework.
When students see that you mean it, they’ll start taking you seriously and following directions the first time. Consistency builds trust, and trust helps build a feeling of safety and respect.
3 – Review and practice your classroom procedures. I have a great freebie for you that lists the most important procedures and gives suggestions for practicing and reinforcing them. You can grab that freebie HERE.
4 – Here is some specific advice for typical upper elementary classroom issues and how to reset them.
If your students aren’t taking you seriously
*Make sure you are not smiling when you mean business. If they think you’re “playing,” they won’t necessarily do what you say.
*Watch for adding, “okay?” to the end of your directions OR phrasing directions as a request. There is a big difference between saying, “Can you take out your math folders?” or “Take out your math folders, okay?” and saying, “It’s time to take out your math folders” or simply “Take out your math folders.”
*Put your students on the clock. Use a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown (as in “Take out your math folders and be ready for math by the time I count down from five”) or tell students that they have one minute to take out their math folders and be ready for math and then set a timer. Setting a visual timer for students is even better.
If your students aren’t listening when you’re giving directions:
*STOP. Do not continue. You’ll just have to repeat yourself, and this will be a total waste of time.
*Stand there and say the ever-popular “I’ll wait.” Cross your arms. Do not smile. Stare at your students. Despite the popular meme of the skeleton saying, “I’ll wait,” this tactic does work well for many students. If not, try one of these other suggestions.
*Keep track of how long it takes your students to stop talking and listen to directions. You might make a tally mark on the board for every minute that passes. That time will be removed from the students in some way. Maybe it’s silent lunch for that number of minutes (never for the whole lunchtime), delaying going to recess for that number of minutes (but never taking away recess completely), or taking time away from “Fun Friday” or some other fun activity.
If your students are fooling around or having side conversations during your instruction or independent work:
*Stop what you’re doing (or stop talking). When students look at you, tell them what they’re doing, why it is disruptive or causing a problem, and what they need to do instead.
*Circulate. There’s an old saying that “a teacher on their feet is worth ten in their seat” (or something like that), and it holds. Walking around, checking in with students, making eye contact – proximity works.
*Use engagement strategies to keep your students focused and engaged.
If you focus on all the things that need to be “fixed,” you will depress yourself and your class!
Focus on one behavior to work on as a class goal. When that is mastered, choose another one. But then, in the meantime, make a list (preferably on the board where students can see it) of everything your class is doing well. Ask them to add suggestions to the list. Emphasize the positive while also working on what needs to improve.
Nothing works for every student all the time. Having a toolkit of options is essential.
Resetting your upper elementary classroom environment can be done! Let me know how these strategies work for you.
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