Join me in this year-long series on classroom management. Each month, we will look at tips and tricks for creating a better classroom management plan.
As a teacher of over thirty years, I’ve mentored many new teachers both officially and unofficially. By far, the biggest question and concern I’ve heard is getting a better handle on classroom management. This is a huge topic and has many components such as managing student behavior, what to do when students are late/absent, and handling difficult parents.
Many of us plan our lessons meticulously. We spend hours coming up with engaging and meaningful lessons, only to have them fall flat because our classroom management is lacking. The key: You need to plan for classroom management, just like you plan for your lessons. It’s a huge job, so I’ve broken it down with a month-by-month plan for a year’s worth of blogs. This month, we will focus on getting started for the back-to-school season. As you’ll see in this blog post, your classroom management plan is all about having clear strategies.
Classroom Management Plan – Getting Started
The first thing that I recommend doing is thinking of your desired outcome. These are your goals. To reach goals, you’ll need actionable steps to get there.
Think of it this way. If you have a personal goal, like losing weight, it’s not enough to just say that’s your goal. You’ll need specific, actionable steps to get there, such as exercising each day, drinking more water, giving up sugar, etc.
The same holds true for your classroom management plan. Here’s a look at a few examples to get you started:
| Goal | Action |
| Kids arrive to class on time | Set a consequence for tardiness |
| Kids participate in class discussions | Have an incentive where kids can enter to win a prize for participation |
| Kids stop talking during lessons | Give kids time to talk at the beginning of class |
| Kids turn in work on time | Send an email home on the third late assignment |
These are just some examples. I would create a chart like this that you can add to as you are going along. Be sure to include as many actionable items as possible.
Classroom Set Up
The way that you physically set up your classroom is going to play a huge role in your classroom management plan. Be careful not to cram kids in too tight and to do your best to focus them on the center of instruction. If you have a classroom where kids need a partner to “turn and talk”, then you’ll want to consider making tables of four.
Helpful hint: Anytime I am doing direct instruction, I have kids put everything away in their desks that they don’t need; usually this means only having their notebook and pencil out. I have them move their chairs and turn and focus. This sometimes means that kids at certain tables will actually leave their desks and move up with only their notebooks.
I actually teach this to them, explaining why I am doing this. Kids know the routine and even though they may grumble about having to move, it is a non-negotiable for me. I have given certain students a certain space to move because they might have focus issues. Having this routine in place has made a HUGE difference in how kids behave during direct instruction.
I would also carefully select partnerships/tables as we all know that where kids sit is a huge factor in classroom management and getting them to pay attention. I change my partners, and therefore my seating, each month. This keeps things fresh. Kids need a change of pace, and this has made such a difference in how my kids behave in class.
Helpful hint: I pre-number my desks with a little tag at the beginning of the year. This way, I can just tell kids which number desk to go to. It also helps greatly with seating charts for substitutes.
You’ll also want to consider “areas” of your room, such as your library corner and special seating. How will you decide who goes there? For example, when I do my lessons (in both language arts and social studies), I keep the lessons brief and then send the kids off to work. I don’t let it become a “free-for-all”, as we all know this is going to have a negative effect on your classroom management plan. I have a random student selector (I use Class Dojo). So as a student is selected, I tell that student (and their partner/group, if they are working in a partnership/group) to find an area to work.
It’s worth giving this a lot of thought as you are physically setting up your room as it greatly affects your classroom management plan.
Setting Expectations
This is probably the most important piece of your classroom management plan. You’ll want to give this a lot of thought and have it set in place for kids.
If we want kids to know something, we have to teach it to them. We don’t expect kids to know what a conjunction is without telling them. The same goes true for classroom expectations.
I teach classroom expectations until the second class meeting day (I use the first day for some kind of fun, “getting-to-know-you activity”). And I actually teach it. I create a slideshow with my expectations. It’s thorough but not overwhelming (a hard but important balance to strike).
I have a free template for you to create your own slideshow! It’s editable, so you can put in all of your specifics. Take a look:
Free Setting Expectations Template
I also highly, highly recommend that you make this an assignment. Have kids answer a few questions about the slideshow, and have them write down a question or two that they may have.
I also attach the slideshow to my digital learning platform and leave it there for the year. I find having our “classroom policy” visible at any time is crucial.
Setting expectations is so important to a classroom management plan that it has its own blog post, Setting Expectations. Take a look if you need more info.
Parent Component
Part of the “setting expectations” slideshow assignment is to have parents “sign off” on it in some way. I usually make a parent welcome letter and leave a space to sign acknowledging that they have read the slideshow. Having your parent welcome letter in place is a must. Here are some things to consider including in the letter:
- A brief introduction to you
- Briefly introduce what you will cover this year
- A concise list of your expectations – don’t get too detailed as it will overwhelm them. Instead, direct them to the “expectations” slideshow and ask them to read it
- A brief, “non-threatening” list of consequences – be careful with wording here as you don’t want to come off like the police!
- Any special events planned for the year (keep this general in case things change)
- Your contact info
- A sincere piece on how you are there for their child, that you will work through any issues together, and how they should contact you with any concerns – this really helps to set the tone and to keep them from going straight to the principal
- A place for them to sign off on this letter and that they have read the “expectations” slideshow
Helpful hint: I would have a mentor teacher or a principal look this over before sending it. It’s important to get another set of eyes on such an important piece of correspondence.
Systems
If you want your classroom to run like a well-oiled machine and cut down on behavior issues, you are going to need some systems in place. Here are the systems that I always used that served me very well throughout my career. They take some work up front, but once they are in place and the kids know them, you will be setting yourself up with a really valuable classroom management plan.
- Do Now – Your students need to know exactly what to do when they walk into the room. I have this posted as the first thing on my agenda each day. Example: “Put papers in your notebook and begin answering the question on Google Classroom”.
- Set the Table – I was a stickler for this. I made sure that the only things that were on their desk were things that were needed for my class. Everything else went in the desk. Example: notebook, pencil, water bottle. If we weren’t using the Chromebooks yet, they were put away. Too many distractions equals a recipe for disaster.
- Copy Homework – Our district provided homework agendas. Even though I posted it on my Google Classroom, I truly felt that the act of writing it down in one place each day had great benefits. They should do that as soon as they come in, even before the “do now”.
- What to Bring to Class – I kept a wipe-away board right outside my door. There were things that were listed for every day (pencil pouch, notebook, Chromebook, homework agenda) and any other items (like the current novel they were reading). I (almost) always stood at the door and greeted kids, and I would (not so) subtly point out the wipe-away board. Hint: Do NOT let kids go back out once they are in. I know it’s heartbreaking to do, but honestly, you will save yourself SO MANY headaches if you start strong.
- Seating – We discussed this earlier, but it is imperative that kids are seated in a place that best suits them and your class.
- Student Shelf – This is life-changing. I had a shelf in the room with a very large, obvious label that said “Student Shelf”. I told kids that they could go there for any materials, but once they were gone, they were gone. I would replenish monthly with things like pencils, pens, paper, and eraser tops (can you ever have too many?). This saved me from probably thousands of interruptions throughout my years of teaching.
- Hand-raising – This sounds crazy, but I put a little hand-raising system in place. If you raised your hand with a “thumbs up”, that was for the bathroom. The index finger up was for a comment, and two fingers up was a question. It helped me weed through what was happening and saved lots of headaches along the way.
- Absent – This is a must for any teacher. My policy was to check Google Classroom when you were absent and when you came back, any papers for you were left in the “absent” basket with your name on it. I would put these in right away, each period, clipped with kids’ names. I tried to do this right after attendance so I didn’t forget.
- Dismissal – A pet peeve of mine was kids packing up a few minutes before the bell. I was adamant that I would dismiss. My policy was this: A minute or two before the bell, I would say “prepare for dismissal”. They would clean up their area and push their chairs in (another pet peeve of mine). When the bell rang, only tables that were fully prepared would be dismissed, and I would dismiss by table. I do NOT like when the whole class runs out at once…it’s like a prison break. (LOL)
All of the above could be put in your expectations slideshow!
Need More Help? Membership is Open Now!
Doing everything yourself is daunting. So if you are interested, I’ve developed a membership for ELA teachers. This has been highly requested. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do because I know how ill-prepared many new teachers are after college. This has nothing to do with the teachers and everything to do with teachers’ colleges and the lack of good onboarding in districts in our country.
It’s a very robust membership. Some of the highlights:
- Complete curriculum map with access to 9 full-month units for the year
- Access to literacy centers, mini-lessons, a full-year grammar program, choice boards, video lessons, and seasonal activities
- Access to a private Facebook group, where I can answer your questions and go live to help you with more complex units
Click here for more information. As of now, we are in the “founding members” stage. You can lock into the price for as long as you keep up your membership. I’d love to have you!
Questions/Comments
If you are a new teacher and have questions, please comment below. If you are an experienced teacher, I would LOVE to have you comment with any of your input and expertise on a great classroom management plan. Drop a comment below!
Wishing you all the best with starting your classroom management plan.
-Linda A. “All in One Middle School“
HELPFUL LINKS
- Join the Membership
- Free Setting Expectations Slideshow
- My YouTube Channel – FREE lessons where I teach your class, plus First Chapter Fridays!
- Free First Chapter Friday Recording Sheet
- One-on-One Coaching for Observations and Lessons
- Teaching Writing Workshop Course
- Click here to join the Middle School Language Arts Facebook Group
