You’re Not Preparing or Planning Enough

One major reason your classroom may feel off is a lack of preparation. Effective planning means going beyond the basics—you need to plan well in advance. Great teachers know that over-planning is the key to success. By having extra activities ready, you’ll be covered when a substitute takes over or you have a few extra minutes to fill.

Being prepared for the unexpected ensures there’s always something to keep students engaged. Consider creating a “sub tub.” This is where you fill a container with classroom routines, student profiles, and emergency lessons.

Your Lessons Aren’t Flexible Enough

Another common issue is failing to create adaptable lessons that meet the needs of all your students. Design lessons that can easily be adjusted on the fly, whether shortening or extending them based on your students’ understanding. Being flexible allows you to embrace teachable moments and gives you the freedom to move away from a rigid plan when necessary.

Classroom Routines Were Never Established

If you haven’t set up solid routines from day one, that could be causing chaos in your classroom. Routines are essential for creating structure. Whether it’s how students enter and leave the room, turn in homework, or line up for lunch, establishing these procedures early and practicing them daily helps everything run smoothly.

Clear Expectations Have Not Been Created

Maintaining a well-functioning classroom is hard if students don’t know what’s expected of them. Just as you set up routines, setting clear expectations is equally important. Let students know what you expect in terms of behavior and effort, and make sure those expectations are visible in the classroom as a constant reminder.

You’re Not Keeping Students Engaged

Imagine how boring it would be if you had to read the same book over and over again. If your classroom activities feel repetitive, students can lose interest. Just as it’s important to plan, be flexible, and establish expectations and routines, it’s just as important to keep students on their toes. Shake things up by varying your routine, incorporating short breaks, or adding something new to your lessons. As you know, children have a short attention span, so it’s essential to keep them engaged as much as you can.

Your Classroom Isn’t Organized

An organized classroom is a successful classroom. When everything has a place, it creates a calm environment where students know what to expect, and it’s easier for you to manage. Label everything, teach students to put materials back where they belong, and maintain an orderly space to foster a stress-free atmosphere.

Students are Not Understanding the Content

If you are checking for understanding during a lesson by simply asking students if everyone understands the material, that may not be enough.  Some students may be hesitant to admit they’re confused because they are too embarrassed to raise their hand in fear that they’re the only ones who don’t get it. This is why it’s essential to check for student understanding in a variety of different ways.

Do not assume that all students understand what you are saying or what you mean. A great way to ensure that you know students understand is having students hold up mini whiteboards with their answers. This strategy gives everyone a chance to respond without the fear of embarrassment. An alternative strategy is to utilize technology where students can anonymously answer online.

You’re Losing Control Too Easily

It’s easy to feel frustrated when things get out of hand, but staying calm is crucial. Maintaining control of your emotions and reactions helps you stay focused on your goal: teaching. When you remain steady, even in tough situations, students will follow your lead.

Your Students Don’t Respect You

Respect is a two-way street. If you want students to respect you, you need to respect them. Take the time to get to know each student personally. Ask about their interests and be there when they need someone to listen. Building those personal connections helps create a classroom environment where respect naturally flows, making it easier to manage.

You Never Developed a Classroom Community

One of the best ways that you can ensure there isn’t classroom dysfunction is to build a classroom community. This will help foster a sense of belonging. You easily do this by having students connect and share with one another each day in a morning meeting. The more students feel connected to you and their peers, the better your classroom will run.

There’s still time to turn things around. You can set your classroom up for success by addressing these key areas. Each day offers a new start so it’s never too late to make changes. Start by focusing on the areas that aren’t running smoothly then once you jump that hurdle address the next challenge. With just a few adjustments you can turn your classroom into a well-oiled machine.

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The initial pandemic is over, but we are left with students who experienced trauma for the two years it affected the world. Trauma-sensitive classroom management is essential.

Much of it is still seen in the classrooms of today. Students are not coping well with change, have trouble sustaining relationships with peers, using conflict management, and have experienced a sense of isolation that lingers.

They may have difficulty in self-regulation, appear anxious, think negatively, and have trust issues. Teachers are expected to employ trauma and resilience strategies within classrooms.

What Does Trauma-Sensitive Classroom Management Look Like?

Consistency

Consistency, predictability, and structure are important when it comes to trauma-sensitive classroom management.

Teachers should use methods like posting schedules, and explicitly reviewing expected behaviors before each activity and transitions so students are not guessing and wondering what is going to happen next. They need to know the expectations and how to achieve them. This promotes a sense of security.

Good Student-Teacher Relationships

Building good relationships with students goes a long way. Give a survey at the start of the year, either verbally for younger students or on paper for older students.

Find out about family, personal interests, and hobbies. Use this information to make connections in a more personal way.

Consider spending some one-on-one time with kids, at lunch or during a free time spot in the day. Share personal stories with them and let them share with you.

Consider attending an event of theirs. Students who develop trusting relationships with their teacher are less likely to misbehave and more likely to confide in you when something is wrong.

It is vital to expect out-of-the-ordinary responses from students and have strategies to employ.

We never know what triggers students or even if they are coming in triggered by something that happened at home. It is good to have students identify the feelings they are coming to school with and determine if they need to do anything to get to the point at which they can learn.

At the early grades, it may be having the entire class discuss or point to a picture indicating their feelings. At upper grades, this may be kids checking in on an iPad or paper.

Start the Day Positively

Teachers can see how kids feel and use methods to start the day positively. If students indicate they are coming in heightened, they can use a calming corner. A calming corner is a safe spot in the classroom where students can go to any time to use items to help them relax, switch what they are thinking about, and get to a better place mentally.

Different items allow them to express themselves quietly or get the fidgets out so they can rejoin the class and learn. Some students need to move to regulate. They can give a signal to the teacher that they need a walk or movement activity. Teachers can call a pre-arranged partner to watch the child as they take their walk/break.

It is important students be checked regularly and interacted with to change focus so that they are not ruminating on their worry alone and making the problem worse. Schools should be safe places for students. Teachers can explicitly teach that regularly.

Communications should be thoughtful, deliberate, and proactive when working with students. Students of trauma do not do well with power struggles or commands without rationale. It is best to give reasons for directives, such as: “please pick up the supplies from around your desk area so that other students do not break them or fall down.”

Teachers can use silent signals with students as a part of trauma-sensitive classroom management. If the teacher works with students early on and they come to an agreement that she will put a hand on their shoulder when they need to stop doing something, it is easy to walk over and do that without getting into verbal discussions over the direction. Students will not be embarrassed and will stay in a safe space with the teacher.

Student Choice

The trusting relationship must be the precursor to ongoing interactions. Student choice is key. If the teacher wants the student to be in a less crowded environment, for example, offer a choice, “Do you want to be in this group or that group of desks?”

The groups would be on the periphery of the class so that either choice would allow the child to be in a less crowded environment. A teacher using effective, proactive communication can greatly reduce the amount of redirection needed and help students to be more successful.

Highlight Student Strengths

Highlighting strengths of students can improve their attitude toward school and make them feel less inadequate. It can build the sense of competence and help them to feel positively about themselves.

Asking students to peer tutor or go into a younger grade to assist can give a student a sense of accomplishment.

Through trauma-sensitive classroom management, teachers may also give these students a special job. Taking lunch count, helping with certain technology items, or being an “assistant” in another class can go a long way to helping the feelings of competence that students need to have.

The teacher can speak positively about the future and compliment students on what they are doing well. Highlighting that a certain skill will make them successful in a certain career can give the student positive thoughts about their future and the ability to achieve something.

The Importance of Classroom Management Post-COVID

Students returned to the classrooms after COVID-19 pandemic struggling not just academically, but less motivated, more emotional, and more defiant.

Kids were not used to everyday conflict management with peers. For these reasons, the key to getting students to gain academic achievement is so dependent upon classroom management.

Without strong classroom management in a way that is not threatening to students coping with trauma, these academic gains will not be realized.

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Dr. Brad Johnson stated the essence of effective classroom management, “Classroom management is focused on control. But we don’t control people, we lead them. So, focus less on gimmicks for behavior and focus more on leadership. Building essential R’s (respect, relationships, responsibility, relevance). We want students committed not just compliant.”

Classroom management should not be about control, but more about building relationships with your students and facilitating classroom learning experiences. K-12 classrooms should include a myriad of opportunities focusing on students’ engagement at higher levels and being directly involved in their learning experiences. Classroom management is one of the most important aspects of teaching because it includes establishing relationships with students and their families.

Effective Classroom Management Strategies

Establish Relationships

Get to know your students, their families, and establish a relationship with all of them. This is the most important facet of classroom management because everything will go smoothly when this foundation is established. There is a quote that resonates in all classrooms by John C. Maxwell, “Students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Communication is imperative with students and their families. For elementary classrooms, teachers should get contact information from their students’ families before school starts to establish effective communication at the beginning of the school year. A few examples of effective ways to communicate are setting up a classroom Facebook page or Remind. Sending home letters or paper copies is becoming less popular for various reasons, and electronic communication seems to be more successful.

Model Behavior

Teachers need to point out positive behaviors to cause a ripple effect in the atmosphere in the classroom. When a teacher compliments a student on something positive they are doing, others follow suit immediately. This usually extinguishes negative behavior without saying anything. Most students want to do well and please the teacher. They will comply when other students are getting positive attention.

Never Punish an Entire Class for One Student’s Behavior

There are always students that are on-task and conscientious of exactly what is going on in class. Teachers should never punish an entire class for a few students’ actions. It is always best to point out positive behaviors and speak privately to students that are not on-task. It is also important not to call students out in front of an entire class.

Teachers need to recognize triggers for students and extinguish negative feelings and behaviors before they begin. Teachers should include different ways to earn positive behavior incentives individually and as a whole group. There are many ways to reward students individually, including free ideas that don’t cost you anything:

• Flexible seating
• Privileges within the classroom: snacks, candy, drinks
• Praise
• Other small tokens or prizes

Rewards that may work for the whole group may work include:

• Popcorn and movie days
• More outdoor time
• Time with technological devices

Set Guidelines and Stick to Them

Rules and consequences must be established on the first day of school and implemented with authenticity during the first week of school. Students crave structure and will be more successful with routines and organization. It is better to over-plan lessons than not having enough. Teachers should also consider some downtime in theirs lessons as well.

We must think about students as we are and think about what we need and enjoy in a classroom. Classroom autonomy and students’ choice are great ideas for setting and establishing classroom rules and boundaries.

Ample Opportunities for Movement

Provide ample opportunities for movement and hand-on learning-provide recess, brain breaks, and various opportunities for students to burn off energy. They are more focused, and you can get more done in less time. There are many resources for teachers online that help with creative brain breaks, and opportunities for students to move, dance, exercise, and practice mindfulness and other relaxation techniques. Some examples of these are GoNoodle and Cosmic Yoga on YouTube.

Include Activities that Meet All Learning Styles

Students have varying personalities, backgrounds, genetics, background knowledge, needs, and the list goes on. For these reasons, teachers must include a variety of activities to teach the skills to meet the plethora of needs represented. We live in a time where students face challenges of many kinds, and these challenges are present in the classrooms.

Oftentimes, there are few students that come in ready to learn and the majority with burdens on their minds. This makes keeping classrooms fun, exciting, hands-on, and creative so important and necessary.

Create a Safe Space in your Classroom

This means creating a physical and emotional space. Establishing relationships is key to this safe space because students will know how you feel about them and know they can be themselves. Setting the tone each day and being intuitive to students’ needs will help create an emotional safe space. Teachers need to be mindful of being an approachable type of person so students know they can share with them if needed.

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*Updated August 2022

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The right to an education is granted to every child in the United States of America. While this is a wonderful right to have, educators must prepare daily to educate all students, including those with behavior challenges. Too often than not, student behavior can impede teachers’ ability to effectively do their job. Most of those who are labeled “difficult students” with behavior challenges are moved for short amounts of time and are then returned to the class with the same problems.  

While removing behavior problems from the learning environment puts a band-aid on the problem it does little in terms of a long-term fix. Therefore, we must equip teachers with tools for working with a difficult student. I have not found the magic bullet to fix classroom behavior for everyone, but the following techniques have led to productive classroom environments during my tenure in education.

Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students 

Know Your Students 

One of the first lessons that I learned as a beginning teacher was the importance of knowing my students. To teach a child it is imperative to know not only their intellectual abilities, but also their social and emotional make-up. Knowing students’ emotional and social triggers will assist in creating a climate where students are at ease and less likely to display negative behaviors. It provides the necessary tools to coax students from making impulsive and irrational decisions and helps with how to reach difficult students. Thus, creating an environment that is conducive to learning.

Knowing your students’ interests increases the likelihood that you will be able to engage them in the learning environment. For the most part, the more engaged a student is, the least likely they are to cause major disruptions in the classroom. Students are rarely behavior problems when engrossed in activities that pique their interests. Embedding their interests into your instruction says to even the most difficult student that you care enough to get to know them.

Build Authentic Relationships 

Building relationships with difficult students is foundational in getting them to respond positively. Children tend to know when teachers have a vested interest in them. This knowledge helps to develop trust in their teachers’ desire to make decisions that will benefit them as individuals. The trust allows corrections to be made concerning student behavior without the probability of an escalated debate. Students can receive correction when they are certain that the person who is correcting them has spent time getting to know them and understands and respects their needs.

Building authentic relationships gives way to the feeling of safety that most students desire Students who are difficult to deal with become less difficult when they view their teacher as a “safe space.” It is in this space where students are more likely to share and reveal who they really are.  

Providing opportunities to share their fears and desires without judgement helps to increase their willingness to receive corrections and adjust. I believe that to correct, you must first know how to correct. Addressing behavioral concerns in one student may look different for another student. Hence the need for authentic relationships which provides insight into the best approach for each individual student and is extremely vital in general, as well as in the beginning of a classroom management plan.

Establish Consistent Expectations 

Having consistent expectations is a non-negotiable when improving classroom management. Students will adapt to your expectations when they are clear and consistent. The danger in not having consistent expectations is students will not know what is and is not acceptable behavior in your learning environment from one day to the next. Consistent expectations are easier for students to follow as they become a part of your classroom’s culture.  

You, as the teacher, will cause unnecessary disturbances if you accept blurting answers during your mini-lesson but issue a consequence for the same behavior at other times. This inconsistency typically fuels pushback from students causing them to become argumentative and resistant to the procedures you are attempting to establish. 

Having consistent expectations also helps to show that your students can depend on you. They can depend on you to govern your classroom fairly and in a manner that makes it conducive to learning. Their willingness to follow you and adhere to your expectations are tied to their ability to depend on you to govern the classroom effectively. Consistent expectations set the tone for a productive year for all students. 

Teach Appropriate Behaviors 

As important as it is to teach state academic learning standards, it is equally important to teach appropriate behaviors. One of the biggest mistakes I have seen educators make is assuming that students will enter our classrooms knowing which behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate. We must adopt the philosophy that appropriate classroom behavior must be taught if we hope to effect positive change in the actions of our students.  

Furthermore, we must accept that some behaviors deemed inappropriate in the school environment are recognized as appropriate in their homes. We will get a greater level of buy-in from our students if we do not make them feel that what they have been taught in the home is inferior to what we teach as acceptable behavior in our class.

I have found that the best way to teach behaviors is by having short mini-lessons that incorporate various scenarios. Just as I am cyclical in teaching academic concepts, I constantly revisit behavior lessons with the same fervor, which I highly recommend to others. Expecting students to behave in a particular manner, but not teaching and modeling what it looks like is similar to putting an algebraic equation on the board and expecting students to solve for “x.” 

While some students may master the concept many may not because of the lack of exposure. For anything to improve, there must be some adjustment to what is already presented. The same holds true for student behavior. For it to improve, teaching must occur with adjustments along the way.

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*Updated September 2022 

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