Have you ever felt like your classroom management strategies could be more effective? I’ve got good news. It’s never too late to make a change! Whether it’s a few months into the school year, after Winter break, or at the end of the year, reflecting on your classroom management strategies and making a change is the sign of a reflective teacher. So what are you waiting for? Let me teach you how to evaluate and improve your classroom management strategies so you can feel confident in your abilities to decrease disruptive behavior.
The Steps
First, take a few moments to evaluate your current classroom management strategies. Grab a notebook or a piece of paper and make 2 columns: plus and delta.
Set your phone timer for 5 minutes and reflect on the year so far.
On the plus sign side, write down as many things as you can think of that are going really well. Maybe you tried a new small group rotation chart and it helped your students rotate independently, or maybe the majority of your students are stopping and listening when you ring the chime.
Then, on the delta sign side, write down as many things as you can think of that aren’t going so great and that you definitely want to try and tweak. Maybe the transition back to the classroom after recess is a hot mess, or maybe your students are talking during read alouds.
Once you’re done with this brain dump, look at what you wrote down on the delta side of your chart. Choose one thing to focus on and start thinking of ways you can change it to make it better. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get your wheels turning:
-What does it look like during this time?
-What does it sound like during this time?
-What do I want my students to do during this time?
-What are the steps my students need to take in order to follow my expectation?
-How can I explicitly teach my students these steps?
-What visuals can I use to support my students in learning these steps?
What’s Next?
Use this information to create a plan for your new routine. Explicitly teach your students the expectation or routine, model it, and give them time to practice. Remember to reinforce the expected behavior, and give them lots of time to practice- change doesn’t happen overnight!
