Having an effective classroom management plan is essential to being able to manage disruptive student behavior and being able to teach. However, there are a few mistakes that many teachers make without even realizing it. Let’s talk about the 3 mistakes teachers make when creating their classroom management plan that lead to frustration, overwhelm, and decreased teaching time.
1. Relying on a single strategy as your entire classroom management plan
In the age of Pinterest and Instagram, it’s easy to see a cute classroom management strategy online and want to give it a try. It might even work for a little while! But the outcome is usually this: the novelty wears off after a few weeks, and you’re back to square one, trying to figure out why the strategy isn’t working anymore.
Here’s the truth: a strategy like lucky ducks, class Dojo, or class BINGO isn’t necessarily a BAD idea, but it’s just one strategy. One single strategy for classroom management is not the same thing as having a classroom management plan.
When you have a classroom management plan, you not only have a plan for reinforcing positive behavior, you also have a plan for responding to challenging behavior. And that’s exactly what those popular “strategies” are lacking.
2. Being reactive, not proactive
When you’re in the middle of a lesson and a student starts engaging in disruptive behavior, the first thing you want is to get it to stop. And that’s not a bad thing, we all want our students to display proactive behaviors. But when you’re constantly playing a life sized game of whack-a-mole, something’s not right.
Instead of reacting to challenging student behavior, we need to figure out WHY it’s happening and make a plan to stop it from the get-go. All disruptive behavior is a sign that students are lacking certain skills, and we can’t change behavior without teaching missing skills.
3. Being inconsistent
As teachers, you have a million things on your plate- assessments, parent communication, managing student emotions, meetings, planning engaging lessons, and oh yeah, teaching. Sometimes your best laid plans for responding to student behavior get pushed to the side because you simply don’t have the capacity for it. Sometimes it’s easier to let things go than to hold a boundary.
Whether it’s reinforcing positive behavior or responding to challenging behavior, there can be no change in behavior without consistency. When you’re consistent in your responses, your students know what to expect every single time. The time and effort you put into being consistent will be worth it in the long run.
Your Next Steps
If you want to create a classroom management plan that actually works, you need to make sure you’re not making one of these 3 common mistakes: relying on a single strategy, being reactive, and being inconsistent. The good news is, creating an effective classroom management plan is easier than you think!
If you’re looking for step-by-step support to create your own classroom management plan so you can decrease disruptive student behavior and have more time to teach, click here to join Classroom Management Made Easy!
