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Stop disruptive behavior before it begins.

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Stop disruptive behavior before it begins.

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New teachers—and experienced ones too—can find ideas here on how to stop disruptive behavior before it begins.

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Effective Middle School Classroom Management

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Effective middle school classroom management is key, learn how to create a classroom space that has interactive components that engage your students.

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Day 1

Nothing is more important than building a strong relationship with your students. John C. Maxwell, who, according to Inc. magazine, is "widely considered to be one of the world's top leadership thinkers," said, "Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Creating a safe, free-from-failing classroom environment sets all your students up for a risk-taking mindset. To reach a student's mind, you need to first touch their heart and let them know you're there for them, you care about them as a human being, and you believe in them. You should also make sure you can pronounce their names correctly from the start; take notes on pronunciations as needed.

About you: Students, like adults, make split-second judgments, so how you begin those first couple of minutes of the first class period will tell your students more than you can imagine. Leave going over the class syllabus to day two or three; today, let's get to know one another. Do something upbeat, light, and fun to help you get to know your students. Here are some suggestions. Let students see that you're a genuine person. Share a little about yourself: hobbies, struggles you had in school, favorite lessons to teach, why you got into teaching, pets, etc.

About your students: Pair up students with one another, and have them create a four-slide PowerPoint presentation about each other. Have the students give their presentations to the class or in small groups. Here are some ideas for slides:

Slide one: What name do you like to be called (pronunciation and/or nickname)?

Slide two: What's something interesting about you-a hobby, you're double-jointed, you moved here from Portugal?

Slide three: What's your favorite place to be and why?

Slide four: What's one thing you'd like to learn more about?

Give a student survey. This can be in digital form or with paper and pencil, or in smaller classrooms, you can verbally ask your students to tell you more about themselves. For example:

What name do you like to be called?

How do you learn best-hands-on, reading, listening, independent, small group?

What are your interests?

How do you like to be recognized for accomplishments and hard work?

Is there anything else I should know that will impact your learning-a job, sports, a caregiver, challenges?

A group activity to assess leadership styles and work ethic: Have students, in groups of three, create the tallest tower in 10 minutes. Students can use toothpicks and marshmallows, dried spaghetti and marshmallows, Popsicle sticks and clay, or anything that's easily accessible. Listen to their conversations and take notes:

Who took charge?

Who is sitting back and observing?

Who is the problem solver?

Day 2

Students, like adults, want to know, "What's the plan?" "Are there procedures or processes to follow in the classroom, leaving the classroom, in the hallway, and cafeteria?" "Will this be a 'positive intent' type of classroom or a 'gotcha doing wrong' type of classroom?" "How will I know if I am doing and learning what I'm supposed to?" "What if I don't follow the expectations?"

Create classroom norms together. Go over and demonstrate the procedures and processes of everything that will or might take place in your classroom. For example:

Restroom procedures

Homework policy

Where to find classroom supplies and what the policy is for using them

Syllabus

Using affirming statements when you see students following the procedures and processes is a simple way to reinforce their new learning. Talk to your students about positive affirmations:

Explain what they are.

Ask students how they like to receive positive affirmations (whole class or individual recognition).

Clarify whether you set classroom or team goals.

Day 3

As we continue to work on processes and procedures, it's imperative that all students understand the reason why academic talk will be a part of every lesson, every day, and the expectations. Explain to your students why discussing what they're learning is one of the most valuable steps in the learning process. To illustrate this, show a video of students using a talking structure-Numbered Heads Together, think-pair-share, etc.

It's also important to explicitly clarify everyone's role in the discussion process, whether it's in groups of two or five. Use the "fishbowl" approach and have students model the process.

Teach collaboration and communication skills by grouping students into pairs, triads, quads, or quintets, and practice. Pose engaging topics. For example: Should there be recess or no recess? What are the traits of a good teacher? What makes lessons engaging? Discuss a hot topic that's currently in the news, but as always be selective to avoid something too controversial or divisive. Finally, practice, practice, practice.

Day 4

Now students are ready to learn, so it's time to go back to the students' perceptions. It's important to be explicitly clear about the learning and why the students need to learn the content. What's the relevance to the students? When will they apply the new knowledge and how? This is all part of creating smooth processes and procedures, leaving nothing to chance. For instance, with bell work, students' questions likely will include the following:

"What is it; why are we doing it?"

"What do I do when I'm finished with it?"

"What if I just got here and haven't even started the bell work and the teacher is collecting it?"

"Does it count for or against my grade?"

Day 5

It's time to engage the learners and dive into the very first lesson of the school year. You've prepared meticulously and everything is ready to go. You've asked and answered the questions:

What am I going to do to engage students in the content to help them see the relevance of learning this concept?

What connections do they already have to the content?

Will I start with a story? Video? Article? What materials will I need?

What structures are in place for them to discuss and process their new learning?

How will I know that everyone understands the concepts or processes throughout the lesson?

How will they practice their new learning in some form of application?

How should I wrap up the lesson and begin building the bridge to tomorrow's, so that they are eager to return and learn more.

Go Slow to Go Fast

The adage "go slow to go fast" was written for teachers beginning a new school year. If you take your time to intentionally teach every procedure and process that might come up during a regular school day, with nothing left to chance, you're simply adding days of instruction back into your semester or school year, because everything has been spelled out, practiced, and reviewed, so that you won't need to use instructional time to explain simple structures.

Every school's expectations for the first few days are a little different. Some schools have preassessments that teachers must conduct, some have benchmarking assessments, and others have specific academic expectations.

Regardless of what those required expectations are for your school, you want to explicitly teach, review, practice, and enjoy your new learning community. Being prepared before the first day can help ensure that you can meet these goals and have a productive and rewarding school year.

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Nothing is more important than building a strong relationship with your students. John C. Maxwell, who, according to Inc. magazine, is "widely considered to be one of the world's top leadership thinkers," said, "Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

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A three-phase process helps build strong teacher-student bonds, which can reduce disruptive behavior.

©Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

It's a daunting but all-too-common sight for many teachers: A classroom full of rowdy students who are unable to focus on the lesson. Classroom management techniques may get things back on track, but valuable time has already been lost.

Many experienced teachers know that making meaningful connections with students is one of the most effective ways to prevent disruptions in the first place, and a new study set out to assess this approach. In classrooms where teachers used a series of techniques centered around establishing, maintaining, and restoring relationships, academic engagement increased by 33 percent and disruptive behavior decreased by 75 percent-making the time students spent in the classroom more worthwhile and productive.

"Strong teacher-student relationships have long been considered a foundational aspect of a positive school experience," explains Clayton Cook, the lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Minnesota. When those relationships are damaged, student well-being may be affected, leading to academic and behavioral problems.

In the study, teachers used an approach called Establish-Maintain-Restore to build positive interactions with students-a total of 220 in fourth and fifth grade-and boost their sense of belonging. (A follow-up study with middle school teachers used the same strategies, with similar results.) Relationship-building was broken down into three phases: the first meeting, maintenance throughout the school year, and points when a relationship may suffer damage, with useful strategies for each phase.

Since it can be easy for some students to fall through the cracks, a relationship reflection form-like the one we share here-can help teachers take notes on each individual student and highlight ones who need the most attention.

Starting on a Positive Note

At the start of the school year, the teachers in the study made time for establishing relationships. "The goal is to ensure all students feel a sense of belonging that is characterized by trust, connection, and understanding," Cook and his colleagues explain. For students with learning or behavioral problems, cultivating positive relationships provided "protective effects" that helped them stay focused on learning.

"Bank time" with students. Schedule one-on-one meetings with students to get to know them better. The goal is to "make deposits into the relationship" to help ease conflict in the future if you have to give constructive feedback or address disruptive behavior.

Encourage student-led activities. Students feel more invested in their learning if given opportunity to share their interests. Teachers can step aside, be supportive, and listen.

Welcome students into the classroom. Activities such as positive greetings at the door and icebreaker questions help create a warm classroom culture.

Use positive communication techniques. Open-ended questions, reflective listening, validation statements, expressions of enthusiasm or interest, and compliments help students-especially shy or introverted ones-ease into classroom discussions.

To establish positive relationships, teachers can:

Maintaining Relationships

Without active maintenance, relationships deteriorate over time, the study authors point out. Teachers may focus too much on academics and not enough on supporting students' emotional well-being, slowly using up the banked time they initially built up with students.

Take note of positive and negative interactions with students. Teachers should aim for a five-to-one ratio.

Regularly check in with students. Ask how they're doing and what support they may need. In an Edutopia article, Todd Finley explains how 5x5 assessment time helped him focus on a handful of students every day.

Acknowledge good behavior. When teachers focus attention on positive conduct, disruptive behavior is stemmed before it becomes an issue.

Teachers can maintain relationships by continuing to implement the strategies above, and in addition they can:

Repairing Harm Before Things Get Worse

Eventually, negative interactions such as misunderstandings, conflict, or criticism can weaken a teacher-student relationship. If these negative interactions are left unaddressed, students may feel disengaged and be less willing to participate in activities. They may also be more likely to misbehave, creating further damage. So it's important for teachers to "intentionally reconnect" with students to restore the relationship to a positive state.

Let go and start fresh. Teachers should avoid holding mistakes over a student's head, instead giving them a chance to start each day with a clean slate.

Take responsibility for their actions. Teachers can avoid blaming students when things go wrong, and think, "What could I have done to avoid the problem in the first place?" They shouldn't be afraid to apologize when that's called for-doing so helps build trust with students.

Show empathy. There are two sides to every story, and a teacher can acknowledge that students may have a different perspective about what happened.

Focus on solutions, not problems. Teachers can work with students to find a solution that everyone feels is fair.

Separate the deed from the doer. It's important to criticize the behavior, not the person. If teachers label children as "problem students," there's a danger that they'll internalize that label, making it more likely that they'll repeat the behavior in the future.

When relationships need repair, teachers can:

The takeaway: Effective classroom management starts with relationship building. When students feel a greater sense of belonging, they're more likely to be academically engaged and demonstrate positive behavior.

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The Key to Effective Classroom Management

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A three-phase process helps build strong teacher-student bonds, which can reduce disruptive behavior.

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Listen to my interview with Michael Linsin here or read a full transcript.

When I was a teacher, classroom management was not my strongest suit. I relied heavily on forming good relationships with my students, thereby preventing misbehavior. This worked about 90 percent of the time; I really didn't have a whole lot of behavior problems. Unfortunately, the way I dealt with that other 10 percent was rather haphazard: Far too often, I defaulted to the "Wait till there's a problem, then react" mode.

If I had known about Michael Linsin back then, if I'd had access to the stockpiles of advice he shares on his website, Smart Classroom Management , I would have done things differently.

For you, though, it's not too late. If you haven't already discovered Michael Linsin or Smart Classroom Management, this will be a good day for you. Because a few weeks ago, Michael and I spent close to an hour talking on Skype. I asked him to share his advice for teachers implementing a classroom management plan for the school year.

For those who want the quick version, I have pulled the four most important points he made-four keys to setting up and implementing a classroom management plan so that it really works-and summarized them here.

My biggest classroom management mistake was that "wait and see" mentality I mentioned before. I never really had a clear plan, and I don't remember ever giving more than a few minutes to explaining my rules and procedures to students. Honestly, I didn't want them to think I was mean, or boring, or lame. I wanted to talk about the good stuff on day 1, not bog students down with a bunch of negativity.

And year after year, that bit me in the butt. It's not that I had badly behaved students, but my lack of clear structure made my job way harder than it had to be. If I'd set up and communicated a clear behavior plan at the beginning of each year, I know I would have enjoyed teaching a lot more.

A classroom management plan should not be complicated. All you need are rules and consequences.

Classroom Rules

Linsin recommends creating a short, simple list of rules. "It's important just to think about how you can protect your students' right to learn and also protect your freedom to teach. You want to think about all those behaviors from your experience that are interfering with those two goals, and you create a set of rules as boundaries that protect that freedom."

In his basic classroom management plan , Linsin recommends including the following rules:

1. Listen and follow directions.

2. Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat.

3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.

4. Respect your classmates and your teacher.

Now I'll tell you this: I have always had my doubts about simple lists like this, because I felt they were way too open to interpretation (and misinterpretation). Too much gray area. But that's because I didn't understand how to effectively implement a simple list of rules. Now I do, and I'm going to get into that in Key 2. But first, the consequences.

Classroom Consequences

To accompany the simple list of classroom rules, Linsin recommends a short sequence of consequences for breaking the rules:

1. Warning

2. Time-out

3. Letter home

Linsin acknowledges that these rules and consequences are pretty standard, and he does not insist that all teachers stick to his specific choices. "There is no magic in the rules and consequences themselves," he says. "It's how you present them and then how you fulfill them."

That's where the magic starts to happen.

This is not the same as "going over" the rules. That's just reading off a list and basically telling students what you expect. While that's better than nothing, it isn't enough. If you want students to really understand exactly how they should behave and exactly what will happen if they don't, you need to teach your behavior plan as you would any other piece of content. The bulk of this, Linsin says, can be accomplished through detailed modeling of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.

"Model those rules so there are no misunderstandings about what they mean, and what behaviors they cover. You would model from your perspective as the teacher and as a student, so you may be sitting in a student's chair with the students surrounding you showing them precisely how to raise their hands."

Linsin urges teachers to be excruciatingly specific in this modeling. "The more detailed you are, even to a ridiculous degree," he says, "the more effective and powerful it is. I may show them the actual bend in the elbow of how to raise their hand, the finger placement..."

And after you model the behavior, have the students model it back for you. "You may have the whole class showing you how to raise their hand, how to get up to get a tissue. You may have one model, and then you'll have five model, and then you'll have them all model at the same time."

Although this kind of detailed teaching takes time at the beginning of the year, it ultimately saves you time and frustration later. And it may not be necessary to teach ALL the rules on the very first day. "Let's say you have time to only model one rule," Linsin says. "If you model it in a highly detailed way, it transfers. They begin to understand that you're going to expect that with everything. The first routine you teach of the year, you want to teach the heck out of it, to a remarkable, ridiculous level, because you're not so much teaching the routine, you're teaching how to do things the right way. You're teaching excellence. You're setting the tone of 'This is how we do it here. We do things the right way, and we pursue excellence in everything we do.'"

When it's time to enforce your rules and consequences, establish some professional distance between you and your students. Execute your plan without getting emotional about it. Linsin advises teachers to be "incredibly personable with the students, and build really close relationships, but when it comes to classroom management, you're an unfeeling robot almost. Or a referee on a football field. You call them like you see them."

For a lot of teachers, this is easier said than done. I know it was for me. When students misbehaved, I did kind of take it personally. My heart believed that if they respected me, if they cared about me, then they wouldn't talk when I was talking, they wouldn't fool around when they were supposed to be doing something else. It upset me, and I'm sure that showed on my face and in my voice. It added an extra layer of tension and compounded the problem, making the interaction more about the student and me than about the behavior.

It would be far more effective for teachers to train themselves to perceive misbehavior the way Linsin does.

"It's not me," he tells himself. "It's a choice they're making, and there's a consequence for that choice. I'm not going to take it personally. I'm not going to feel like that student is doing that because of me."

He urges teachers to treat infractions quickly and with no emotion. "I believe in never lecturing, scolding, any of that kind of stuff, because every time you do it, it just makes managing your classroom more difficult."

Although making sure students have razor-sharp clarity of your behavior plan is essential, it's just as important to make students want to be in your class.

"You have to sell your program," Linsin explains. "My number one goal is not that at the end of the day that they know the rules and consequences. It's that they're happy and excited to be part of the class. That they run home to their parents and say, 'Oh my gosh. I have the best teacher. I have this awesome class. We're going to do this and that this year. It's going to be great.' Because that's what's going to give you the leverage. The classroom management secret is to create a classroom that students love being a part of."

So spend lots of time that first day getting students excited about the year, about the learning they're going to do and the community they will create. "The idea of classroom management, of my website, is not just to get through the day," Linsin says. "It's to create an experience those students will remember for a lifetime ." ♦

Michael Linsin is the author of several books on Classroom Management: Dream Class , The Classroom Management Secret , and The Happy Teacher Habits *. His most recent publication is an e-book, The Smart Classroom Management Plan For High School Teachers .

* Some of these are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I get a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you.

There's a lot more where this came from.
Join the Cult of Pedagogy mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration-in quick, bite-sized packages-all geared toward making your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to my members-only library of free downloadable resources, including my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, which has helped thousands of teachers spend less time grading. If you are already a subscriber and want this resource, just check your most recent email for a link to the Members-Only Library-it's in there!

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Classroom Management: 4 Keys to Starting the Year off Right

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How to set up and implement a classroom behavior plan that really works, with advice from Smart Classroom Management's Michael Linsin.

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
If you struggle with classroom management no matter how many different strategies you try, there's a good chance you might be doing something to get in your own way. In this post I wrote for MiddleWeb, I explain how each one of these teacher mistakes can cause problems for you, and what you can do instead.

Read the full post HERE.

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Are You Sabotaging Your Classroom Management?

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If you struggle with classroom management no matter how many different strategies you try, there's a chance you're doing something to get in your own way.

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These visual and audio cues can help middle and high school teachers quickly get students back on track.

For many new teachers, classroom management can be one of the biggest obstacles to achieving success.

Without a toolbox of strategies to get students' attention, raising your voice may feel like the only option when students are engaged in a loud activity or simply not meeting expectations. To avoid creating a negative classroom culture, which ultimately impedes learning, new teachers, or teachers facing new circumstances in this less than ideal school year, can employ these attention-getters.

For each of the attention-getters below, it's important to explicitly teach students what your expectations are for how they should respond. For older students, it will likely take only a few minutes for you to demonstrate the attention-getter and share your expectations-voices are off, eyes are on the board, etc.

7 Effective Attention-Getters

1. The Clap-In (or Snap-In): The clap-in is a classic attention-getter for good reason! While many teachers resort to raising their voices when the classroom gets too loud, clapping provides an equally noticeable but far more positive way to get students' attention. To use a clap-in, simply pick a pattern to clap and have students repeat it back. As more students join in, the clap gets spread across the room until all students are participating in the clap and ending their conversations.

There are a few ways to make this more interesting for students. One option is starting with a clap and switching to snaps. This requires students to be even quieter to be able to hear the pattern you snap and then repeat it. You can also select a student to lead the clap-in or snap-in to build further investment in the attention-getter. Finally, rather than making up your own pattern, you can work with your students to design a unique clap-in or snap-in pattern for your class.

2. Give Me Five: This is a great option that not only helps bring students' attention back to you but also provides an opportunity for them to work together to get everyone back on track. For this attention-getter, raise your hand high so that students can see you. As each student sees the signal, they will also raise their hand. This will continue to spread until all students are silently raising their hands and looking to you for further directions.

To make this more exciting, I have timed my students to see how long it takes for everyone to raise their hand and then challenged them to beat their time. This has been a very efficient way to get the attention of all students without even using my voice at all.

3. Class-Wide Countdown: This strategy is similar to Give Me Five, as it has a cascade effect across the classroom when students join in to bring their attention back to the teacher.

To employ this strategy, the teacher begins a countdown, generally from 10, but teachers can make adjustments as needed for their individual groups; and as students hear the countdown, they join in until all students are participating. Once the entire class reaches zero, all students are silent and have their attention back on the teacher.

4. Call-and-Response: Using a call-and-response is another easy way to get students' attention, as they will have to not only listen to join in but also stop any side conversations in order to provide the accurate response. This attention-getter provides lots of room for creativity that both teachers and students can use to make the calls-and-responses best suited for them.

It's beneficial to involve students in the process of creating these calls-and-responses and then practice how they sound and what students are expected to do when they hear them-similar to the Clap/Snap-In.

5. Timer/Song: This strategy uses other sounds rather than a teacher's voice to get attention and relies on a specific timed activity.

I use this strategy if I have given my students a group or partner task to complete for a specific amount of time. When they start, I begin the timer or song (instrumental works best!), and by the time the timer or song goes off, students are expected to end their conversations and return their attention to me. The timer works best for potentially louder group activities, while the song is a great option for a slightly quieter partner activity.

6. Hit the Lights: This strategy is one I use only when I need student attention immediately back up front on me. Just like the theater signal that a performance is about to begin, a quick flash of the lights can alert students that something is about to happen. I explicitly explain to them that a quick flash of the lights means that they need to turn off their voices and track me.

I often use this strategy if students are working in groups and I only need to remind them of one quick piece of information but plan to let them return to working at their previous noise level.

7. Sound Effects: This strategy can be a more fun way to get student attention but one that must be explicitly taught so that students can be mature and meet expectations when it's used.

For this strategy, the teacher should identify a sound-I like to use this one -that will quickly get student attention and play the sound when needed. My students know that when they hear the sound, they are expected to be in their seats, silently tracking me for directions.

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7 Attention-Getters to Use Instead of Raising Your Voice

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These visual and audio cues can help middle and high school teachers quickly get students back on track.

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The Week of Inspirational Maths (WIM) resources are free lessons and videos about math and mindset designed to inspire students. I use the classic because the lessons are already designed with videos and tasks.

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Choose your own maths adventure with our interactive tools that allow you to build a custom playlist of inspirational activities!

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Routines and procedures to teach your students

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Routines and procedures to teach your students

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When students help each other in the classroom, they gain confidence and independence-and you get to keep on teaching.

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Icebreakers that Rock | Cult of Pedagogy

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Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don’t really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.

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Classroom icebreakers for middle school & high school. Ideas for social distancing icebreakers, virtual classroom icebreakers, & cool icebreaker games.

It's that time of year again...back to school is right around the corner!

Q: Have you figured out what you're going to do in your class on the first day of school?

A: A classroom ice breaker!

Well look no further, teacher friend! I've got all kinds of classroom ice breaker ideas for you, including classroom ice breakers with social distancing, virtual classroom ice breakers, and even some "old-fashioned" ice breaker games! [Remember when students use to sneeze on each other and we didn't freak out? Sigh, those were the days!]

How do Icebreakers Work?

Why should you use a classroom ice breaker anyway? Sure, they fill time on the first day of school, but there are other reasons too!

Well thought out classroom ice breakers at their core are team building exercises. You and your students are going to be spending a lot of time together so it is important to provide opportunities early in the year to begin developing and encouraging classroom connections and relationships.

Likewise, ice breakers set the tone for the room and your teaching approach. An ice breaker activity on the first day of school shows students that you value group work, collaboration, and communication. Icebreakers allow students to practice these skills while building a sense of classroom community.

What are Good Highschool & Middle School Icebreakers?

Before we get into the examples, there can be two big problems with classroom icebreakers:

1. You are probably not the first teacher (and likely won't be the last) to do an icebreaker activity on the first day of school. Students (understandbly) can find the activity "boring" and overused if they've seen it too many times before. << This will lead to less enthusiasm, engagement ...and you being labelled "lame" - *gasp!*

2. Some icebreakers make some students feel uncomfortable. I know I personally hate it at PD sessions when we have to go around in a circle and say 3 things about ourselves. Some students do not want to share personal information for whatever reason. << Keep this in mind when choosing classroom icebreaker activities.

Research suggests the best classroom icebreakers for high school & middle school:

are relevant to the class.

have a specific objective or task.

are low risk - that is, participants don't need to do or reveal anything embarrassing.

Keeping that in mind, I've listed some ice breaker ideas for you broken down into 3 categories:

1. CLASSROOM ICEBREAKERS WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING

2. VIRTUAL CLASSROOM ICEBREAKERS

3. COOL ICEBREAKER GAMES

I've also made two FREE CLASSROOM ICEBREAKERS for you! A "Draw your alien avatar" activity and, my personal fave, a scavenger hunt! Scroll down to learn more!

Customize them to suit your high school or middle school classroom needs! 🙂

CLASSROOM ICEBREAKERS WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING

Snowball Fight Ice Breaker

Have hand sanitizer handy for this one!

Have each student use hand sanitizer.

Invite students to write 2-3 things about themselves on a piece of paper, then crumple it.

Then have each student stay in their "spot," remaining a socially acceptable distance a part and without touching their face, have a "snowball fight" with the crumpled papers for about 1 minute.

Give students another round of hand sanitizer

The teacher can then go around the room, picking random "snowballs" to read out loud. No comments neccessary, but ask students to make a mental note of any similarities between the items on the paper and themselves.

Ok, I know this ice breaker idea goes against point #2 above, but hear me out. The snowball fight aspect makes the sharing of the facts anonymous, which removes some of the pressure. Also, in this version of the game students don't try to guess who wrote what. Students are just looking for similarities between themselves and their classmates.

2 Truths, 1 Lie Ice Breaker | Teacher Answers Only!

Before hand, the teacher writes groups of 3 statements each about themselves. In each group there are 2 true statements and 1 lie. Depending how much time you want to devote to this activity, create 5 or so groups of statements.

Teacher reads the 3 statements, 1 group at a time.

Students record on their piece of paper

The teacher can decide whether students are able to ask questions to fish out the lie.

Review the statements and discuss the truths & lies!

Draw Your Alien Avatar Classroom Ice Breaker

This icebreaker activity is done independently and is a low risk method for students to share about themselves.

Give each student a piece of blank paper and explain that they will be drawing their personalized alien avatar based on their answers to a set of questions.

Some example questions could be:

If your birthday is in an even month, draw 2 eyes. If your birthday is an odd month, draw 1 eye.

Which do you prefer, spaghetti or pizza? If spaghetti, give your alien 8 limbs. If pizza, give your alien 4 limbs.

If you have pets, draw a gymnosperm for your alien. If you don't have pets, draw an angiosperm. << this ties in some vocab for a science class.

When finished, display the alien avatars in your classroom. Make names optional.

Students can browse the gallery and see how many of their classmates share similarities (ex. prefer pizza over spaghetti) without singling out individual students.

LEGO Build Ice Breaker

This is another independent activity that can be customized to reflect a subject covered in your course!

Give each student 10-15 pieces of LEGO. If possible, make them all the same but if not that's ok!

Give them something to build with their LEGO pieces that is related to your class. A grade 9 math example could be fractions or solving one step linear equations. A grade 9 science example could be an animal cell with cell organelles. Grade 10, 11 or 12 science could be types of chemical reactions or distance time graph.

Debrief of this ice breaker could be:

Student volunteers explain to the class how their LEGO model reflects the topic.

Each student takes a picture of their LEGO creation and sends it to the teacher along with a written explanation. These images could be shared next class.

Same as above, but done with pencil-paper.

Classroom Poll Icebreaker

This ice breaker idea will require app use on the first day of school, which is only for the bravest teachers among us!

Create your set of questions on a digital app like Kahoot or Google Forms.

Include a mix of "fun" questions, like which superpower would you prefer: flying, invisibility or making other people freeze?

But also questions that relate to your course. For grade 9 science, which do you prefer, elements compounds & mixtures worksheets or cool science experiments?

Share the link with students to answer on their devices and give them time to complete the poll.

Share the results with the class. What was the most popular superpower?

VIRTUAL CLASSROOM ICEBREAKERS

Quoted Ice Breaker

This ice breaker is easy to tailor to your class!

Set up a page on your online learning platform for a virtual classroom discussion.
On the page include about a 12-15 quotes, myths, facts or memes relating to your course. This could be quotes from Albert Einstein for grade 10 science ("The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious"), or atoms and molecules joke for grade 9 science.

Invite students to type their reactions to 3-4 of the items.

Do they agree with the statement?

What does it make them think of?

Was the meme funny? Why?

Is the statement fact or fiction? Why?

Also ask students to reply to 2-3 comments from other students.

Depending on your virtual classroom setup, these posts could be anonymous if you wanted to decrease the pressure of sharing.

Draw an Unidentified Object

This is not another alien ice breaker activity! It will require your digital learning platform to have breakout room capabilities.

Partner students in groups of 2-4. These groups will be sent to the virtual breakout rooms.

Send one person in each group an image that relates to your course. For example, in grade 9 math this could be a specific type of graph, or in grade 9 science an animal or plant cell.

This student will provide instructions over the computer to guide the others in the group to draw the image.

Provide a list of words the student can not use when giving their instructions. For the grade 9 math example they can't use the terms x-axis or y-axis, for the grade 9 science example they can't use the specific names of cell organelles (nucleus, mitochondria, etc).

After a set amount of time, even if students aren't finished, have them share their drawings over video conference - and let them see the original!

The next 3 classroom icebreakers also work as activities with social distancing in highschool and middle school. See the CLASSROOM ICEBREAKERS WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING category above for details.

2 Truths, 1 Lie Ice Breaker | Teacher Answers Only!

^^^ See directions above in Classroom Icebreakers with Social Distancing category.
Modifications for online learning:

Teacher gives the statements over Zoom or Google Meet & students record (at home) which statement is the lie.

Answers discussed online over Zoom or Google Meet.

Draw Your Alien Avatar Ice Breaker

^^^ See directions above in Classroom Icebreakers with Social Distancing category.
Modifications for digital learning:

Instructions & questions are given digitally.

Students can take a photo of their alien and send it to the teacher, anonymously if they wish, or share it on an online classroom platform

Classroom Icebreaker Poll

^^^ See directions above in Classroom Icebreakers with Social Distancing category.
Modifications for remote learning:

Instructions & questions are given digitally.

Results are shared online.

COOL CLASSROOM ICEBREAKER GAMES

Scavenger Hunt Classroom Icebreaker

This is one of my faves! It's a quick ice breaker to set up and gets students moving around the classroom (or school!).

Create a list of 20-25 things specific to your classroom and/or school.

Divide the class into groups of 2-3 students.

Have them find all items on the list. For example,

List of laboratory safety rules for grade 9 science

Grade 10 science classroom number

Alge tiles in grade 9 math

School mascot

Depending on the nature of the objects, you may have students return with the item, or just take a picture of themselves with it.

Who am I...?

You've maybe played a version of this ice breaker game before. Be sure to make it relevant to your course!

Tape a vocabulary term or name with a connection to your course to the back of each student.
For example, steps of meiosis, examples of physical and chemical changes, types of chemical reactions.

Then have students circulate the room, asking each other yes and no questions to identify the phrase/name on their back.

This can be used as a review activity too!

Quoted IceBreaker

This was mentioned in the virtual classroom icebreakers section, but it works in person too with a few modifications!

Print on slips of paper about 30 different quotes, myths, facts or memes relating to your course. This could be quotes from Albert Einstein for grade 10 science ("The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious"), or atoms and molecules joke for grade 9 science.
Cut all 30 slips and place them in the center of the room.

Have each student pick up 1 slip of paper then take a few moments to read and reflect on it.

Sort of like musical chairs, have students circulate around the room while music is playing. When the music stops, discuss what is written on their slip of paper with a person nearby.

Do they agree with the statement?

What does it make them think of?

Was the meme funny? Why?

Is the statement fact or fiction? Why?

Remember, to avoid boredom and encourage a little enthusiasm in high school & middle school try to make the classroom icebreaker you choose relevant to your course, have a specific task and/or is low risk for participants.

I would love to hear about how you customize these classroom ice breaker activities for your highschool and middle school classes! Share them with me by tagging numbers.to.neurons.

Good luck teaching out there, and keep that hand sanitizer close!

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Classroom Icebreakers: Don't Be Lame, Use No Cheese Activities & Games!

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Classroom icebreakers for middle school & high school. Ideas for social distancing icebreakers, virtual classroom icebreakers, & cool icebreaker games. It's that time of year again...back to school is right around the corner! Q: Have you figured out what you're going to do in your class on the first day of school?

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A strong sense of classroom community is your greatest asset in secondary school. The key to any safe, welcoming, and productive work environment is communication. This is why I introduce icebreakers for high school students during the first week of school. We've played a ton of popular icebreakers for teens , and this blog post will share some student favorites!

It might seem unproductive to spend more than one block of instructional time on icebreaker activities. But if you're trying to cultivate a classroom culture where students engage with one another and participate in your lessons, then opportunities to engage really matter.

When it comes to icebreakers for high school students, it'simportant to have a goal in mind. Are you looking for a fun way to learn students' names? Or are you hoping to develop team-building skills? Perhaps you just want to get students talking with one another. This can help you decide which icebreaker game would work best for your classroom.

As a rule, it's mindful to avoid anything that excludes students, undermines their intelligence, or demands too much vulnerability. Transitioning to high school is challenging enough; expecting students to open up to new peers does not make it any easier. Although competitive games are fun for some students, they're generally not as fun for everyone; the goal, then, is to facilitate activities that are inclusive, engaging, and team-building.

Here are a few of my favorite icebreakers for high school students :

Speed-Meeting Icebreaker Activity

This game involves icebreaker questions for high school students . To play, you can choose from a few options: you can either seat studentsin pairs at a circle of desks or create new groups of students at the beginning of each class.

Option One: Seat students in pairs at a circle of desks. Place a few icebreaker questions suitable for teenagers at each desk and set a timer. Students can have a set amount of time to discuss the icebreaker questions before rotating to a new station with new questions. I find the easiest way to do this is to have students in the inner circle move to the left after the first round, then have the students in the outer circle move to the right after the next round, etc.

Option Two: For the first few days of school, create new groups of students at the start of class. Select a new set of icebreaker questions for each day, and have different groups of students discuss them. This is a great option if you'd like to incorporate icebreaker activities over an extended period of time.

The key to this icebreaker activity is to select icebreaker questions that students will feel comfortable answering. This includes 30 engaging and age-appropriate icebreaker questions that are organized into ready-to-print activity sheets. You can also use the card deck template to create a deck of cards.

If you have any students who are reluctant to participate, you can provide them with these icebreaker questions ahead of time so that they can prepare answers that they feel comfortable sharing.

Fun Fact Scavenger Hunt

Here's a great icebreaker activity for freshmen to help them get to know staff within the school. To prepare for this scavenger hunt, select a group of teachers and staff members that are likely to interact with freshmen students. Each staff member can share a fun fact about themselves to contribute to the scavenger hunt.

Students can then work in groups or individually to identify the staff member that shared each fun fact. This scavenger hunt can be completed outside of class. Alternatively, you can provide students with permission to complete the scavenger hunt during class hours - the latter option offers students the opportunity to explore other classrooms and feel oriented with the school.

Collaborative Playlist

Teenagers are notoriously reluctant to overshare. One way to help them let down their guard is to allow them to express their identities through music preferences. Allow each student to select a song to contribute to a class playlist.

This icebreaker for high school students doubles as a writing activity. Get your students to write a short paragraph about what the song means to them. I typically reserve their written paragraphs for myself as I find this to be a great way to build confidentiality and trust with students; given the personal nature of music, I find this activity works best when students aren't required to share their responses.

After you've built this playlist, you can modify it by finding clean versions of any songs with explicit language. Then, use this playlist during classwork periods or downtime.

"Find Your Partner" Ice Breaker

This icebreaker game for teens will activate students' inquiry-based learning skills and give them the opportunity to talk to their classmates. To start, write down a list of items or identities that often appear as pairs. Some examples include salt and pepper, Romeo and Juliet, the sun and the moon, peanut butter and jelly, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, etc.

To play, each student in your class will assume the role of the item or identity you provide them with. You can even have students make their own from paper and glue and then adhere their identity with velcro or tape. This role is kept secret, and the goal of this icebreaker game is for each student to communicate to find their matching partner. To do so, students can ask yes or no questions about anything other than the name of their classmate's role: for example, they can't ask "are you the sun?" or "does your name rhyme with bun?"

If you have an uneven number of students, you can include a trio into the mix: so for example, you can have one set that includes red, yellow, and blue (primary colors) or stop, drop, and roll. Informing students that there is a trio can up the ante by making this icebreaker more challenging.

These are perfect for facilitating this "Find Your Partner" icebreaker game. You can continue to use this resource throughout the school year to pair partners at random for classroom activities and assignments. This resource also includes a headband template so that students can adhere their identity to their forehead.

Collaborative Story Writing

I especially love this option for freshmen and junior students in the English Language Arts classroom. For this icebreaker activity, you need a transcriber, a timer, and a method to transcribe - I find that a word-processing device works best for this.

Students have a set amount of time to write a story based on a writing prompt - you can have a student create the prompt or select one from a list of pre-made writing prompts . Each student will add a sentence that relates to the sentence written by the student before them. They can say the sentence out loud while the transcriber notes it; alternatively, you can create a shared Google Doc® that enables each student to write down their sentence when it is their turn. Remind them not to worry too much about what they write - the whole point of this activity is to have fun.

When the last student has contributed a line to the story, you can loop back to the student who contributed the first sentence and continue to pass the responsibility along until the timer runs out. Whoever is the last one to contribute to the story must write a conclusion to tie the story together. You can then have a student volunteer read the entire story aloud.

Self-Serve Seating Plan

This icebreaker activity promotes critical thinking and group collaboration. The goal of this game is for students to arrange themselves according to the seating plan you provide. Some ideas include having students sit in alphabetical order or by date of birth. I typically make the instructions vague so that the problem-solving is left up to them.

If you have students sit in alphabetical order, it is a great opportunity to help with memorizing names. You can even keep this seating arrangement for the first few days of school to support this process as you observe the natural dynamics of the class before changing the seating arrangement.

For a fun twist, you can challenge students to communicate non-verbally while they arrange the seating plan. This twist is possible if you have students arrange themselves by height or distance traveled to school.

Icebreaker Bingo

I love using this icebreaker game as a get-to-know-you activity. To create a bingo card for your class list, you can start out with a student survey to collect some information about your students. Be sure to preface this activity with the fact that you'll be sharing fun facts about them so that they don't assume the form to be confidential.

Alternatively, you can create a bingo card using generic facts that can apply to several different students in your class. Examples can include: "this student is the oldest child in their family," or "this student speaks three languages."

Once you've created your bingo card template, you can provide a copy to each student and have them circulate the room to engage with their classmates. When they've found someone to whom the fact on the bingo sheet applies, they can write that student's name down in the box.

A Meme Tells a Thousand Words

This icebreaker game will have students share their thoughts about class content through the vehicle of a meme. To play this game, you can search for memes or royalty-free images that express different reactions. Students can select the meme or image that best represents their thoughts on the subject that you teach. Alternatively, you can find royalty-free photographs that elicit a similar response.

Place the memes and images around the classroom. When students enter the room, you can instruct them to circulate and observe each image or meme to identify the one that best describes how they feel about the subject you teach.

Once they've selected the image, you can group them together based on their selection and have them discuss their answers with their peers. This provides students with the opportunity to interact with like-minded peers; additionally, this is a great time for you to circulate the room, to join in on conversations by reflectively listening, and to show your support to students by validating their comments or concerns.

Fun icebreakers for high school students can be hard to come by. High school students are often reluctant to overshare. This is especially true for freshmen that are intimidated by their new environment, or seniors that prefer to keep to themselves. But the right icebreaker can make an immense difference in your learning environment by breaking through these mindsets.

I hope this list of icebreaker activities for teens helps you foster a supportive and inclusive classroom culture this year. For more ideas for the 2021-2022 back-to-school season, check out my blog post on 8 Strategies for Starting a New School Year.

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Back-to-School Icebreakers for High School Students

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Here are a few of my favorite icebreakers for high school. These icebreaker activities for teenagers are engaging and age-appropriate.

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Number talks were developed for classroom teachers to engage students in "mental math" through grappling with interesting mathematics problems. Educators can use number talks regularly as introductions to the day's mathematical practice, as "warm ups" for other lessons, or as stand-alone extended engagements with mathematical concepts. The teachers in these videos are from schools participating in the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative.

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Number talks were developed for classroom teachers to engage students in "mental math" through grappling with interesting mathematics problems. Educators can use number talks regularly as introductions to the day's mathematical practice, as "warm ups" for other lessons, or as stand-alone extended engagements with mathematical concepts.

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Building Positive Relationships with Students: What Science Says

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Building Positive Relationships with Students: What Science Says

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https://www.understood.org/en/articles/brain-science-says-4-reasons-to-build-positive-relationships-with-students

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Students' brains are hard at work every moment of the day, learning skills and connecting new information with old. Those same brains are also constantly processing information when it comes to their relationship with you, their teacher.

Positive student relationships are fundamental to success. When students feel supported, they're more likely to engage in learning and have better academic outcomes. Plus, when students have positive interactions with teachers, they have fewer behavioral problems. These relationships are more important - and more challenging - than ever in uncertain times, like during the coronavirus pandemic.

Neuroscience can help us understand what's happening in students' brains when they feel safe and understood. Here are four reasons why positive teacher-student relationships are important - and how you can build those relationships.

1. Positive relationships build motivation.

This creates a cycle. You provide positive feedback. The student's brain releases dopamine. The student feels good and is motivated to feel that way again. With this increased motivation, students spend more time and attention working on a skill. They build those skills. You give more praise - sparking the release of more dopamine. And the cycle starts all over again.

On the flip side, when students don't receive positive feedback, they're less likely to enter the positive cycle of motivation and learning.

How to do it: To build a positive relationship, you need to have more positive interactions than negative ones. More specifically, researchers recommend having five positive interactions for every one negative interaction. Positive interactions could include greeting students by name as they arrive, giving praise for working hard, or asking about a student's pet.

Students who learn and think differently often have more negative interactions than positive ones. For example, students with ADHD may receive constant reminders from teachers to be on time and stay on task.

This doesn't mean that you should never provide students with corrective feedback and reminders. But make sure the positive interactions outweigh the negative ones. The more you get to know your students, the more you'll recognize when they need praise or encouragement, and when they're open to constructive feedback. You can keep a tally of how many reminders you give a student to complete an assignment. Try to find five times as many positive things to comment on and tally up as well.

2. Positive relationships create safe spaces for learning.

Think about how this applies to your own life. If you have a supportive principal who has established psychological safety in your school, you might be more likely to challenge yourself and try new ideas in your classroom. But if school leaders consistently give critical feedback, you might not feel psychologically safe enough to try something new. It's the same for students.

Building psychological safety is harder with some students than others. Think of the last time you saw a student seeming to overreact. This behavior may result from trauma or chronic stress in the student's life (such as having a learning or thinking difference or growing up as part of a marginalized group). This can cause them to feel threatened in situations that other students find harmless. The brain learns that the environment is not safe and remains on alert to potential danger.

For these students, when something is perceived as a threat, a region of the brain called the amygdala sets off an alarm. The amygdala is known for its role in detecting threats in the environment. Its job is to keep us safe and alive. Think of an animal that must decide whether to run or freeze when it sees a predator.

The amygdala triggers the release of cortisol (also called the stress hormone) and epinephrine (also called adrenaline). This sends extra energy throughout the body. The muscles tense up and the heartbeat quickens, preparing for fight or flight. When the threat detection system in the brain is highly activated, learning cannot happen. This is the opposite of psychological safety.

In students, this might look like:

Avoiding assignments

Putting their head down

Yelling or making negative comments

Walking out of the classroom or leaving a live video lesson

Acting out physically or aggressively

While building psychological safety may be even more difficult with these students, it is especially important for them. That's because oxytocin also helps keep the amygdala's threat detection system quiet. Over time, when students are surrounded by people they trust, their threat detection system is less likely to activate, and they're better able to learn.

For students who are at risk for a fight-or-flight reaction, your approach will need to differ slightly. Use strategies like when-then sentences so they can know exactly what positive outcome to expect when they complete a task, while giving students the power of choice. Expect that they may overreact sometimes, and provide the space and time needed to calm down. By remaining calm, you're not only reminding yourself to react to their behavior as a form of communication and respond appropriately. You're also building psychological safety and trust.

3. Positive relationships build new pathways for learning.

As you teach the new information, new neural pathways connect the old information with the new. If students don't understand the context or aren't able to link the new information to anything they currently know, they'll have a hard time understanding the lesson.

Ask students to share what they know about a topic. Every student has a different set of background knowledge. For example, if you know a student is a talented artist, you can leverage their knowledge of different kinds of paintbrushes to explain friction. Or you can make an analogy about the relationship between the characters in a student's favorite book and the domestic strife in the Civil War.

4. Positive relationships improve student behavior.

Neuroscience research has started to uncover why this imitation happens - and how it can be used to encourage positive behaviors. Studies have shown that when people observe an action being performed, it activates some of the same neural pathways that would be active if they actually performed the action. This is called the mirror-neuron system.

Essentially, our brains are practicing the action that we're seeing, even though our bodies don't move. Studies show that when people see an action first, they are able to perform the action more quickly than if they had not seen the action.

How to do it: Start by thinking through what behaviors and social skills you're modeling for your students. For example, you likely already model social skills like turn-taking, cooperation, and empathy on a daily basis. You can take it a step further and explain the behaviors you're modeling. The next time you're feeling frustrated, tell your students how you're feeling. Talk about how you deal with frustration, such as taking a few deep breaths.

For younger students, use pre-correcting and prompting as a classroom management strategy. It allows you to explicitly tell, show, and remind students how to approach tasks or situations.

Young children are even more likely than adults to imitate the behaviors they see. That's because they're still learning social skills and appropriate behavior. Plus, the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that allows us to choose where to direct our attention and to regulate our behaviors and emotions) isn't fully developed until we're in our 20s. Childhood is a prime time to model behavior and social skills for students.

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Building positive relationships with students: What brain science says

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Brain science tells us why positive student relationships can lead to their success.

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Strategies for fostering relationships with middle and high school students starting on the first day of the school year and then growing them all year long.

Teachers often spend time early in the school year building relationships with students, but this needs to be a yearlong endeavor. To that end, the two of us, high school English teacher Kimberly and middle school English language arts and social studies teacher Sarah, teamed up to help new, and not so new, teachers with growing relationships over the long term.

The best way to begin building relationships is to learn students' names as quickly as possible. You might be the only adult in school in that student's day to use their name in a positive way, so there's great power in learning names quickly. During all activities on day one, we both quiz ourselves on students' names. Kim uses her roster to try to match names to faces and then during class puts it away to see how many she remembers. Sarah uses a yearbook to start matching faces with names, so that when students walk in, she can greet them by name. Ultimately the goal is to know students' names by the end of the first day. While we may not have learned all of the names by day two, we're well on our way to scoring 100 percent by the end of the week.

Additionally, we prioritize relationship-building activities on day one over traditional first-day activities such as giving pretests, going over a syllabus, or handing out textbooks. For example, we have students fill out a sheet with information such as their favorite and least favorite foods, any pets and their names, etc. This information can be the basis for a classmate trivia game, which is great to play during the days before a break.

As we continue to roll through week one and shift to academics, we create ways to continue building relationships through academic activities. We both teach ELA and use personal narrative writing, journaling, and sharing favorite books to build relationships and see where students are with their writing and reading.

Finding ways to get to know students in other content areas may require creativity. For social studies in the upcoming school year, Sarah plans on asking students to write their personal history or create a timeline of their life, perhaps sharing their favorite historical figure and explaining why they chose that person. Not only would something like this help teachers continue to get to know their students, but also it would help to build relationships among students and develop a sense of classroom community.

First Month

In the first month we work to learn at least one nonacademic fact about each student. Sometimes we do this in conjunction with academic activities, and other times we have a simple conversation during nonstructured moments.

For accountability, Kim uses the list of students at the end of month one and goes through the names and writes down everything she remembers about each student. Sarah makes sure to schedule time with her professional-learning community by the end of the first month to compare notes with her team. Both methods keep a focus on building relationships and help identify those students we might still need to connect with.

Keeping a Focus on Relationships the Rest of the Year

As the school year progresses, it's easy to end up focused on just the standards. It's equally important, however, to keep a focus on building relationships. We utilize the first few minutes of class to continue to learn about students.

Sarah uses the days-of-the-week activities to start the day. Tuesdays "This or That" or "Tuesday Thought" gets students excited to begin their day with a quick share. With Tuesdays "This or That," Sarah asks students for their opinions about two random but sometimes connected things (e.g., beach vacation or mountain vacation, reading or writing, PS4 or Xbox etc.), and students raise their hands to answer. We then spend a few minutes talking about the reason for their choice.

Tuesday's Thought consists of Sarah putting a quote on the board and students discussing its meaning and journaling about their connections to the quote. She'll often ask students to write how they can use that thought in their daily life.

Wednesdays are "wow facts." At the beginning of the year, students (who are comfortable) share a surprising fact about themselves, and on Wednesdays, Sarah puts one of these facts on the board. We are all amazed at what we find out about our classmates/students. For "Thankful Thursday," students write a quick note to someone they're thankful for and share it with that person. The difference that these notes have made is remarkable.

Kim uses a mix of activities to start class. Some days she asks a question, such as, "What is that one movie you can watch over and over again?" Students then share their answers with the entire class. Students who may not have an answer know it's OK to say that they don't know. This is similar to Sarah's "This or That" strategy. Another idea is to ask students to submit a link to a favorite (school-appropriate) song and start class by playing it. Students can then guess who picked that song. Regardless of what method you use, taking a few minutes at the start of class to develop a habit of connecting with students pays off throughout the year in student behaviors and productivity.

We as teachers know that it's the little things that go the distance when it comes to connecting with students. Being even-tempered, being predictable, or saying hello or good morning to start the students' day can make all the difference. When a teacher shows recognition to a student in the hallway, asks how their night (or game, concert, practice, etc.) went, or just listens, it can make all the difference in that child's day. Students love to see the fun, silly side of teachers. Keeping a focus on connections 180 days of the year can make students feel safe, seen, and ready to engage.

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Strategies for fostering relationships with middle and high school students starting on the first day of the school year and then growing them all year long.

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7 Powerful Ways to Build Relationships with Students - Reading and Writing Haven

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7 Powerful Ways to Build Relationships with Students - Reading and Writing Haven

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Inside: Healthy relationships with students improve life for everyone involved. In order to be able to think and produce high-quality work, students first need to feel supported and valued. They need to have agency and confidence.
Some classroom management issues can make it challenging to build relationships with students. When students refuse to complete work, when small groups misuse productivity time, and when bullying rears its ugly head, it can be tempting to throw in the towel.

Except, the concept of classroom management is beginning to evolve. Instead of thinking of management as actions teachers take do after a student behavior, we can view it it as a way to build a culture of respect...a community of learners. When students and teachers have a mutual trust and respect, fewer classroom management issues surface.

So, how can we cultivate those relationships?

Get to know students as learners...and as people.

It's no surprise that having regular conversations with students is one way to build their trust. Students need to see we care about who they are, not just what they produce on paper. Teachers can talk with students during independent or group work time, before or after class. We can also talk with students in written format, like through dialogue journals or conversation calendars (Tovani 2011).

Building in flexibility to our class structure is really important for relationships with students. Do you have time to work with small groups? To ask students about what they did over the weekend? Could you use extra class time or designate a learning center to be a chat station where you can learn more about your class?

Give students a voice.

Teacher-student relationships improve when students feel their voice is heard. Are students off task because they don't see the importance of the lesson? Is it because there isn't enough choice or flexibility to cater to their interests or learning styles? Are they missing the relevance...the why?

It's true that the teacher is the certified professional in the room, but students often have insights regarding how they learn best. We need to listen to them and ask for feedback regularly. Did this work? Did you like it? What did you learn? How could we make this better next time? Some answers will be profound...and others....won't. But we still need to ask.

Use positive phone calls.

We can use positive phone calls to build confidence and respect. Many students have never had a teacher call a parent just to say something positive. Positive emails can work just as well. Letting students know that we see the good in them will encourage them to be productive and respectful during class. Here are some possible phone call scripts.

Create a support system.

Behaviors improve when students see that their teachers, coaches, parents, and administrators are all on the same team - students' team. If students aren't staying on task, if they are acting mean toward classmates, or if they are refusing to do work, inform all stakeholders. Let the student know that you want what is best for them.

At the beginning of the year, I've always found it helpful to send home a questionnaire. I love to hear what parents have to say about their child based on observations at home. This is where you can download my free editable parent survey template.

Use literature to spark discussions.

Books, short stories, nonfiction articles - these texts can all open doors of communication between teacher and student. Use questions inspired by themes or controversies in literature to lead students to a common understanding of which behaviors are respectful and which are not. Weaving in character-building picture books to spark analytical discussions is a fun approach. Confer with students about what they are reading!

Many teachers choose to have overarching themes for the school year. Trying to relate everything back to an important lesson or takeaway can be a powerful way to lead students toward respectful demeanors.

Embrace awkwardness.

So maybe you've tried all of these things, but you're still falling short of developing the type of relationship that results in mutual respect. Perhaps students are cheating on homework or tests or just having a bad attitude in general. Sometimes, we just need to ask students.

Tell them they won't be in trouble and their grade will not suffer, but you just need to know. Why are they being dishonest? What is preventing them from using work time? Why are they treating classmates poorly? Is there something going on in class or at home that is causing a negative or disrespectful attitude? When we ask students these questions, we need to be prepared to analyze their responses objectively...to gain as much valuable information as possible from what they tell us. This means that we can't respond defensively, and we can't go back on our word.

Surprisingly, students will usually open up about their behavior and their thoughts if we ask them in a way that makes them feel safe and valued. Embrace the awkward conversations.

Praise!

Students will let you into their worlds if they know you are cheering them on. When students do something - anything - well, praise them up and down. Of course, some students might prefer to receive this praise in private (after all, it can be embarrassing in front of friends).

We have to acknowledge that we all put up walls from time to time. Those walls are there to protect us. We have no idea what is happening in students' lives unless they tell us, so our number one goal with building relationships is to knock those walls down. To do it, we need to build students' confidence, point out their growth, and truly care about them.

A final thought: Document everything.

Efforts made to develop relationships with students need to be documented. It's important that we record every effort we make to connect with and support a student. That way, if for some reason we aren't successful at getting through to a student, we have evidence of what we have done that we can pass along to a response to intervention team. I keep a Google doc open throughout the day that I can add to quickly. This way, I can also access it easily during meetings.

Documenting our conversations, intervention attempts, phone calls and emails, efforts to involve coaches, and assignment or assessment accommodations is a way to leave a trail that shows students we really care. We are trying.

I'm a realist. I realize that teachers can lead a horse to water, but we can't make it drink. Still, we can't give up on a student. We have to try every possible method of guiding him or her to the stream. As one of my colleagues put it, we have to Maslow before we can Bloom.

When we take time to develop meaningful teacher-student relationships, we will inevitably see classroom management issues improve. Students will trust us and respect us. They will know we are on their team. In turn, they will want to work with us. Classroom management, although its use is becoming less popular, is not a negative concept when we think about in terms of leading students to behaviors that will help them be successful in life.

Need more ideas? Try these thoughts on building relationships from Language Arts Classroom.

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7 Powerful Ways to Build Relationships with Students - Reading and Writing Haven

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Inside: Healthy relationships with students improve life for everyone involved. In order to be able to think and produce high-quality work, students first need to feel supported and valued. They need to have agency and confidence. Some classroom management issues can make it challenging to build relationships with students.

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/art-of-managing-middle-schoolers-ben-johnson#:~:text=How%20does%20a%20middle%20school%20teacher%20cope%3F%20Two%20tools%3A%20Distraction%20and%20Relationship.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-management-tips-novice-teachers-rebecca-alber

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5 Quick Classroom-Management Tips for Novice Teachers

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When it comes to managing a classroom, new teachers mostly learn on the fly, but here are some ideas you can use right away.

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https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-talking/

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Listen to my interview with Michael Linsin ( transcript):

Sponsored by Write About and Peergrade
In my first few years of teaching, student talking was like popcorn.
I gave the class instructions for some kind of work; let's say journal writing. And for a few seconds, they did it. Things were quiet. Then, like that first kernel of popcorn, one student said she didn't know what to write, so I walked over to her desk to help her. While we talked, two more raised their hands-two more pops-and said they were stuck, too. I signaled to them that I'd be over in a minute, but in the meantime, someone else was closing his journal, finished already. Another pop. The two who were stuck asked him what he wrote about.

The room needs to stay quiet so we can concentrate, I told them.

Someone else had a question. Another pop. I squatted by her desk, and behind me, a conversation started between two others. Pop pop. Another journal closed while a different hand went up.

Okay people, I said, this time louder. Let's keep it down. And with rascally smiles, they turned back to their journals to pretend to write some more. At this point, it had turned into a game.

Someone needed to sharpen their pencil. Pop. Someone else decided to race them over to the sharpener. Pop. In a matter of seconds, the whole room had erupted, a huge hysterical bowl of popcorn, exploding all around me, and I couldn't find my way out.

And then I yelled.

If this sounds anything like you, you're not alone. I hear it from teachers all the time. One of the things they don't teach us in our education courses is just how freaking much students talk, and how hard it can be to quiet them down in order to get anything accomplished.

To find solutions to this problem, I went to Michael Linsin, the creator of Smart Classroom Management and my go-to person for all classroom management needs. Last year, he taught us how to set up a clear, simple classroom management plan. Now he's going to help us understand the causes of excessive talking, what you should be able to realistically expect from students, and how you can fix the problem.

First, two quick caveats.

One: I believe students need to talk. People need to talk. So if you're shooting for a classroom environment where students sit silently and do rote seat work all day long, where they never have an opportunity to talk to their peers, where they never get out of their seats, and where the work is not engaging, you are going to have problems.

Two: A big part of good classroom management is building good relationships with your students. If you haven't taken the time to get to know them as individuals, if you mispronounce their names, if you regularly use sarcasm or make them feel stupid for asking questions, then they aren't going to want to behave well for you. And that's a different problem.

So this post is based on the assumption that you're planning engaging lessons and you have a decent relationship with your students. Without those two, these solutions might kind of work, but you're still probably not going to love your job.

Why It's Happening

Before you can solve this problem, you have to understand its cause. According to Linsin, excessive talking-talking that occurs during independent work time or direct instruction-happens for two reasons.

Reason 1: They don't believe you mean it.

Despite the fact that you specifically tell students not to talk, deep down they don't believe you mean it. "Or they don't care," Linsin says.

"At some point," he explains, "Your authority has faded. If you're able to teach to a quiet classroom in the beginning of the year and now you're not able to, or if it happened right off the bat, then somehow at some point, the students' respect for you and for the process, for the classroom, and your authority has faded."

So even if they hear you, even if they understand that you want quiet at a certain time, they don't believe anything negative will happen if they ignore your request. If they come to you with this behavior, it's likely that it has just been part of their conditioning.

"Because so many teachers struggle with this problem," Linsin explains, "many after a while kind of throw up their hands and just decide they're going to talk over students, they're going to do their best to keep things as quiet as possible during independent work time, so the students come to you (from) classrooms where the teacher asked them to be quiet but doesn't really follow up on it."

Reason 2: They don't understand what "no talking" means.

This one is going to be harder for teachers to believe, but bear with us here: "No talking" may not mean exactly the same thing in different contexts, and if your students are talking more than you want them to, there's a good chance you're working with different definitions.

"When they come to your classroom," Linsin explains, "and they've had teacher after teacher say the same thing, yet continue to allow it to happen in the classroom, then students think, Well, he or she just means we need to kind of keep our voices down, or We're mostly quiet, but if we have important things to say to a neighbor, then we're allowed to do that. And so they're confused as to what the definition of 'quiet' really is."

In many cases, Linsin notes, the problem is likely being caused by a combination of both of these reasons. But notice that neither reason is a blanket statement about students being disrespectful. This is why I like Linsin's approach: He puts control for classroom management in the teacher's hands, rather than placing blame on the student. That's not to say that you won't have disrespectful students, but shifting the blame to them means you have no power over the situation. Blaming the students simply isn't a useful way to address the problem.

"When students are not doing something that you've previously taught them how to do," Linsin says, "whether it's talking or entering the classroom, and they don't do it well, even though the students are responsible for their behavior, when most of the class is not doing what you ask, it's on you. It's about you. There's some disconnect there, there's something they're not understanding."

What You Should Be Able to Expect

Some teachers might wonder whether it's reasonable to expect students to be quiet at all, especially if they are younger. Linsin says yes without hesitation. "You should absolutely expect, no matter where you're teaching or what grade level, that the students are able to sit quietly while you're giving instruction or directions, and they should be able to sit quietly and work during independent work times."

Should there also be times when talking is permitted? "Absolutely," Linsin says. "It's really important to give students an opportunity to express themselves, to get up and move around, to work in groups and pairs and discuss. Classrooms should be vibrant and interesting, exciting places, and so I'm all for getting students up and moving and having fun. Those things just make classroom management stronger, and they free you to ask anything of your students, including silence."

The Solution

If you came here looking for a few tricks to end excessive talking, the bad news is that you won't find anything clever or earth-shattering. The good news is that the solution is pretty simple, and it requires no behavior charts, tokens, or Jolly Ranchers.

Step 1: Define expectations in explicit detail.

"The fix," Linsin says, "is to define, in detail, exactly what you want during independent work time and when you're teaching a directed lesson."

If you believe you've already done this, and it hasn't worked, the issue is probably lack of detail in your explanation. Linsin says you need to go far deeper than what most teachers probably do.

"So you may bring a desk or a table up in front of your classroom, sit down, and pretend to be a student. You may have other students acting as models also. Show students how you expect them to behave while you're giving instruction, and then how you expect them to behave when they're doing independent work."

"It's also important to include what not to do," he adds. "So you'll model those exact behaviors that you're seeing, those exact talking behaviors, whether it's side-talking or standing up and whispering to someone, or whatever your classroom looks like. Even if it's chaotic, whatever that chaos looks like exactly, you want the students to be able to see themselves in your modeling and what isn't okay."

Step 2: Have students practice.

Once you've modeled the desired behavior, have students practice it, just like you'd have them practice any skill you're teaching.

Linsin gives an example of what this might look like. You'd start by saying, "'I'm going to give you 60 seconds, and I want you to show me what good listening looks like, and no talking. So let's pretend I'm standing and giving you a lesson. I want to know what that looks like.' And then you'll stand and maybe you'll cross your arms and put your hand under your chin, and you'll watch them."

Keep this instruction light, he says. Keep it fun. "You'll stare at them and you'll walk around the room, and you'll watch one of them, and you'll nod your head and say, 'Mmhmm, okay, that looks good. Mmhmm. Chin up a little higher!' It's okay to have fun with it. None of this is a punishment. It's just good teaching. Whether you're teaching how to find a topic sentence or how you want your students to line up before recess, it's all teaching. So it's okay to have fun with it. It's okay for them to laugh at some of the things you say or to see themselves in the behaviors, which they love, by the way, especially if you exaggerate it and have some fun with it."

The Sign Strategy: Students are often put in an awkward position when a classmate tries to talk to them during these quiet times. They want to follow your guidelines, but they also don't want to be rude to a classmate. Agree on some kind of physical sign they can give each other at these times. "It can be a scissors or peace sign or whatever's culturally acceptable wherever you teach. And all they do is just hold the sign up, and the sign means, 'I'm really sorry, but I have to listen to the lesson,' or 'I'm really sorry, but I have to do my work.' And you can tell them that if they give the sign and that student who sees the sign turns and gets back to work, you will not enforce a consequence, because they're showing responsible behavior."

Step 3: Teach the consequences.

"Walk them through the exact steps that would happen if they turn and talk to a neighbor, for example," Linsin says. "The exact steps a misbehaving student would take from your initial warning to contacting parents or whatever your consequences look like."

In order to do this, you have to know what your consequences are. Spend some time making sure you're clear on that. If you need help, read our post on creating a classroom management plan.

Step 4: Do it for real.

Once students have been taught your expectations and have practiced exactly what they look like, it's time to apply it in a real lesson. "Have a directed lesson ready," Linsin advises, "to have them prove to you they can do it in practice."

If you've taught the expectations in detail, students should do a good job, but if they don't, you need to enforce your consequences exactly as you described. "You almost hope during that first wonderful lesson, that one student maybe turns, and so the class can see that you're holding them accountable."

If enforcing your consequences is difficult for you-and for many teachers, it will be-read Linsin's post on why teachers struggle to consistently enforce consequences.

Step 5: Continue to define expectations in small chunks.

This last step is crucial. From this point forward, keep telling students what is expected of them before every switch in classroom activity. When you are about to do group work, let students know that talking within the group is okay. If you then switch to independent work, remind them that absolute quiet will be expected. Briefly describe what that will look like, even spelling out what not to do if that fits the activity.

Taking time to do this might seem unnecessary, but being clear ahead of time will prevent problems. "Anytime you can give a reminder before misbehavior," Linsin says, "it's a good thing. Anytime you give a reminder after you see misbehavior, it's a bad thing. You should be holding students accountable, but be preemptive whenever you can."

Learn More from Michael Linsin
The Happy Teacher Habits
(Links to this book are Amazon Affiliate links, which means I get a small commission on purchases you make through my links at no additional cost to you.)

There's more where this came from.
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What they don't teach us in education courses is just how freaking much students talk, and how hard it can be to quiet them down. Help is on the way.

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What is a classroom managment plan and how do I create one?

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What is a classroom managment plan and how do I create one?

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https://pce.sandiego.edu/how-to-create-a-classroom-management-plan-guide-resources/

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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When you're standing in front of a classroom full of students ready to deliver a lesson, your pupils are probably always sitting up straight, giving you their undivided attention and never engaging in any behavior that would be disruptive to your teaching - right?

What? No? Well then, congratulations! You are among the vast majority of teachers who must consciously put in place a classroom management plan to keep your students on track and focused on the lessons of the day.

The reality is that classroom disruptions and misbehavior can hinder learning and achievement, which is why it is essential for teachers to have a working knowledge of proven classroom management strategies.

What is a Classroom Management Plan?

"The goal of a successful management plan is to maintain a safe and fun classroom that can focus on learning," according to Kickboard, an educational company focused on facilitating positive culture in schools. "Classroom management is the combination of tools and practices that provide structure and promote positive learning spaces for students. The teacher, or classroom lead, provides instructions and sets expectations for student behavior in order to regulate classroom activities. Organized students, active participation in learning and minimal behavior distractions are evidence of effective classroom management."

However, putting in place effective structure, expectations and enforcement practices is something that many teachers struggle with.

"When I was a teacher, classroom management was not my strongest suit," says Jennifer Gonzalez, editor of the education blog Cult of Pedagogy. "I relied heavily on forming good relationships with my students, thereby preventing misbehavior. This worked about 90 percent of the time; I really didn't have a whole lot of behavior problems. Unfortunately, the way I dealt with that other 10 percent was rather haphazard: Far too often, I defaulted to the 'Wait till there's a problem, then react' mode."

Today, this education blogger points readers interested in putting in place a real classroom management plan to longtime teacher Michael Linsin, now an author and consultant who runs the website Smart Classroom Management.

While emphasizing the need to establish rules and enforce them, Linsin believes it is also essential to do so in a way that does not take the joy out of learning. "My number one goal is not that at the end of the day that they know the rules and consequences. It's that they're happy and excited to be part of the class. That they run home to their parents and say, 'Oh my gosh. I have the best teacher. I have this awesome class. We're going to do this and that this year. It's going to be great,'" he told Gonzalez in an interview. "The classroom management secret is to create a classroom that students love being a part of."

Elements of a Classroom Management Plan

"Classroom management is considered one of the foundations of the educational system," asserts an article in Research.com. "It refers to the actions that educators take that create a supportive environment for students and teachers alike. The right classroom management plan provides opportunities for academic, social and emotional learning."

The elements of a classroom management plan can be looked at in several different ways. According to the Research.com article ( "Classroom Management Plan Guide With Examples"), a well-managed classroom has three important elements:

Efficient use of time and space

Strategies that empower the students to make good choices instead of controlling their behavior

Effective implementation of instructional strategies

Kickboard breaks classroom management down into four key elements:

Accountability - the expectations, rules, behavior choices and enforcement/reinforcement

Environment - the creation of a physical space (including the placement of desks, decorations, etc.) that is welcoming and reinforces the desired culture

People - the teachers and students; teachers modeling positive behaviors, students following suit and providing peer-to-peer accountability

Time - successful classroom management plans require time and patience, reminders and reinforcement to work their magic

Classroom Management Plan - Rules & Consequences

Yes, the rules are obviously a key element of any classroom management plan. And Linsin, the classroom management consultant, recommends keeping them very short and simple.

Handled well, your rules eliminate any need for yelling, scolding, etc. Putting in place clear rules and consequences "allows you to demand impeccable behavior without causing friction and resentment, which then frees you to build meaningful and influential relationships with your students."

Linsin recommends the following four rules:

Listen and follow directions.

Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat.

Keep your hands and feet to yourself.

Respect your classmates and your teacher.

And he recommends enforcing them through the following three consequences:

1st consequence: warning

2nd consequence: timeout

3rd consequence: letter home

Linsin counsels teachers to: "Print both your rules and consequences on a large poster board and display them prominently in your classroom. You will refer to your classroom management plan often, and thus your students need to be able to see them wherever they're seated."

8 Steps for Setting Up a Classroom Management Plan

When it comes to a more formal approach to setting up a classroom management plan, education consulting firm Positive Action offers the following 8-step approach:

1. Set classroom expectations

2. Consider school policies when drafting a classroom management plan

3. Establish clear and consistent boundaries in your class

4. Use verbal and non-verbal reinforcement

5. Hand out a planned syllabus to your class

6. Know the students in the whole class

7. Teach engaging content to encourage positive behavior

8. Decide on consequences

Set classroom expectations - They recommend involving your students in classroom management "because it helps build a community as well as the classroom culture."

Consider school policies when drafting your plan - Be sure you are adhering to schoolwide discipline procedures while building a classroom management plan that also reflects your own principles, rules and philosophy.

Establish clear and consistent boundaries in your class - A vitally important one here is to insist that students stop talking before you begin and while you are teaching, something that may require patience.

Use verbal and non-verbal reinforcement - Tips here include offering praise with non-verbal communication (such as smiling, nodding or a thumbs up), or shaking your head or frowning to silently signal to a student to keep quiet.

Hand out a planned syllabus to your class - Doing so "will save you and your students a lot of headaches because a syllabus plan establishes expectations from day one and prepares your students on what to learn. At the same time, it allows students to plan informed schedules."

Know the students in the whole class - Getting to know your students can bring perspective that helps you manage their behavior, while also conveying that you are easy to talk to.

Teach engaging content to encourage positive behavior - As Linsin has also asserted, one of the most effective classroom management strategies is to present curriculum, topics and activities that get your students engaged with your lessons.

Decide on consequences - Positive Action recommends looking for ways to "use positive strategies to increase students' competence" and, when negative consequences are needed, be sure to implement "measures that are safe for students and respect their dignity and basic rights."

Classroom Management Tips

Here is a list of classroom management tips, compiled from multiple sources:

Build solid teacher-student relationships

Show that you care

Celebrate achievements and hard work

Communicate with parents

Post your classroom rules and norms

Keep your rules simple and easy to remember

Share the meaning of each rule

Be very specific when modeling desired behavior

Be consistent

Encourage students to be respectful

Teach students to take responsibility

Be sure your students know emergency procedures

Set a positive tone for the classroom

With your structure in place, start fresh each day

Considerations for Elementary School Classroom Management

"Before learning can take place, young students must be helped to settle down and be ready to listen. Disruptions are a constant challenge in any room that's full of children, and over the years certain elementary classroom management ideas have evolved," according to Resilient Educator ( "5 Innovative Elementary Classroom Management Ideas"). The article quotes Kate Ortiz, the National Education Association's classroom management expert, on these five tips for creating a productive elementary school classroom environment:

Keep parents engaged

Avoid favoritism

Promote students' respect for each other

Keep your attention on the disruptive students

Stay in control of your class

Considerations for Middle School Classroom Management

Middle schoolers can also be a very challenging age when it comes to holding their attention in the classroom.

"Squirrels. That is what they remind me of. We were all that age once and we were all just like squirrels!" says Edutopia blogger Ben Johnson. "Have you ever watched a squirrel? Zoom, freeze for two seconds, flick tail, and repeat. The trick for being a successful middle school teacher is holding their attention for more than just those few seconds."

A career educator, Johnson said experienced teachers know that it is "impossible to speak over middle schoolers." Instead, in "The Art of Managing Middle School Students," he talks about how to use abstract "tools" such as:

"I have always believed that the best discipline plan was to have a good lesson plan, but for squirrelly middle school students, you have to have plan A, B and distraction lesson Z," he concludes. "It's important to remember: Middle school students sometimes get flustered and frightened easily, but they also can be easily drawn into the learning with solid expectations, behavior boundaries, and crazy, fun, active learning experiences.

Considerations for High School Classroom Management

It probably would not shock you to learn that an article offering advice or managing high school students by the education advocacy organization Edmentum would be called "Taming the Chaos (Eight High School Classroom Management Strategies That Work)."

In the piece, former teacher LaToya Hozian shares some lighthearted examples of real-life high school classroom management scenarios. "After teaching high school English for 10 years, I've uttered some phrases I never could have imagined would be necessary. For example, 'Riley, get your sandwich out of your pants!' Yes, I had to tell a 14-year-old boy to get his sandwich out of his pants."

Hozian says that when she talks classroom management with teacher friends, "we often laugh because it's usually thought of as something that only applies to younger students. So, what about high school students? How do you handle a classroom full of students who are dealing with real challenges of growing up ... when hormones are raging, everything is over-dramatized, and classroom curriculum is becoming demanding?"

The following tips for high school classroom management are "eight strategies that I had success with in my classroom":

Incorporate some comedy

Be a real person

Learn names right away

It's all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Keep an open-door policy

Be a good listener

Be mindful of the broader school environment

Build relationships

Classroom Management Plan Resources

Many education advocacy organizations have compiled helpful online pages connecting teachers to a wide spectrum of classroom management planning research and resources. For example, Jennifer Gonzalez of the Cult of Pedagogy blog shares classroom management articles on:

Here are several more classroom management planning resource pages:

EDUTOPIA

CLASSCRAFT

TEACHERVISION

Classroom Management Courses

Another high-value option for teachers looking to master classroom management is to enroll in an academic course or program focused on this vitally important topic.

For example, the University of San Diego's Division of Professional & Continuing Education offers individual classroom management-related courses, as well as a multi-course Classroom Management Certificate program.

Designed for busy working teachers, the 100% online USD certificate program covers a broad range of essential topics and is an excellent choice for educators interested in professional development opportunities connected to classroom management.

Classroom Management FAQs

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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How to Create a Classroom Management Plan [Guide + Resources] - University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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How to Create a Classroom Management Plan [Guide + Resources]. Advance your career with professional and continuing education from the University of San Diego.

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Classroom Management Strategies that Build Relationships

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Classroom Management Strategies that Build Relationships

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/classroom-management-strategies-that-build-relationships

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For minor behavioral challenges, these techniques can help you restore order while keeping students in the classroom.

The school year is well underway, and students are growing more comfortable with their environment. Although children may have started the year with exceptional behavior, many start to push the boundaries with their conduct. Whether it's an inability to follow procedures or an unwillingness to stay on task, teachers want to protect the orderly classroom they worked so hard to create at the beginning of the year.

Although there are times when suspensions or even expulsions are necessary, behaviors such as bringing a weapon to school or threatening violence make major consequences nonnegotiable. However, trying other techniques before writing up a student for minor conduct concerns may get to the root of the problem, instead of temporarily fixing the issue by removing the student from the class.

Instead of students missing out on lessons due to punitive discipline, there are logical consequences that can help you understand and fix the behavior. If you have noticed an uptick in undesirable behavior, try these simple ideas. They will help you facilitate appropriate consequences without students losing valuable instructional time or damaging relationships.

Reflection Papers

Reflective writing can help students think about the problematic behaviors and come up with solutions.

First, the students answer questions regarding the incident. What happened? Why did I do it? How did my actions affect others? What can I do to correct the situation? The students then use their answers to create a well-written essay. I find it helpful to keep graphic organizers handy for students who need help with structuring their responses.

Students also follow a rubric that holds them accountable for including a topic sentence, supporting sentences, a conclusion, and a paper free of grammatical errors. Our teachers use these essays to teach concepts such as word choice and sentence structure.

These reflective essays are not about punishment: They help students sort through their emotions and provide valuable insight into the true cause of their actions. I find that many of my students identify appropriate consequences for themselves after they write their essay, as well as a plan to repair any damage they may have caused due to their conduct.

An added bonus of this strategy is that it can provide effective documentation for parent-teacher conferences and for Student Assistance Teams, and can help identify patterns in behavior. Using reflective writing not only strengthens writing skills but also affords students the opportunity to grow from their mistakes.

A Classroom Management Technique that Works

It's easy to become frustrated during the school day. Have you ever been interrupted by a student shouting across the room while you were giving instructions? Do you get bombarded with requests to use the restroom or water fountain? These examples happen all too often and can wear you down.

So, what can you do? First, identify the area of classroom management that is giving you difficulties. Then, examine why you are struggling with this area. Finally, plan a positive elevator speech that will head off the improper behavior.

Classroom management issue: You are experiencing trouble with students who can't seem to stay seated when they enter the room.

Why is this happening: Are they out of their seats because they are sharpening their pencil? Are they looking for paper to complete the bell ringer? It's easy to imagine that students are out of their seats because they're disruptive. But closely looking at their behavior would show you that perhaps students are looking for materials or sharpening their pencils.

Positive elevator speech: Take the time to calmly address the class with a prepared explanation for why you are implementing a new procedure. Preparing an "elevator speech" ahead of time will allow you to take the emotion out of your voice and speak directly to the issue.

The solution may include greeting students at the door with the assignment and providing sharpened pencils that will be collected by the teacher when they are dismissed. Try telling your students, "Remember, you should monitor your behavior, so it will not disrupt the learning of other students."

Classroom management issue: You have a student who always likes to roughhouse on their way out the door, which can be a major safety issue.

Why is this happening: They have extra energy or are seeking attention.

Positive elevator speech: Conference with the student after class. Would asking the student to help you monitor the class at dismissal eliminate the idea of his touching or pushing other students? Asking for help shows the student that you value and respect him. This solution not only builds a strong relationship but also helps you avoid the endless cycle of telling this student to keep his hands to himself.

Try telling your students, "Please remember to be respectful, responsible, safe, and kind. We have discussed these concepts, and I know you are aware of how important they are to our classroom." Remind students with examples that show positive conduct.

Students will push the boundaries with their conduct. Responding to undesirable behavior logically and speaking with kindness will keep students in the classroom and protect the teacher-student relationships that are so important to a successful learning environment.

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Classroom Management Strategies That Build Relationships

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For minor behavioral challenges, these techniques can help you restore order while keeping students in the classroom.

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-simple-ways-build-relationships-students

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High school students benefit from meaningful relationships with adults at school, and teachers can foster those ties in little ways every day.

Last year, my school's social and emotional learning staff distributed a survey to every student, asking how connected they felt at school. Eighty-four percent reported feeling connected to at least one adult. While this is a large majority, it still leaves a sizable proportion of kids who believe that they have no connection with teachers or other school staff.

How is that possible? Many of my colleagues go out of their way to engage kids, particularly those whom they perceive are disconnected from their peers. While I'm not sure why some students say they don't have any adult contacts, or if they desire any, I'm aware that this isn't a unique phenomenon in my school.

According to Search Institute, only 29 percent of middle school students reported having a great developmental relationship with their teachers. In the same study, barely one-third of middle school students strongly agreed with the statement, "Teachers really care about me," and even worse, by high school, only 16 percent strongly agreed with the statement.

These troubling figures make one thing certain: Students need meaningful adult connections now more than ever. While every teacher does what works best for them, I've discovered four actionable strategies that help me connect with students more effectively.

1. Greet students at the door

I'm sometimes too busy in between bells and forget to go into the hallway to greet students as they enter my room, but I've tried to be more conscious about getting there early to say hello and maybe give a fist bump. Research shows that greeting students as they enter the classroom increases their sense of belonging and readiness to engage.

It's an opportunity to get class started on a positive note and connect with each student-which we don't often get once we begin our lessons. As I think about it, I also find that starting my classes at the door rather than behind my desk makes me happier and more energetic.

2. Discussion assessments

To differentiate how I evaluate student work, I designed an activity that was structured as a discussion. I discovered that the advantages of this exercise exceeded my expectations. Despite the fact that each discussion was only five minutes long, it allowed me to speak to each of my students individually, address them by name, and make eye contact.

I frequently use these discussion evaluations in class while other students are working on something else. I meet with individual students in an area of my classroom where we have one-on-one conversations. Although brief, they allow me to spend time with each student and get to know them in a manner that wouldn't be possible if I merely read their work. These dialogues also allow me to provide immediate feedback and solicit students' thoughts or concerns. Discussions help me create an open channel of communication that generates trust and rapport.

3. Attend student events

While attending student events does require you to spend some time outside of the school day making connections, it's a tried-and-true approach for building relationships because it shows that you care about your students' interests and achievements outside the classroom.

I always get such great feedback from my students whenever they see me at their sporting events, performances, and club activities. Attending these events will give you and your students something to talk about. Even if you can't stay the entire time, showing up for even a portion of it can be a great way to demonstrate your interest in your students' lives. In my experience, kids remember when you showed up for them, so while this may take some extra effort on your part, it can have a huge payoff.

4. Introduce yourself and call students by name

Every day, I walk down the halls and see kids I don't know. I see students sitting alone, eating, or playing on their phones. This year, I've made a concerted effort to interact with those kids by just introducing myself to them.

A simple introduction enables kids who may feel like outsiders to know that you notice them. It only takes a minute, and you'll be able to address that student by name the next time you see them. Learning a student's name is an important first step in developing a personal connection with them and making them feel like they belong. It's important to remember that a kid doesn't actually need to be a student in our classrooms for us to create a connection with them.

A brief (and sincere) one-on-one interaction with a student in the hallway or in your classroom will most likely mean more to them than the entirety of your lesson that day. It might mean the difference between a good and a bad day for them. I sometimes have students stop by my room to talk, and it's almost never about the curriculum.

For example, at the start of the year, I had a student tell me about a college to which they had applied. Recently, they found out they were admitted and rushed to tell me. Only a few minutes of conversation months ago made an impact. What may seem to be inconsequential to you may be truly significant to a student, and you may be their meaningful adult connection.

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4 Simple Ways to Build Relationships With Your Students

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High school students benefit from meaningful relationships with adults at school, and teachers can foster those ties in little ways every day. Last year, my school's social and emotional learning staff distributed a survey to every student, asking how connected they felt at school. Eighty-four percent reported feeling connected to at least one adult.

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How Can I Build Deeper Relationships with Students?

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How Can I Build Deeper Relationships with Students?

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

When students feel safe and supported in school, they can learn better. Here's how to start making those connections.

Dobrila Vignjevic / iStock

Building strong relationships with students is a vital part of the work educators do in schools, yet not every teacher enters the classroom having learned the nuts and bolts of how to develop and nurture teacher-student relationships, writes Gianna Cacciatore in Usable Knowledge.

But relationship-building is a skill we can all get better at, says Megan Marcus, a counselor and the founder of FuelEd, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching educators social and emotional skills. "Just one relationship with a caregiver throughout a lifespan can actually change the brain's development, heal trauma, and promote learning," Marcus tells Cacciatore. "Educators have the potential to utilize this power. Many do this organically-but we could do so much more if educators were equipped with the skills and self-awareness to systematically do this work."

When teachers consistently prioritize building strong connections with students, research shows there's a significant impact on kids' long-term wellbeing as well as their ability to learn and stay engaged in schools. "Learning doesn't happen without relationships," writes Rebecca Alber, an instructor at UCLA's Graduate School of Education. "In the classroom, rules matter, but as many of us have learned after a few years teaching, relationships matter much more."

Here are four ways to start building and nurturing authentic, strong relationships with students.

Develop Your "Empathic Listening" Skills

A natural response when a student is distressed is to immediately offer advice or reassurance, but that's not always the most helpful or productive reaction. Instead, try slowing down and patiently "listening to what a student has to say and not responding. No reassuring, no offering advice. Just listening," says Cacciatore. This can be hard to do, especially if you're a problem-solver by nature, so take a breath and remind yourself that good listening isn't necessarily about fixing anything or anyone. Ultimately, empathic listening builds trust: "Someone comes to you, they share their feelings, and instead of jumping in to problem-solve, you listen," notes Marcus. "Now, not only is this person calmer and better able to solve their own problems, but they want to come back to you again, share more."

Empathic listening also requires waiting until the person who's speaking finishes and allowing ample space for pauses, writes neurologist and teacher Judy Willis. "Such pauses, which demonstrate your focus, may give the speaker the reassurance to reveal something they were reluctant to share," says Willis. Remember to sustain eye contact and an engaged posture to signal that you're actively listening rather than bored or distracted, she adds.

Carve Out Time for Small Talk

Small talk isn't insignificant. Each Monday morning, middle school math teacher Cicely Woodard and her students form a check-in circle, pass a ball around, and take turns sharing how they're feeling, offering compliments to classmates, or discussing what they did over the weekend. "Though it can seem like every minute is needed to get through the academic content, I've learned that a five-minute investment once a week to learn about each other is invaluable to my students and builds a better culture in my classroom," writes Woodard.

But Woodard also connects with her students throughout the school day, finding a few moments prior to class to chat, for instance, or greeting students at the classroom door. "Because I've made myself approachable, some of my students will tell me stories about their lives during the five minutes between classes," she writes. "I stop what I am doing, look them in the eyes, and listen. I love seeing their eyes light up as they tell me these stories, and these encounters always leave me a little more knowledgeable about who they are as people."

Be Genuine, It's OK to Show Vulnerability

Educators often feel pressured to maintain authority in the classroom and avoid expressing emotions or sharing personal details with students. But this can inadvertently put up a wall between teachers and students, ultimately hindering efforts to develop strong connections. The reality is that everyone experiences worries, anxiety, or frustration at times, and when teachers find opportunities to share their own feelings with students-in developmentally appropriate ways, of course-it helps normalize students' own emotions and struggles.

"It starts with so much honesty and transparency with kids," says Lindsey Minder, a second grade teacher. "It's really easy to strive to be this idealized, always ready to go, elementary school teacher. And that's not real, and that's not human. My students connect most with me when they see that I also struggle, and I also have challenges."

Showing vulnerability can be as simple as acknowledging imperfections or sharing a few personal tidbits, says instructional coach and educator Beth Pandolpho. Her students know, for example, that she "cried a lot in elementary school," and that her big goal in middle school was to not cry at school, she writes. "There's a chance for teachers to bridge the divide between the adults who seem to have all the answers and the students who are still figuring things out," Pandolpho says. "When my students feel like they know me, they're more actively engaged, seek my help outside of class, and are more receptive to my suggestions and ideas."

Track Your Efforts

The many competing demands on educators' time and attention can make the work of nurturing relationships feel overwhelming. That's something educator Todd Finley decided to tackle. "Wouldn't more students benefit if the [process] were less haphazard and unconscious?" writes Finley, a professor of English education at East Carolina University. "I decided to experiment with being deliberate and intensive in thinking about my students."

Aiming to make his relationship-building efforts more systematic and intentional, Finley developed a 5x5 assessment time strategy. Each morning, he sets aside a short block of time-like when he's driving to the gym-to think deeply about five students for about five minutes per child. During these minutes, he reflects on a set of guiding questions: what he noticed about the student recently, for example, and what this reveals about their struggles, values, and goals. Throughout the school day, he'll use these reflections to start conversations with the focus students. "This can happen in the hall, or in class while I'm passing out papers-whenever it seems natural to do it," he writes.

Plan for a bit of a learning curve with this strategy, Finley warns: "Don't expect it to go perfectly at first. As with mindfulness, you'll get better with consistent practice," he writes. But the simple habit of consistent, systematic reflection "will build your capacity to notice, understand, and connect with students-competencies exhibited by transformational teachers that fortunately improve with practice."

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The 'How' of Building Deeper Relationships with Students

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When students feel safe and supported in school, they can learn better. Here's how to start making those connections.

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https://how.sacs.k12.in.us/coaching/instructional_coaching_6-12/how_to_make_classroom_procedures_stick

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from The First Days of School by Harry Wong

A procedure is not a discipline plan. Neither is a procedure a threat, a rule, or an order. A procedure is simply a method or process for how things are to be done in the classroom.

Since a PROCEDURE is how you want something done, it is the responsibility of the teacher to have procedures clearly stated. A ROUTINE is what a student does automatically without prompting or supervision. Thus a routine becomes a habit, practice, or custom for the student.

Procedures are necessary for an effective classroom for several reasons.

✔️Classroom procedures are statements of student expectations necessary to participate successfully in classroom activities, to learn, and to function effectively in the school environment.

✔️Classroom procedures allow many different activities to take place efficiently during the school day, often several at the same time, with a minimum of wasted time and confusion.

✔️Classroom procedures increase on-task time and reduce classroom disruptions.

✔️Classroom procedures tell a student how things operate in a classroom, thus reducing discipline problems.

Students are less likely to act up in frustration, trying to figure out what the teachers wants, if the classroom procedures are clearly stated.

Tell your students that classroom procedures are for their benefit. Following procedures will help them do their work with less confusion and thus help them to succeed. Knowledge of classroom procedures tells your students such things as these:

What they are to do when you want their attention

Where to find the assignment

How a paper is to be done

Where you want the paper placed

What they are to do when they enter the classroom

How to respond when they hear an emergency alert

What to do if they want to sharpen a pencil

Every class needs to have a set of procedures. Procedures allow a class to operate smoothly. A smooth-running, effective class is free of confusion and is a pleasure to teach and to learn in.

Coaching Moment:

For Those Who Believe They Don't Have Time to TEACH Procedures:

In the past, I have met teachers who said they don't have time to teach procedures because they have so much curriculum to cover. I understand. The demands put on teachers and students seems to be growing every year.

My response to those teachers is, if you have that much curriculum to cover, you can't afford NOT to teach procedures. The instructional time you gain when your class understands expectations and has set routines pays off every single day for the entire year. Gone is the stress of controlling a class and the time lost to multiple warnings and repeated requests. When students understand and follow procedures, you create a culture of learning and actually have time and energy to teach and respond to students' learning needs rather than behavior problems.

For Those Who Believe They Want Students to Feel Comfortable Without a Lot of Restrictions:

I have also heard teachers say they want students to feel comfortable and relaxed and not have such a structured environment. I understand. The research tells us that students who feel relaxed and not filled with anxiety actually learn better.

My response to those teachers is, students feel safe, comfortable, and ready for what comes next when they have structure. There is freedom within the framework of procedures. Once students have routines, small group work, creative projects, and movement around the classroom all become less stressful because everyone knows what to expect and how to behave. The culture of learning becomes respected and even revered. Students need and want specific guidelines. When they have a target behavior within a procedure, they can more easily self-regulate and feel good about themselves and the class when they hit that target behavior. So, teachers who truly want to create a relaxed learning environment can't afford NOT to teach procedures.

For Those Who Didn't Explicitly Teach Procedures at the Beginning of the Year, But Want to Implement Them Now:

If you did not spend much time on procedures at the beginning of the year and you feel your classes would benefit from them, it's not too late. The best time to introduce new procedures is at the beginning of a new week, a new unit, a new quarter, or a new semester.

On the day you introduce the procedures, consider having a learning target like this:

I can understand why we have new procedures and how to follow them and demonstrate my understanding as I practice and follow all of the procedures.

Before introducing and handing out your procedures, let students know that you've been studying highly effective learning environments and you've learned that having explicit procedures helps students learn better. Because their learning is your number one priority, you've developed a few procedures that will help them be more successful in your class. These procedures are non-negotiable and will create more equity and fairness in the class because it's not fair when just a few people are disturbing or ruining the learning environment for everyone else.

Regardless of when you introduce your classroom procedures, be sure to follow the Three-Step Approach to Teacher Classroom Procedures. If you talk about the procedures one day and don't complete the process of teaching, demonstrating, practicing, and reinforcing, you can expect that your students will behave however they want instead of how you want.

The Three-Step Approach to Teacher Classroom Procedures

Most behavior problems in the classroom are caused by the teacher's failure to teach students how to follow procedures.

Step 1. Explain the Classroom Procedures Clearly

Effective teachers know what activities need to be done and have worked out the procedures for each of them. These procedures are posted or distributed to the students early in the school year or when the activity surfaces in class.

It is urgent that you have procedures for each opening of school activity ready for the first day of school. Revise and hone these procedures year after year until they become models of efficiency.

Step 2: Rehearse Classroom Procedures Until They Become Routines.

Effective teachers spend a good deal of time during the first weeks of school introducing, teaching, modeling, and rehearsing procedures. Do not expect students to learn all the procedures in one day. Behaviors must be taught, modeled, practiced, monitored, and retaught.

Watch a good music, athletic, or foreign-language coach. Such people are masters at the rehearsal technique. They tell and show you a technique, even have you watch a video of the technique. Then they have you do it repeatedly while they watch you. Some people call this technique "guided practice."

Step 3. Reinforce a Correct Procedure and Reteach an Incorrect One

Again, watch a coach because good coaches are the best teachers. As the coach guides a tema, class, or student through practice, corrections are made instantly. They tell, show, demonstrate, cajole, and even yell, "Do it right!"

And when it is done right, there are words of praise, hugs, pats, and smiles. But good coaches don't stop there. They reinforce the correct technique by having the student do the acquired technique over and over again, each time exhorting the student to do better.

Using the Three-Step Approach to Teach Procedures

The following are examples of how some procedures are taught. You may not need or want them, but note how each procedure is taught. Then substitute your own procedure, using the explain, rehearse, reinforce technique described.

✔️ How to have a class working when the bell rings.

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from The First Days of School by Harry Wong A procedure is not a discipline plan. Neither is a procedure a threat, a rule, or an order. A procedure is simply a method or process for how things are to be done in the classroom.

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12 Must Teach Classroom Procedures an Routines

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12 Must Teach Classroom Procedures an Routines

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https://www.weareteachers.com/classroom-procedures-save-sanity/

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This is one of our favorite classroom procedures because it's easy and cuts back on a big problem. "The no-name papers will disappear," says Kristin B.W.

Learn more: Free Highlight Your Name Poster at Teachers Pay Teachers

12. Greet every student at the door

"They behave better when they feel cared about," says Debra M. Don't we all?

13. Use a visual timer

A Time Timer or visual timer shows how much time is left in an activity, letting students answer the "how much time do we have" question on their own.

Buy it: Visual Timer at Amazon

14. Streamline hall passes

Having a hall pass that works for your class will make your day infinitely easier as students will know if they can leave your class, and other teachers will know the students are permitted to move around the school.

Learn more: Paintbrush Hall Pass/Create Art With Me and Hall Pass Ideas

15. Stamp your feedback

Get a set of self-inking stamps that you can use to give feedback on student work. Or for students who are working on completing work independently or improving behavior, use rubber stamps that address common concerns as well as data tracking for students with IEPs.

Buy it: Rubber Stamps at Mrs. D's Corner

16. Get their attention

Having a selection of attention-getters that you can alternate, depending on your and your students' moods, will help you direct students throughout the day.

17. Set up a cell phone charging station

It's important to establish classroom procedures for cell phones from the beginning. Having a cell phone charging station solves the problem of students checking their phones during instruction. Set up the expectation that students store phones in the station so there's no back-and-forth about how much charge they have (their phones charging is not the point).

Learn more: Tips and Tricks for Managing Cell Phones in Class

18. Prep task boxes to keep kids busy

Having a set of boxes with coloring sheets, worksheets, extra practice, and games that students can play quietly or independently gives students a way to stay busy and learning while other students are finishing work.

Learn more: Swoop Into Kindergarten

19. Assign classroom jobs

Assign class jobs so that every aspect of the day is taken care of, and so students have ownership over what happens in your room during the day. Set up a way to rotate the jobs each week, and once students have their preferred jobs, keep tabs on who is doing what so it feels fair.

Learn more: Big List of Classroom Jobs

20. Have students apply for class jobs

Once students know what the class jobs are, have them apply for a job to have for the semester or year. You'll have consistency from week to week, and students will get the experience of applying and managing their responsibilities.

Learn more: Free Student Job Application at Teachers Pay Teachers

21. Communicate with cups

Provide students with a set of green, yellow, and red cups. As they work, they start with the green cup on top. If they feel like they need help, they switch the cup to yellow. And if they are totally stuck, they put the red cup on top. You can respond to the red cups first.

Learn more: Ingenious Ways To Use Solo Cups/K Teacher Tiff

22. Make bulletin boards work for you

Interactive bulletin boards can help you collect exit tickets, give you information about what students think about a question, and provide a fun procedure for students to complete each day.

Learn more: Our Favorite Interactive Bulletin Boards

23. Tighten your exit ticket procedures

Create a predictable way to collect exit tickets so students can spend their time showing what they know instead of figuring out how to pass it in.

Learn more: Exit Ticket Ideas

24. Be strategic with seating

A Double E, Pairs, Four Square-these are all ways to arrange your classroom. Your classroom routines and procedures will go much smoother if the class is set up to facilitate everything from passing papers in and out to lining up and finding groups and partners to work with.

Learn more: Student Desk Arrangement Ideas/Lucky Little Learners

25. Organize classroom procedures around a theme

Who says your theme can't incorporate procedures? Choose a classroom theme and get creative. If your theme is "Under the Sea," have seashells on the wall where students can post exit tickets, an octopus cell phone charging station, and a paper return tray decorated like a coral reef.

Learn more: Our Favorite Classroom Theme Ideas

26. Sort students into groups creatively

If students are going to be working together at all, you'll save time by having a quick procedure to move them from whole group to pairs or teams. One idea: Use pairs of cards to have students match up with their partner. Another idea: While students are seated, place a colored button (one color per group) on each desk. Then, have students stand and find the people who have the same-color button. After they're finished, have students return the buttons to a jar up front. You can use buttons or any other materials (colored sticks, tiles, etc).

Learn more: Clever Ways To Put Students Into Groups

27. Simplify grading

For informal assessments, let students know if they did or did not meet the assignment expectations. This is easier on you and gives students a quick update that they don't have to calculate (7/10) or respond to (letter grades).

Learn more: Creative Ways To Check for Understanding

28. Make transitions magical

As students move from place to place in the room, use a "magic" wand and turn them all into snowflakes, unicorns, or yetis. Get silly with it, and as students get more familiar with this procedure, put them in charge of the magic wand.

Buy it: Magic Wand at Amazon

29. Post a visual schedule

A visual schedule outlining your classroom procedures is a great way to help students know what's coming next. And for students who process visual information easier than auditory, it's helpful to be able to see the schedule and refer to it throughout the day. An individual visual schedule for a student with autism or processing needs can help them move throughout the day as well.

Learn more: Free Visual Schedule Templates

30. Bring nonverbal reminders wherever you go

Hang nonverbal reminders around your neck/lanyard and use them to prompt students to follow procedures, anywhere you go.

Buy it: Pictoral Communication Cards at Twinkl

31. Buzz in answers

Once students are in groups, have them use answer buzzers to chime in. It reduces noise and calling out.

Buy it: Light and Sound Buzzers at Amazon

For more teacher tips, tricks, and ideas, be sure to sign up for our free newsletters to find out when they're posted!

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31 Must-Teach Classroom Procedures and Routines

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These seriously cut your stress. We've compiled the best classroom procedures and routine ideas from our community and around the web.

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How to limit teacher talk and increase student engagement

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How to limit teacher talk and increase student engagement

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/limit-teacher-talk-increase-student-engagement-achievement

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Guiding students to regularly direct their own discussions brings academic rewards as they gain confidence working independently on challenging tasks.

Teachers want students to reach high goals in the classroom, but Tori Filler, an elementary school literacy teacher in Brooklyn, believes that teachers often undermine themselves by taking the reins of the most important "doing" in the classroom. They might walk students through challenging parts of a lesson, or over-explain concepts that students should, ideally, grapple with on their own.

"As we all do our best to help students meet the high bars we set," Filler writes in Achieve the Core, "could it be that we're missing out on opportunities for kids to do the very work that will help get them there?" Putting the work in students' hands, Filler writes, "flexes the muscle" they'll need to tackle more challenging work on their own in the future and reap academic rewards.

While teachers cannot cede all control to students in a classroom, Filler advocates for a mindset shift that strikes a balance between teacher-led and student-led learning by reducing the amount of "teacher talk."

According to Filler, when teachers first try to integrate more student talk into the classroom, the discourse often resembles a Ping-Pong game between the teacher and one student at a time: "Teacher initiates question, student responds, teacher evaluates the response." Instead, she writes, teachers should integrate activities into their daily routines that create more of a "volleyball discussion" by "asking students to listen to one another and respond to each other's ideas before tapping the ball back to your side of the court."

Teaching What Good Discussions Look Like
Before implementing these activities, it's important for teachers to lay some groundwork for students by helping them better grasp what conversations among themselves should look like.

Discussion mapping is a useful tool that can help students ensure that everyone contributes-as Stephanie Toro explains,"In order to get students to respond to each other, it's not enough for individual students to feel empowered in their own voice; they must see other students as valuable contributors and listen to their voices as much as they would the teacher." A map of who speaks during a discussion should look like a spiderweb by the end, one that touches every student's name on a diagram of the room.

Tools to help students understand and practice productive classroom conversations are also useful. A " Progression of Talk " chart, for example, provides students with a series of steps they can take during a conversation to ensure that comments are relevant, build on what was previously said, and provide room for clarifying arguments, disagreements, and elaboration.

Once you have this scaffolding in place, you'll be ready to implement strategies to ensure that students are doing more of the talking-and heavy lifting-in your classroom.

Let Students Come Up With Ideas First
If you're asking students for their interpretations of a challenging text, or an answer to a thorny question, ditch the hand-raising, writes Filler.

Think-Pair-Share is a simple alternative that gets students dwelling on a particular topic or question and independently coming up with as many ideas or insights as they can. When working with a read-aloud text, for example, try posing specific questions related to the reading for students to think through.

Once they have an answer, or answers, have them pair up with a partner to compare notes and help each other identify gaps in understanding. "This gives all students the time they need to process their thoughts before opening it up to the whole group," Filler writes.

If you're short on time, Turn and Talk is a condensed version of this strategy that can accomplish many of the same goals. Write-Pair-Share is another useful adaptation.

Focus on Getting All Students to ParticipateRosie Reid, a former California State Teacher of the Year and English teacher at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, California, writes for Edutopia that without careful planning, even activities that give students more opportunities to speak can result in just a few students taking advantage of it.

A simple adjustment to try during activities like Think-Pair-Share is to decide who speaks first. The deciding fact can be something as arbitrary as "the student whose birthday is coming soonest." Without this direction, Reid writes, some students will dominate partner talk time.

When it's time for students to share out to the classroom, Reid recommends using a "talking piece" to ensure the discussions aren't being dominated by certain students. In her classroom, she uses a ball that students pass around. Only the person holding the ball can speak, and every student gets the ball once before anyone gets it a second time. Mapping can also help, as it allows students to see who has and has not shared an idea or question yet.

Don't Rush to Clarify the Hard Parts
When students are working through tasks for themselves, particularly hard tasks, Filler writes, a big shift teachers should make is not jumping in to preemptively evaluate how difficult the work is. "How many times have I told students, "Watch out, this part is going to be tricky!" and modeled or prompted them to use a specific strategy?" Filler asks.

Instead, she advises that if students report that a task is tough, ask them to evaluate what is tough about it and how they might sort it out on their own before stepping in to help.

If most of the class is struggling, ask more questions and turn the struggle into a productive discussion for everyone. Ask questions like "What makes this hard?" or "What have we tried?" or ask them to reread a passage and circle specific places tripping them up, which gets students to push through challenging work.

When students are sharing out responses to the rest of the classroom, Filler writes, teachers should challenge themselves not to rephrase or validate what they say with phrases like, "Good, but maybe what you mean to say is..." or "What I think you're saying is..." Instead, try responses like, "Can anyone build on that?" or "Do we agree? Disagree?"

Use Video To Ensure Your Strategy Is Working
An easy way to know if your efforts to reduce teacher talk are working is to periodically record your instruction. Watching a playback of a lesson allows teachers to review their delivery and improve their use of class time.

For example, you might identify key areas of material where you feel that you tend to spend too much time talking and seek to incorporate more student-led activities and discussions. You can also track the effectiveness of activities and make tweaks as necessary.

It's important that before you review your recorded lessons, you have established clear goals for what you're looking for and even a list of specific elements in the video-such as moments when you take the reins from students prematurely-that you can track and improve on over time.

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Small Shifts to Limit 'Teacher Talk' and Increase Engagement

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Guiding students to regularly direct their own discussions brings academic rewards as they gain confidence working independently on challenging tasks.

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/avoid-spring-burnout-middle-high-school

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Middle and high school students often feel burned out in the second semester. Prioritizing movement and manageable daily objectives can help.

One dark, gray morning in early February, tired students stumble into the hallways of their middle school, blinking at the sudden onslaught of fluorescent light. Kira and Bryan walk toward their first-period class, and Bryan sighs. "I didn't do my homework. Maybe I can get it done before class starts." "Me neither," Kira admits. "It's too cold to get up early and finish my work. Spring break isn't until forever. Even my teachers seem exhausted."

Alice Mollon / Ikon Images

Much of the momentum that teachers carefully build during the fall semester seems lost in the spring as everyone in the school building enters survival mode. The stretch between January and April tends to see flagging stamina and a downward trend of performance data. These four strategies can help teachers maintain the momentum of earlier school months and help students not just survive, but thrive.

Prioritize movement

Not surprisingly, inertia interferes with growth. From a purely physical standpoint, sitting still for over 30 minutes is an unhealthy habit. Beyond that, the connection between body and mind health is strong, particularly for active children. When students sit in desks for over 30 minutes, their ability to remain engaged quickly declines, leading to behavioral issues and diluted learning experiences.

In the cold winter months, when exhaustion tends to increase as stamina decreases, it is even more important to keep energy uptake flowing. One strategy is to set a 30-minute timer at the start of instruction. When it goes off, give students 90 seconds to get up and stretch. If the class goes much longer than 60 minutes, reset the timer to go off one more time.
Every day, Kira walks into her social studies class and glances at the objective posted on the board. Today, it is the same as it was yesterday: "Students will analyze a variety of data to determine the root causes that underlie a scarcity of resources." Shaking her head, Kira wonders, "What does that even mean?"
Focus on small, daily objectives

A more accessible objective might read something like, "Students will break down information that explains why people run out of some resources more quickly than others." When learning objectives are packed with jargon or material to be covered over several days, kids struggle to see where learning is headed because the cognitive load of parsing out that bigger picture is overwhelming.

Consider an objective that is large enough to span several days and must therefore be chunked into component parts, such as "Students will design a model to describe the function of a cell." If the teacher wishes to break down the objective into something more manageable for students on a daily basis, these are two more specific examples that fall under the umbrella of the larger target:

1. Students will describe the function of each part of the cell.

2. Students will develop two to three possible ideas for how to depict the cell in a model.

Research shows that if teachers focus learning targets on one measurable outcome each day using a higher-order performance verb per Bloom's Taxonomy, it is much easier for students to see the rationale behind each lesson. Teachers also benefit by remaining focused on specific outcomes rather than becoming distracted by the large number of standards that are possible to assess on any given day.

In addition, teachers can provide relevant support to any students who have not achieved the objective to ensure that everyone meets expectations before moving on to new concepts. That way, students like Kira can finally see the purpose of the objective on the board, understand exactly what it means, and know that achieving this goal links directly to successful performance outcomes.

Avoid mental inertia

Even as students can get overwhelmed by overly broad objectives, they can experience mental inertia when the class does not move forward at a pace that matches their learning speed. Students do not benefit from reteaching or reviewing when they already know the content, so good first instruction coupled with a surgical analysis of classroom data helps teachers determine whether classes are meeting specific learning targets.

Suppose a seventh-grade world studies class is writing persuasive essays about what a democracy should look like with this learning objective: Students will be able to support the central argument with two examples from the text. The teacher can categorize achievement of this target into three sections: exceeds, met, and not yet.

Teachers can provide feedback for each category. For example, in the not yet category, the note might be something like "Some students in this category only included one example. Others didn't find examples that related to their arguments." With this type of analytical tool designed for a snapshot of student progress toward one objective, there is no need to undergo a long process of providing feedback to students.
Bryan stares at his teacher as she looks over his life science homework. This class has been really tough, and he always feels as though he's a little behind. "This isn't what I asked for," his teacher says, handing the report back to him. "You just wrote down the definitions. Can you elaborate on what these cell parts do?" "Sure," Bryan says, walking back to his seat as a familiar sense of dread creeps in. He dutifully copied down the vocabulary terms on his teacher's slide presentation, but he doesn't really understand what they mean. Mitochondria are little squiggly lines that have something to do with energy. Beyond that, he doesn't yet understand how to explain their functionality. Frustrated, he puts his head down.
Talk about and celebrate success

Teachers may be too quick to tell students what is wrong with their work, leading to feedback that is couched in criticism without any examination of what is good. As a result, students grow less certain about their capacity to achieve. To help kids gain confidence, it helps to provide explicit praise for what is working.

Suppose Bryan's teacher had instead handed back his homework by saying, "I appreciate how well you were paying attention during the slides presentation. You captured a lot of the definitions I shared. Can we talk about how to elaborate on what the cell parts do?"

Whether celebrating success in conversation or in writing, making space for targeted feedback about the positive aspects of student work is key to maintaining momentum throughout the school year. On each assignment, teachers can include specific comments about what worked and what needs a little more attention:

What is working?: Your main idea was very clear, and it was nice how you pulled in a quick sentence about your family as a quick way to explain your thoughts.

What needs improvement?: Even though your personal example is great, you still need to add a quotation from the text to support your idea. You're almost there!

If celebrations and areas for growth are given equal emphasis, students are less likely to become demoralized and give up. Teachers who incorporate explicit conversations about success into their daily instruction, keep the focus on smaller daily objectives, and maintain productive momentum through both physical and mental movement forward encourage students, so that they are far less likely to disengage and experience the gradual downward slide that is all too common in the spring semester.

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4 Strategies for Building Momentum in the Spring

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Middle and high school students often feel burned out in the second semester. Prioritizing movement and manageable daily objectives can help.

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7 ways to build a learner-centered classroom

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7 ways to build a learner-centered classroom

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-to-build-a-learner-centered-classroom

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7 Ways to Build a Learner-Centered Classroom

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Teachers can create positive learning experiences for students that combine assessment with agency, opportunity, and community building.

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5 strategies to deepen student engagement

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5 strategies to deepen student engagement

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategies-student-discussion-grades-6-12

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For teachers seeking to facilitate rather than lead discussions, these strategies empower students to share their ideas.

Sometimes, as teachers, we struggle to help our students connect what they know to what they are learning. When we face this challenge, it can be helpful to examine our practice under a different set of lenses to uncover ways to reinvigorate learning. One of the easiest ways to do this, especially if you're new to the profession, is to take a closer look at how you manage discussions.

When facilitating a discussion, do you direct your students toward specific outcomes, or is there room for them to take ownership of the conversations and make them their own? There are differences, however subtle, between leading and facilitating discussions. The following five strategies, which are particularly suited for middle and high school students, empower student agency and offer a fresh approach to discourse.

CoFounding Environments of Shared Inquiry

When you lead a discussion, you begin with the end in mind-that is, you determine exactly what you want your students to know and guide them with focused questions.

Rather than provide you with a list of strategies that you can use to increase student engagement, our intention is to demonstrate how combininggold standard discussion strategies, such as Turn & Turn or Think-Pair-Share, can energize your teaching practice and produce powerful results.

The following discussion sequences, or dialogic archetypes, can be applied to subjects across the curriculum. They can be disassembled, rearranged, and reconfigured to create new instructional arrangements that appeal to your students' strengths and needs and to your own teaching style.

1. Quick Write, Turn & Talk, Modified Jigsaw, Quick Draw

Here's a sequence that works well when discussing short texts such as case studies: Distribute a number of short texts (three or four should suffice) and blank note cards among your students, so that each student has one text. Ask students to read the texts and respond on the lined side of their note card; you might invite open responses or offer a prompt.

Once students have responded, pair them by text, and ask them to share what they wrote. You might also create discussion groups in which students have read different texts and invite them to explore similarities and differences in themes, characters, conflicts, or other relevant topics, moving from pair to small group work.

Finally, ask students to draw something they learned from their discussion group on the blank side of their note card to share with you, their group mates, or the class as a whole.

2. Four Corners, Think-Pair-Square, Sticky Chat, Gallery Walk

To integrate kinesthetic engagement into classroom discussion, post images related to what you are teaching in the corners of the room, and direct students to stand next to the image that they find most appealing.

Pair students by image, and ask them to conduct some independent research about their chosen picture. If your students do not have ready access to computers, you can provide them with books to explore, or simply ask them to record their thoughts on the images. Create discussion groups of four by combining pairs assigned to the same image. Finally, ask students to write what they learned on sticky notes, and post them on the images. The class might then engage in a gallery walk to learn from one another's findings.

3. Group Roles, Team Pack Discussion, Classroom Mingle, Classroom Poll

For a discussion sequence that connects students with multiple classmates, create groups of three, and provide each group with a different discussion prompt on a note card. Assign each member of the group a role: speaker, scribe, and timekeeper. Ask students to respond to the prompt on their note card before passing it to the next group.

Then, rotate speakers one group to the right and scribes two groups to the right. After the timekeepers have discussed all of the prompts, poll the class for their favorite.

4. Pick a Side, Snowball Discussion, Debate, Graffiti Wall

To lower the stakes and boost participation during classroom debates, ask students to pick a side on a given issue and to write their thoughts on a piece of paper. Direct half of the students to fold their papers lengthwise, the other half widthwise. Collect the papers, assign a side of the issue to each type of fold, and redistribute the papers randomly.

Facilitate debates of two, then four, then eight students, with each side evenly represented. Ask students to record their thoughts on the paper again, and then tape them on the wall to showcase students' engagement.

5. Stoplight Sticky Notes, Affinity Mapping, Gallery Run, Web Discussion

Make learning visible with an archetype that centers the use of maps: Provide students with a prompt connected to a short video or text. Ask them to write their thoughts on color-coded sticky notes: green might mean "interesting," red "challenging." Create small groups, and direct participants to identify similarities and differences between their notes. After small group discussion, arrange the class in a circle, and have them create a "web" by passing a ball of string when they connect with a fellow student's reflection.

Moving Beyond These Discussion Sequences

These instructional sequences can be followed by whole group discussions or some other kind of low-stakes assessment to measure student understanding. However you decide to progress, the point is that strategies that usually stand on their own, or that are simply framed as standing on their own, can be combined to create unforeseen opportunities for engagement. While it is important to have a plan, good teaching is about leaning into the unexpected. It's about taking risks and creating space for your students to actively participate in the meaning-making process.

Even if the archetypes presented here do not appeal to your particular style of teaching, we encourage you to experiment with the strategies that do. It doesn't matter if you've been teaching for three months or 30 years. Education is unmapped terrain, and there will always be something new to discover.

The strategies in this article were developed with Cayla Cosner, an elementary and special education specialist.

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5 Discussion Strategies to Deepen Student Engagement

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For teachers seeking to facilitate rather than lead discussions, these strategies empower students to share their ideas. Sometimes, as teachers, we struggle to help our students connect what they know to what they are learning. When we face this challenge, it can be helpful to examine our practice under a different set of lenses to uncover ways to reinvigorate learning.

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Move students in and out of class and between activities smoothly to save valuable instruction time.

While facilitating a demo lesson in front of eight Georgia instructors, my credibility crumbled when 35 cranky middle graders gridlocked themselves in a failed attempt to move their desks into small groups. Charitably, the observing teachers pretended not to notice.

Botched transitions are not only embarrassing, they're lost time. If you save 15 minutes a day through more efficient transitions, that will result in 45 extra hours of instructional time per year. Therefore, shifting students from one task to the next is worth getting right.

There are essentially three types of transitions: entering class and taking a seat, switching from one academic activity to another, and exiting class. And just like any academic procedure, transitions are taught through explicit explanations, clear models, rehearsal, and review.

1. Secure students' attention: "Focus on me, please."

2. Explain the procedure: "In a moment, return to your desks and take out your history textbooks."

3. Prepare kids for the signal to start: "When I say 'smooth,' you'll quietly proceed."

4. Initiate the transition: "And... smooth." Don't say "go," warns Linsin, because that word cues students to race.

5. Observe: Watch to make sure all students are complying.

Whether students are transitioning from reading to math, or PE to the drinking fountain, author Mike Linsin recommends standardizing the process with five steps that I paraphrase this way:

Troubleshooting

Did I provide too many or too few directions?

Did the transition catch kids off guard when they were absorbed in an activity?

Did too many kids have nothing to do?

Are there specific students who created chaos?

When transitions take too long or learners misbehave, it's time to don your figurative Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat and reflect on these questions:

After answering those questions, try some of the techniques described below.

When transitions take too long: To counter students dragging their feet, announce how many seconds are left before the next event begins. Teachers like Tyler Hester take out a stopwatch and challenge kids to beat the transition times of other classes ( see a video example at the 35 minute mark). And here's a personal secret: Slowly counting down from five in a booming voice never fails to accelerate transitions.

When procedures aren't followed: Lining up her students at the end of the day was a problem for one fifth-grade teacher. Her challenging class often erupted into fights, and the assistant principal chewed her out for delaying the buses. As a solution, she affixed black dots to the floor three feet apart for students to stand on and provided more time for packing belongings. After a few practice sessions, her students' dismissal behavior improved.

Any transition benefits from showing young students how to ninja walk. Other routines are equally engaging; Watch Madeline Noonan's fifth graders ready themselves in "super scholar style" or with "word of the day" signals.

A number of studies show that reminders called precorrectives reduce misbehavior during transitions. Right before a transition, ask a child to describe the proper progression of steps for, say, entering the class after recess. Or play " correct the teacher " by performing examples and non-examples while learners indicate incorrect actions with a thumbs-down signal. Then call on someone to articulate or model the correct procedure.

In another precorrective, described by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a child walks through the procedure while the teacher narrates: "Let's watch Noel at the sink. First, she turns the handles a bit. What does she need next? That's right, soap! She pumps once because that is all she needs. Now she is rinsing off the bubbles and is ready for her paper towel. How many pulls does she need? Let's say it together-one, two, that will do!"

Finally, an effective strategy for reteaching transitions is simply to direct the entire class to start over. Budget extra time for do-overs during the first two weeks of class and be patient. As the Navy SEALs say, "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

When students don't want to quit what they're doing: Have you ever seen a boy wail when bedtime is announced? More than likely, he felt blindsided. In the classroom, many kids feel the same volcanic emotions when asked to stop doing an activity that absorbs them. However, displaying a countdown timer, like E.ggtimer.com, Online-Stopwatch.com, or Timer-Tab.com -when combined with verbal time signals-helps students anticipate and prepare for an approaching transition.

When younger children get distracted: In an article on transitions, Sarah E. Mathews cites a 2007 study that showed how "children appeared excited to engage in many routines that were part of music." Singing the following song, says Mathews, will help kindergartners straighten their work areas between activities: "A helper I will be. A helper I will be. / There's work to do. There's work to do. A helper I will be." Or play this clean up song.

Letting students take charge of transitions: Transitions don't have to involve an entire class. Watch how Wendy Hopf's sixth graders use hand signals: Raising one finger requests help, raising two fingers asks for a bathroom or water break, and raising three fingers indicates that a pencil needs sharpening. "I love it," says Hopf, "because I have the option of saying no."

Research suggests that successful transitions are quick and have clear beginnings and endings. Meeting those requirements will maximize learning time. However, don't be afraid to add in some whimsy, like the North Carolina teacher who greets each student with a charming individual handshake as they enter the classroom each morning, thus illustrating that transitions happen with kids, not to them.

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Move students in and out of class and between activities smoothly to save valuable instruction time.

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Classroom transitions. For the teacher: a time for chaos to break out. For students: a time when anything goes! But, with careful planning, you can change that.

I remember my first few years teaching... I was starting to get the hang of instruction. My lessons went pretty smoothly. I was differentiating and adapting lessons to meet individual student needs. I had good relationships with my students. In my mind, I was pretty successful.

Until the lesson ended and we tried to transition to the next activity. Things went downhill fast. The noise level went up. Bodies were all over the place. Wrestling matches broke out on the classroom carpet. It wasn't pretty.

I knew I needed to do something about it. So, I did some professional reading and consulted with co-workers and tried a few things. Then I reflected on what worked, revisited those resources and tried a few more things. With time and reflection, classroom transitions improved in my classroom and I no longer dreaded transitions. Many, many years later, I still can't say it's perfect. We are dealing with children and unexpected things come up: I get distracted or need to deal with a pressing issue, it starts snowing, someone loses a tooth, or we all have a bad day. But... Transitions in my room now go so much more smoothly than they did that first year teaching!

I'm going to share some of the things I've learned about classroom transitions in 20+ years of teaching. First I'll share what classroom transitions are and why they get crazy. Then I'll share tips to make those transitions go more smoothly.

What are classroom transitions?

Classroom transitions are the time between activities in the classroom. They start as students arrive and complete their morning routines. They can include the time moving from one activity to the next (ex: moving from a reading lesson to a math lesson.) And those times where students leave or enter the classroom, for lunch, recess, specials, end of the day, etc. No wonder the school day feels chaotic at times - there are a lot of transitions in one day!

Why do transitions get so crazy?

Transitions create chaos in many different ways. First of all, there are usually a lot of things going on at the same time. For instance, in a typical transition between small group lessons, students need to put away center materials, get new materials, remember which kids are joining the teacher and actually move to join the teacher. As they do all these things, they pass by friends and naturally want to chat with them (think of what it's like when you see your favorite co-worker in the morning!)

Then, teachers are often a bit distracted during these transitions - after all, we are transitioning between activities and need to get out new materials, too. Plus, we are dealing with student concerns that pop up during that time (like lost materials, questions, and tattling.)

Add in the fact that kids move at different speeds and it makes transitions even trickier! You've seen how half the class can arrive on the carpet in 10 seconds, while the last child takes well over a minute. That leaves a lot of kids on the carpet waiting, with nothing to do. So they find something to do - chat, braid hair, wrestle.

From time to time, teachers do a few things that inadvertently add to the chaos. Sometimes our directions aren't clear (kids get confused and we have to repeat ourselves.) Or we sometimes have unrealistic expectations of our students (like asking a 5 year old to remember a 5-step direction we just rattled off orally). And sometimes we ask students to engage in a classroom procedure without teaching them what we expect.

When thinking about these things, we can identify a few strategies that will help transitions run more smoothly in classrooms.

What can we do to create smooth classroom transitions?

Teach students how to transition

First of all, plan and teach the procedures used during the transition. To do this most effectively, you'll need to envision the students going through the transition. What steps are involved in moving from one specific activity to the next? What steps do students need to be able to do quickly and efficiently? Think specifically about your current class. Where do things start to fall apart? Noticing and reflecting on these things will help you anticipate and prevent them in the future.

Once you've identified the procedures you will use, take the time to teach them to students. Yes, every single procedure. You'll find some helpful tips on teaching procedures (and a list of procedures to teach) in this blog post.

Sometimes you'll be able to take a shortcut because the procedures are similar. For instance, you might be able to tell students, "Remember how we practiced putting our math book in our desk. What did we do for that? We are going to do the same thing when we put our reading response journals away." List the steps and allow students to practice it.

The time spent intentionally teaching classroom procedures will pay off with a more efficient use of class time throughout the year.

Use an attention signal

An attention signal is key for classroom management. You need a clear way to get your students' attention. This is helpful for providing announcements, clarifying directions, freezing out of control behavior, or ending the transition. Here are some easy ideas or attention signals:

ring a bell or a chime

flash the lights off then back on

use a clapping pattern (ex: 3 fast claps, followed by 3 slow claps) - students repeat the clapping pattern

call and response routines (see this post for some suggestions)

But to make the signal effective, you have to practice it. When you first introduce it, you can have kids talk (or pretend talk) to each other. Then use your signal to get their attention. Model what their behavior should look and sound like when they hear the signal. Repeat the practice 2-3 more times. Later in the year, feel free to introduce a new signal. Sometimes the new signal is refreshing. Sometimes you need a different signal for when you are in a different place (like lining up after PE, or not near your light switch.) Regardless of which you choose, you will find an attention signal incredibly helpful to classroom transitions.

Provide a 5 minute warning

It seems so basic, but this truly is helpful for students. It allows them to adjust their pace to finish the task, and to start thinking about the transition in advance. You might even use a think aloud to show them what to think about when you give a five minute warning. (Ex: "I have five minutes left and I really want to color the picture on my writing. I need to finish this sentence quickly so I have time to work on my picture a bit. If I don't finish my picture before the timer rings, maybe I can work on it during snack time, too.")

This post from Responsive Classroom goes into detail about teaching students to use a five minute warning to better pace themselves.

Beat the timer

When you play Beat the Timer you allow a set amount of time for cleaning up or transitioning and encourage students to beat that time. Some ideas include:

a visual timer

a clean up song

"before I count to 10"

Note: This timer is available for free from Online Stopwatch.

This provides students a visual or auditory cue to help understand how much time is left. It helps them better pace their transition - and allows a clear cut end to the transition.

Plan "sponge" activities

Sponge activities are small time filling activities. Head-off crazy behavior by planning something engaging during a time that could get out of control. Sponge activities can be fore the whole class, or for fast finishers.

Sponge Ideas for Fast Finishers

First, let's think about fast finishers. They are students who finish their work quickly and need something else to do (besides socializing with kids who are trying to work.) Offer students a few (slightly engaging) choices if they finish work early. If the activities are too engaging, kids will rush through work to do them; if they are not engaging, fast finishers will find other things to do. Here are a few suggestions for your fast finishers:

read

write (in a journal, blank book, or a note)

play a partner math game

partner read a readers' theater script

fun practice sheet (like a color by number page or a word search)

Whole Class Sponge Ideas

Whole class sponge activities can be engaging and rewarding. You can use them as you wait for the final stragglers, or as an intentional break or movement activity. A few ideas include:

movement video (like Go Noodle or Jack Hartmann on You Tube)

play Simon Says (or a silent version where one leader comes up and students copy the leader)

sing a silly song

do 20 jumping jacks (or other exercises)

practice counting to 100 (or skip counting)

play I Spy (you can incorporate shapes or other concepts)

allow students to share something from the lesson

play Hangman (you can create a sun with a smile instead of a hanging person, if you prefer)

do a number talk or math talk

quickly show subitizing cards

It's helpful to have one or two sponge activities that need no supplies, in case you need something todo when you arrive a specials too soon, or something similar.

If you want more sponge activity ideas, this blog post on What I Have Learned Teaching has a phenomenal list of 80 different ideas.

So take a few minutes to think about which of these ideas might improve the transitions in your classroom. Pick one or two and try them tomorrow! Remember to pin this post so you can refer back to it later!

Learn more about classroom routines:

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5 Ways to Create Efficient Classroom Transitions - Primary Delight

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Classroom transitions. For the teacher: a time for chaos to break out. For students: a time when anything goes! But, with careful planning, you can change that. I remember my first few years teaching... I was starting to get the hang of instruction. My lessons went pretty smoothly.

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10 classroom management strategies for Middle School

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10 classroom management strategies for Middle School

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https://www.hmhco.com/blog/middle-school-classroom-management-strategies

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Classroom management can be a struggle for new and seasoned teachers alike. Even with the best lesson plan, keeping kids engaged isn't easy. When designing an approach for your classroom, it's important to consider where your students are developmentally. Here, we've tapped into brain science to get your classroom management for middle school on point. (If you're teaching online, try these virtual classroom management strategies.)

Classroom Management for Middle School

Effectively employing middle school classroom management strategies requires some understanding about the adolescent brain-and what a marvel the adolescent brain is!

During adolescence, the front part of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) is still being developed. This is the area of the brain responsible for performing executive functions, such as decision-making, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility. The adolescent brain is malleable; it can change and adapt to its environment, and certain activities can aid in its healthy development well into adulthood. And while the adolescent brain can also be impulsive and vulnerable, it's quite responsive to positive feedback.

Let's think of this plasticity as an opportunity for us as middle school educators to use classroom management strategies to meet our students where they are, and to help them develop into healthy and happy adults. These techniques will help you meet these all-important goals.

1. Greet Students at the Door

We all know that transitions from one class to another in middle school can be chaotic. This is where some middle school behavior management know-how comes in handy. One way to help students regulate their behavior and get themselves into a learning mindset as they transition into your class is to greet them individually at the door. In fact, a 2018 study found that positive greetings at the classroom door produced significant improvements in academic engagement and reductions in disruptive behavior. When greeting your students, be sure to:

Make eye contact with the student

Say the student's name

Use a nonverbal greeting like a handshake, fist bump, or high-five

Say a few words of encouragement to the student (e.g., "I am so happy to see you today," "I can't wait to hear what you thought about last night's reading," or "I know you had a rough morning, so please let me know if you need anything"). Or simply ask how they're doing.

2. Have a "Do Now" Ready

This is a proactive classroom management strategy that sets the tone from the get-go. Students know from the start exactly what to do, eliminating confusion that can lead to distractions and misbehaviors. This can be avoided by having a "Do Now" that's either written on the board or is already on your students' desks before they enter the classroom. An effective "Do Now" adheres to these criteria:

It can be completed in 3-5 minutes.

It is a written product.

It is typically "academic," but you can also integrate a social-emotional learning (SEL) component.

It doesn't require any explanation from you as the teacher. Explaining the "Do Now" defeats the purpose of having your adolescents develop their self-management and self-direction skills.

3. Conduct Empathy Interviews

Classroom management issues can sometimes stem from a lack of positive relationships and trust between teachers and their students. Empathy interviews are a way to build trusting relationships.

In empathy interviews, teachers schedule 20-minute blocks of time to ask individual students the following questions:

"What are your hopes and dreams?"

"What is one thing I (teacher)/school should continue doing?"

"What is one thing I (teacher)/school should stop doing?"

"What is one thing I (teacher)/school should start doing?"

Our students say empathy interviews make them feel that their opinion is valued, and they enjoy the opportunity to get to interact with their teachers on an individual basis to talk about their experiences at school. Teachers may find that empathy interviews allow them to slow down, focus, and truly listen and learn about the student experience at their middle school. Empathy is a crucial part of relationship building.

4. Serve as a "Learning Guide"

When we talk about classroom management, images of quiet adolescents sitting in rows with the teacher at the front of the class may materialize in our minds as the "gold standard" of classroom management. In our experience, to best meet the needs of the adolescent brain, teachers have to view themselves as "learning guides" who manage through observation. As teachers, we must always have positional awareness that takes us to different parts of the class-not just the front-to observe the students completing tasks or interacting with one another. Resist the temptation to sit at your desk and grade papers!

Positioning yourself in different parts of the class and observing students also provides you with specific information to use when praising students who are engaging in positive behaviors in class. We have found that, along with empathy interviews, observing student learning provides us with crucial information to inform our practice and our collaboration with colleagues. Many improvements to our instruction and SEL supports have come about while teachers were observing their students as they learn.

5. Let Students Make Choices

Middle school students are faced daily with a barrage of situations where they have to make decisions. Given that their prefrontal cortex is still developing, we must provide them with many opportunities to make decisions to ensure they do not engage in poor choice-making into adulthood. When developing academic and SEL tasks in class or school-wide, we ensure that our students are provided with choices to demonstrate their learning by giving homework options, using project-based learning, soliciting independent study project ideas, collecting their feedback on school-wide issues, and conducting student polls that lead to rich and productive debates. All of these strategies provide our middle schoolers with opportunities to express their learning and creativity in a safe space.

6. Use Nonverbal Interventions

Imagine this scenario: You're modeling a strategy, demonstrating a lab, or explicitly teaching a skill to your students. You notice that a student's misbehavior needs to be corrected in the moment, but you don't want to break the flow of your lesson. What do you do?

In this case, try using a nonverbal intervention:

Make eye contact with the student and deliver your "teacher look."

Shake your head indicating "no."

Use a gesture that expresses your desired behavior (e.g., sitting up, putting a cell phone away).

Walk in the direction of the student and stand near them.

Believe it or not, teachers break the flow of their lesson more often than students do. As much as possible, use a nonverbal technique to redirect student behavior in order to keep the lesson going.

7. Call Out Student Behavior Anonymously

Inevitably, there will be times when student behavior needs to be corrected. Rather than singling out students, try stating the correction anonymously. There is no need to publicly shame. Here are some examples:

"Two pairs of eyes are wandering. I'd appreciate all eyes on me, please."

"I'm noticing some side chatter. For this part of the activity, we need silence for the next couple minutes."

"If your head is on the table, please sit up and show me that you're ready to proceed with the lesson."

8. Establish Classroom Routines

Routines are not only important for effective classroom management, but they also matter for growing adolescent brains because they aid in executive function skills.

Routines are explicitly taught, modeled, and performed consistently in the classroom. Here are some examples of classroom routines:

Putting backpacks away and organizing desks

Sharpening pencils

Turning in a homework assignment

Asking to use the bathroom using a nonverbal signal

Checking out a book from the classroom library

Writing down homework in an academic planner/agenda

Performing classroom jobs

Remember to talk with your students about the rationale behind various routines. Cultivate a greater sense of ownership and community in your classroom by inviting students to create some routines and procedures with you.

Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, explains how classroom routines can be reimagined so they're indeed culturally responsive. In other words, they emphasize interdependency and social connection-they're tied to collectivist values as opposed to individualistic ones. Try these:

Recite a common poem or verse with your students that highlights your school's or classroom's values. Do this every day. Honor your students' languages by reciting the poem or verse in each of their languages.

Employ "call and response" or play music when transitioning from one activity to another.

9. Breathe!

Much research points to the benefits of mindfulness-based techniques for all ages, but in particular for adolescents. In our experience, taking the first 2-3 minutes of class to engage with your students in mindfulness-based activities allows middle schoolers, and even adults, to become focused and ready for the classroom tasks at hand. One of our favorite and easiest techniques to engage our middle schoolers in mindfulness is guided breathing. This practice has been shown to reduce stress and lead to increases in self-regulation and quality of sleep, which is so important for the adolescent brain's development.

10. Do a "Child Study"

The adolescent brain is complex and can cause educators to experience both wonder and frustration. Lean on your teaching team to engage in a process we call "child study." At our public Montessori middle school, child study is an approach that allows our teaching team to productively discuss students using a wide range of data to understand their development and give them the support they need. Most of the students discussed in a child study are demonstrating academic or social behaviors that may put them at risk. Child study is a holistic approach to understand each student's development at the intellectual, physical, emotional, and social levels. It also allows us, as the adults, to develop a plan of action to support students' success at school.

Child study has the power to change a school's culture from deficit-based to one rooted in curiosity around each student's strengths. In some schools, the child study process is held at the school-site level and may involve a cross-functional school team, but we've also found that the process can be successfully applied by grade-level teams.

Middle school teaching is a special calling. Dr. Maria Montessori said it best: "Adolescents must never be treated as children, for that is a stage of life that they have surpassed. It is better to treat adolescents as if they had greater value than they actually show..."

Whether you're teaching in-person or online, we hope that these classroom management strategies-rooted in brain science-create a learning environment that meets your students' needs and ultimately helps them succeed in school and life.

More Middle School Classroom Management Strategies

Do you have creative ways of keeping your middle schoolers engaged and learning? Maybe you have ideas about how to improve the techniques we've shared here. We'd love to get your thoughts. Share your strategies with us on Twitter (@HMHCo) or email us at Shaped@hmhco.com.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
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10 Middle School Classroom Management Strategies That Work

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Create a healthy and happy learning environment with middle school classroom management strategies that are rooted in brain science.