3 Things I learned About Classroom Management This Year

This is the fourth year that I have been teaching middle school and I have realized that there are some things that help make classroom management easier for me.  Below are a couple different things that have made my life easier this school year that I decided to try after years of trying other systems.  Most of these have helped make my classroom more systematic and allowed me to be more consistent.  

      1. The three strike system:  This has allowed my students to make mistakes to realize they need to stop messing around.  So far this system has helped me maintain order and I have had better behavior that I have ever had.  I have one class full of big personalities that are pushing the system as much as they can.  So for that class any kind of physical harm or throwing things has now resulted in an automatic lunch detention.  All 4 of my other classes have responded well to this system.  Most stop what they are doing once they reach strike 2.  So far I have not had to remove anyone from the classroom.  Goes to show how a good system keeps things moving along.  

      2.  Counting down when you want it to be quiet:  This is weird.  Somewhere along the way kids have been programed to respond to the countdown and be quiet.  I have a feeling it must be something done in elementary school and the procedures that they use there.  Coupled with the three strike system this has caused many of my asking for quiet to go away.  I really don’t know why it works, but at this point it does. 

      3.  Making sure you get around helping all the students you can:  I have stopped lecturing as much this year as I have in the past.  There are still days I do, but at this point the kids are doing most of the work during the period.  I now spend more time walking form group to group helping students.  SO far this has helped the kids realize that they can do it and I have gotten to know them better than I have in the past.  When the kids sat in rows it was harder to have personal conversations, but now I can have a conversation with 4 of them at once, show them the skill, and talk about some things that matter to them.  It really is so different than I used to teach, but it seems to be working.  The amount of work that is being turned in is way higher than in years past.