Classroom Management from Day 1

​I entered the field of education thinking I would change the world for the better.  I planned to ignite my students' love for learning. Even the reluctant students would want to know more as they worked in cooperative groups, did research, and developed their project presentations.   Oh, and the parents, they would only send me emails of praise!  Then the first week of school happened. I wondered where I had gone wrong. I had purchased all sorts of supplies, materials for labs, I decorated my classroom.  I spent much more than someone who had not received her first paycheck should have spent.  By the end of week one, there wasn't a marker top to be found, my students had used the markers to write on the legs of wooden tables I had asked the principal to buy for my classroom, and the room reeked of the gallon of vinegar that had been spilled on the floor.  I needed a do-over, fast! 

Now, 22 years in the field of education, sixteen of them as a high school teacher, I have learned and share with teachers, the pitfall that is so obvious yet so overlooked.  Teachers MUST establish rules, procedures, and a discipline plan for their classroom.  Schools rules are insufficient for the productive operation of a classroom.   In a previous post, Ending the Chaos in Middle and High School Science, I wrote about the need for classroom rules and procedures.  This post is a continuation of that post with some ideas for teachers to put in place on Day 1.  Teachers tend to be from the middle class, thus we approach all students as middle class.  Many students, however, are from poverty, and the rules and the approaches must differ.

Along with your high hopes and expectations, be realistic about your clientele.  You, the teacher, are an adult, you see the bigger picture.  Your students do not necessarily see into their future. They may not realize the benefits of their education.  Think, now, about how you will engage ALL learners, including the reluctant learners, who may inadvertently attempt to disrupt your plans.  

• Think ahead to develop a set of clear classroom rules.  See sample.
  This does not need to be a long list, but anytime you can anticipate rather than react, you will be more calm, and your students will be less likely to see you sweat - which means kudos to you!
  
  
• Plan to accomplish more than time will allow. 
  Some activities do not take as long as we expect causing downtime. During downtime, when students have little or nothing to do, they invent things to do that will not meet your approval.  If your class periods are 60-minutes long, plan 90-minutes of activities, at least initially, until you are comfortable with the amount of time for which you must account.
  
  
• Establish and practice classroom procedures.
  -How will transitions occur?  Will this be by tables or individually? 
  -How will your students form groups?  WiIl you choose them? Will they change at some
   point? 
  -How will you handle students who tell you they cannot work with someone in their   group?  -How will students enter and exit the room? Upon entry, what should be done   before the tardy bell?  Will students be allowed to tell you in the hallway that they are   headed to the restroom, then come to class after the tardy bell? 
  -How will you handle students who must go to the nurse daily for medicine?  What exceptions will   you make for these students? 
  -What will be your procedure for obtaining laptops, charging laptops, borrowing laptops?  -What will you do when students do not have their laptop, due to its repair?
  -What will you do when laptops are left at home?
  -Will students be allowed to wear earbuds or listen to music in class?
  
  
• Develop a discipline progression protocol for when students break the rules.  See sample.
  For Middle School teachers, it is important that all of the teachers on a team agree to a common set of rules, what those rules mean, the enforcement of them, and what the discipline progression will be.  Students will rotate through your classes and it is helpful if the rules are consistent. If they are not, problems arise as students develop a preference for a certain teacher’s rules and procedures.
  
  
• Develop an incentive system (or several).  See ideas. 
  No one would argue that intrinsic motivation is most desirable and most powerful, but until that is established, we must motivate students extrinsically.  If we are creative, we can leverage incentives that cause students to put positive peer pressure on one another.
  
  Consider the time it will take for your incentives to be realized.  At the start of the school year, an incentive that will not be realized until the end of the nine weeks, may not be effective because it won’t occur for so long into the future.  Consider short-term incentive programs at the start of the year.
  
  
• If your school’s cell phone policy is that teachers each develop their own classroom cell phone policy, here is a suggestion.  (Only do this is you must devise a plan.)  This will only work if it begins on Day 1.  
  -Purchase a shoe organizer. 
  -At the start of class each day, students may keep their phones at their desk, but are not allowed to take them out of their pocket or bookbag.  If they do, and you see it, it must go to “phone safe-keeping,” no questions asked.
  -At the halfway point of class, students receive a phone 4-minute “phone break” to reply to texts, check social media, etc.  Only the students who have their phones will have the privilege of the 4-minute break.
  -As the class period proceeds, phones must again be stowed in pockets.  For the second half of class, if phones come out, they must go the “phone safe-keeping.” 
  -At 4-minutes until the bell, a second phone break occurs.  Again, only the students who have abided by the rules will be allowed to participate. 
  -Phones in “safe-keeping” maybe picked up once the bell rings.
  It may seem counterproductive to offer a phone break, but without this, even more class time is potentially lost due to constant distractions. 

All of the above are suggestions to help you have a smooth Day 1, which will hopefully  lead to better Days 1 through 180.  In addition to the text on this page, the links will give you more specific ways to develop a firm classroom discipline system.  Be sure to enforce the rules fairly.  The rules are for all students, without exception.  One thing, not listed above is the importance of showing your students that you care about them as individuals.  A discipline system is necessary, but when students know that you care, that they more than their grade, their human elements kick in and they begin to care about how they treat you and how they behave in your classroom.  Do some ice breakers at the start of the year, ensure that everyone treats everyone else in the room with the highest level of respect, call students up for individual conferences - get to know them and develop a relationship with them.  This will yield great benefits for 180 days and beyond. 


Yours in Education,
Kimberly G. Massey
kmassey@rhmail.org

Copyright 2019 Kimberly G. Massey​

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash