“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” -Obi-Wan Kenobi

There exists a quiet cadre of teachers who can take over any classroom—out-of-control, disrespectful, or otherwise—and get the students under control, quiet, and working within minutes.

They have a certain presence about them, a certain unmistakable quality or vibe that reverberates from one student to the next, signaling that business is no longer usual.

Almost magically students sit up straighter, listen more intently, and show a level of respect their former teachers would scarcely believe.

This powerful, Jedi-like presence can only be described as the force of their personality. It’s an attitude, or state of mind, that elicits in students a strong desire to give their best.

Upon asking students why they’re so different around such teachers, the common answer is, “I don’t know why I behave so well for Mrs. Jones. There is just something about her that makes me want to be a better student.”

But the strategy these teachers use to command such reverence is no Jedi mind trick. The truth is, those who possess this “force” simply think differently than most teachers.

Here’s how:

They take full responsibility.

No matter where they teach, under what conditions they teach, or who their students are, these Jedi-teachers take responsibility for everything that happens in their classroom—even if a heard of buffaloes were to come stampeding through their midst.

By offering no excuses for themselves or their students, they become empowered like a great surging wave to transform lives, set hearts afire for learning, and inspire their students to the highest mountaintops.

They have unshakable confidence.

Because they’re experts in effective classroom management, thoughts of failure, defeat, and uncertainty never enter their mind. They have such confidence in their ability to manage behavior that it manifests itself in everything they do.

You can see it plainly in how they move, speak, teach, and relate to students. And it is this confidence that causes students to want to place their trust in them and follow them to the ends of the galaxy.

They believe in their students. 

These remarkably effective teachers have a deeply entrenched belief in their students and their ability to overcome circumstances, rise above difficulties, and stare down the demons conspiring to pull them away from their dreams.

This isn’t just what these Jedi-teachers believe, but it’s part of who they are. It brightens their every smile. It secretes from their pores. And it glows like embers in their eyes. For them to think otherwise would be the ultimate betrayal.

They know their students will behave.

Teachers who struggle with classroom management often feel as if they’re one rainy day, one school assembly, or one fire drill from losing control of their class. On most days, they merely hope their students will behave.

Jedi-teachers, on the other hand, don’t do any hoping. Backed by a classroom management plan that works, they have the mindset that no matter what comes up, or how many interruptions, their students will behave. And that’s just the way it’s going to be.

You Can Do This

Extraordinary classroom management isn’t the province of a lucky few.

You don’t have to have a certain upbringing or personality. You don’t have to be early in your career nor especially experienced. You don’t have to have a booming voice, a comedic wit, or a duchess’ grace.

Short or tall, reserved or outgoing, anybody can do this.

You can do this.

But you have to believe in yourself. You have to be a student of effective classroom management. And you have to start thinking like the Jedi-teacher you want to become.

Now go and do it.

And may the force be with you.

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- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

It’s common practice for teachers to interrupt misbehavior as it’s occurring. The idea being that if you react quickly enough, you’ll be able to cut off the wrongdoing before it escalates.

This is a typical response from anyone wanting to stay on top of classroom management. And like a beat cop who aggressively tamps down neighborhood trouble before it gets a toehold, it makes sense.

But you’re not a police officer, nor should you be so gung-ho to get in on the action. The truth is, becoming involved too quickly is a mistake.

It’s best to observe from a short distance, responding only after the misbehavior has played itself out.

Here’s why:

It allows you to be the witness.

If you get involved too soon, it will be a challenge sorting through what happened and who is deserving of a consequence. Confusion is a difficult student’s best friend, and by diving in too quickly, you’ll be swimming in a sea of denials, arguments, and accusations. Better to let the misbehavior play out and see with your own eyes what happened.

It deescalates the behavior.

By calmly observing misbehavior from a noticeable distance—whereby making students aware of your presence—you keep others from becoming involved, you ensure the safety of all your students, and you eliminate the chance that your early involvement, and the subsequent tension it creates, will cause an escalation in misbehavior.

It saves learning time.

When you allow misbehavior to play out, when you’re able to witness what transpires, you save time otherwise spent interviewing students and getting to the bottom of what happened—or what was about to happen. Knowing for certain who is responsible allows you to enforce a quick consequence and be done with it.

It allows for introspection.

A delayed response gives your students a chance to think twice about their misbehavior. In fact, your observing presence all but forces them to make a choice. This window of time provides an opportunity for them to turn from their poor conduct and take responsibility for it. Acknowledging their mistakes without your prompting makes the lesson much more effective.

It keeps you cool.

Interrupting misbehavior is personal, for both them and you—making it easy to lose your composure, raise your voice, say things you’ll regret, and incite anger and pushback from your students. When you observe first, on the other hand, you’re able to keep your emotional distance and follow your classroom management plan without causing friction.

Watchful Eyes

In taking this more clinical, observant approach to misbehavior, you’ll notice a remarkable thing begin to happen. Your students will be less inclined to misbehave. I’ve observed this phenomenon enough over the years to know it to be true.

There is something about misbehaving under the direct gaze of a fair and objective teacher that makes students very uncomfortable, like having a video camera recording your every move.

Being observed from a noticeable distance by a teacher committed to following her classroom management plan elicits in students a strong, uneasy feeling to turn from their misbehavior and get busy doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

And as you get better recognizing the early seeds of misbehavior, and getting into position to observe it, your students will grow more and more uncomfortable under the weight of your discerning, watchful eye.

They know that if they misbehave on your watch, there is no arguing, finger pointing, or clever misdirection. Just consequences.

Following classroom rules, then, becomes a most attractive option.

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- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

We know about the public cases, those gossiped about so offhandedly—the homeless student, the one whose mother is in jail, the two with drug dealing fathers no longer around.

But what of the others? What of the secrets hidden and locked away, keys all but resting on an ocean floor?

What about the shy boy seated near the front who won’t look you in the eye? He appears well taken care of—clean clothes, hair moussed, new sneakers.

But what you don’t see is waiting for him at home. What you don’t see are the drunken rants, the assaults on his self-worth, and the emotional pain he carries with him like a war wound.

The truth is, despite our vigilance, we don’t know what happens when our students leave our classroom. We don’t know of the hurt, the fear, and the sadness some wear slung over their shoulders like a heavy backpack.

They put on a good face, these heroic students, and bury their secrets well. And although we can’t always know the challenges they face, we can make sure our classroom is a welcome shelter from the storm.

We can make sure our classroom is a place where our students can exhale and know they’re loved, wholly protected, and free to learn and enjoy school without looking over their shoulder.

We can make our classroom a safe haven.

Here’s how:

Rely on schedules, routines, and procedures.

Knowing what is expected of them during every moment of the school day is a great comfort to students. It allows them to let down their guard and get lost in the steady pace and flow of a well-run classroom. As much as possible, follow the same daily schedule and rely on well-taught routines and procedures.

Maintain a clean, organized classroom.

An attractive room environment speaks volumes to your students about how you value respect, work habits, and expected behavior. When they enter your classroom they should feel as if they’re walking into a world that makes sense, in stark contrast to the choppy, churning waters many navigate during their daily lives.

Be the same teacher yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Inconsistency in word, behavior, or action is confusing to students and will deeply affect their trust in you. It causes resentment, low motivation, and misbehavior. It also brings tension and unhappiness to your classroom and sends the message that you’re yet another adult that can’t be counted on.

Be kind.

It’s so simple but means so much. Treat every student with kindness, patience, and gentleness—regardless of how difficult at times that can be. Doing this one thing will send your likeability through the roof, allow you to build easy rapport with your students, and make your classroom as welcoming as the smell of turkey on Thanksgiving.

Protect your students from misbehavior.

This is key to creating a classroom your students look forward to coming to every day. They must feel safe and comfortable working with and sitting next to any and all of their classmates. Every day they come to school they should feel confident in knowing that they’ll be able to enjoy their day without being interrupted, bothered, or bullied.

Don’t take misbehavior personally.

Teachers who yell, threaten, use sarcasm, or otherwise take misbehavior personally are disliked and distrusted intensely—though often privately—by students. They’re also least likely to follow a classroom management plan—which would allow them to demand the highest standards of behavior without causing friction with students.

Maintain a peaceful learning environment.

Few students do well in a tension-filled classroom, but those with difficult lives outside of school have a particularly rough time—often shutting down, staring off into space, or engaging in serious misbehavior. A classroom is only as peaceful as the teacher in charge. You set the tone with your calm presence, even reactions, and pleasant attitude.

A Safe Haven

The world is becoming more seductive and more dangerous to our students than ever before, all but dragging them away from the academic skills, moral character, and standards of behavior they need to lead meaningful, successful lives.

But we can fight back.

We can compete with the excesses of the world. We can help our students overcome their sometimes awful, painful home lives.

When you become an expert in classroom management, you’re not only able to create the classroom you really want, but you’re able to create one that’s best for your students.

You’re able to create a classroom they love being part of and look forward coming to every day, a classroom where they can build genuine friendships, grow responsible and independent, and accelerate academically.

You’re able to create a classroom free of worry, fear, and negative stress.

You’re able to create a safe haven for your students.

Note: If you don’t have a copy of Dream Class, now is a good time. Amazon.com is currently discounting the book 24%. For details, click here.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

Of all the responsibilities you have on the first day of school, teaching your classroom management plan is número uno in importance. After all, your success as a teacher hinges on your ability to manage your classroom.

That’s just the way it is.

Teachers who are nonchalant about classroom management, or who see it as a nuisance, won’t be nearly as effective as those who place it at the top of their list.

To put it more plainly, experts in classroom management are better teachers—hands down. They’re also happier, more confident, and have healthier relationships with students.

So right out of the gate, after a few opening remarks, you’ll do well to dive right in and show your new class exactly what is expected of them…by teaching your classroom management plan in a way they’ll never forget.

Here’s how:

Be Clear

Bring your classroom management plan into high-def focus for your students, making it clear and comprehensible—because ambiguity and confusion are the enemies of effective classroom management. Leave no doubt as to what constitutes following and breaking your rules by shining a light on even the most nuanced misbehavior.

Be Passionate

It’s rarely subject matter that motivates students. It’s the teacher and the passion she brings to the lesson. Given its importance, teaching classroom management is the time to let it out. Allow your students to see the real you, the one determined to create a classroom experience beyond the norm, the mundane, and the colorless—while reaching toward the extraordinary.

Be Dynamic

Teaching classroom management is a physical experience. To make it real for your students, to make it unforgettable, you must dramatize, model, and perform your way through your plan, vividly showing them what both following rules and breaking them looks and feels like. Walk them through each progressive step a misbehaving student would take.

Be Contrarian

Use the how-not strategy to demonstrate the most common rule-breaking behaviors students engage in. Sit at a student’s desk and show them how not to get your attention, how not to ask a question, or how not to behave during lessons. They must see and experience what isn’t okay in order to fully understand what is.

Be Interactive

Involve your students physically in teaching your plan. Let them role-play scenarios. Allow them be the teacher while you play the part of a student. Gather them around you, encourage questions, let them take an active role. After all, they have more at stake and more to gain from quality classroom management than even you do.

Be Thorough

Surprises lead to confusion, resentment, and ultimately more misbehavior. Make sure there is no misunderstanding. Make sure your students know precisely where your boundary lines are. Otherwise, they’ll be forever uncomfortable, unsure of themselves, and unable to relax and enjoy the freedom within your boundaries.

Note: The idea of allowing freedom within boundaries is a critical element of exceptional classroom management (a trade secret). To read more, see the first chapter of Dream Class.

Be Skeptical

For review, ask your students to show you how to ask a question or how to get up to turn in work or how to attend during lessons. Make them prove they understand. Have them demonstrate what following rules does and doesn’t look like. If you like, depending on the grade level, you can even devise a written test.

How Often, How Long

One of the most common questions I get is how long should it take to teach your classroom management plan. An hour or so a day for the first week of school should be enough for initial learning.

After that you’ll want to review every day for the next three or four weeks. Sometimes this review will only take a few minutes—or as long as it takes to read aloud your plan.

Other days you may want to review entire sections in detail. After three or four weeks, if you’ve been thorough with your teaching, chances are you’ll revisit your plan only occasionally throughout the year. Once per week being a good rule of thumb.

Make It Important

Students are quick to buy into and follow whatever the teacher deems is important. And so when classroom management is shown to be a priority, even if it feels like a complete cultural shift from what they’re used to, your students will go right along in agreement.

They’ll be on board, supporting your desire to make your classroom a special place, bereft of bad attitudes, negativity, rudeness, disruption, and disrespect.

Every student, deep down, when shown the way, wants to do well. They all want to experience the feeling of being more than what they thought they could be. They all want a chance to be a part of something unique and meaningful and remarkable. We all do.

So on that first day, and throughout the first week, when you paint for your students a vigorous and vibrant picture of what a dream class looks like…

That’s exactly what you’ll get.

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- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

You’ve likely heard the oft-repeated recommendation that teachers should never smile the first three months of the school year.

The idea being that if you show kindness toward your students, they’ll see it as a weakness and take advantage of you.

Hogwash.

Although it’s true students can and often do come to the conclusion that their teacher is a pushover, it has nothing to do with showing kindness.

You’re only a pushover if you don’t do what you say you’re going to do. The truth is, smiling is a powerful classroom management strategy you should begin using the first day of school.

Here’s why:

It sets the proper tone.

A smile is a subtle message that kindness and politeness are expected in your classroom. It starts a slow but sure chain of smiles that pay forward throughout your new class, setting a tone conducive to learning, behaving, and getting along with classmates.

It’s disarming.

Students are nervous on the first day of school, particularly those who are shy and take time adjusting to new surroundings. A smile puts them at ease. It tells them that everything is going to be okay, that they’re right where they should be, and that their teacher is on their side.

It makes you more likeable.

Your likeability is crucial to effective classroom management and a smile is the simplest way to improve it. This doesn’t mean you have to plaster an all-day grin across your face like a beauty contestant. Just be generous with your smile. Give it away freely, with no strings attached.

It builds rapport.

A smile on the first day of school is the first step to building rapport with your students. Genuine, behavior-influencing rapport can only happen when students are drawn to you. It can never be forced upon them (or it will be repelled). A smile draws students in like bees to honey.

It makes an good first impression.

One of the problems with not smiling is that you’ll spend months trying to overcome the bad first impression you’ve given your students. It’s better to get them on your side and buying into your program right off the bat. Being warm and welcoming is a persuasive first step.

It makes your sky-high expectations palatable.

If you want impeccable behavior, then you have to ask for it, even demand it, of your students from the very beginning. And so when you smile on the first day of school, it makes your non-negotiable classroom management plan and the realization that a lot is expected go down easier.

It starts you on the right foot with parents.

Making a good first impression with parents is important. And the best way to do it is through their children. If a child comes home from school and tells her parents that she loves her new teacher and can’t wait to go back the next day, then her parents are more likely to trust you, believe in you, and give you the benefit of the doubt.

It’s a reminder.

Smiling is a reminder to savor the opportunity to teach another group of students. It reminds you to go about your first day with grace and calmness, not taking the inevitable bumps in the road too seriously.

Effective Classroom Management Starts With A Smile

Today’s students aren’t intimidated by aloofness, awkward silence, or blank-faced detachment. These old-school methods merely make them unhappy to be in your classroom and more likely than ever to engage in misbehavior.

In this day and age, to effectively manage students you need to combine a near obsessive commitment to following your classroom management plan with an equal dedication to creating a learning environment your students like and enjoy coming to every day.

And it starts on the first day of school.

It starts, with a smile.

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- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

If you’re a regular reader of this website, then you know that effective classroom management doesn’t have to be complicated.

You don’t need elaborate charts. You don’t need an incentive system. And you don’t need to beg, bribe, or threaten students to behave.

But what you do need is a classroom your students look forward to coming to every day. Along with an effective classroom management plan, this is where your power to influence behavior comes from.

One way to get your students excited about your classroom is to make it more fun.

Interactive lessons, activities, and learning games are great tools to stimulate learning and ratchet up enjoyment. I recommend them heartily. But they can be time-consuming and impractical beyond a few times a week.

For the minute-by-minute reality of a working classroom, the best way to have more fun is…well…to have more fun.

Does this mean you’ll have to risk losing control of your class for the sake of a good time? Does it mean your students will be wired and bouncing off the walls? Not in the least.

What follows is a definition of classroom fun most teachers have never have heard of. And here’s the surprise: it’s a definition held by your students.

Let’s get started.

Classroom Fun (From Your Students’ Perspective)

It’s an attitude.

Having a good time with your students is an attitude. It comes from a desire to enjoy your job, to build relationships with your students, and to make your classroom a special, unique experience. There is no formal planning involved and it should never become a burden to you. It’s as simple as a smile.

It’s a mood.

One of the ways you can tell if a teacher has good classroom management is if the students are happy. Good behavior and contentment go hand-in-hand. This is true for a number of reasons, but it underscores the importance of maintaining a pleasant mood in the classroom.

It’s a feeling.

Your students don’t have to be sweaty and crimson-faced to have a good time. You don’t have to make your classroom riotous and chaotic. And you don’t have to be knee-slapping funny. In the hearts of your students, the warm feelings of safety, of being comfortable around you and their classmates, and of being part of an upbeat classroom is their definition of fun.

It’s a connection.

The simple act of making personal, no-strings-attached connections with students, through shared smiles and sweet laughter, will bring contagious joy to your classroom. You don’t have to be a comedian or a prankster. Just be open to having a good time with your students, and the rest will take care of itself.

It’s everywhere.

Despite how tough their lives can be, kids wake up ready to laugh. They’re built for it. And teaching presents so many silly, goofy, and absurdly funny situations that are just waiting to be noticed and taken advantage of. Keep your eyes and ears open so these wonderful moments don’t pass you by.

It’s in a story.

If you’ve read Dream Class, then you know how I feel about storytelling. Nothing I’ve ever done as a teacher has gotten more response from students or generated more fun, more mystery, more excitement, and more behavior-influencing rapport than telling a story.

It’s a choice.

You can’t have fun with your students if you don’t like them. Seeing the best in your students, enjoying who they are as people, and appreciating their sense of humor and unique personalities is a choice you make. Sharing a laugh or smile, particularly with difficult students, is so powerful. But it can’t happen if you dislike them or hold a grudge against them.

It’s reciprocated.

Students who are happy to be in your class, who like you, and who appreciate the organized, efficient, and fun classroom you’ve created, will jump through fire to pay you back. This law of reciprocation is a natural part of the human psyche. It’s powerful, behavior-changing stuff that few teachers know about or take advantage of.

It Means So Much

When you bring more student-defined fun into your classroom, your relationship with your students will grow closer, more trusting, and more influential. Your classroom management plan will have more leverage. Your students will appreciate you, want to please you, and desire to get to know you better.

All the things you’re working so hard to achieve with your students will improve as you get better at creating an environment your students love being part of.

Having an attitude of fun amidst the hard work you ask of your students is a simple little thing. But it means so much—both to your students and to your hope of creating the class you really want.

Thanks for reading.

Note: I wrote an article this week for Learnboost.com called 5 Simple Classroom Management Strategies. I hope you’ll check it out.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

For regular education classroom teachers, giving rewards in exchange for good behavior is a mistake.

It’s true that “do this and get that” type rewards can improve behavior in the short term. As in, “Sit up straight and give me your attention, and I will give you each a sticker.”

Or, “John, if you can go the whole day without bothering your tablemates, I have a surprise for you after school.”

But incentives of this nature, which include earning class pizza parties, extra recess, free time, and the like, don’t benefit students in the long run and make classroom management more difficult.

This applies to individual students as well as entire classrooms.

For real, lasting behavior improvement, focus instead on creating a classroom that nurtures intrinsic motivation.

And leave the bribery to the trainers at Sea World.

Here’s why:

1. Rewards turn good behavior into work.

Rewarding good behavior sends the message to your students that if they have to be paid for it, then it must be work. They logically conclude that being well behaved must be something difficult or noteworthy. Otherwise, why would they be rewarded for it?

This effectively makes good behavior less desirable… and more like an effort your students deserve to be paid for.

2. Rewards lead to entitlement.

When you offer rewards in return for good behavior, you create in your students a peculiar sense of entitlement. They’ll feel entitled to receive something for merely doing what is expected.

It leads them to believe that they’re behaving and following rules for you, and thus are owed something from you. After all, if they’re getting a reward for it, there must not be anything in it for them.

3. Rewards cheapen the intrinsic motivation to behave.

Being rewarded to behave cheapens the intrinsic merit of being a valued citizen of your class. In other words, it puts a price tag on the priceless.

Have you ever had a student who was uncomfortable or less than thrilled with public recognition, drummed up awards, or excessive praise? This is a person with already strong, deep-rooted intrinsic motivation who would prefer that you didn’t barter with it.

4. Rewards lead to more and more and more.

When you put a price tag on good behavior by offering rewards, your students will demand higher and more frequent payments. Rewards, you see, are not only ineffective in the long term, but they weaken over time.

If you’ve used rewards in the past, you’ve experienced this. What is exciting and fun at first, like extra recess, becomes boring and not a big deal after awhile. Therefore, you have to continue to increase the payment or the frequency of the reward.

The Ultimate Reward

Good behavior is its own reward because it offers students self-respect, confidence, and the wonderful feeling of belonging to a classroom that needs and appreciates them.

To deepen these feelings, and to get your students to want to behave–for themselves and for the betterment of your classroom–stop rewarding them for good behavior. Stop interfering with the awesome power of intrinsic motivation.

Instead, support it, encourage it, and feed it by creating a classroom your students love coming to every day.

It’s the best reward you could ever give them.

If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

If you’re like most teachers, you stray from your classroom management plan.

Oh, your intentions are good. You really do want to follow it to the letter. But ultimately you don’t.

Situations keep getting in the way.

Like, for example, when one of your best students forgets to raise her hand, and you overlook it because you know she probably won’t make the same mistake again.

Or when frustration gets the best of you and you lecture a disrespectful student rather than sending him to time-out.

Or when you’re busy trying to get through a lesson, and it feels like too much trouble to stop and deal out a consequence.

Following your classroom management plan isn’t always easy.

But ignoring it is a gamble you’ll lose every time.

All Bets Are Off

One of the core principles of Smart Classroom Management is to never waver from your classroom management plan. You follow it no matter what–even when it’s inconvenient.

When you follow your plan, good things happen. Leverage, rapport, trust, and influence grow, and misbehavior shrinks.

Stray from your plan, however, and all bets are off. Here’s what can happen:

You will lose your students’ trust.

Once your students realize that you don’t always follow your classroom management plan, they’ll begin losing respect for you and trust in what you say. And if they can’t trust you, managing your classroom becomes more difficult.

You will cause resentment.

When you’re inconsistent, your students will think you’re playing favorites. “Why did I get a warning for calling out, but she didn’t?” is a common refrain. It’s also a valid point. Children have an acute sense of fairness, and they’ll resent you if you’re unfair.

You will be tested.

If you show a tendency to give in, to let things go, or to lose emotional control, then you’re going to be tested—more every day. And you’ll continue to be tested until you stand your ground and start following your plan.

You will hurt your best students.

When you don’t follow your classroom management plan, your best students are often the most negatively affected. They have to endure interruptions, distractions, and the plodding nature of the class until and unless you’re committed to enforcing your classroom rules.

You will lose your cool.

Teachers who forgo their plan find themselves needing to yell, scold, lecture, and the like in order to maintain control. One of the benefits of following a classroom management plan is that it replaces the need to ever use harmful methods.

You will encourage misbehavior.

When you let even small things go, like the occasional calling out, it opens the floodgates to more misbehavior. Before long you’ll have students standing in front of you yelling your name and demanding attention like chicks waiting to be fed.

You will have distracted students.

Side-talking. Pencil tapping. Eyes looking everywhere but at you. These are predictable behaviors in classrooms without every-single-time accountability.

Fix It Today

Nothing good comes from ignoring your classroom management plan. Students don’t benefit, behavior doesn’t get better, and your class doesn’t miraculously become more focused.

Things only get worse.

But you can fix it today. Decide to follow your plan no matter what. Decide to stop rolling the dice and start staying true to your word.

It may be difficult at first. Your students will wonder what got into you. They’ll be skeptical. They’ll test you more than normal. But then slowly, everything will get better.

And better.

And better.

You can bet on it.

If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

The idea is simple.

If your students like you, they’ll want to please you and seek your approval.

Which gives you leverage—leverage to influence behavior like almost nothing else.

And the best news is… it’s automatic.

Your students will automatically behave better simply because they like you.

The prevailing wisdom says that teachers need to be grim-faced and serious or students will walk all over them.

Hogwash.

This old way of thinking doesn’t work with today’s kids. What does work is creating leverage and rapport through, among other things, likeability.

Five Simple Ways To Be More Likeable

It isn’t difficult to become more likeable to your students. Anyone can make a few changes in how they relate to their students and see results quickly.

Commit yourself to following the list below for just one week, and behavior in your classroom will improve—both because your students will be happier to be part of your class, and because you’ll have more influence over their behavior choices.

1. Relax

Stress will permeate your classroom like a thick fog, creating excitability in your students and negative feelings about you. So before greeting students every day, take a deep breath and shake the tension out of your arms, legs, and shoulders. Just let it go…

You’ll be more likeable, feel more confident, and carry the calm, relaxed demeanor of a teacher who knows what he or she is doing.

2. Smile

Deadlines, test scores, meetings, paperwork. When you’re under the gun, stressed, or not at your best, your smile is the first thing to go. And with it goes your likeability. You can’t be influential with a furrowed brow and a frown.

A smile is the first step to creating a mutual admiration society with your students; the more you smile at them, the more they’ll smile back. And the more you’ll like each other—a little known key to exceptional classroom management.

3. Be Yourself

Too many teachers hide their true personality from students for fear of inciting misbehavior. But enjoying your students and having a good laugh doesn’t cause misbehavior. It does the opposite. It makes you more likeable and gives you more power to command the behavior you want.

Keeping your personality under lock and key stifles your charisma, making you appear dry, dull, and humorless—which is the death knell of effective teaching. It inhibits that part of you that is the most inspiring and passionate; the part that students take notice of and put their faith in.

4. Tell stories

Nothing is more effective in creating leverage and admiration than being a good storyteller. Its transformational powers can put your students into the palm of your hand.

Start with simple 3-5 minute anecdotes. Share your travel experiences, embarrassing situations, or funny moments. As you get more comfortable, branch out to include fictional stories and stories to introduce lessons and units of study. (For more info on how to become a great storyteller, see Dream Class.)

5. Have fun

Having fun as a class is a potent leverage builder, but if you join your class in the fun, if you take an active part in it, your likeability will skyrocket. The key, however, is not to attach a secondary motive. Have fun just for the sake of having fun.

Not only will your students look at you differently after a game of Giants, Wizards, and Elves, but it will provide a wonderful shot in the arm for a sleepy, restless, or unmotivated class.

How Does Your Soup Taste?

Increasing your likeability will sharpen the contrast between being a contributing member of your class, and being separated from it (time-out).

For students in a majority of classrooms, everything feels about the same—muddled together in a lukewarm bowl of flavorless soup. The class is bland, the teacher is bland, time-out is bland. What’s the difference?

One of the smart classroom management goals, on the other hand, is to create extremes for your students.

The wider you can make the gap between what it feels like to be part of the class (savory, delicious soup), and being separated from it (bitter, unappetizing soup), the more effective you’ll be.

If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.

Classroom management is easy.

Let me rephrase that.

Classroom management should feel easy.

If it feels difficult to you, if it feels like you’re straining and working to get students to behave and pay attention, then you’re doing something wrong.

Effective classroom management is knowledge based. Unlike most successes in life, it doesn’t reward those who work the hardest. It rewards those who work the smartest.

It takes poise, self-discipline, and mindfulness—to be sure. But it doesn’t take being exhausted at the end of the day.

Today’s article is the 80^th written for this website. If you look through the articles, you’ll find strategies that anyone can do, that are simple to implement, and that take minimal planning.

Students react predictably—both good and bad—to certain teacher behaviors, techniques, and strategies. Knowing which is which is like having a key that unlocks the secrets to happy teaching.

And that’s what this site is about. Being happy in your job, fulfilled, and blessed with the freedom to inspire students—without interruption, disruption, and disrespect.

A Lot To Learn

Rules and consequences are an important part of classroom management. There is no getting around it. You can’t be an effective teacher without an unwavering commitment to following them. But they’re only a small part of classroom management—just a sliver.

The rest is your relationship with students—how you speak, interact, and communicate with them, the way you respond when they misbehave, how you carry yourself, how you praise them, and the strategies you use to get them to do what you ask.

You have to know how to create leverage, how to build rapport, how to get students excited about coming to school, how to be an effective storyteller, and how to get students to want to behave.

There is a lot to learn.

But once you have a solid understanding of smart classroom management principles, strategies, and techniques, you’ll have the confidence to control, and thrive in, any classroom on the planet—regardless of who the students are or the behavior problems they’ve had in the past.

Goodbye To The Old Methods

Classroom management shouldn’t feel like hard work.

You shouldn’t have to persuade, bribe, yell, argue, debate, negotiate, lecture, scold, glare, or threaten students to behave. You shouldn’t have to use elaborate incentive systems or praise students who don’t really deserve it.

You shouldn’t have to manipulate students or play mind games, walk on eggshells or merely hope your students will behave. You shouldn’t have to spend more time and energy on some students than others. And you shouldn’t have to be concerned about parent complaints.

But most important, classroom management shouldn’t be stressful.

If it is, or if it feels like hard work, or if you find yourself using any of these old methods, then you’re doing something wrong.

If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

- Smart Classroom Management - Copyright 2009-2011, All Rights Reserved.