5 Signs You’ve Lost Control Of Your Class (But Don’t Know It)

Smart Classroom Management: 5 Signs You've Lost Control Of Your Class (But Don't Know It)After nine years of writing this blog and connecting with teachers all over the world, not much surprises me.

I’ve heard just about every behavior issue and classroom management struggle under the sun.

Many, ten times over.

But there is one thing that still flabbergasts me.

It’s the scores of teachers who have lost control of their class but continue to plow forward.

They continue to earnestly deliver their lessons despite the chaos, inattentiveness, and malaise surrounding them.

For me, it begs the question:

Why don’t they just stop everything and start over?

Why don’t they reestablish—or establish for the first time—behavior expectations that protect learning and free them to teach?

Why don’t they adopt an effective classroom management plan and commit to it fully?

Well, after coaching hundreds of teachers over the past couple of years, and asking this very question, I now know the answer: It’s because they don’t realize they’ve lost control.

They’ve grown so accustomed to disorder, so used to a culture of indifference and disrespect, that they don’t notice it anymore.

They’ve come to accept that it’s just part of the job.

Well, it’s not. At least, it doesn’t have to be. So, in light of this truth, I’ve compiled the five most common signs you’ve lost control of your class.

And thus need to begin again right now.

1. You talk over your students.

If you feel you have no choice but to give instruction while your students are talking (because of the time and trouble it takes to get them quiet), then you have very little influence over their behavior.

The result is that every area of learning is profoundly and negatively affected. Further, by continuing the practice, you’re encouraging more and more misbehavior.

2. You remind and repeat.

If you find yourself repeating much of what you say, and reminding your students again and again about the same things, then you’ve effectively trained them to tune you out.

You’ve communicated loud and clear that you don’t mean what you say, which always leads to misbehavior and unruliness.

3. You have a poor relationship with your students.

If your students argue with you, if they complain and challenge your policies and instruction, it’s definitive proof that they’re unhappy with you and how you’re running the classroom.

It’s their way of telling you that your methods are unfair, arbitrary, inconsistent, and too personal. The result is not only more misbehavior, but a strong desire to push your buttons and act up behind your back.

4. You work harder than your students.

If you rush around with the weight of the world on your shoulders and your students gad about, laughing and lounging without a care in the world, then the proper balance of responsibility is way out of whack.

In well-run, well-behaved classrooms, the teacher focuses on delivering great lessons while the burden of listening and learning falls in toto onto the shoulders of students.

5. You struggle to get their attention.

If you ask for quiet and are all but ignored, if you count down from ten and shush and plead, then your students don’t see you as a leader and authority they respect and admire.

Asking for and receiving silent attention is an accurate barometer of your overall effectiveness and another glaring sign that you must start over from scratch.

The Big Lie

The notion that stress and frustration are just part of the job is a lie.

You don’t have to work in chaos or put up with disrespect and unruly behavior, no matter where you work or who is on your roster. You don’t have to stay late after school or be a martyr for your students.

You don’t have to put on a good face and try to convince yourself that you really do like teaching.

But you do need to recognize when it—the whole enchilada—isn’t working. You need to recognize the signs telling you that continuing down the same road is a fool’s errand.

So you can gather up your courage, commit to an approach that lays waste all the myths and falsehoods . . .

And begin anew.

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.

45 thoughts on “5 Signs You’ve Lost Control Of Your Class (But Don’t Know It)”

  1. These are some things that I’ve been struggling with as a teach this year. I would like some suggestions about how to manage the behaviors in a more effective way. At this point, my frustration is high and I don’t know how to start over.

    Reply
    • I teach 8th grade. When this happens I start by assigning seats. The student’s first question is always “why do we have assigned seats?” I then remind them of the classroom expectations and procedures and tell them that they will be in assigned seats until they remember how to act in class. I also remind them that even though the state test is done, we still have 8 weeks of learning, school is not over.

      Reply
    • I am a Library/Reading teacher. I see the students 1 or 2 times per week. I cannot get the 5th and 6th grade classes to be quiet so I can start my lesson.

      I am not allowed to send students to the principal if they are disruptive . I call parents about disruptive behavior but it does not good. Usually the parents don’t return my phone calls. I am not their student’s Classroom teacher. I try to hold students accountable by having them do think sheets (what rule did you break and how will you fix it). I have called parents in for conferences about disruptive behavior.

      How do I “reboot” these classes . My rules are on a chart on the wall. So are my grading rubric, The consequences for disruptive behavior are charted too but it is difficult for me to always enforce because I have over 220 students. This does not happen with the younger grades in the library. Please help.

      Best,
      Susan

      Reply
      • I am not in the schools – I work in higher ed. Please do take my thoughts with a grain of salt! I think we share a common library problem, though – we don’t have the leverage that teachers do. My thought here – it is the teachers who must address this. If the teacher respects you & your work, & teaches their students to respect you, you have some leverage. As an academic librarian, I don’t have a classroom management plan, per se, but I do have a series of rules for classes that work with me – no talking over me, waiting to begin searching until I start that activity, etc. Essentially, respect for me, their colleagues, & the work we are doing. They don’t know this up front because they may only see me once as part of a class, but I teach according to these rules, using my actions to show them, & speaking them if needed. This is all more effective when I have a good professor partner who sees me as valuable & a part of what they are teaching, rather than a place to drop the students so they can do other work for a bit. (They are busy…I get it…but…) The students are number one, but I focus a lot of energy on partnerships with my faculty colleagues. All of this to say – from what I understand in this brief comment, as a fellow librarian, I would focus on my teacher colleagues, first. Your teacher colleagues have more leverage with their students & their parents, & the classroom teacher has an opportunity to let students know their rules apply anywhere in the school, including your classroom & library. I hope they will help you by ensuring their students know you are their trusted colleague with something valuable to teach them…& that you will let the teacher know if you are not treated as such. Thinking of you – thank you for all you do! Our students need great teacher librarians, & you definitely make my work in academia easier.

        Reply
  2. The solution is to let their parents know and make the parents aware of their behavior. The teacher should assign after school detentions, lunch detentions, and Saturday school to these disruptive students

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  3. I don’t want to sound like I’ve got it all together, but I think I do a fairly good job of setting expectations and following through with consequences so consequently I generally have a pretty good running classroom.

    HOWEVER, I recently had something happen that knocked that all for a loop which really created a lot of stress for me. I was “low man” by several student so I ended up getting 4 new students in a period of 10 weeks: 1 day, 4 weeks later, 2 weeks later and 6 days later. The first two didn’t rock things too much in terms of the overall classroom, only things for me to manage. However, the addition of the third threw everything for a loop. He was very defiant and obviously ADHD. In addition to having to manage these issues with him, his presence increased the overall “energy” in the classroom. You could almost feel it vibrate! I had not had a chance to get that figured out before number 4 was brought in who has attention issues and talk constantly to those next to her.

    All of a sudden half of my students were getting consequences each day, whereas before it was only the same one to three each day. We also had to practice and redo simple procedures that had been flawless since the beginning of the year.

    After being in the class for about a month, student number 3 was withdrawn and taken to another school. Although he drove me bat crazy with his ADHD, I really liked him and was sad to see him go, especially under the family circumstances. BUT, there was almost an instant reversal to the class that I had experienced from September to February. I’m glad that things have settled down, but I really wonder what I could have done differently to handle this situation to have made it better? Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Hi Jill,

      I’d have to get more information from you in order to give accurate advice on such a specific situation. There is a cost involved, but I do offer personal coaching.

      Reply
  4. I appreciate your thoughts on most everything, and I would like to fine-tune my classroom management plan. You are often talking about how important the classroom management plan is and that it does the heavy lifting. But I don’t see many examples of what a classroom management plan could look like. Instead of reinventing the wheel myself, I would like to see some examples. Is the only way to see an example to buy your book? ( I teach sixth grade in a middle school in Oxnard. )

    Reply
    • Hi Leslie,

      When you get a chance, please visit the Classroom Management Plan and Rules & Consequences categories of the archive (bottom sidebar).

      Reply
    • Hi Sarah,

      No, we don’t have articles specific to substitute teaching. However, the topic is on the list of future e-guides.

      Reply
  5. Dear Michael!
    I read your weekly articles and I find them very honest and down to earth.
    I appreciate what you do.Thank you for that!
    Also,I am reading your book on happy teaches’ habits and it is a real joy to have found it for only 2 S.Thank you!
    After reading I actually remember most of the content and I find that experience quite unique.I guess,the book resonatest with my deep teacher intuition and touches the inner teacher,as the finest music you mention in the book.
    Still,there is something I would like to tell you,concerning the focus and attention the teacher has to have in order to stay in control of the class.
    After struggles I had with this issue,I concluded that focus can also depend on the ways and standards the institution you work on sets.
    I noticed that if I spend my breaks in the staff room with people who do not share my views on teaching my focus and attention issues increase.
    The best policy for me is to enter my classrom right away,prepare my physical space and invite the kids in,as I hear the bell.I know that I must check the notice board in the staffroom,so I go there too.
    But I have noticed that if I spend too much time there I tend to use my audience quicker.
    I don’t know if you can relate to this observation and I am not sure if it is objective.
    In fact,I share my teaching views with only one colleague and this conversation never hurts my teaching.
    Thank you for your comment,should you find it appropriate to reply.
    Ljerka

    Reply
    • Hi Ljerka,

      I think I understand what you’re saying and I agree. It underscores the importance of spending time with like-minded colleagues and, while remaining cordial, avoiding any negativity or gossip that may cause you to lose focus.

      Reply
      • Hi,again!
        I now realize that we should reply to your answer using the blue reply arrow.
        I am sorry to have written another post instead of using the blue arrow.
        I see the rule now and appreciate it.

        Reply
  6. THIS is SOO SPOT ON, Michael! I’ve read 3 of your books and keep reading your emails and my translation/summary of your key principles in my class is:

    One instruction given and not properly followed by students begets the next. And the next. Until CHAOS ensues.

    I’m worth more and so are my students. Often, I wonder if our BELIEF in the VALUE of what we teach is something that is lacking. That what we teach isn’t important enough to truly DEMAND attention, concentration and effort. We need to remind ourselves that what we teach is not just the subject but actually HOW TO LEARN.

    Thanks as always for your awesome insights. You have saved my sanity heading back into the middle school classroom after a 17 year break!

    Reply
  7. Begin every class with a solid warm up activity that involves every student copying notes from the board. Starting a class with students talking is a lost cause. Wait a few minutes until there is absolute silence and begin teaching. During the middle of class, speak, and wait for silence. Eventually they will quiet down. Demanding attention is a lost cause. Stop in mid sentence so they want to hear the rest. So start the class in silence and set the tone that instruction starts when students are engaged in working and quiet. Your warm up activity is crucial for proper classroom management.

    Reply
  8. Thank you for the reply!
    I also wish to share my view on the management plan and the feelings that I have of it.
    I teach English in a primary school in Croatia.
    The way I see it is that I always had conflicting attitude towards the rule/consequence system.
    I myself am more of an actor type than a police type,so while trying to apply some rules I felt the kids realized I myself did not believe in them,so I gave them the opportunity to break them the soon as I mentioned the rules.
    On the other hand I obviously wanted a nice classroom.
    For me the focus that I get from kids at the very beginning in crucial .
    The focus means the kids trust that I can speak English,they admire it and believe I can get them there.
    They just need to follow me.Or,more precisely,my instructions.
    I tend to lead them by my voice.
    If someone is misbehaving,the group just gets annoyed and makes the kid follow too.
    For me that focus is everything.
    It gets the kids drawn into the world of English.
    In English,please!is sort of my constant rule,since entering the classroom.
    Does this sound utopuan to you?

    Reply
  9. It’s my birthday tomorrow and this article feels like a birthday present to me!

    I’ve spent the last 8 months attempting to explain and show my coteachers here in Korea exactly what you’re saying in this article so concisely and eloquently.

    We’ve just begun seeing the live effects of following your teachings in our classroom since the beginning of the school year (which is March in Korea). Despite ample insistence from coworkers that these methods need “tweaking” because of the differences between American culture and Korean culture and my insistence that they don’t … we’re finally seeing the Truth, with a capital T, to the universality of respectful decorum.

    There’s still progress to be made and refining to our teaching skills to be done but the difference in our classes couldn’t be any more starkly contrasted.

    I’ve said much of this before but it bears repeating in my opinion.

    Thank you yet again, Michael.

    Reply
    • Happy Birthday, Nathan! Great to hear from you. Thanks so much for sharing the improvement you’re seeing at your school. Proof is a great motivator. With your leadership, before long I think they’ll all be on board. Way to go.

      Reply
  10. Hi
    I teach 6th grade- on my own in the am and my co-teacher comes for the last 4 classes of the day. Yes, I teach 7 sections! My am classes are pretty good. I start each day with my expectations and for the most part, all is well. My partner has a different teaching style than me. She is very strict with students entering absolutely silent and she’s tough! But we work well together and have no problems. The issue is on Fridays when I take 2 of the afternoon classes and she takes the other 2…I have to go into a different classroomand there isn’t a moment to prep. The usually well mannered students turn into beasts- they don’t stop talking, they “shush” each other, generally rude. We get very little done and I’m frustrated. I hate that the kids want to learn can’t. I know the problem- I’m not seen as their primary teacher and on my own, they see no need to listen like they do M- TH.
    Help?

    Reply
    • Hi Kelli,

      I think this article is right for you. All signs are pointing to beginning again, teaching your routines, expectations, and classroom management plan as if it’s the first time.

      Reply
  11. Micheal,

    I must say reading this article made me go OUCH!! This is me. I hate to admit it but everything you wrote is me. I know I have lost control over 5th – 8th grades specifically and probably K-4 at times. I do have one question, when you start over, do you have any dialogue with students about how they perceive the teacher? Should I ask what could I do differently to create an environment that fosters learning? Do you believe teachers should give surveys? If so, how should they be worded? Thanks so much for your continued guidance in these blogs. I have read your book about discipline in the music room and found it helpful. Still need lots of work.

    Reply
  12. Michael,
    Thank you for your articles. They are all helpful and thought provoking. Management is a struggle for me. I teach middle school band and choir and see over 200 students a day. My 5th grade band has 55 students in it so when I start to lose control of the class it is like a tidle wave. I have established routines and consequences but with that many students it is a quick domino effect of disruptive behavior. I’m wondering if I need to start over with a new plan. Do you have any suggestions for ways to manage large groups (with loud instruments in their hands)?

    Reply
  13. So I am A Second year 8th grade teacher, that got put into a subject I know little about. I have my behavior plan and for 80% but 20% do not seem to care. Parental involvement does not work from my end, and only works for a short period on administration side. My control of class seems to go in waves. Mainly off what students are present. I have gone over expectations many times with this group. And with State testing wrapping up they are loosing interest even faster. With two hour blocks that is a long time with kids that try to take over the class.

    Reply
  14. Hello,
    Just recently found your site. Like the honesty and directness and also the red rectangle with all the undesired behavior on the outside and what I want on the inside. Looks simple. I just want peace and harmony. What I have is 5 year olds. There’s more to this though, as its a class recently created to take the disruptive students away from the mainstream group as they were taking so much time away from the other students learning.
    so in I go! Lets just say there is never a dull moment. NEVER!
    What I don’t see you mention is the classroom management v the emotional damage these children have in their personal lives and how this has affected their cognitive growth, emotional development, self regulation, in short how they interact at school is what they live with at home and its difficult to expect them to swap from one to the other. Is it not? I’m reluctant to go into greater detail here for privacy reasons. your (or anyone’s) thoughts would be wonderful!

    Reply
    • Hi Fran,

      I have covered this topic in several places here on the website. I don’t have a link for you off the top of my head, but you may want to check out the Difficult Student category of the archive.

      Reply
  15. I always dreamt of being a teacher, and I thought I was going to be great at it until I got a class of my on. This is my fourth year, 2 and 2 years interrupted by a long interval of four years. Last year I was a mainstream teacher while I got to know the school’s program. This year I got my own classroom, and I’m reliving the same feelings I had my first year of teaching. I love grade three, it’s my favorite grade, but (even though I know how much my students like me) I have a hard time in class. I experience everything you’ve mentioned in the article basically every day. I’ve tried starting over, but I guess all those many attempts have left the students on an irreversible path. It’s really stressful and depressing as I’m the classroom teacher and spend 10 blocks of 80 min a week, plus snacks, with them. I’ve been following this page since I started school this year. It has helped a lot, but I guess there is still something I have not quite figured out. Just taking note of everything because next year I am setting my plan from day one. Thanks for all the articles!

    Reply
    • You’re welcome, Sasha. I’d have to speak with you to help you determine what your missing. But stick with it, keep reading and learning, and realization and wisdom will come.

      Reply
  16. I have a very sparky class who are aged 7-9. They find it difficult to settle and at times I feel wrung out by the end of the day. I’m told they are better now than they were in September. I follow your plan and recommend your books. I have read Smart Classroom Management and Happier Teacher. Loved them! I have just two boys who constantly call out in class and are obviously trying to get my attention. They have received letters to take home regarding their refusal to follow my rules about putting their hands up before calling out. Am I being unreasonable with this expectation? In your experience, is there something else I can do to stop this attention seeking?

    Reply
  17. Hi Michael,

    I have two of your books and love the content. I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your insight with us.
    Michael

    Reply
    • It’s my pleasure, Michael! Thanks so much. I appreciate you letting me know. Comments like yours keep me going through the long hours of writing and thinking. 🙂

      Reply
  18. I was engaged to long-term sub an 8th grade math class. I arrived on Monday to a bare room, stripped of any and all wall charts or decorations– not even classroom rules. No textbooks- the kids had been using Google classroom but I was not given a computer or a logon account. There are laptops in the classroom, but when I let them get the laptops out they watch Youtube videos. There is a zero phone policy but I cannot get compliance. I can’t take the phones away- I can ask but there is no way to force compliance. I have students in 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th hours plus “Advisory” for 1st and 8th periods, each one is only 40 minutes while the class hours are 50 minutes. In 5th hour today, 10 out of 16 students were out of the classroom- either absent or in ISS or OSS. Yet, even with only 6 kids in the classroom, I could not get control. One is a bully who walked around trying to smack kids, take what they had (including their phones or their laptops) and completely ignored any word I said to him. I called Security, who came in and looked at him and shrugged his shoulders and walked out. Yesterday I called the Vice Principal who came in and lectured the kids about how she could barely ever find subs and I was brave enough to come in, and she’d send every one of them home on OSS before she’d risk losing me from the building. The minute she left the room they resumed their behavior.

    Today a Literacy volunteer came in- she is a retired teacher and was appalled at the kids in my classroom, the fact that I had been given NOTHING to work with, and that nothing was even on the walls or anything.

    I can’t wait until your Sub book comes out. I have followed your steps– Verbal warnings would require me to continually say “Warning” so I printed some Warnings– the kids laughed, passed them around, wadded them up or tore them into pieces. Since I had no idea what they’ve been doing in math, I used my own resources and printed Critical Thinking Skills packets and tried putting them in groups to work together since their reading levels are all over the place. [Somehow, the kids who won’t do anything for me or answer these worksheets have As in their classes, but I witnessed City Year helpers reading their worksheet to them and walking them through answering them- the only work I’ve seen done in my class this week.]

    Tomorrow, all the kids who “behaved” for standardized testing by staying in their assigned testing room for 80% of the prescripted hours are getting choice of Fun Activity in each of the 8th grades’ teachers’ rooms…. one teacher has board games, one is taking kids outside, one has a movie, etc. One teacher is getting kids who missed 2 days of testing to take make-up tests. They are giving me the “holding room” for all the kids who couldn’t meet their measly requirement to get the incentive day. I am getting the kids the regular teachers could not control during standardized testing.

    Yet, I plan to show up and not leave them in a bind. I am tempted, though.

    Reply
  19. I just came to this website. I have a question. If you have already built a bad behavior with a student who does not like you and constantly misbehaves… How do I rebuild that trust?

    My situation falls under number 3 listed above.

    Reply

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