One of the biggest causes of misbehavior is excitability.
It’s also one of the hardest to fix.
The reason is that most struggling teachers just don’t notice it.
They become so used to the tension, so accustomed to the antsiness and disquiet, that they’re not even aware it exists.
A visitor, however, can feel it the moment they step through the door.
It’s palpable.
Personally, the buzz of excitability gives me the heebie-jeebies. It makes me shiver and takes willpower just to stick around for a few minutes.
The good news is that once it’s identified, once it’s determined to be the root cause of silliness, rambunctiousness, and the like, it can be corrected almost instantly with the following five strategies.
1. Breathe
You are the source of the energy in your classroom. Your students take up their cue from you. So if you’re tense and uptight, it will reflect in the behavior of your class.
One sure way to sweep out the negative vibes is to breathe, long and slow, deep through the abdomen. Relax your body and let your calm presence fill the room and carry from one student to the next.
I know it sounds new-agey, but it really works. You can feel the pressure drain from your room and actually see restlessness and excitability subside.
Just breathe and soften the muscles of your body. Not only will it have a positive effect on your students, but it will help alleviate your own mental stress and strain.
2. Pause
Struggling teachers tend to talk fast with very little space between phrases. They also pepper their speech with ums and ahs, fearing that if they don’t fill the silence, then their students will.
Add to it the overwhelming need to narrate and over-explain and repeat themselves again and again, and you have the perfect recipe for excitability.
You see, the constant chatter is disconcerting to students. It causes nervousness and boredom and the desire to tune you out in favor of those around them.
Simply pausing—often and sometimes lengthily—increases the power of your words.
It makes you more interesting. It saves students the bandwidth they need to fully take in what you have to say. It stops the turning and racing of their thoughts and enables them to settle in and just listen.
3. Stop
Watching a teacher move and bustle around the room all day is both exhausting and nerve-wracking to students. Many teachers think it causes them to pay better attention.
But the opposite is true.
It causes them to grow weary, lose focus, and look away.
The solution is to stop and stand in one place, especially when giving instructions or providing important information. This will draw eyes and ears to you.
It will pull your students’ attention away from every little distraction in the environment and focus it on what matters.
4. Reduce
Most teachers talk too much and struggling teachers talk way too much. The result is that within a short period of time, ten minutes even, the flood of information becomes overwhelming to students.
They can only take in so much.
They can only pick out and decipher what’s important for so long before they completely tune you out. Your voice then becomes background noise that merely agitates and inspires their own chatter.
If you can cut your talking by one third, you’ll notice a dramatic difference in attentiveness. Your students will have time to process, ponder, and comprehend.
And they’ll come to know that everything you say is worth listening to.
5. Slow
Excitability is like listening to a song played at twice the speed. It’s like running errands on one too many cups of coffee or watching a sugar high romp in a birthday party bounce house.
A sure way to quell an overstimulated class is to simply slow down.
Talk slower. Move slower. Take your time between transitions. Never move on until you’re getting exactly what you want from your students.
Remarkably, you’ll find that not only will your class be calmer and more focused, but you’ll get a lot more done. Listening and performance will also improve, and you’ll have more time than you ever thought possible.
Bad Juju
Excitability is an oft-hidden but potent cause of misbehavior. It’s an ever-present hum that once taken hold, never leaves your classroom.
Unless, that is, you recognize it for the scourge that it is and deal with it at its source.
The five strategies above are proven to calm and soothe even the most frazzled classrooms. They rid the air of bad juju. They settle unsettled minds.
They eliminate the desire to fidget and squirm and talk a mile a minute.
But they must become not merely strategies you try once in a while or when things get particularly chaotic. Rather, they must become as much a part of your classroom as the desks and chairs.
And the curriculum you so badly want to be able to teach.
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Thanks for this. Mr Linsin!
You’re welcome, Obafemi!
I read your article and I wanted to thank you because it made sense to me.
I have noticed not only in my class but also how breathing helps by watching “Call the midwife” and remembering my own experiences when I gave birth to my babies: the heavenly feeling I felt when my breath connected to the voice of the midwife…
Anyway, I hesitated to help my student settle peacefully by breathing calmly, but did once in a while because I was afraid : to be judged weird” but now that I read the article I know how measure the progress to peaceful classroom…
So thank you
It’s my pleasure, Gigi.
I started this sub year with a long term assignment that allowed me to really use these tex on a class/in a school and see them work. I have since been asked to return to different classes- repeat visits shows me better progress. This one has been a huge difference— I especially like to use a few deep breaths to transition between lunch and class, recess and class.
Just wanted to say that this is SO TRUE! It even works with animals. I’ve been teaching for 4 years alongside my education/therapy dog (golden retriever). Whenever I’m rushed, anxious, or short on time, my dog WON’T behave as well. She will stay by my side and refuse to lie down and chill, she pants and walks around me and generally won’t calm down. I’ve had to learn that calming myself first, leads to better behaviour from her (and students naturally) and I would never have believed it until I’d experienced it.
HI Michael.
I am in my second year of teaching full time music and french. Both courses have students who have their own issues. I just wanted to write to say that I read your “little orange book” 🙂 and found it to be very helpful. I struggled last year with classroom management for upper grades and this book really helped focus my own attitude.
The line that stuck me was simply:
“Care, but don’t care.”
I think it’s something all new teachers face as a challenge as it can be easy to take things personally. But your book helped me to look past my own feelings. Thanks !!
Thanks Andrew! I’m glad you liked the book.
This will come in handy at the charter school I teach at!
Good to hear, Oral!
Thank you, Michael, I teach art to students with special needs at seven different schools this year…. and really needed to hear this, as it’s hard to code switch across so many different settings for me. I like this, because it reminds me to bring my own code with me, to bring calm with me.
You’re welcome, Isaac.
I had what may be my toughest teaching day ever yesterday. This was exactly what I needed. Thx
You’re welcome, Carol. I know it will help. 🙂
Love it!🆒
Thanks Shynar!
Thank you! I needed a reminder!
You’re welcome, Marion!
Hi Michael,
Firstly, thank you for another fabulous blog post. I’ve definitely noticed this in the past and will see how it works when it gets to be those last 10 minutes of class when everyone gets really antsy.
Secondly, I bought and read your classroom management book for high school last year because last year was a nightmare for me. My 4th period class had a few students who went out of their way to do the subversive, disrespectful behaviors because they knew it bothered me. At the beginning of the year, I had tried what I was taught in college: talk to them privately, ask why they think they do those behaviors, encourage them to do better, etc. That was how I handled things for the first five years of my career and every year it didn’t work but I didn’t know what else to try. Last year’s 4th period was so bad, I had to take two months in the summer and not allow myself to work because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gone back for my 6th year.
This year I resolved to start the year with the plan you outline in your book. I have to say, I’ve never enjoyed teaching more! The last three weeks we have been in school, misbehavior has been at a minimum and whenever I have to talk to a student about their behavior or they ask about why they lost daily points, I use your strategies and there hasn’t been ANY argument, blaming, or excuses. I’ve been going home with energy to spend with my family instead of leaving it all in the classroom by trying to corral misbehaving and disrespectful students.
Thank you for all your guidance in your books and blog. Keep it coming!
Jennifer B.
Hi Jennifer,
That’s fantastic news! Way to go. I’m so happy for your success. Stay consistent and it will only get better from here as the approach and strategies become second nature.
Michael
May I ask the name of the book?
I teach art from 7th to 12th grade. I have always been a hyper person. When I first started teaching, I brought all of that energy into every class and the results were chaos; I was torn though, because I thought that if I toned it down, the students would be bored in my class. I’ve toned it down a lot since then, but I find myself acting hyper when my students look disengaged. Maybe I should start timing myself when I am explaining a lesson so I don’t talk too much.
Hi Michael! My 2nd graders usually come in excited on Mondays, and it takes me a day or two to get the calm I want! But, I’m gonna try your suggestions today, and I’m sure it will work because when I speak low, that calms them too. Thanks a lot!
I think they’ll help, Julianne! Good luck!
I am going to put this into practice this morning! As I am slowing down, what do you suggest I do with my students who are completing work well before the others? I would love any ideas/advice
Hi Melissa,
This is a topic that is on the list of future articles. Stay tuned.
This is EXACTLY what I needed to read today. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Amy!
Hi Michael,
Thank you for the useful blog. I’m always have a hard time to make my pupils calm down before I start my lessons. Sometimes I even doubt my ablity as an effective teacher. Some of my pupils even asked me to relax. I’m going to apply your strategies in my class. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Cheng! The strategies should definitely help.
Michael,
This post is perfection. You are a true guru and I love the wisdom you share with us. Thank you for being a guiding light in our profession!
Thanks Jan! It’s my pleasure.
This is so good. Keep it coming.
Thank you.
This is *so* difficult as a rotary teacher. I teach a foreign language and have to be super-dramatic in order to keep them motivated to learn the language. Also, I don’t have my own classroom, so I have to teach in other teachers’ rooms – and none of them follow your plan. It’s an extra battle to fight.
I feel very thankful to get your emails. Love the knowledge you share. I actually use it for my preschoolers. The archives have come in handy in times of chaos. Again, thank you for sharing. 🤓
It’s my pleasure, Tia!
I plan to take your suggestions to heart and not only use them in the classroom but on the bus as well. In the afternoons I have a group of students who constantly try my patience by talking way too loudly, they get up out of their seats and walk down the aisles of the bus while its moving, aggravate the person next to them, etc. As the noise gets louder so do I as I try to get them to behave. Same children every time and almost every day. I recently had a melt down and yelled at the children after having to stop the bus several times because I felt it wasn’t safe to continue the route. No more! I have beaten myself up over the incident, but I will apologize, restate the rules and involve my supervisor who can use the camera onboard to locate the problem quickly and assist in better behaviors on the bus with consequences. Thank you for your advice and suggestions.