I do a lot of personal coaching with teachers this time of year.
And there is one thing I’ve been doing lately that my clients have found especially helpful.
So I thought I’d share it with you.
It’s a self-inventory (of sorts) based on the previous school year, and it starts with a single question.
You see, I discovered that if you’re not getting the well-behaved classroom you want, the reason often comes down to one thing.
—One mistake you’re making that results in most of the misbehavior you’re experiencing.
The question is this:
If you had to pinpoint one area of classroom management in which you were weakest this past school year, what would it be?
In other words, what is your one thing, your Achilles’ heel that is mucking up all the rest?
A few areas may come to mind, but invariably there will be one standing head and shoulders above the rest.
Write it down on a piece of paper or onto a document. Now, just below your one thing, bullet-point the negative consequences of being weak in this area.
For example, if inconsistency is your one thing, then . . .
Your students won’t respect you.
They’ll believe you’re playing favorites.
Attentiveness will suffer.
Misbehavior will increase and become more severe.
Your stress level will skyrocket.
You’ll become resentful.
There are certainly more, but you get the idea. Your one thing is undermining and making harder all your other strategies and efforts to control your classroom and enjoy teaching.
Knowing this is good news! Because if you know what your one thing is, then it’s often the only thing you need to fix.
Once I started using this process with my coaching clients, we were able to zero in on the ‘why’ of their struggles almost immediately—which then led them to see with absolute clarity what they needed to do to fix it.
They also learned to their relief that they weren’t as far away from having a well-behaved class as they once thought.
Some of the most common one things are:
Inconsistency.
Moving and talking too fast.
Micromanagement.
Taking misbehavior personally.
Trying to convince students to behave.
Not having clear rules and consequences.
Not knowing exactly what does and doesn’t constitute breaking your rules.
Not giving instruction with enough detail and clarity.
Now, you may be doing several of these. But remember, they’re interrelated and only one of them is, in many cases, the catalyst for the others—either causing them or making them difficult to avoid.
Most often, without much thought, you’ll know immediately what your one thing is. But be sure to go through the entire exercise and write down the consequences of your one thing.
I promise it will be eye-opening.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you! My one thing is transitions. We have a lot of transitions. Moving from center to center (4 in the morning), lining up to go specials, lunch, and walking in hallways. Why? Not having clear rules and consequences. I have a hard time coming up with consequences, come to think of it, have not thought about it. I had two boys who would hide in the library area. One started to get stuck to his chair when we were leaving the classroom. What would be your suggestions for consequences?
This past year I had automatic redo of behaviors and then I had practice time if the behavior continued multiple times. For example lining up if students after a redo still struggled we would then practice it for the amount of time it took them to do it during their time. So if it took three redos to get it right then we practiced three times before recess.
Hi Gwen,
When you get a chance, check out the Classroom Management Plan category of the archive or the e-guides at right.
I have a departmental schedule. I feel that I am consistent within my classroom and make sure my class before lunch follows our rules for lining up, walking to lunch appropriately, etc. I can redo/ model more if it isn’t correct. However, after lunch the class has to go to a new teacher, and I don’t have the time to ensure rules for walking, lining up, etc. are being followed correctly because the next teacher has this group for a 90 minute block and every minute is gold. Do I have the right to have the group or any group practice our rules even when I am using another teacher’s time?
Thank you for your excellent work.
Hi Mitch,
No, I think it would be best to do it on your time, perhaps the next day.
Thank You so much. As I approach my 45th year teaching middle school science, I look at each year as if I’m walking in for the first time. This year I will have three classes of eighth grade boys and two seventh grade girl classes. Yes, I teach in a single gender public charter school. This is my 10th year there and I am still having a great time. Since I am established in the community it makes a big difference. I discovered Remind last year and it was an awesome addition to my communication to both parents and students. I look forward to receiving your posts and starting a fresh new year at my school. I’m already excited and I must confess that middle school science is the best subject to teach. Again thank you.
My pleasure, Linda!
I am a veteran teacher of 30 years. Many at my school think that I have excellent classroom management, but I’m always trying to improve my game and absolutely love your articles and agree with most everything that you say. My question is about your negative thoughts about trying to convince students to behave. I teach 7th and 8th grade. I understand that the students in my elementary classes had a more difficult time with my reasoning with them about things, but I find it is one of my strengths at this grade level. I am also a firm believer in character education and try to convince my students to reflect on their behaviors and consider living a virtuous life – being a “thoughtful” person, and kind/respectful with their actions. Am I trying to convince them to behave – absolutely? Why is this a negative thing or a problem in your eyes? I can see how it’s not as useful in elementary because the students don’t yet have the maturity to reflect on their behaviors. Also, there are a few at my grade level who aren’t mature enough to reason with, but I still feel that it is important to plant the seed.
I think by not “convincing students to behave,” he means avoiding day-to-day coaxing, pleading, and lecturing when you know that the student already knows the “why” of the rules, because thoughtful discussion has already taken place. He’s also not against warnings (which is the first step in his classroom management plan) or reminders before a rule is broken as preventative measures.
Michael also wrote an article emphasizing the importance of explaining the “why” of the rules to students, so he isn’t against reasoning with them about the rules as a foundational lesson at the beginning of the year, or as an occasional refresher when needed.
Being new to teaching, I’m not exactly sure what my ‘one’ thing is. Maybe it’s a bit of this and a bit of that which causes some management issues. I think one thing is, I give my students control of their learning to quickly, and I need to give point-by-point instructions and directions, which causes them to ask too many clarifying questions.
Would one of your books help as a Transitional Kindergarten Aide? I need help with garnering respect, and dealing with the fact that I don’t make the rules the teacher does. In addition, these days teachers don’t use systematic consequences (turning your card, moving your pin up or down, name on board). So I’m struggling with having less power than the teacher but still needing the kids to listen and behave. I just can’t change the system as an aide.
Hi Joyce,
Perhaps. I think The Classroom Management Secret would be the best choice.
I have read many of your articles and have many books, and these techniques have helped a lot! One issue that I had last year was that students began to really resent me and I’m not sure why. If I were to guess, it would be because I was strict about not talking during lessons and would give out a consequence when I noticed it. However, even to me it sometimes seemed to be too much. Could you write specifically about how to teach students when it is appropriate to talk and when not to? I felt that they were constantly receiving consequences for talking without permission, and it almost seemed like micromanaging. However, I wanted make sure that they were not disrupting other students’ learning. I guess I’m not exactly sure where the balance is and could use some advice. Thank you so much!
Hi Bethany,
I’ve covered this topic at length, but I’ll be sure to revisit it soon.
Hi Bethany,
I am also struggling to find the balance between when to penalise students for talking without permission and when not to.
I am a language teacher and I have one class that is giving me a hard time. I am trying different approaches with them including not penalizing them when they call out, because they all do.
It would be great help if we get some advice in that regard.
Cheers
Sue
Bethany and Sue this is my exact issue and I feel I go one way or the other.
Either I’m too firm the kids resent me and it becomes a battle … or I’m not firm enough and I can build some relationships but I’m not able to maintain a good pace… and eventually I lose their respect.
I need a mild consequence and a clearer of when to act and when not too