This post isn’t meant to be humorous. It isn’t meant to be judgemental or hypercritical or make you feel like a failure.
It’s meant to be helpful.
You see, viewing classroom management through a negative lens—as in, what not to do—can bring the greatest clarity.
Wincing as we recognize ourselves in the list below can help us identify those areas holding us back from having the well-behaved class we really want.
So, in that spirit, what follows are 55 ways to be bad at classroom management.
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1. Reward students for good behavior.
2. Be inconsistent.
3. Talk too much, too often, or too loud.
4. Give choices instead of consequences.
5. Be friends with students.
6. Pull students aside for a talking-to when they misbehave.
7. Use behavior contracts.
8. Take misbehavior personally.
9. Ask students why they misbehaved.
10. Answer when students call out.
11. Ignore misbehavior.
12. Pick your battles.
13. Try to convince or persuade students to behave.
14. Be unlikable.
15. Use reflection forms.
16. Keep students separated to avoid misbehavior.
17. Redirect misbehavior.
18. Catch students doing good and praise them for it.
19. Use intimidation.
20. Give “the look.”
21. Argue with students.
22. Be a micromanager.
23. Tell misbehaving students how they should’ve behaved.
24. Let difficult students under your skin.
25. Use a token system.
26. Praise students for expected behavior.
27. Threaten.
28. Try to be a “cool” teacher.
29. Use community circles.
30. Be moody or irritable.
31. Continue teaching while students are talking.
32. Punish the class for the behavior of a few.
33. Narrate routines.
34. Repeat yourself again and again.
35. Show you mean business.
36. Scold, admonish, or berate.
37. Give reminders instead of consequences.
38. Raise your voice.
39. Have a messy, clutter-filled classroom.
40. Accept good enough.
41. Believe that your roster determines whether you have a good class or not.
42. Have negative thoughts about your students.
43. Allow talking during independent work.
44. Play favorites.
45. Lose your cool.
46. Blame everyone but you for your classroom management struggles.
47. Implore students to behave.
48. Give false praise.
49. Shush your students.
50. Have a boring, no-fun classroom.
51. Accept disrespect.
52. Be afraid of holding students strictly accountable.
53. Move on before getting exactly what you want from your students.
54. Be a source of stress and tension in your classroom.
55. Believe that you don’t have the power to create the well-behaved class you want.
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Indeed, you may have questions about some of the items on the list and why they’re a bad thing. Rest assured, all have been written about extensively on this website.
Please check out the archive at right or use the search box at the top of the page.
You can also request that we cover a certain topic again or from a different angle. Leave a comment below or email us. We’re happy to put your suggestion on the list.
Finally, the Kindle edition of The Smart Classroom Management Way is currently on sale for $2.99. The promotion is for US customers only and ends at 11:59 pm (PST) on Sunday, May 9th.
Thanks for reading.
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Thank you for this list, I agree that each one of these contributes to difficulties with classroom management. I also see many that we are required to do and have proof of in our classrooms. Things like community circles, rewarding good behavior, token systems, give choices, a calm down area in our rooms praise, using good students as examples and so on. I would love to see some extensive writing on what to do when these things are expected and looked for in our rooms.
Amen! Me too!
Interesting list … but I’m curious why separating students is a bad thing. If two students are distracting each other and you switch their seats, the distraction is no longer there and it’s not an issue anymore. Isn’t that a good thing? Problem solved, and it took less than 30 seconds.
Hi JB,
This is covered in chapter 11 of Dream Class – Treat the Cause Not the Symptoms – and to a lesser degree in this article: https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2017/11/11/why-avoidance-is-a-terrible-classroom-management-strategy/
I do this and it’s a valuable tool but eventually you run out of space or spare seats especially if you have a large class size. There are those future sales people or customer service reps that somehow can strike up a conversation with ANYONE, no matter where you move them! So I think the point is that if they are following your rules as they should be, there would be no need to move them.
Yikes! I’m guilty of #16 in my preschool class!
New teachers reading this article, don’t freak out : ). As a veteran teacher (and I am very good at classroom management), I still recognize some items on this list that I need to work on. Pick just one or two per week to focus on in yourself, and you will be fine. Michael’s book Dream Class is a good place to start, too.
Summer to do –
1 Review this list.
2 Honestly pick the ones I’m most guilty of.
3 Make a plan for managing turning these weaknesses into strengths in the fall.
Jeff, it goes great with all your future students’ to do lists –
1. Be courteous to my teacher.
2. Do my absolute best.
3. Do not deny my fellow students’ right to learn.
Great rules, be consistent and have some fun with your lessons. Students have different learning styles. (Retired Teacher)
Reflection forms are great. It quiets the student down with reflection and writing, and gives the teacher information about why they disrupted class. Why do you say they’re bad? I use them occasionally, not often
https://smartclassroommanagement.com/2015/04/18/why-you-should-never-use-reflection-forms/
Hi, any articles anyone can refer to me for #6? I am told by Admin to do this. Short and sweet and to the point on their misbehavior, but if they do something majorly inappropriate or are causing distress for another student what can you do other than talk to them outside the classroom about what is going on?
It makes it a whole *thing* and makes the student feel targeted and like they’ll never live it down. They’ll spend the whole time just absolutely hating your guts for singling them out like that, which doesn’t make for positive relationships in the future.
Just…call it when you see it, consistently and fairly enforce the rules, and let everyone move on. You don’t need to explain in-depth why you think what they did was wrong. Doing so is an attempt at shaming. Shame isn’t what you want them to feel.
I’m curious on this as well. Solving certain types of misbehavior should not be done in front of others.
I’m also curious. Sometimes a big negative behavior is an indicator that something’s going on- something they’d probably rather not talk about in front of others. Pulling them out to ask if there’s something else going on, or if they’re not feeling good, or whatever can be really useful in helping mitigate whatever is causing the behavior. Or in other cases, sometimes a student with different needs might need clarification on why it’s not okay- some kids won’t understand just from a redirection.
Oh, dear! I’m seeing myself in a few too many of these. Thank you, Michael! This view through a “negative” lens definitely gives clarity. This is the jolt/inspiration I needed for the last few weeks of school.
As a specialist going into each classroom on a cart this year, it has become crystal clear which methods work and which don’t. It also explains why the kids act the way they do when they come into my classroom in past years and act crazy vs. well-behaved. If the classroom teachers are strict and organized, I will use their classroom discipline plan so they know they are held accountable wherever they are. Otherwise, I have no qualms about contacting parents or finding that kid at recess to do their work. All the students know I mean what I say and I will follow through on holding them accountable.
Michael, I am guilty of many of these “what not to do” despite being a veteran teacher and following your site for many years (obviously not closely enough) I am really curious- did you always have “dream classes” while following your method?
Yes.
Hello
I’m an art teacher in an elementary school, basically art on a cart-so every class I go into is different. I really struggle with managing the noise levels and enforcing any consequence as unfortunately my subject is not seen as important as Math or English so don’t get a lot of support from senior management and principal. What do you suggest?
Thanks
Carmen
I wish this list was listed in the positive so we would be reminding ourself why to do and provided explanations for why things are “bad” classroom management techniques.
Agree
Are these practices considered poor management techniques for both typical and atypical students/classrooms? For example, praising students has been recommended for students who received a behavioral diagnosis.
Thanks for this list! I appreciate the negative list because it is direct and calls attention to teacher behaviours that are best avoided. I picked out a few things that I do and already know how to turn them around. As always, great food for thought and your article has nudged me to reflect on my practice.
Michael – these blogs are the best advice out there. period. Whoever follows this will be the best teachers out there… And I show these to my mom who is raising a big family and she says that these blogs are the best parenting advice out there too!!!
We are required to hold community circles once a week. Where do I find the information explaining why we should not do community circles? I have read a lot about the positive side of community circles. I can see a few negatives but I would love to know more about your opinion!
I’m curious about this too. It feels weird to not start the day with a short check-in about the agenda, the expectations, and any questions the students might have about life/work. But maybe that’s not the type being referred to here? As a long-time reader, I don’t remember any article about the negative side…
I’m retiring in June and starting to sub in the fall. Do you have any tips for substitute teachers? I am feeling a bit nervous about classroom management going into other people’s classrooms with unfamiliar students.
I’ve subbed before. I’ve found that learning their names as fast as possible really does the trick because they see you care – starting with the most basic thing, their name.
Be consistent and have some fun with your lessons. Students have different learning styles. (Retired Teacher)
Amen Clara. It seems like this list is assuming we are teaching a bunch of robots.
Overall, I appreciate your strategies and method. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and found your writings on “Broken Windows”. Surely you’re aware that broken windows policing, while reducing crime, also caused disproportionate harm to poor communities and people of color – leading to racial profiling, mass incarceration, community resentment of police and policy makers, gentrification, etc.
Given that we all have implicit biases, I would appreciate if you could write about how to avoid such pitfalls in our classrooms and CM. Thanks in advance!
I work in Child Care and there are a few things on this list that behavioral, speech, and occupational therapists have told us to do with children having difficulities in class. How do we respond to those?
Well I will have to respectfully disagree with some of the things on this list as it is quite generalized. Not all students/classes are alike, and classroom management requires a bit more finesse than following a list. I understand that the idea is to get people to look at each item and dig deeper with your other resources, but with three weeks of school left, who has time for that?!
I’m really struggling this year as a teacher. My classroom was taken away from me right before school started and I was placed in a co-teaching situation. I am no longer the main teacher and cannot take over management of the class. My subtle suggestions are not taken into consideration.
The circumstances of the pandemic have caused many students to lose all motivation to complete their academic work. I have a select few students who continue to work hard and succeed academically, while the majority are failing every class.
I have found myself resorting to using multiple items on the list above…which then when I read this, I half-laughed and half-cried about it. I am honestly at a complete loss. I do not want to just give up and try again next year (next year I do get to go back to my own classroom though!)…I want to help these students!
Do you have any suggestions for me? Thank you for your time!
I know you say that all these ideas are linked in your website, but it would be more helpful if, for each idea, you linked the article that deals with it, so teachers don’t have to search your website for the resources blindly.
Hi Adam,
There are many articles for each topic and over 600 on the website. I think it’s okay for readers to do a little digging. The search box is an easy and fairly accurate tool.
Michael
While reading your posting, I noticed several ways to be bad at classroom management in a negative way such as to ignore misbehavior, try to persuade students to misbehave, threaten students, loose your cool and to blame others. These are examples of bad classroom management. They are improper. I first thought you were saying bad, meaning great. However it is not the meaning when referring to the statements I listed. They are bad/improper. They should be changed.
Great! One way to break a bad habit is to be well planned, know the subject matter, have all materials out in the correct position according to the time and place you plan to use them . Also! never, ever turn your back to the class! Make sure all work has a purpose.
Hi Michael,
Sometimes I need to move students to different seats for group discussion ( I teach ESL). I find that students benefit from talking to different classmates and it is also needed to balance out less able students with more able ones. From time to time, a student will be reluctant to move seats saying they do not want to move because they personally do not like the classmate they have been assigned to sit next to. It seems some students are considered weird or different, although there is never any obvious sign of weirdness.
Barring no obvious, valid reason (and there has never has been in my experience) why it might not be healthy or safe to sit next to a particular student, I usually insist that they sit in the place I requested them to move to, anyway.
What do you think about my response? Is my insistence in this regard, reasonable?
Yes, I agree with your response.
Thanks Michael!
Michael,
Thank you for being an incredible educator. You have given me hope that I can have the DREAM class I often fall into a trance for. I devoured your classroom management secret in a weekend, then swiftly bought the elementary plan for my middle school 6th grade science class. I then bought your book- The Smart Classroom Management way(still reading this). All delicious, inspiring content. I have already seen my classes take a few steps toward my vision.
I have one question for you- I hope you can answer; I know you’re a busy man and I will not take it personally if you cannot find the time to answer.
Here it is: I’ve scoured your website and cannot seem to find your reasoning behind point 43.
Allowing talking during independent time.
Could you please point me toward the right direction, or clarify why this is bad for managing classes?
Hi Terrell,
Because it makes it difficult for them to concentrate and get into flow. I’ll be sure to cover this topic in detail in a future article.
Thank you for being a great educator Michael.
I am a classroom management failure
I have been a teacher for around 12
Years. I spoke with you several years ago by phone. I have had little success improving. This year has been really difficult. I had a recent meeting with administration. That did not go well.
I really need to “survive” as I am a few years away from retirement.
I would quit tomorrow, but I need to “survive”a few more years until I can get health coverage from Medicare, and collect Social Security.
I am in a no win situation. Too young to retire and too old to start a new profession.
I know my situation is not specific, but I am sure that there are thousands of teachers out there in this situation.
Please help
Thanks