4 Classroom Management Tips for Middle School

Teaching middle school is tough, heck being in middle school is tough!  Everything about middle school makes people groan when I tell them what I do for a living.  But, even though I never pictured myself as a middle school teacher (I was convinced I would be Ms. Honey from Matilda), I LOVE my job.  I love the age and the kids and even the girl drama makes me chuckle from time to time.

But it is a tough age for classroom management.  The students are no longer at the age where they want to please you, and all they care about is what their peers think.

Here are 4 tips for your middle school classroom management.

Stay Calm

The key to keeping control of your middle school classroom is staying calm.  If you let the kids get you riled up, you are going to say something without thinking.  When this happens you either end up giving out consequences that you can’t follow through on or having to follow through with consequences that you didn’t want to give.

Staying calm also lets the kids know who’s boss.  If they know that they can get under your skin, it lets them know that they have some power over you.

For more on this see Get Control Back in Your Classroom!

Get to Know Your Students

Getting to know your students has several benefits.  One is that it allows your students to know that you care.  Most students will respect you more if they feel like you care about them.

Some teachers think that students don’t have to respect them or like them, they just have to listen to them.  There is some truth to this.  But, research has shown that students tend to learn better from a teacher that they have a positive opinion of.  And if we’re not teachers because we want students to learn, then what are we doing?

Be Discreet

The one thing that middle school kids tend to care about more than anything is what people think about them.  Yelling at them in front of their peers is going to embarrass them.  Embarrassing them will lead to them acting out more and it is going to damage the relationship of respect between you and them.

When you are redirecting a middle school student or reprimanding them, try to be subtle.  I often redirect students with eye contact or a whisper.  Come up behind them when you’re circulating the room and whisper in their ear what you need them to do differently.

If the conversation needs to be bigger or longer, talk to them in the hallway or after school.

No, we are not trying to make sure that we’re friends with all of our students.  But, maintaining a positive relationship of respect with them can lead to a successful school year.

Pick Your Battles

When I was a first-year teacher, I really needed to hear this one.  Every hill was the hill that I was going to die on.  I didn’t take any crap from anyone and I gave out a LOT of detentions.

In the years since then, I realized that this led to me spending a lot of time reprimanding students and giving detentions, and not as much time teaching and prepping for teaching.

Plus, if you have a kid that is really struggling at home and has a lot going on.  Sometimes it’s helpful for them if you cut them some slack and handle them with kid gloves.

Today, I don’t worry about kids who don’t have supplies.  You don’t have a pencil?  No big deal, go borrow one of mine.  You don’t have the right dividers?  No big deal!  We’ll make the ones you have work!

Do you have great classroom management tips?  Leave them in the comments!

Also, check out:

Positive Reinforcements for Middle School Students

When Co-Teaching Gets Tough