Get Control Back in Your Classroom!

We all have those days where no matter what we do or say, the students just don’t cooperate.  Sometimes those days get so bad that we sit back and wonder if we’re really cut out for this job!  I know that I have had those days, more towards the beginning of my teaching career but they still happen.  When you have that classroom that is just defeating you, here are some tips to regain control of your classroom.

Stay Calm

Letting the students get you worked up and get the best of you is not going to help anyone.  This is the hardest of all of my tips, but it is the most important.  Take a deep breath, count to 10, call your best teacher friend to come to cover you for 5 minutes while you go to the bathroom and scream at the wall… seriously, whatever works.  Maybe not the screaming thing, you don’t want your principal to think you’ve officially gone off the deep end.  But, you get it.  Take yourself out of the situation for a few moments, mentally or physically, and regain your composure.  Remember, you are the adult, they are children, and no matter what happens at the end of the day you get to send them home and start over.

Stick to Your Word

It is easy to threaten them with something outrageous to get their attention.  We’ve all done it.  “If you don’t stop doing x you’re going to lose recess for a month!”  Giving consequences that you’re not going to follow through with is going to ruin your credibility for any future problems.

Make sure that any consequences that you are going to give them, you are willing to follow through on.  A tip for this is to predetermine all of your consequences ahead of time.  This way, during a moment of calm and clarity you have determined appropriate consequences.  When it’s the heat of the moment and you are about to explode, you already have planned out what you are going to do.  This helps you from having to back down from a consequence that is unrealistic.

Maintain Your Classroom Structure

If you have a classroom management plan, in a moment of panic, stick to it.  When your heartbeat is pumping and you are in a panic, it is not the time to make decisions about your classroom management methods.  They do often need to be tweaked throughout the year but make that decision when you are calm and level-headed.  Students need structure and they need to know what is expected of them.  Changing the rules because you are upset is going to make the students more chaotic.

Work With Parents

When students know that their bad behavior is making it home to their parents or guardians, they tend to be more well-behaved.  Call in the parents for a meeting, talk to them about the challenges that you are having and seek their advice.  Personally, I find that if I phrase it to a parent that I need their help and advice, and not like I am just telling them how bad their child is, they are more receptive and have a more positive reaction to my news.

Often the parents are seeing some of the behavior at home.  If the issue is with one or two specific students, maybe you can create a behavior plan that goes home with them.

Seek Advice from a Mentor

If you are a newer teacher, or this is a newer experience for you, ask for help.  Go to the teachers who had these students last year, what worked for them?  Seek out your principal, if you have a good relationship with them, ask them for their advice.   I have found that a lot of principals that I have worked with enjoy being asked for their advice, and can be very helpful.  They have dealt with a lot of different students and situations and can have an interesting, unique perspective.

 

See also,

5 Things to Remember When Working with Parents

Accommodations for Students who Struggle with Executive Functioning