Poor Classroom Management: Lessons learned

Imagine a classroom where the kids come running in, some come in and sit on their desk. Moreover, there are constant disruptions. Many times the class is literally unteachable. You tend to spend more time with behavior issues than you do actually teaching. No one is happy. This was my class when I first started teaching and it was all because I did not have an appropriate classroom management plan.

What I Found

When I first started teaching I had understanding of classroom management. Before the class year started I tried learning everything I could about teaching. Every resource I found talked about how important classroom management was but none seemed to be able to give specific information about how to establish it.

One place said that you have to first imaging what you want your classroom management style to look like. Well, if you have never taught before how are you suppose to know what your “classroom management style” is? Another said to let the students create a Behavior Contract and they will be more invested. This one is pretty common and if done right can work. However, for it to work you first need to know what you want it to say and how to get the students there, this is not exactly easy for a new teacher.

Finding Out the Hard Way

Well, since my research didn’t help much, I decided to take another approach. These students will have been going to school for 8 years (at least) and every class has basically the same rules. Therefore, why do I need to remind them yet again about the rules? Instead I decided to show them respect and simply ask for respect in return. They are mature enough for that concept right?

Wrong!

When Things Go Wrong

I started the year by talking with my students. I told them that recognized that they understood what was expected of them and that I was going to respect that. Then I gave my students just three basic rules; respect me, respect others and respect yourself. I thought those three rules would cover anything that came up.

While this sounded great, it did not work. I did not understand the mental maturity level of the students. The average 8th grade student begins the year extremely self centered, only able to understand their needs and wants. This means that the concept of respecting others or me does not really register with them.

Because of this oversight and my in-experience I ended up with a class where students were fighting, and yelling at each other. They would also sit on their desks, throw trash on my floors and constantly find new ways to interrupt my class.

My time in the classroom was mostly occupied with managing disruptions and calming conflicts rather than focusing on teaching. Some of my students dreaded entering my class due to the persistent behavior issues. The feeling of being lost and overwhelmed weighed heavily on me, and I couldn’t shake the sense that I wasn’t adequately meeting the needs of my students. It became evident that a significant change was necessary.

Learning a Better Way

I spoke to my mentor and the teachers on my team. They all helped me realize that these students need rules. The students need structure. They need an anchor.

I got my first taste of this when my took the advice of my mentor to get my worst behaving class under control. I gave them rules. Not only did I give them rules but I gave them LOTS of rules. There was no freedom in that class. This was meant to be a long term solution but it was designed to get their attention, and it worked. It served to not only get them to appreciate the freedoms that I had given them previously, but it also helped me realize that they need rules.

The Take-Away

Eventually, that class often was more often than not my best performing class. They became very protective of their freedoms and they followed the rules to keep those freedoms. I had also learned. I was finally understanding the importance of classroom rules / expectations. This evolved into the classroom rules/ expectations that I use now.

This plan takes an Assertive Discipline Approach. This approach demands compliance from the students. This plan does not ever move into an aggressive style. instead, it requires me to be firm but fair. It not only demands respect from the students it shows them what respect looks like. It also shows them that I respect them as well.

I have included an article fully describing the Classroom rules/ expectation that I use here.

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