It only takes one day of teaching to realize that classroom management encompasses more than rules, consequences and procedures. Classroom management can become even more complex when you realize the strategies you use in one class, won’t work for your other classes.
So, what can you do? Well, after teaching high school ELA for five years, I found myself needing to reevaluate my classroom practices. I needed to create a solid classroom management plan. I felt like I was constantly trying new classroom management strategies, searching for that perfect combination. I realized I needed to review what I had been using, to create something more structured and solid.
From this reflection, I was able to pin-point 5 crucial steps that allowed me to develop my own classroom management plan! This system allowed me to create a suite of resources that helped me to transform my classroom management practices.
Check out the 5 Strategies below!
- Classroom Management Philosophy
- Essential Classroom Management Questions
- Personalized Classroom Management Plan
- Classroom Management Checklist
- Consistency
1. Classroom Management Philosophy
Developing your own classroom management philosophy is a crucial strategy in understanding what you believe is absolutely vital to promote a smooth running classroom!
When I did this myself, I created what you see below:
2. Essential Classroom Management Questions
Another great classroom management strategy is to ask ask yourself important questions to determine the strategies, procedures, policies and tools you believe you need to have in place for effective classroom management:
- What policies, procedures and systems are essential to have/implement for you to have effective classroom management?
- What strategies and tools will you use to help keep your classroom running smoothly?
- What will your classroom rules and consequences be?
- What tools and strategies will you use for classroom organization?
- What strategies will you use to ensure you remain consistent with implementing all of the above?
These are just SOME of the questions you would ask yourself. When I did this myself, I had 40 questions related to how I wanted to structure my classroom management!
3. Personalized Classroom Management Plan
Once you have your list of essential questions, begin answering them! As you answer each one, you are forming your classroom management plan. Take those answers and make it into a more organized and cohesive document.
When I did this it resulted in a 30+page comprehensive Classroom Management Plan! Look through the gallery below to see more!
4. Classroom Management Checklist
Another great strategy for classroom management is to create a checklist of actions to complete at the beginning of the school year! This is a great way to organize everything you need to do before school starts to make sure you are implementing your classroom management plan! Look below for a sample from the checklist I made after I created my own classroom management plan!
5. Consistency
Once you have your classroom management strategies, policies and procedures together, it is imperative that you remain consistent in utilizing and enforcing them in your classroom. This creates a routine for not only yourself but your students as well. Through consistency, your classroom will be running like a well-oiled machine!
Final Thoughts
Classroom Management encompasses many different areas. It is important to consider them all when trying to establish your classroom climate, procedures, polices and routines!
As you sit to go through each of these strategies, it may seem overwhelming. When I went to reflect on my own classroom management practices after five years of teaching, I too felt overwhelmed.
That’s why I created this awesome online course where I outline in detail the 5 Step Process that helped me to transform my classroom management and allowed me to create all the resources discussed in this article!
Take a sneak peek of what’s included!
This course is packed with value and teaches you step-by-step how to create your own classroom management plan! It also includes a course workbook filled with tasks so that you can take action and apply what you are learning in the course! It also includes all of the resources mentioned in this article and more!:
- How to strategically reflect on your classroom management practices.
- Detailed steps on how to create your own classroom management philosophy.
- 40 Essential Classroom Management Questions and how to brainstorm your own!
- My 30+ page Classroom Management Plan and a template for you to use to create and structure your own!
- My own Classroom Routines & Procedures Checklist and a template for you to use to create your own!
- Course Workbook filled charts, templates, guides and more to help you implement and apply what you are learning in the course!
The 5 Step Process in this course has been able to help many teachers transform their classroom management practices. It’s teacher tested and approved!
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Marlow J.