Classroom management for beginners

1 Think prevention first

When new teachers worry about classroom management, they usually picture the moment something goes wrong: the student who won't sit down, the class that won't stop talking. Those moments are real, but most of what makes a classroom calm happens long before them, in how the room, the day and the expectations are set up.

A useful way to think about it is as three layers, from the most time to the least:

1. Prevention, for everyone, every day: clear expectations, taught routines, a well-run room, engaging work, and good relationships. This is where most of your effort goes.
2. Early responses, for small problems: a look, moving closer, a quiet reminder, a redirect. Quick, calm and private.
3. Consequences and support, for what's left: a fair consequence when a choice keeps repeating, and a plan, with help from colleagues and family, for a student who is struggling.

If you spend your energy on the first layer, the second and third get much smaller. If you skip it, you will spend the year in the third layer, and so will your students.

2 A few clear expectations

Students can only meet expectations they know. In the first days, set three to five classroom expectations, stated as what to do rather than what not to do.

• "Walk in the classroom" rather than "No running".
• "Listen when someone is speaking" rather than "No interrupting".
• "Keep hands and feet to yourself" rather than "No hitting".
• "Take care of our things" rather than "Don't break things".

You can write the expectations with the class, which helps students own them. Either way, you choose the final wording, and you keep the list short enough to remember. Post them where everyone can see them, using the class rules poster, and refer to them by name: "Remember our expectation about listening."

Then teach what each one looks like in practice. For each expectation, show an example and a non-example, let students act out the right version, and explain why it matters. "Walk in the classroom, because someone could get hurt, and walking keeps the room calm for working."

3 Teach every routine like a lesson

A routine is the way the class does something that happens again and again: coming in, sharpening pencils, handing in work, lining up, using the bathroom, going to centers, packing up. These moments go wrong easily when nobody is quite sure what to do, and they happen dozens of times a day.

List every routine your day needs before school starts, then teach each one in the first two weeks in the same way:

1. Explain the routine and why it matters, in a sentence.
2. Model it yourself, step by step, out loud.
3. Have a student or two model it while the class watches.
4. Practice with the whole class, and give specific feedback.
5. Practice again later the same day and the next day.
6. Reteach whenever it slips, and after every long break.

What to say"When I give the signal to line up, you'll push in your chair, walk to the door, and stand behind the person in front of you, facing forward with your hands at your sides. Watch me do it first. ... Now let's have this table show us. ... What did you notice? Now let's all try it, and I'll time us."

It feels like a lot of time spent on lining up. It is the best time you'll spend all year, because a taught routine runs itself for months. Post the daily schedule with schedule cards so students always know what comes next.

4 An attention signal and planned transitions

You need one reliable way to get everyone's attention in a few seconds without raising your voice. Choose one signal, teach it on the first day, and practice it until it works every time.

• A raised hand that students copy as they fall silent.
• A call and response: you say "Class, class" and they answer "Yes, yes".
• A chime or a short rhythm students clap back.
• A countdown from five on your fingers.

Whatever you choose, wait until everyone is silent and looking at you before you speak. If you start talking over the last few voices, students learn that the signal means "finish your sentence". Post your signals for a substitute with the attention signals poster.

Transitions

Moving from one activity to the next is where time leaks and problems start. Plan each one: the signal to stop, what to do with materials, where to go, and how long it takes. A visible countdown helps: "You have two minutes to put away math and take out your reading book", with a 2 minute timer on the board. Give clear directions one step at a time, and wait until a step is done before giving the next.

5 Relationships come first

A student who believes you like them and want them to do well has a reason to cooperate when things get hard. That belief is built in small, daily moments, and it is worth planning for.

• Greet every student by name at the door every morning.
• Learn one thing each student cares about in the first two weeks, and ask about it later.
• Have a short, friendly conversation with every student each week. Keep a class list and tick names off to make sure nobody is missed.
• Send a positive note or make a positive call home for every student early in the year, before any problem comes up.
• Attend something students care about once in a while: a game, a concert, a club.
• Start fresh each day. Whatever happened yesterday, greet the student warmly today.

Pay particular attention to the students who test you most. They are often the ones who most need evidence that you are on their side, and a relationship built when things are calm is what carries you both through the hard moments.

6 Notice and name what goes well

It is easy to spend the day noticing problems. Turn it around on purpose: catch students doing what you asked, and say so, specifically.

Specific praise names the behavior: "You started your writing straight away and kept going, even when it got hard." General praise ("Good job!") feels nice but doesn't tell the student what to repeat. Specific praise also teaches the rest of the class what you're looking for, without a lecture.

• Praise effort and choices, not just results: "You checked your answer with the number line."
• Praise quietly for some students. Older students in particular may prefer a word at their desk or a note to praise in front of the class.
• Praise the group: "This table cleaned up in under a minute, and nobody had to be reminded."
• Use simple group recognition for routines you're building, such as a team points chart, with a small, non-food reward when a goal is reached.

Keep praise honest. Students quickly learn to ignore praise that is automatic, so save it for something real, and make it specific enough that they know it was.

7 Responding to misbehavior: a calm ladder

When a student breaks an expectation, respond with the smallest step that works, and move up only if you need to. Stay calm, keep it brief, and keep it private where you can. An audience makes everything bigger.

1. The look. Make eye contact and pause. Often enough.
2. Move closer. Keep teaching while you walk over and stand near the student.
3. A nonverbal cue. A gesture you've taught: a finger to the lips, a point to the task.
4. Name the expectation privately. Quietly, at the desk: "I need you to start on question one." Then walk away, giving the student a moment to do it without being watched.
5. Offer a choice. "You can work here quietly, or at the table by the window. Your choice." Both choices should be ones you're happy with.
6. A consequence. If the behavior continues, give the consequence calmly, as a fact, not a threat (see the next chapter).

What to say"Sam, I need you to have your pencil moving on question one. I'll come back in two minutes to see how you're getting on."

Avoid arguing in front of the class. If a student argues, repeat the expectation once, calmly, and say you'll talk later. "I hear you. We can talk about it at recess. Right now I need you to start question one."

8 Consequences that fit

A consequence should be related to the behavior, proportionate, and given respectfully. Its purpose is to help the student make a better choice next time, not to make them suffer.

• Related: a student who makes a mess cleans it up; a student who misuses materials loses them for the rest of the activity; a student who disrupts a group works alone for a while.
• Proportionate: small behavior, small consequence. Save bigger steps for repeated or serious behavior.
• Respectful: given calmly and privately, without sarcasm or a lecture.
• Consistent: the same behavior gets the same response, whoever the student is.
• Followed by a fresh start: once it's done, it's done.

Follow your school's behavior policy, which will say which consequences you can use and when to involve the office or families. Avoid taking away recess or physical activity unless your school's policy allows it, and avoid public behavior charts that show every student's status to the class, which can embarrass the students who most need support.

After a consequence, a short private conversation helps: what happened, what the student could do next time, and how you'll help. Keep it to a minute or two.

9 When a student keeps struggling

Some students' behavior doesn't change with good classroom routines. That isn't a failure on your part; it's information. Look closer, and get help.

1. Collect notes for a week or two. Each time, write down what happened just before, exactly what the student did, and what happened right after. Note the time and the activity.
2. Look for the pattern. Does it happen in one subject, at one time of day, during transitions, or when work gets hard? What does the student get or avoid?
3. Change what you can. Seat the student differently, break work into smaller steps, give a job during transitions, check in at the start of the hardest part of the day.
4. Teach the skill that's missing. If the student shouts when frustrated, teach and practice what to do instead, like asking for a break.
5. Bring in help. Share your notes with the family, your school counselor and your student support team, and agree on a plan together.

This mirrors the first and fourth recommendations of the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide on behavior (next chapter): identify the specifics of the problem behavior and the conditions around it, and draw on colleagues and families for guidance and support.

10 What the evidence says

The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom (2008) makes five recommendations and rates the evidence behind each. They map closely onto this guide:

1. Identify the specifics of the problem behavior and the conditions that prompt and reinforce it. Moderate evidence.
2. Modify the classroom learning environment to decrease problem behavior. Strong evidence.
3. Teach and reinforce new skills to increase appropriate behavior and preserve a positive classroom climate. Strong evidence.
4. Draw on relationships with professional colleagues and students' families for continued guidance and support. Moderate evidence.
5. Assess whether schoolwide behavior problems warrant adopting schoolwide strategies or programs and, if so, implement ones shown to reduce negative and foster positive interactions. Moderate evidence.

The two with strong evidence, changing the environment and teaching and reinforcing skills, are the prevention layer this guide starts with: expectations, routines, transitions, specific praise. The guide itself, free on the What Works Clearinghouse site (linked in the sources), explains each recommendation in detail. It was written about elementary classrooms, so treat its ratings as being about those grades.