Smart Classroom

Management simply effective tips and strategies

Why You Should Ignore Difficult Students The

First Week Of School
No, you’re not going to ignore their misbehavior.
It’s just that . . . well, let’s back up a little.
When you first receive your roster for the coming year, it’s normal to want to get the lowdown on
your new class.
It’s normal to seek out teachers from the grade below to see if you have any especially difficult
students.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But by doing so, you can actually trigger their misbehavior. You can cause these challenging
students to jump right back into the same bad habits they struggled with the year before.
You see, teachers who know ahead of time which students have a proclivity to misbehave will
inevitably try to nip it in the bud. They’ll try to prevent it from growing into a major problem.
So they’ll seat them in the front of the room. They’ll pull them aside for pep-talks, warnings, and
reminders.
They’ll try to “catch them doing good” and use their hovering presence as a deterrent.
But what this does is send the message that nothing has changed from the year before—or the year
before that. Teacher after teacher has employed the same strategies.
Yet they continue to disrupt learning. They continue to be silly. They continue to argue, play around,
and get up and wander the room during lessons.
Because the extra attention, especially during the first week of school, is a form of labeling.
It tells them loud and clear that they’re not like the other students. It tells them that they’re not good
enough, that they can’t control themselves, and that they need special attention.
The truth is, labeling has a profound effect on individual behavior, more so than any other classroom
variable.
It reinforces the false narrative difficult students already believe about themselves that “behavior
problem” is who they are—as much a part of them as their eye color or shoe size.
So, on the first day of school, when they find their assigned seat in the front of the room, when they
notice your frequent and proximate attention, when they’re asked to line up behind the most well-
behaved student in the class . . .
Their heart sinks.
Because they know that no matter what—new year, new class, new teacher—they can’t escape their
destiny.
Resigned to their fate, they shrug their shoulders and give you exactly what you expect. They
become a walking, talking, misbehaving self-fulfilling prophecy.
It’s sad and tragic. Yet it’s a scenario that is repeated again and again in classrooms all over the
world, with the same predictable results.
From the moment the new school year begins, if your behavior is in any way different around those
few students with a “reputation,” they’ll recognize it immediately.
After all, they’re looking for it. They’re highly attuned to it. They know it intimately because they’ve
been on the receiving end of it their entire lives.
So what should you do instead?
Treat them with the same gentle kindness, humor, and respect you do all of your students.
Don’t go out of your way. Don’t seat them in front of the room. Don’t pull them aside for reminders, if-
I-were-yous, false praises, warnings, and the like.
Instead, give them a chance to turn over a new leaf.
Pretend they’re already perfectly well behaved. Act as if they’re already successful. Show them that
you believe in them by interacting with them just like you do everyone else.
Give them hope that this year is going to be different, and those backbreaking labels, which are
causing so much of their misbehavior, will begin to slide off their shoulders.
Their eyes will rise to meet yours. Their expressions will soften. Their breathing will deepen.
Relief will wash over them like a summer rain.
Again, this doesn’t mean that you’ll ignore their misbehavior. You’ll still follow your classroom
management plan to the letter. You’ll still hold them accountable.
Just like everyone else.
Give these school weary and teacher wary students a chance to become the potential you see in
them.
Grant them a new prophecy.
Rewrite their story.
And they’ll never be the same.

3 Ways You Should Never Praise Students

Heartfelt praise based on true accomplishment is powerful stuff.
It feeds your students’ internal motivational engines.
It spurs them to greater success.
It reinforces the slow-to-grow belief that hard work matters, that it really is more than worth the sweat
and toil.
Certainly they can see the proof of its fruits without your acknowledgement—sharper skills, higher
competence, deeper confidence.
But shining a light on their accomplishments can heighten the experience, making it lasting and
more impressionable.
Good teaching requires you to keep an eye out for excellence, effort, or achievement beyond what is
commonly expected. It calls for you to praise artfully, choosing the right tone, timing, and mode to
match the student and the situation.
Although a thoughtful, subtle response is often best, there are times when a spontaneous reaction is
just right—one bursting with joyous pride in your students and their successes.
Too many teachers, though, praise not out of genuineness, not out of a pure motive to highlight
hard-earned achievement or excellence . . .
But out of their own desires.
What follows are three ways you should never praise students. For not only are they ineffective
beyond several minutes, but they’re more about the teacher and his or her wants and needs than
they are about the student.
1. For personal gain.
In this scenario, the teacher praises an individual student for the sole purpose of placating or
subduing his or her behavior. It’s done proactively and dishonestly. You see this over and over
again, often all day long, with difficult students.
“Great job so far today, Anthony. Keep it up, partner!”
The student is praised not in response to any valid improvement, success, or accomplishment, but
rather in an effort to mollify, satisfy, appease, and otherwise keep in check for as long as possible. In
other words, the purpose of the praise is to benefit the teacher.
2. In order to manipulate.
This form of praise is used to manipulate an entire group of students into compliant behavior. The
way it works is that the teacher will choose one student to praise for expected behavior with the
hope that it will cause others to do the same.
“Wow, I sure like how David is sitting. Way to go!”
Often called “caught being good,” this too is disingenuous. The teacher isn’t really impressed with
David. After all, sitting appropriately is an expectation and not in any way an accomplishment. The
teacher is using David as a pawn to get what he or she wants.
Note: An honest way to influence other students would be to simply thank David for sitting
appropriately.
3. Out of obligation.
Most teachers have been told time and again that they can’t praise students too much or too
enthusiastically. So they let ‘em have it every chance they get. Upon seeing behavior that isn’t poor,
they pounce.
“Good job, Karla! You found a library book just like I showed you!”
They keep at it because they think that that’s what good teachers do. And along the while, true and
beautiful accomplishment passes beneath their noses either unnoticed or praised with the same
insincerity one receives after finding a library book.
Worthy Praise Only
All three examples above are forms of false praise. That is, they’re ways of praising students based
on something other than true accomplishment.
The problem with false praise is that it lowers the standard of what is good. It gives students an
inflated sense of their own abilities. And it communicates unmistakably that fulfilling the barest
minimum is not only good enough . . .
But somehow special.
It places what is good and lovely and exceptional on the same local theatre marquee of what is
commonly expected—instead of where it belongs . . . in lights on Broadway.
A deeply moving poem, then, chiseled and shaped through hours of dedicated work, gets the same
reaction from the teacher as does sitting up straight in one’s chair.
For praise to mean something, for it to help change behavior, inspire excellence, and fuel a dream of
becoming the next Lea Salonga, it must be worthy.
It must be genuine and real and come from the stirrings in your heart.
It must be a moment in time, a shared recognition, a soulful celebration of a step beyond where your
students have been before.
Note: True accomplishment varies from student to student and can only be discerned through the
keen eyes of an observant teacher.

Are You Making Your Most Difficult Students

Worse?
Most teachers are hyperaware of their most difficult students—and well they should be.
It’s smart to know where they are and what they’re doing.
But this awareness can cause you to behave oddly around them.
It can cause you to glare and glower in their direction. It can cause you to hover near the edges of
their personal space and tense up in their presence.
It can cause you to label them with your behavior.
Because when you act differently around difficult students than you do the rest of your class, you’re
effectively telling them that they’re not like other students, that they’re incapable of being trusted and
that you expect them to misbehave.
This is a powerful message you may not even be aware you’re sending. Your most challenging
students, however, can see the smoke signals from a mile away.
They know when they’re being surveilled, marked, and followed. They know when they’re disliked
and resented—or merely tolerated. They know when you have negative thoughts about them and
their future prospects.
And they’re quick to live up to their role as troublemaker, to become the very person you see in
them.
Although you should always maintain awareness of all your students, if you were to make it a point
to behave the same way around your most difficult students as you do everyone else, you would see
marked improvement in their behavior.
This includes the same smiles, jokes, and stories. It includes the same nonchalant way you look in
their direction or ask about their weekend. It includes the same belief in their ability to listen, learn,
and follow rules.
For many teachers, though, this is far easier said than done.
It’s only natural to be cautious and distrustful around students who have repeatedly disrupted your
classroom. It’s only natural to linger and eyeball and use proximity to try and stop their misbehavior
before it starts.
The solution, however, is simple: From the very first moment of each school day onward, you’re
going to pretend that your most difficult students are already well behaved.
You’re going to assume that they will, of their own accord, follow your rules and expectations just like
everyone else. And by pretending, by shoving aside any and all negative thoughts you have about
them and their previous misdeeds, they’ll respond in wonderful and miraculous ways.
That isn’t to say that they’ll never again misbehave, but they’ll no longer do it to spite you or get
under your skin. They’ll no longer do it because they’re fulfilling a prophecy. They’ll no longer do it
because it’s expected of them, because it has become part of their identity.
Although improvement can be immediate, in time, and as the rest of your class begins to take up
your cue, those ugly labels and beliefs they have about themselves will gently slide off their
shoulders.
Their burden will lift. They’ll look you in the eye, unashamed. And for the first time in their school
career, they’ll relax into their skin.
They’ll become an integral part of the whole.
A key ingredient in the soufflé.
A certified, accepted, and valued member of your classroom.
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Why Gentleness Is A Strong Classroom

Management Strategy
By Michael Linsin on January 16, 2016 61

There is a common misconception that you must have a big presence to be an effective leader.
You must psych yourself up, throw your shoulders back, and move boldly among your students.
Your voice must boom.
Your walk must swagger.
Your eyes must squint and narrow in on your charges.
And while classroom presence is important, it isn’t born of overconfidence, forcefulness, or
aggression.
It’s born of gentleness.
Here’s why:
Gentleness is respected.
21st-century students respond best to a calm, even-handed approach to classroom management.
They appreciate honesty and kindness. They respect it, and thus, are quick to listen and please their
teacher.
The older the students are, the more this is true.
Gentleness lowers stress.
Without saying a word, a gentle presence removes classroom stress, tension, and anxiety. It
soothes and alleviates excitability and distraction—which are two major causes of misbehavior.
It equals a happier, more productive classroom.
Gentleness curtails pushback.
Enforcing consequences calmly and consistently diminishes the possibility that your students will
argue, complain, or lie to you about their misbehavior.
Instead, they’ll quietly take responsibility.
Gentleness builds rapport.
When you carry yourself with a gentle demeanor, you become more likable to your students. In fact,
it’s an easy and predictable way to build powerful leverage, influence, and rapport.
Which makes everything easier.
Gentleness feels good.
Beginning each morning with a poised, easygoing manner will make you a lot happier.
Inconveniences won’t get on your nerves. Difficult students won’t get under your skin.
You’ll be refreshed at the end of every day.
Gentleness Isn’t Weakness
Weakness is when you lose emotional control.
It’s when you lecture, berate, and admonish students instead of following your classroom
management plan.
It’s when you take misbehavior personally.
Gentleness, on the other hand, is strong. It’s capable and confident. It says that you’re in control and
that your students can relax and focus on their responsibilities.
This doesn’t mean your lessons won’t be dynamic and passionate. It doesn’t mean you won’t be
enthusiastic or you won’t demand excellence from your students.
Gentleness isn’t sleepiness. Nor is it afraid and cowering in a corner.
It’s a calm, reassuring approach to managing your classroom that communicates to every student
that you’re a leader worth following.

How A Simple Change In Thinking Can

Improve Behavior
One of the reasons difficult students misbehave is because their teacher expects that they will.
They assume they will.
Which causes the teacher to behave in such a way that antagonizes the student and reinforces their
bad behavior.
To combat this phenomenon, you must do the opposite. You must assume henceforth that your
most challenging students will, of their own accord, behave . . . perfectly.
You must let go of any and all negativity, animosity, and resentment due to their many
transgressions, and choose instead to see them in the most favorable light.
That isn’t to say that you’ll become lax in your supervision, ignore their misbehavior, or in any way
become less consistent holding them accountable.
What it means is that you’re going to pretend—both within and without—that they are among your
most well-behaved students. You’re going to act as if they’re as independent and worthy of your trust
as the rest of your class.
You’re going to assume through your words, thoughts, and actions that they can and will follow your
rules and procedures just like everyone else.
This simple change in thinking—in how you choose to see them—effectively removes an infinite
number of verbal and non-verbal signals that reinforce their poor behavior.
It removes the nuances of speech patterns and body language that inadvertently communicate that
you don’t care for them, you’re tired of them, and you resent them for disrupting your classroom.
It removes the high-wire tension created as a result of anticipating their next disruption or act of
disrespect. It removes the negative prophecies and labels that have been ladled upon their
shoulders by every well-intentioned teacher they’ve come in contact with.
It upends their attitude toward you, transforming them from someone who firmly believes that you’re
out to get them . . . into your biggest fan. It eliminates moodiness and negativity and the desire to get
under your skin.
It inspires them to want to behave.
They’ll see in your eyes a reflection of themselves they may not at first recognize, but who deep
down they’ve always wanted to be.
Warming them to the core.
Setting ablaze the desire to fulfill the true and loving prophecy you’ve etched upon their heart.
The student you know they can be.
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How To Break One Bad Habit And Improve

Every Area Of Classroom Management
For the past dozen years or so, I’ve had the opportunity to see many teachers in action.
And there is one particularly bad habit that is common among those who struggle with classroom
management.
It’s usually not their only bad habit, mind you.
But it’s an important one.
It’s an important one because it affects nearly every area of effective classroom management.
It is this:
They take their eyes off their students.
Now, I don’t mean simply that they glance away for a second or two.
I mean that they turn their back. They look away for long stretches. They become so engrossed in
instruction, busywork, helping, guiding, planning, thinking, etc., that they have little awareness of the
rest of the class.
What’s interesting is that most struggling teachers don’t even realize it.
If we were to place a video camera in their classroom, their jaw would drop at the misbehavior going
on right underneath their nose.
The truth is, if you want to have a well-behaved class, you must be observant. You must be mindful
and aware.
You must be a keen and vigilant watcher of your class.
Here’s why:
You’ll be consistent.
You can’t be consistent if you don’t see when your students misbehave. And inconsistency equals
increased misbehavior every time.
By the same token, if you’re able to catch misbehaving students in the act, and you faithfully hold
them accountable, then misbehavior decreases, often entirely.
You’ll have the truth.
When you personally witness misbehavior, you have truth on your side. You have the only proof you
need to swiftly and calmly follow your classroom management plan.
Which not only saves time, but it also saves a mountain of headaches trying to get to the bottom of
what happened and who is responsible.
You’ll avoid arguments.
When a student knows that you saw their misbehavior with your own two eyes, they’re far less likely
to argue and far more likely to take responsibility.
In time, as your class realizes that you miss nothing—or next to nothing—they no longer even
consider arguing or complaining, let alone misbehaving.
You’ll have trust.
Students become resentful when their right to learn and enjoy school is trampled on by misbehaving
students. A sense of unfairness pervades the classroom.
Simply being observant, and thus well equipped to protect your students from disruption, builds a
deep reservoir of trust, likability, and rapport.
You’ll have presence.
When you prove that you’re forever watching and on the ball, your students will start believing that
you have super powers or eyes in the back of your head.
Which is a characteristic of presence: that indescribable something that engenders confidence in
you, your leadership, your instruction, and every word from your mouth.
You’ll have respect.
Once you get the reputation for being all-seeing, your students will begin to feel the weight of your
steady eye and consistent follow through. So much so that misbehaving will no longer cross their
mind.
There is something about breaking rules within the full view of a respected, well-liked teacher that
makes students very uncomfortable. At the same time, it makes doing the right thing easy, even
pleasurable.
Yes, You Can
We receive a lot of emails from teachers wondering what to do if they don’t see the misbehavior or
who is responsible.
And we’re happy to tackle this topic.
But it’s always better and more effective to avoid being in that situation to begin with. It’s always
better to see the wrongdoing with your own eyes.
But is it really possible? Is it realistic to expect to see everything? While it’s true that you can’t expect
to never miss an act of misbehavior, you can come pretty close.
After all, vigilance is a skill you can become expert at over time.
The key is smart positioning, active peripheral vision, and the shrewd insistence on verifying every
expectation you set for your students.
If you find you need to help an individual student, and you’re not in a position to view the rest of the
class, then you would ask the student to meet you at a desk or table along the outskirts of the room.
If you’re working with a group, during rotations, for example, then you would rely on frequent,
unpredictable, and return glances—as well as a thorough and highly detailed group preparation
process.
At all times, however, you must stay in the moment. Keep your students in front of you.
And watch ’em like a hawk.

5 Essential Strategies For The First Day Of

School
In the past, I’ve written about the importance of ensuring a happy first day of school experience for
your students.
There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that it gives you leverage.
You see, when students like being in your classroom, your classroom management plan will matter
to them.
It will have meaning and relevance. It will have logic and purpose.
It will have the power to dissuade misbehavior before it can gain a toehold.
Everything we do here at SCM, one way or another, supports this approach.
What follows are five strategies that will establish your classroom as a place your students will look
forward to.
And prepare you for the best year of teaching you’ve ever had.
1. Connect
As your students enter your classroom for the first time, stop each one at the door and say hello.
Smile, look them in the eye, and introduce yourself.
This simple act puts nervous students at ease and sends the message that you care about them. It’s
also a quick and easy way to begin building rapport and reciprocal kindness.
2. Share
After a quick welcome, dive right into a funny or quirky story about yourself. It can be an anecdote
about your childhood, your own school experience, or anything else that allows you to show your
personality.
Your likability is crucial to effective classroom management, and nothing breaks down walls, creates
ready-made leverage, and draws students into your circle of influence faster or more powerfully than
telling a story.
3. Show
Your first routine of the year is the most important routine of the year. You’re setting the bar of
expectations exactly where you wish it to be, so you want to make your teaching and modeling of it
remarkable.
You want to make it experiential and highly detailed. You want to make it more exacting than any
lesson your students have ever taken part in. After all, well-taught routines transfer excellence to
everything you do.
4. Boundaries
After proving to your students that yours is no ordinary classroom, you’re now set to introduce your
classroom management plan in a way that will resonate with them, that will cause them to agree with
its supreme importance.
To that end, explain that the sole purpose of your rules and consequences is to protect their right to
learn and enjoy school. The plan is meant for them, not you. It’s meant to safeguard that special
something that they’re now all a part of.
5. Lesson
To further establish the tone and tenor of your classroom, jump into a challenging academic lesson
on the very first day. Just be sure and teach the heck out of it. Show them what great instruction
looks like.
Let them experience legitimate success—perhaps on a scale they never have before—and a deeper
appreciation for learning. Send the message that in your classroom fun and hard work are one and
the same.
 Give Them Something To Talk About
Your students’ first impression of you and your classroom is important, critically so.
It can either set you on a path to a rewarding school year or throw you into a ditch from which you
may never recover.
The key is to give your students a reason to get excited about being in your classroom.
It’s to set your expectations precisely where you want them to be so you don’t have to struggle for
the rest of the year trying to prod, beg, lecture, bribe, and implore your students to get there.
It’s to give them a sweet and satisfying taste of what’s to come, which, in turn, will give you the
leverage and freedom to really love your job.
Note: If any of topics above prompt questions, we’ve got you covered. Each has been written about
in detail on this website.
Everything you need to prepare you for the start of school, and more, you can find in our archive
(bottom right sidebar).

How A First-Day-Of-School Lesson Can

Improve Classroom Management For The Rest
Of The Year
There exists a strategy that, if taught on the first day of school, can have a profound effect on the
rest of the year.
It takes little if any preparation time.
It’s simple in its directness and also fun and participatory.
But it will shake your students down to the soles of their feet.
It will send the message that yours is no ordinary classroom, that expectations have taken a startling
leap skyward . . . that they’re not in Kansas anymore.
You see, one of the best things you can do on the first day of school is set the bar of what is normal
far above what your students are used to.
Far above what your colleagues are doing. Far above what most teachers mean when they use the
term “high expectations.”
The good news is that you can make this leap in a single lesson. You can rewire your students’
internal understanding of excellence in one short but electric block of time.
It’s a lesson they’ll readily accept without so much as an eye roll because they’ll assume that in your
class, your grade level, or your subject area, it’s just the way things are.
Furthermore, on the first day of school your students will be more open to change than at any other
time during the year.
They’re primed and ready to start fresh, to turn over a new leaf, to put the mistakes and failures of
the past behind them.
How It Works
The way the strategy works is that you’re going to teach your students a common, everyday
routine—like how to enter the classroom in the morning—in a way that is highly, minutely, even
obsessively, detailed.
You’re going to teach it in a way that redefines what it means to follow directions and perform at a
high level, while at the same time ensuring that every student is successful.
Done right, this new definition of excellence will transfer to every area of classroom management,
from behavior to motivation to politeness.
It will establish a standard that will continue for as long as you maintain it.
Teaching this bar-raising strategy entails creating a memory map for your students to follow every
single morning.
Here’s how:
You Model
Borrow a student’s backpack and, while pretending to be an actual member of your class, perform
the morning routine precisely how you want your students to do it.
Show purpose, expediency, and concentration as you model your way through the steps you want
them to take upon entering your classroom.
This may include hanging up backpacks and jackets, checking mailboxes, organizing personal
materials, and displaying or turning in homework. It may include greeting tablemates or reviewing
the daily schedule.
It’s smart to add details rather than making it too simple.
Challenge is good and will increase concentration, improve memory, and keep your students
focused and purpose-driven from the moment they walk through the door.
Extend the routine to the point where they’re either working independently or sitting quietly, facing
you, and ready to begin the first lesson.
A specific, well-oiled routine will eliminate morning apathy, irritability, sleepiness, silliness, and the
like, ensuring a peaceful rather than stressful start to each day.
It also saves time and allows you to be a teacher rather than a micromanager.
Student Models
After modeling twice, and asking your students if they have any clarifying questions, choose a single
student to model.
Ask them to mimic your actions and movements, and even your focused expressions, in minute
detail.
When they finish, calmly praise them for what they did well. Remember, praise is both effective and
worthy when students are learning something for the first time.
It provides feedback that further illuminates the path you want them to follow. Having one student
model causes the rest to visualize themselves doing it right along with them.
It also proves that it can be done, and done well.
If, however, even one step strays from your initial instruction, then point it out, reteach it, and have
the student do it again. It is the smallest details that make the biggest difference.
Done correctly, you should feel as if you’re going overboard in your instruction.
More Model
Now call on a few more students to model, one at a time, for the class. Follow them as they go
through the steps and movements, nodding along the way.
Use papers, books, umbrellas, laptops, and sweaters as props. Make it as close to the real thing as
you can. Again, if corners are cut, ask them to start over again from the beginning.
Have the mindset that you’re only going to teach this particular routine one time. So teach the heck
out of it. Get it right and it will set the tone for all routines to follow.
It will set the tone for effort, behavior, and academic performance too.
This doesn’t mean, however, that you’re going to be a demanding ogre. Be sure you teach with a
spirit of fun and confidence.
Routines can be drudgery if you drill them like an old football coach.
All Model
Once you feel confident your students can do the routine individually, then send your entire class
outside with their backpacks to perform the routine simultaneously.
Emphasize politeness as they work around each other to hang up hats and maneuver around desks.
“Good morning,” “please,” and “excuse me” should be the predominant communication during the
opening routine.
You’re only job during this time is to observe, saying as little as possible.
Resist the urge to talk them through the routine—which will weaken rather than strengthen
performance and create dependency on you.
Let them do it on their own. Give them a chance to mature and grow and test themselves. It builds
confidence and competence, and their body language will show it.
When they finish, if they get it right, be sure and tell them that it’s perfect, that it can’t be done any
better. Many teachers are afraid to do this.
They’ve been led to believe that no one ever arrives, that there is always more to learn. But it isn’t
true. Once they prove they can do it well, then heartily let them know.
Note: Although you’ll want to practice until they get it right, it’s okay to take a break and revisit the
routine later in the day—or the next. Repetition, after all, isn’t a bad word.
 It Starts Now
Teaching a highly detailed routine to perfection on the first day of school is the single best thing you
can do to ensure a well-behaved and productive school year.
It sets the standard for every routine, lesson, and activity to follow. It raises the bar of what is normal
from mediocrity to excellence.
It sends the message that your new students are now part of something special, something different,
something bigger and more important than themselves.
And they’ll love it. It feels good. It fills them with purpose and drive. It motivates and inspires.
It alights a fire of intrinsic motivation to listen, to learn, to behave, and to enjoy being a valued
member of your classroom.
You are not every teacher. And yours isn’t any old classroom.
You can have the dream class you want. You can have the teaching experience you envisioned
when you first decided to become a teacher.
But it starts here.
It starts now.
It starts with this simple 20-minute lesson.

Why Micromanagers Make Bad Teachers

There is a pervasive fear in teaching that if you’re not on top of your students every moment—
coaxing, guiding, advising, directing—you’ll lose control of your classroom.
If left unchecked, this fear turns otherwise easygoing men and women into micromanagers, hovering
over their students like a nervous driver’s education instructor.
Skittering like water bugs from one desk to the next, they burst through bubbles of personal space,
kneel down hot-breath close, and force their unwanted and unnecessary help upon their students.
They comment, advise, opine, and counsel. They warn and praise and interfere. They fret over every
this and every that. They recommend and over-assist. They interrupt with yet another itsy-bit of
guidance.
“One more thing . . . And one more thing. . . Oh, and one more thing . . .”
No wonder micromanagers feel so stressed, overworked, and exhausted—freefalling into bed at
night, backhand across forehead, with a great sigh.
“Ahhhhhhscoobitydoobitydoobitymeemeemeemeemee.”
Yet in spite of all the busyness, the helicoptering, and the hyper-attentiveness, micromanagers
struggle mightily with classroom management and stifle academic progress.
Here’s why:
They cause excitability.
Excitability is a major cause of misbehavior. And because it’s directly related to the way a teacher
carries herself, it’s completely avoidable. All the movement and tension and excessive talk
micromanagers bring with them to the classroom causes nervous energy that manifests itself in poor
listening, poor concentration, and misbehavior.
They’re not well liked.
Micromanagement is smothering to students and causes them to view their teacher as an
annoyance—as someone to be avoided. They roll their eyes and sigh and grow tired of the unending
guidance and over-direction. This places the teacher at odds with her students and in the unenviable
position of being disliked, which makes building rapport and influence an impossibility.
They show a lack of confidence in their students.
Somewhere deep down, perhaps just beyond conscious awareness, micromanagers don’t believe
in their students. They don’t believe in their students’ ability or potential to listen, learn, and follow
directions—which is why they give constant input. Sadly, this belief comes across loud and clear to
students, who are quick to fulfill their teacher’s prophecy.
They suffocate academic and social growth.
No one thrives in a classroom run by a micromanager. The truth is, students need space to learn.
They need room to breathe and grow and mature and stand on their own two feet. There are many
moments throughout a typical school day when it’s best to back off and let students wrestle with their
academic work, reflect on their mistakes, and fight their own battles.
They think for students.
Micromanagers tend to give away answers, solutions, and hints that are far better discovered by
their fully capable students—even telling them how to respond in ways that leave nothing to
imaginative, creative, or critical thinking. They also frequently paraphrase for students in a manner
that suits their own needs and expectations rather than reflecting actual student thought.
They discourage independence.
Micromanagers help students far too much and too often. They’re quick to lean down beside
individual students to offer endless guidance, interfering with a critical part of the learning process.
This causes students to look outside themselves for solutions rather than first attempting to figure
them out on their own.
They interrupt learning.
Micromanaging your classroom convinces students that they need more help than they actually do.
The fact is, most teachers help too much, talk too much, and are seen too much. After presenting a
first-class lesson, and then checking thoroughly for understanding, it’s best to fade into the
background, allowing your students to noodle through the challenges you place before them without
your added input.
.
 Powerful Forces At Work
Knowing when to back off, observe quietly, and let students think through and apply the tools you’ve
given them to succeed is a little appreciated and often-overlooked aspect of great teaching.
It’s an art form, to be sure, learned over time by those aware of the powerful forces at work when
students are made to realize that, in the end, success and failure resides with them.
Micromanagers steal this wonderful gift from students. By doing too much, by thinking, speaking,
and stepping in for their students, they take from them this life-changing realization.
They take away the deeply satisfying desire lying—sometimes dormant—within each of us to pull
ourselves up by the bootstraps and make something of our often disadvantages circumstances.
You see, as a result of being micromanaged, students begin to view their school progress and
classroom behavior as chiefly someone else’s responsibility.
But by knowing when to recede into the background and allow students to do their job, exceptional
teachers are able to deliver the best educational experience for their students while receiving the
best from their students in return.
For they know that when you micromanage students, when you step in, take on, and interfere with
what are their responsibilities . . .
You rip the heart and soul out of motivation, suppress real, inspired learning, and unleash a
backlash of misbehavior.

How To Teach Classroom Management On The

First Day Of School
Although classroom management will make up only part of your first day of school, doing it right is
essential.
Because it sets the boundaries within which inspired teaching can take place.
It establishes an impenetrable wall, safeguarding your students from distraction, interruption,
bullying, disrespect, and the like.
To be most effective, you mustn’t ease your way into it. You mustn’t tiptoe your way around it or add
it as an unpleasant aside.
No, you must set your feet, narrow your eyes, and teach classroom management in a way your
students won’t soon forget.
Here’s how:
Make a commitment.
Before your students arrive, make an ironclad commitment to yourself to abide by the guidelines set
forth in your classroom management plan. This will give your instruction a level of conviction your
students need to see in order to trust you and buy into your plan.
Start early.
The earlier in the day you can begin your classroom management lesson the more it will
communicate its importance. This doesn’t mean, however, that you must start immediately. Within
the first hour is a good rule of thumb.
Make a promise, part 1.
To begin your lesson, make a promise to your students that you will uphold your classroom
management plan every minute of every day, no exceptions. Go on record. Lay your reputation on
the line. Express your commitment to them and to protecting their education.
Make a promise, part 2.
Now promise your students that you will always treat them with respect. Promise that you will never
yell, scold, or humiliate them in any way. This public declaration will instantly put them in your
corner, eager to support your plan.
Communicate its purpose.
Many teachers present rules and consequences as if they were bad news. The truth, however, is the
exact opposite. Your classroom management plan is the very thing that ensures your students’
freedom to learn and enjoy school without interference. It must be presented as such.
Teach with gusto.
If you don’t feel a surge of energy as you begin your lesson, then you’re not ready to teach
classroom management. Managing behavior effectively means everything to your success. Thus,
you must convey its sacred importance with passion.
Refer to a visual.
Your rules and consequences should be posted prominently, not hidden behind a door or banished
to a far corner. Write them poster-size in your own script and place them high upon the front wall of
your classroom.
Give an impassioned review.
To introduce your classroom management plan, provide an impassioned, full-picture review of your
rules and consequences. Although you’ll do no modeling at this point, your words must be delivered
with boldness, conviction, and zeal.
Show the progression.
Provide an example of a misbehaving student progressing from an initial warning to the return of a
signed letter. In other words, let your students eyewitness exactly, and in a highly detailed way, what
will happen if they break your class rules.
Model in their shoes.
The lesson is most effective if you pretend to be the misbehaving student. Sit at one of their desks
and call out without raising your hand, side-talk with a classmate, or engage in any other common
misbehavior. You can even have a student play the part of the teacher.
Leave no stone unturned.
The idea behind teaching classroom management so thoroughly right out of the gate is to remove
any and all excuses for poor behavior before they gain a toehold and become part of the culture of
your classroom.
Encourage questions.
When you finish your lesson be sure and give your students a chance to ask questions. No part of
your plan should be secret. No part should be unclear, nuanced, or difficult to defend. Openness and
transparency are strengths your students will respect and find comfort in.
Freedom
Most students are used to a haphazard form of classroom management. They’re used to uncertainty
and ambiguity. They’re used to inconsistency and shifting definitions of what is and isn’t acceptable
behavior.
They’re used to teachers who say one thing and do another, and accountability based on moods,
whims, and angry confrontations.
Your job on the first day of school is to set the record straight.
It’s to show your students precisely where your boundary lines are, what they look like, and what will
happen if they cross them. No surprises. No misunderstandings. No broken promises.
Just comfort in knowing that they’re free to learn and love school.
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Why Good Rapport With Students Is A Choice

You Make Every Day
The importance of having good rapport with students can’t be overstated.
Because rapport gives you leverage.
It gives you leadership presence and the influence to change behavior.
It causes students to want to listen, learn, and behave for you—even when they’re hellions with
other teachers.
Rapport is also the ingredient that makes teaching one of the most rewarding professions on Earth.
In chapter 3 of Dream Class, I talked about how building rapport is easier than most teachers
realize.
It doesn’t take any extra time or effort.
You don’t have to spend your prep hour chatting with students or playing foursquare—although there
is nothing wrong with doing so.
You don’t have to have the gift of small talk or a comedian’s wit. You don’t have to be anyone but
yourself.
But it does take a choice.
You see, in any leadership position there is a risk for developing negative thoughts about those
given into your care, especially if you’re struggling with rebellious or unruly behavior.
And this can be very, very dangerous.
Because when you dislike or resent any one or more of your students, they’ll know it. It’s something
you can’t hide. Your negative feelings about them will bubble to the surface one way or another.
They’ll come out in your body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. They’ll come out in
the words you use and the vibe you give off.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Your thoughts are showing”?
It’s a truism that becomes heightened in any position of leadership, whether teacher, coach, or
parent. Children in particular are ultra sensitive to how adults perceive them.
So, while the key to building influential rapport is nothing more than being consistently pleasant, it’s
only possible if you choose to like your students.
And it’s very much a choice.
It isn’t a reaction, a feeling, an intuition, or a hope. It isn’t based on how they look, how studious they
are, or whether or not they’re outwardly friendly.
It doesn’t even matter if they’re disrespectful, misbehave behind your back, or try to ruin your best
lessons.
You choose to like them anyway.
And here’s the amazing thing: Once you commit yourself to liking every student and seeing only the
best in them—no matter who they are or what they’ve done in the past—they become not so
unlikable after all.
Because when you choose to like them, consciously and relentlessly, they begin to like you right
back—even the most difficult among them.
They begin to behave differently around you, smiling and making eye contact. They begin to trust
you and want to please you. They become different people altogether.
It’s a virtuous cycle that only gets stronger with time.
So, practically, on the first day of school and thereafter, make it a point to smile at every student.
Talk to them like you would your all-time best and most well-behaved students. And keep at it day
after day.
Choose to be happy to see them.
Yes, some days it may take a few quiet moments alone before school to remind yourself that you’re
going to doggedly like Anthony or Karla or whoever, despite how they behaved the day before.
But you do it because it has a direct and profound effect on your ability to motivate, inspire, and be
the teacher your students need and respond best to.
You do it because it brings endless rays of peace and joy to your classroom. You do it because it’s
the right thing to do.
Building influential rapport isn’t difficult.
It’s available to any teacher who guards their heart and mind against negativity, animosity, and
resentment. It’s a choice, not a skill.
It’s a choice that can mean the difference between success and failure.
Hope and disillusionment.
Love and hate.

How To Handle A Class That Tests You Right

From The Get-Go
You begin the school year with so much hope.
But then, not an hour after teaching your classroom management plan, your students are
misbehaving.
They’re talking when you’re talking.
They’re leaving their seats without permission.
They’re calling out, giggling, and ignoring your directions.
It’s disheartening—and only natural to feel as if you did something wrong.
It’s only natural to think that maybe you weren’t clear enough, maybe you didn’t model with enough
detail or communicate with enough conviction.
And although these can be significant factors in how quickly and eagerly students respond to your
behavior expectations, it doesn’t mean that all hope is lost.
Not even close.
You see, it isn’t unusual to be tested upon first introducing your classroom management plan. At
some schools, and with some students, it’s even expected—no matter how thorough you teach your
plan.
So if it happens to you, there is no need to panic. In fact, your first response should be to do
absolutely nothing.
Don’t jump in and try to stop the misbehavior. Don’t raise your voice or show your frustration. Don’t
even try to enforce consequences.
Just wait. Breathe. Observe. Smile inwardly—because you’re going to fix it.
It’s important to mention that if behavior is poor from the get-go, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to
have a bad year. It just means that your students don’t believe that you’re really going to do what
you say.
Perhaps it’s because you’re a new teacher or at a new school. Perhaps their previous teacher or
teachers were inconsistent and had poor classroom management skills.
Perhaps you’re a bit nervous, tentative, and not quite sure of yourself—and your students can sense
it.
No matter.
None of it is predictive of a stressful or unsuccessful year. Nor is it anything to get overly concerned
about. It’s what you do in response that’s important.
Most teachers will try to enforce consequences as fast as they can, but this is a mistake with a large
group of misbehaving students because it risks inciting aggressive and disrespectful pushback.
It’s also incredibly stressful and puts you at odds with your new class. Getting angry and taking it
personally, too, is a mistake that will undermine your ability to take back control and begin creating a
well-behaved class.
No, it’s best just to keep your cool and watch. Let them notice you waiting unconcerned. Give it a
few minutes, and in all likelihood, they’ll begin to settle down and look your way. (There are several
reasons for this that we’ll save for a future article.)
If they don’t, however, if they’re hellbent on continuing to disrupt, then calmly and kindly begin
shooing them to their seats while repeating a request for quiet attention.
The idea is to gently guide them from chaos and excitability to calm and agreeable. (Again, we’ll
cover why this strategy is effective in future articles.)
Keep your voice soft and maintain an even keel. Continue in this vein of guiding and requesting until
they’re generally quiet and looking in your direction.
Then, without explanation, immediately jump into reteaching your classroom management plan as if
for the first time.
If they complain, ignore it. Do not engage in discussion or debate about what are your
responsibilities as the leader of the class. Your classroom management plan, and the rules and
consequences that govern it, isn’t negotiable.
This time, though, when you teach your plan, you must do it with far greater boldness and
determination. You must find the strength within to give it all you’ve got.
Ramp up the detail, the clarity, and the passion.
This is your career, after all, and you’re going to be with this class for the next nine months. So teach
your plan in a way that signals to every student that you’re no ordinary teacher and yours is no
ordinary classroom.
Remove any doubt that they’re going to be held accountable for every rule transgression.
Model, playact, and emote what breaking rules looks and feels like. Let them visualize the
experience. Walk your students through the precise steps a misbehaving student would take from
warning to parent contact.
Teach the heck out of it, leaving nothing to chance and nothing to misunderstand. Because the way
you teach your classroom management plan matters.
You mustn’t be intimidated or fearful.
Exceptional classroom management, especially with a tough class, takes courage. And if you’re not
feeling confident, if your heart is beating out of your chest and your palms are sweaty, then fake it.
Pretend you have all the power and confidence you need to have the exact class you want. Believe.
Trust. Take a leap of faith, and they will respond.
After checking for understanding through questioning, practice, and/or role-play—which can vary
depending on grade level—you’re ready to begin holding them accountable.
If, however, a few days later it happens again—more than a few students are misbehaving and
you’re feeling as if you’re losing control—then cancel whatever lesson or activity you have planned
and teach your classroom management plan again.
And if need be, again.
Teach it until they “get it.” Teach it until they know that rebelling is futile. Teach it until they can’t wait
to show you how well they can follow it.
Never, ever accept less than what is best for your students, their education, and their future.
Be the teacher they need.
And they’ll be the class you want.

11 Reasons Why You Should Never, Ever Lose

Your Cool
Teachers tend to lose their cool when they feel they have no other recourse.
Their buttons get pushed, frustration builds, and they boil over.
They raise their voice. They fume and lecture. They glare and scold and stab the air with their finger.
For some, it’s a hair-trigger habit that can happen with the least provocation. For others it takes
some doing.
But in every situation, and with every student, it’s a mistake.
It’s always a mistake.
Here’s why:
1. It sabotages rapport.
When you lose your cool you risk undoing weeks, or even months, of fruitful rapport-building with
your students. In an instant you can go from likable and influential to someone your students prefer
to keep at arm’s length.
2. It weakens your classroom management plan.
A positive relationship with students gives meaning to your classroom management plan. It supplies
the leverage to dissuade misbehavior. If time-out doesn’t matter to your students—and it won’t if
they dislike you and (by extension) your classroom—then neither will it be effective.
3. It undermines accountability.
When you react emotionally to misbehavior you undermine true accountability—because it causes
students to blame you, direct their simmering anger at you, and justify for their misbehavior. In other
words, it replaces healthy reflection with excuses.
4. It worsens behavior.
Yelling, scolding and the like can result in immediate improvement. But alas, it’s only temporary. In
the long run, behavior will always worsen—especially the sneaky, behind-your-back variety—due to
the friction and animosity between you.
5. It leads to parent complaints.
Yelling at students is among the most common complaints from parents—and it’s difficult to defend.
The best you can offer is an apology and a promise to not let it happen again. Still, it will cement
your reputation as a “mean” teacher.
6. It ruins trust.
Trust is built over time. It’s built through consistency. It’s built by doing what you say you will. When
you forgo your classroom management plan in favor of a fiery lecture or a finger-wagging dressing
down, you’re going back on your word.
7. It announces your lack of effectiveness.
Teachers grow frustrated and lose their cool when they don’t know another way. When you bark at
your students you’re announcing to them, your principal, other teachers, and everyone else within
earshot that you don’t have effective classroom management skills.
8. It fills your classroom with tension.
Teachers who let misbehavior get under their skin create an environment that teems with unhealthy
energy. You can feel it the moment you enter the room. The students are distracted and unhappy.
They’re excitable and restless. And learning is far from mind.
9. It teaches students to do the same.
Every time you lose your cool you provide a model—and your permission—for your students to do
the same. It trains them to lose their composure when things don’t go their way. It teaches them to
give in, buckle under, and fall apart when faced with challenges.
10. It destroys your fulfillment.
Letting anger get the best of you robs you of the deeper joys of being a teacher. It creates a you-
against-them form of classroom management that removes the love, the laughter, and the eyeball-
to-eyeball connections that make teaching more than just a profession.
11. It burdens you with stress.
Yelling and scolding is incredibly stressful—and not just in the moment. At home at the dinner table,
getting out of bed in the morning, driving to work . . . it stays with you. It whispers in your ear that
you’ve become the teacher you never wanted to be.
A Better Way
The antidote to losing your cool is a comprehensive understanding of effective classroom
management principles and how to apply them.
It’s a redirection from what was once frustration and anger in reaction to misbehavior . . . to a calm,
impartial response—one that both safeguards your influence and fairly and ethically holds your
students accountable.
It’s allowing your classroom management plan to do the heavy lifting for you, so you can be the
inspirational teacher your students will always remember.
The one you always wanted to be.

How To Build Deep Trust With Your New Class

By Michael Linsin on August 27, 2016 14

Trust is an often-overlooked aspect of effective classroom management.

But it’s critically important.
It’s important because when your students trust you—really trust you—everything is easier.
And when they don’t?
Well, nothing works as it should.
Listening, attentiveness, motivation, work habits, respect, behavior . . .
Virtually every area of classroom management is made weaker when your students are unsure
about you, your motives, and the things you say.
Most teachers will tell you that they’re 100% trustworthy—and many are when it comes to adult
relationships.
But something odd happens to them when they stand in front of children and young people.
Somewhere in the back of their mind, perhaps just outside of conscious awareness, they believe that
telling little white lies here and there can’t hurt.
It can even help. After all, they’re just kids. They don’t know any better.
So they shower their students with praise for behavior or performance that isn’t worthy of it. They
pretend they don’t see misbehavior when enforcing a consequence is a hassle.
They’ll say whatever is necessary in the heat of the moment to appease, coerce, persuade, or
manipulate students into behaving.
But being less than honest is self-sabotage.
Because every time you play loose with the truth, every time you say one thing and do another, your
students take notice. And it changes them.
They become less motivated, less enthusiastic, and less interested in pleasing you and following
your lead. They don’t listen as well or are as dedicated to their work. They lose respect for you and
begin in engaging in behavior to match.
The truth is, they do know better.
And when they learn this about you the first week of school, when it dawns on them that they can’t
count on you, they’ll dismiss your vision for the class with a wave of the hand.
Building deep and abiding trust, of the kind that inspires an almost reverent-like respect, is nothing
more than following through on your promises and being truthful with your words.
This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to be perfect. We all make mistakes, but they should be
rare and singular events rather than a persistent habit.
Being a teacher of integrity doesn’t take great skill or effort. You don’t have to look or dress a certain
way. You don’t have to work at it over a period of months.
But it will single-handedly strengthen and improve every area of classroom management.
It will also make your day-to-day job easier and less stressful.
So make it a point this school year to do exactly what you say. Be real and transparent, a straight
shooter, consistent in word and action.

Why Ambiguity Is The Enemy Of Effective

Classroom Management
While coaching teachers this time of year, I find myself repeating the same phrase again and again:
“You’re going to lay everything out for your students ahead of time.”
What I mean by this is that the teacher is going to remove all uncertainty over what does and doesn’t
constitute breaking rules.
They’re going to detail precisely how they, the teacher, will respond whenever a rule is broken.
As well as what is expected of the misbehaving student.
The idea is that there are no surprises. There are no secrets or misunderstandings. There are no
doubts, confusions, gray areas, or fuzzy meanings.
Enforcing consequences, then, becomes a well-choreographed dance, where both parties know
their role, their steps, and their lines by heart.
It’s an approach that is fair to students and easy for the teacher.
It also saves time, eliminates disrespect, and causes students to take responsibility for their
misbehavior.
Most teachers who struggle with classroom management, however, don’t go far enough. They don’t
model enough. They don’t explain enough or with as much explicitness as students need.
They don’t lay it all out ahead of time.
The resulting ambiguity causes resentment, disillusionment, and ultimately more misbehavior.
For example, in The Smart Classroom Management Plan for High School Teachers, we recommend
eye contact as one of two ways to give an official warning.
We do this because, among other reasons, high school students respond best to a more subtle
approach.
But subtle doesn’t mean unclear. It doesn’t mean weak or wishy-washy. It doesn’t mean walking on
eggshells or being inconsistent.
Therefore, if you don’t define for your students precisely what an official warning looks like, then a
student who breaks a rule may be hurt and confused by your response.
They may wonder why you’re staring at them or think that you’re giving them a “look”—which we
very much don’t recommend.
It’s no less important for elementary teachers who we advise to say the words “You have a warning.”
Your students must experience what it’s like to receive a consequence. They must know beyond a
doubt what will happen—the precise script—every time they break a rule.
This is deeply comforting knowledge that removes anxiety, tension, and classroom excitability and
frees them to focus on learning and enjoying school.
While coaching teachers, it’s the one thing I return to again and again. It’s the one piece of advice I
give the most regarding both the high school and elementary plans.
The way you enforce a consequence can (and should) be gentle. It can be subtle and pleasant and
even kindly.
It can be fast and easy.
You don’t have to raise your voice. You don’t have to be aggressive or confrontational. You don’t
have to glare, lecture, show your displeasure, or convince students that what they did was wrong.
But you do have to define where your boundary lines are.
You have to specify what behavior or behaviors break which rules. You have to teach through
modeling, role-play, and practice what you’ll do in response and what it means.
You have to guide your students through every step of the way, like a Viennese waltz.
You have to lay it all out ahead of time.
So you can enjoy a well-behaved class for the rest of the year.
How To Handle Students Who Question Your
Methods
“Why do we have to raise our hand?”
“Why can’t we talk while we’re working?”
“Why do we have to walk in line?”
The questions may be different, but they’re all meant to challenge your methods.
They’re meant to challenge your decisions, your motives, and in some cases, even your authority.
They’re often asked with an accusatory tone and always in front of the class.
You must be very careful how you respond.
Because if you become defensive, if you cross your arms and say “because I said so” or “because
I’m the teacher,” you’ll put yourself at odds with your class.
Classroom management is most effective when students buy-in. It’s most effective when they
believe you have their best interest at heart and appreciate what it’s like being in their shoes.
It’s most effective when they willingly go along with your methods.
Because, in this day and age, ‘my way or the highway’ doesn’t work. It merely seals your fate to a
career of stress and battling with students.
So when a student questions your policies, procedures, rules, or expectations, it’s best to think of it
as an opportunity to show that you put them first.
“I wish you could call out whenever you wanted. That would be ideal. And if it was just a few of us,
you could. But because there are 28 students in this class, it wouldn’t be fair to everyone.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but one of my most important jobs is to protect your learning.
Talking during independent work time, while everyone is trying to concentrate, is distracting.”
“It would be fun to head down to lunch or the library in a big mob. I’m all for it. But unfortunately, we
have to allow room in the hallway for others to pass by. We also have to be careful not to disturb
classrooms along the way.”
By using the power of why, and appealing to the true reason behind your decisions, you can turn
such questions around.
You can assure your class that everything you do has a purpose that benefits them, those around
them, and the class as a whole.
A great many students believe that teachers enjoy bossing them around—because that’s the
conclusion they draw when you don’t provide the ‘why’ of what you do.
The more open and transparent you are in explaining the logic of your methods, the more
your students will embrace them.
So when you get a question that is meant to challenge you or throw you off your game, seize it.
Welcome it.
You can even encourage it.
“Please challenge me on anything. If you want to know why we’re doing this or that, please let me
know. I’m happy to answer.”
It’s an approach that sets you apart and demonstrates the purity of your motives. It causes your
students to swim with the tide rather than against it.
It proves your sincerity.

Are You Using This Power Word?

A couple of years ago, I went back to my college alma mater for homecoming weekend.
I met up with a few buddies on Thursday evening, and we spent the next day touring our old haunts.
It was a great time reliving the past and needling each other like it was yesterday.
On Saturday, we decided to go to the football game. The team had enjoyed some recent success
and we wanted to be part of it.
After enjoying an alumni breakfast held across the street from stadium, we walked with a throng of
people to the front entrance of the massive horseshoe-shaped structure.
After waiting for a few minutes in a line of fans decked head-to-toe in team regalia, we handed our
tickets to the ticket-taker.
I was eating a banana as I began to push through the turnstile, when a man in a red windbreaker,
presumably security, stopped me and said, “Sir, you can’t bring that banana into the stadium.”
I shrugged my shoulders, backed up to finish off the banana, and then threw the peel into the trash
bin a few feet away. This took all of about 10 seconds. I was excited about the game and my friends
were waiting.
But as I jogged into the concourse, curiosity got the better of me. I turned and headed back toward
the security guard. When I got close enough to him I said, “Excuse me. Why aren’t bananas allowed
in the stadium?”
Without even glancing in my direction and with an air of authority, he decreed, “It’s our policy.”
Not satisfied with the answer, I smiled and said, “But why is it a policy? Is it a security concern? Are
you afraid someone is going to slip on the peel?”
The last question broke his I’m-security-don’t-mess-with-me persona. He looked over at me and let
out a small but good-natured chuckle. I knew he was busy, so I thanked him and headed for my
seats. Kick-off was approaching.
The incident was brief and inconsequential. It had no meaning in my life whatsoever. That I wasn’t
allowed to bring a banana into a football game didn’t bother me in the least.
However, clearly something on some level of consciousness bugged me enough to make me go
back and speak to that security guard. But what was it?
As it turns out, that something has strong implications when it comes to classroom management and
can possibly be the difference between success and failure with your students.
In his two excellent books, The Psychology of Influence and Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To
Be Persuasive, Dr. Robert B. Cialdini describes several experiments that prove overwhelmingly that
when we ask someone to do something—or not to do something—the response will be much more
favorable if we provide a compelling reason.
Therefore, when it comes to classroom management, the one word you should always keep in mind
is because. So every time you enforce a classroom rule with a consequence, to be most effective,
go through the same three steps:
1. Tell them what the consequence is.
“David, you have a warning because…”
2. Tell them what rule they broke.
“…you broke rule number two: Raise your hand and wait to be called upon before speaking.”
3. Give a compelling reason for the rule.
“We have that rule because calling out is unfair to the rest of the students, it wastes time, and it
interferes with everyone’s right to learn.”
The difference between the experiments cited by Dr. Cialdini and the use of because for classroom
management purposes is that we aren’t asking our students to do something; we are telling them.
But the positive results are the same.
If your students understand why a rule is important to the success of everyone involved, they are
much more likely to buy in to your program and be compliant to that rule.
Therefore, it’s critically important when explaining your classroom management plan that you
provide reasons that make sense to your students.
It’s interesting to note, however, that experimenters discovered that even when the reasons offered
were poor—to the point of absurdity—most subjects were still agreeable to the request. Meaning
that the most important aspect to providing reasons for your students is the word because.
Offering reasons to your students is also less confrontational. Creating friction between you and your
students when giving consequences is never a good thing, but you’ll do just that if you send them to
time-out without explanation.
If your students go to time-out and are angry with you or are complaining about your decision, then
you’re doing something wrong. Often, it’s because you’re not using the word because and then
following with cogent reasons.
Classroom management doesn’t have to be demanding or dictatorial to be effective—and it shouldn’t
be—but it does need to be smart.
Children respond to certain classroom management techniques and strategies in predictable ways.
Keep reading this blog, and when your classroom is transformed, I want to hear from you.
Is Waiting An Effective Strategy When
Students Talk During A Lesson?
Almost every teacher does it.
But is it effective?
Is it effective to stop your lesson and wait on students who are talking?
Well, yes and no.
While it’s true that the strategy can help get wayward students back on track, it does little to ensure
that it doesn’t happen again.
Thus, teachers who use the strategy find themselves using it a lot.
They also find that over time it loses its effectiveness.
What may take just a few seconds of waiting in September takes nearly a minute in November.
By January, it may not work at all.
So does this mean you should throw it out altogether?
By no means. In fact, done in a certain way, the strategy can be very effective. So much so that it
grows stronger with time—until you no longer have to use it.
The key is to pair the strategy with a clear and direct response.
The way it works is that once your students notice you waiting, once they stop talking and look at
you, you’re going to take action.
At this point, however, the strategy splits into two different responses, or modes of action, depending
on the number of students involved.
If you had been waiting on just a few students to stop talking, say less than four or five, then you
would follow your delay with whatever consequence is called for under the guidelines of your
classroom management plan.
“John, Karla, Anthony, and Abigail, you each have a warning for breaking rule number two.”
When followed by a consequence, waiting shines a light on the misbehavior. It further clarifies what
isn’t okay and sends the message that learning is sacred.
So sacred that you refuse to go on if it’s being tainted by interruption. Further, it shows that
protecting the right of every student to learn and enjoy school without interference is your number
one priority.
Enforcing a consequence takes just a few seconds, and you don’t have to say another word. You
can then continue with your lesson as if nothing happened.
If, however, more than a few students are talking during your lesson, then it’s a sign that you’re
either on the cusp of losing control of your class or you’re already there.
In this case, the response is to cancel your lesson entirely and reteach your expectations—as well
as the applicable rule.
Because, either you weren’t clear and detailed enough when you first taught and modeled how you
want them to behave during lessons or you haven’t been consistently holding them accountable.
So, along with reteaching what is expected, you must recommit yourself to following your plan as it’s
written. Otherwise, interruptions will be an every lesson occurrence.
It’s important to note that it’s either/or nearly 100% of the time.
In other words, because of the dynamics of classroom management and student behavior, it’s
typically either just a small few who are talking or it’s most of the class.
We’ll be sure to unpack why this is true in a future article. In the meantime, just know that if it’s just a
few, it’s on them, and accountability is your answer.
More than a few, however, is on you, and a sign you must reteach and recommit.

How To Gain Control Of An Out-Of-Control

Class
In the past, I’ve written about the importance of starting over from scratch when you feel yourself
losing control of your class.
But what if you can’t even get your students’ attention?
What if they act as if you don’t exist?
What if you stop your lesson to wait . . .
And they don’t care one whit?
It’s the ultimate teacher frustration.
It can make you feel helpless, insignificant, and thoroughly disrespected.
After waiting in vain for several minutes, it’s only natural to get angry.
With no other option, it’s only natural to threaten and raise your voice to try to reel them in.
And although you may—may—finally get their attention, it’s a heavy price to pay.
Because when there is friction between you and your students, everything is more difficult—rapport,
attentiveness, learning, behavior, you name it.
Ah, but there is a better way.
There is a way to gain control long enough to start over without undermining your relationship with
your class.
It can take a bit of time depending on how far out of control they’ve gotten, but done right, it’s a rock-
solid, proven method.
The way it works is that the moment you realize that waiting isn’t working, you’re going to begin
using what I call the reciprocation strategy.
Bear in mind, though, that at this point you’re in survival mode.
Thus, you’re going to ignore for the time being your classroom management plan and all of the
procedures and expectations you’ve previously communicated to your class.
Instead, you’re going to work your way around the room while politely steering your students to their
seats and drawing their attention back to you.
You must put all frustration aside and appeal to the law of reciprocation, which states that if you’re
nice to someone, they’ll want to be nice right back.
They’ll want to return the favor and do what you ask.
It’s an extremely powerful desire built into each one of us. So powerful that virtually no one can resist
its charm, even the most disagreeable students.
As you’re moving throughout every corner of your classroom, it’s important to be friendly and
personable. It’s important to smile, make small talk, and even share a laugh with your students.
“Hey, I like those shoes.”
“How are you today?”
“Please have a seat.”
“Thank you!”
“Good to see you.”
“Please have a seat.”
“Hello there!”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Okay, have a seat.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
“Have a seat.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Good game yesterday!”
“I really liked your essay.”
“Good to see you.”
“Please have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
The friendlier and more easygoing you are, the better and faster the strategy will work. Eventually,
as you feel yourself gaining control, you’re going to work your way back to the front of the room.
You’ll continue to thank your students for following your directions until you are standing in one place
and have everyone’s attention.
At this point, however, it’s critical to immediately dive into reteaching your rules, expectations,
procedures, etc. as if it’s the first day of school.
Because the window won’t last long.
The reciprocation strategy is merely a means to gain a few vital moments from which you can begin
the process of getting your class back on track.
It isn’t a strategy you can rely on every week or even every month.
It’s a one-time, survival-mode method to re-engage a class that you’ve lost and can’t get back
without yelling, threatening, and driving a wedge through your relationship.
It gives you an opportunity, nothing more.
So you must seize it.
And never lose control again.