Creating a Classroom Management Plan

A well-managed classroom is critical to the success of teachers and students. The best way to to ensure effective classroom management is to plan for it before the school year even starts. Follow these steps to create a classroom management plan that works for you and your students!

All components of your classroom management plan should be in alignment with the culture you desire to create in your classroom. This culture is often determined by your educational philosophy. Although philosophies change over time, especially as teachers become more experienced, even novice teachers should consider what they believe about teaching and learning and how those beliefs will be reflected in their classrooms.

Before deciding on procedures and expectations for your individual classroom, you'll want to make sure you're aware of the policies of your school and district at large. Nothing you implement in your classroom can contradict those policies, or it will likely not be upheld if challenged. If you aren't aware of your school and district's policies or you don't understand them, your building administrator can help!

In additional to the policies set forth by your school and district, you will likely need to implement expectations that are specific to you and your classroom. You can do this by considering your specific context- grade level, subject area, developmental level of students- and identifying what's important to you in the classroom. If, for example, you feel strongly that students should not interrupt you or each other, you will want to include that in your expectations AND teach those skills to students early in the year.

Routines and procedures vary widely from classroom to classroom, often depending on the age and grade level of the students. The teacher's preferences matter a great deal when making these decisions as well. Some teachers like to have a procedure for every classroom event, while others only focus on major parts of class. Some procedures you might consider include entering and exiting the classroom, turning in work, moving around the room during class time, and asking to leave the classroom. This is not an exhaustive list, however, and likely you will have procedures for events that are specific to your classroom.

How you manage your classroom is in large part determined by how your classroom is arranged. When deciding on the physical layout of your classroom, there are several factors to consider. First, how flexible does the arrangement need to be? Will students be expected to move between different arrangements, or will you do all the moving of desks? Next, how will students access materials at an appropriate level of independence? This could include personal items such as backpacks and notebooks, but also classroom items such as textbooks and devices. The layout of the classroom should not block access to any critical materials. Finally, consider the flow of traffic? How will students move around the room efficiently? How will you, as the teacher, be able to effectively monitor students and provide assistance when needed?

For many teachers, it's very important to recognize when students are doing the right thing. It can encourage students to continue making good decisions, as well as influence their classmates to do that same. If that is in alignment with your educational philosophy, you will want to have that system in place early in the year. You will also need to consider if you are going to reward individual behavior, whole class behavior, or both. A star chart is only one example of how to keep track of rewards.

Along with rewards, classroom management requires that teachers determine a structure of negative consequences for misbehavior. Students are still learning and growing, and they need to be taught how to function within a community. Sometimes that can mean consequences for their actions. Having a predetermined structure of consequences can ensure that they're applied equally to all students, as well as help the teacher maintain objectivity and professional distance in difficult situations.

Teachers will often need to communicate verbally and nonverbally with students. This will be most effective if teachers determine ahead of time what cues they'll use and what they'd like students to do in response to those cues, and then begin teaching students those expectations right away.

The first day of school is busy and exciting, but it's also a critical time when it comes to setting the tone for the school year. As teachers move through the first day's business, they should already be teaching students their expectations both directly by explaining them and indirectly by modeling them. This will help everyone- teachers and students- start the school year off on the right foot.

Support from home is a critical lever in student success. It's so important that teachers help parents and families understand what their classroom is like in terms that are accessible. Sharing your entire classroom management plan with families may not be helpful, but it WILL be helpful to share some of your educational philosophy, what expectations and procedures you have in place, and the positive and negative reinforcements you'll be using. Only when parents are aware of what's happening in the classroom can they help their child be successful.