A Plan to Effectively Manage a Classroom

Too often teachers are asked how they discipline their classroom and what negative consequences
they will provide students with when they misbehave. This mentality of student discipline and negative
consequences is negative and reactive. Rather than being reactive and disciplining a classroom, it is my
belief that teachers should be preventative, proactive, and positive. Instead of disciplining a classroom, an
effective teacher should manage a classroom. Effectively managing a classroom is not necessarily an easy
task though. It requires time, energy, consistency, observation of student behaviors, analysis of behaviors
and environment, and above all, patience. In order to manage behavior, a teacher must then be able to
manage the classroom as a whole, including the students and the physical and emotional classroom
environments as well. In order to maintain a positive classroom environment and to minimize problem
behaviors, a teacher must structure a classroom so that it is routine, organized, and consistent, making
expectations clear for students. In order to successfully and efficiently manage a classroom to promote
learning, a teacher must have a clear plan of action. Below I have listed steps that I plan to take to uphold
a positive classroom climate. These steps are not listed in any particular order of importance and will
overlap; they are not set in stone, but will serve merely as guidelines that I will follow that can be added to
over the course of my career.
1. Set clear, positive routines, expectations and procedures.
As author and educator Harry Wong said, A rule is a DARE to be broken.a procedure is a DO, a
step to be learned. In other words, an expectation concerns how things are to be done, not what is
prohibited. Expectations teach students to perform behaviors and classroom procedures and routines the
way that we want them to. Students crave structure. They need to know what they can do rather than what
they cannot. They need to be explicitly and directly told what is expected of them and they need to know
what the expectation looks like, meaning that someone needs to teach it to them. Often teachers simply
set rules without rehearsing, modeling, and discussing them and even posting them in the classroom; this
will lead to more problems in the classroom. By setting positive expectations, displaying them in the
classroom, discussing their meaning, rehearsing and modeling the expectation, and then, consistently
reinforcing appropriate behaviors in line with set expectations, the classroom environment will run smoothly
with structure and organization.
2. Build a rapport with students and stay close
Building a rapport with students begins on day one and continues throughout the school year. It is
a process. Each day a teacher should greet his or her students at the door by name, with a positive tone
and a smile. Doing so each day will encourage students to feel important and welcomed in the classroom,
making them more likely to follow directions and feel that they are a part of the class. Staying close to
students throughout the year involves creating a safe, positive environment, and establishing yourself as a
positive, empathetic person who gives positive consequences and reinforces appropriate behaviors. It also
involves listening to students, being attentive, and just talking, not lecturing.
3. Maintain organization and preparation
By keeping the physical classroom environment organized with labels and an everything has its
place mentality, the emotional environment of the classroom will be calmer. Students will know where to
get supplies and where to put them away. It encourages order and cleanliness as well. A successful
teacher is always organized and ready. This means having students work, books, assignments, and
materials ready to go when the bell rings. It also means that the teacher has clear lesson objectives and

plans set for the day with a positive attitude ready to go. The more organized the classroom and teacher,
the more positive message students receive and the more ready they are to learn.
4. Positive consequences
Instead of providing negative consequences for problem behaviors, it is better to provide positive
consequences to promote desired behaviors. This means providing students with positive praise,
appropriate privileges, free time, positive phone calls home, and tangible items as necessary. It means
focusing on the good rather than the unwanted so that desired behaviors are reinforced while the unwanted
(unless harmful) is ignored.
5. Token economies and class-wide initiatives
Though the use of token economies and class-wide initiatives may need to be altered for each
individual group of students each year, they can be useful in promoting positive behaviors. After setting
classroom expectations, a teacher can create a reward system that rewards only positive behaviors, setting
a time for turning in tokens or number of points necessary for a reward. In addition, the teacher can record
individual performance and/or class performance as a way of monitoring students growth and possibly
identifying patterns of unwanted behavior.
6. Individualized interventions
Despite preventative measures, it is likely that some students will need a more specific
individualized intervention. To create such a plan, it is vital that a teacher identify antecedents, the behavior
itself, and the current consequences the student receives. Then, the teacher must analyze this information
to identify the function of the behavior (attention based, avoidance, etc.). After analyzing and collecting
data to identify the frequency/duration of the behavior, the teacher can then create a plan with a desired
outcome of student behavior, setting individual expectations for the student, creating contracts, positive
support plans, and any other plans necessary to aid the student.