Classroom Management Techniques for the New Year

As you welcome your students back to the classroom after break, you have a lot of re-teaching to do when it comes to classroom management. Even if your students were only out of the classroom for just a brief amount of time, they tend to forget the classroom expectations! Just like the first few weeks of school, it’s vital to remind and reteach your students the rules and expectations.

Here are some classroom management techniques and tips that I have accumulated over the years.

1. Clearly establish rules & expectations.

This is absolutely crucial. Just as important as the first day of school! Review your classroom rules and expectations, have them posted in your room, and ask your students to recite the rules you established together at the beginning of the year. This helps to empower the students to take accountability.

2. Use tons and tons of visuals.

One of the best things I ever introduced to my students were picture direction icons. As I verbally give directions for an assignment, I put up a picture icon so that my students know exactly what to do. It really eliminates mistakes and the “what do I do now??” question. It also gives my students an opportunity to practice using the resources around them to solve problems on their own.

3. Practice what you preach- demonstrate the behavior you want to see.

This is so important as our young students really learn from your modeling. Show them exactly what you expect and have your students demonstrate non-examples as well. This really helps them “see” the rules & expectations so they are concrete.

4. Celebrate their hard work!

Your students are working hard to show expected behaviors and you can reinforce those behaviors to keep them motivated. I’m always on the lookout for fun, new ideas and I love being crafty so I like to change up my reinforcers to keep my students motivated and engaged in our learning. In the winter months, I like to have my class work together to build a snowman!

They work together to earn pieces to build a snowman and when they have earned all the pieces, they get a reward! The rewards usually consist of extra recess, five minutes of free time, or playing a game as a class. They don’t need to cost money but are very motivating for my students to achieve. You can read more about how to make this snowman for your classroom HERE.

5. Keep your students engaged and moving.

An engaged classroom is a well-behaved classroom. In our class, we transition a lot. Every 15-20 we’re on to something new. It’s important to keep your students up and moving, but when you move a lot, they can sometimes get out of control. In order to keep their behavior at bay during transitions, I give them something specific to focus on. As they are getting up to move, I ask them to think of something like “tell me the first sound in the word cat”. It works wonders! You can read more about my Transition Task Cards HERE.

6. And finally: relationships, relationships, relationships.

Foster healthy, open communicative relationships with your students. Reinforce that you are there to listen and help them. Reinforce that bond/connection. When a student feels a connection to you, they are less likely to want to disappoint you.

I hope these 6 classroom management techniques and tips are helpful and give you a good starting off point to get your kiddos back on track!