#54: 4 Tips to Prevent Classroom Management Disaster (S5E6 Growth)

Classroom management is possibly the most challenging aspect of teaching today. But you don't have to end up with a disaster on your hands!

Join guest teacher Latrisha Lott as she shares 4 simple steps she's learned to help prevent classroom management disaster.

Get notes & links at www.teach4theheart.com/disaster

Join our free Back-to-School Classroom Management Solutions live training at www.teach4theheart.com/backtoschooltraining

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It can feel like you're navigating a maze blindfolded while carrying a 100-pound backpack and getting hit with paintball pellets (Ouch!).

I'm talking about classroom management - one the most challenging aspects of teaching today.

I don't know about you, but I don't think my teaching program did a fair job of letting me know what I would be facing as a teacher.

Textbooks and teacher preparation classes painted a picture of compliant, well-behaved students who couldn't wait to learn. This may have been the experience of teachers 75 years ago, but it sure hasn't been my experience or the experience of ANY teacher I know that is currently in the classroom.

I think it is time we be honest.

Now I am not saying you can't get your students to that place, but in my experience, a peaceful, focused on-task, classroom, filled with quality learning requires hard work and EXCELLENT classroom management that is applied with godly wisdom.

Let's face the facts.

Society has changed.

Students have changed.

Parents have changed.

uh, oh!

Sadly, teachers don't always have the trust and respect of those they serve, and as the morals and values of a society implode, public servants like teachers are often left to clean up the mess.

It is not your imagination.

A huge number of young people are more disrespectful and rebellious than ever before. Parents often want to excuse their kid's wrong-doing and blame you! Administrators are often pressured to avoid disciplining students, so they might place those pressures on you. The workload is heavier than ever.

You're not alone in these observations.

Teaching. Is. Hard.

I have taught in a charter school, a private Christian school and a public school. I have taught primary and secondary school. I have taught students of millionaires and students that did not know if they would have dinner each night. The classroom management challenges have been very similar in each situation.

But there is hope!

If you are in the classroom now, you have a reason to believe that God has called you to be a teacher for such a time as this.

Students need godly teachers more than ever (in Christian schools and public schools), and He has called YOU!

You can be a better classroom manager. You can build more trust with students, parents, and administrators. You can touch and even transform lives.

However, there are some pesky roadblocks you may encounter, and it takes wisdom to avoid crashing into them!

The roadblocks are often both internal and external depending on your circumstances and environment, but being prepared for them will help your year run smoother and save you lots of time, energy and potential conflicts down the road.

Here are 4 simple steps I learned the hard way that will help you avoid classroom management disaster!

4 Simple Steps to Prevent Classroom Management Disaster

1. Don't let students manipulate you with their emotions.

Have you had a student start bawling when you gave them a detention? Have you experienced a student's explosive anger when they don't get to go to recess?

Ever have a student protest vehemently that they should have been the student of the week and that you always pick the same kids for everything—hurtfully accusing you of showing favoritism?

When you give consequences or withhold rewards as a part of your classroom management plan, you will likely encounter pushback intended to cause you to feel guilty, second guess yourself or give in to the student's demands. And this problem can be compounded when students band together against you.

Second guessing and giving in to demands are big mistakes, though, because students will realize they can turn on the waterworks, throw tantrums, or rope you into an emotional debate and control you through the sheer force of their feelings.

Many times the student's emotions are genuine, but often times students will play up their emotions to see what you will do. The trick is to remain calm and stick to your consequences and rewards.

Once your students see that you will remain calm, resolute, and unshaken in the midst of the storm of their emotions, students will typically try those tactics less and less.

Use prayerful discernment to decide whether or not to console students in the moment or acknowledge their wounded feelings, but don't by any means let their hurt or upset feelings change your pre-determined set of consequences or rewards.

Of course, there are rare circumstances where you truly feel led to cut the student a break or give them another chance, BUT this should be a rare exception. Otherwise, students will be confused and not know what to expect from you.

The goal is not to become an unfeeling automaton but rather a consistent leader that does the right thing for students even when it is unpopular.

Students ultimately respect someone they know they cannot manipulate.

2. Document everything you can, and let the world know you are keeping track of everything!

A wise veteran teacher once told me to document everything, and this little gem of wisdom has proven true every time.

Sadly, your word alone as a teacher is often not enough. In our society, everybody wants proof, proof, proof! Oddly enough parents will often believe their kids over you (and kids lie….a lot)!

Surprised? I was! It's a strange day we live in, so we must be prudent!

When you call up little Johnny's mom, it's better to say, "…this week I counted 37 blurts…" rather than "Johnny is being a little too chatty…".

It is more effective to let the parents know exactly how many assignments their child is missing instead of merely saying their child is not getting work in on time.

Did a student say something (CRAZY?) —write it down word for word. Believe it or not, you will likely forget exactly what they said which leaves room for the student to deny it ever happened, and when you are in that parent-teacher conference, you are going to want to know exactly what was said and when.

You can document in any way that is easy for your personality type, organization level, and style. Just have a system!

It can be as informal as a documentation notebook you carry around everywhere to jot notes down. It can be as fancy as an excel spreadsheet with student names and different columns representing various behaviors and the number of times they occur.

I personally like carrying around a red clipboard with student names and boxes to give "checks" for the most common misbehaviors like talking without permission. When the students see me pick up the clipboard they know I am tracking and documenting their behavior, and it calms them down.

There are also amazing online programs and apps like Class Dojo that make tracking these things a cinch.

Time is in high demand for teachers, and it can feel too tedious to document, but this is one investment that pays dividends.

And the beauty is — students will behave better when they know you are t