Mastering Classroom Management From Scratch! (Coaching Session 1)

As a teacher of 21 years, I recently worked with a teacher who rated their current classroom management effectiveness at 60 out of 100. While they were happy with student behavior during independent and group work, they were concerned about student disengagement, disrespect, phone usage, and congregating by the door.

To help this teacher, we discussed a three-step plan for improvement:

• Strategize seating charts: We'll work together to ensure students are seated strategically to minimize distractions and disruptions.
• Implement consistent warm-ups: Engaging students immediately with familiar, low-cognitive activities will help establish routines and minimize off-task behavior. I suggested we focus on warm-up routines for the entire first week back from break to solidify expectations.
• Develop a progressive discipline plan: We will create clear, pre-planned consequences for misbehavior and apply them consistently. This will address the teacher's frustration with completing referrals and contacting parents without seeing improvement.

The key takeaway I emphasized is that consistency is crucial for effective classroom management. The teacher needs to establish clear expectations and enforce them consistently so all students feel safe and supported. This will help to minimize distractions from disruptive students. We are both confident that with some work and focus, the teacher can achieve their goal of raising their classroom management score to 85!

To watch the entire coaching session click on the image above.