Are your classrooms "out of control?"

Students aren't paying attention. Teachers have to talk "over" students. The classroom has become utter chaos. And teachers are out of ideas. So what can you do? Is there a way to get control over an "out of control" classroom?

The answer is yes and if you want to learn how, read this entire article.

Classroom Management Best Practices

The first question you should ask yourself is, "do I know everything about classroom management or do I just think I do?"

Don't rush to answer that question. I want you to think long and hard for a second.

The Toxic Culture of K12

Everyone working in a school today is exposed to the Toxic K12 culture. There is no escape from it. I spent more than 20 years inside the K12 system, which meant that I not only had to deal with the toxicity, but when I became an administrator, I tried to get rid of it.

After working and helping over 100 public and charter school districts, I can say that I've seen every type of toxicity you can imagine.

Here's the worst part. The Toxic K12 culture forces teachers to act and do things they don't want to do. The Toxic culture also forces teachers to say things they don't want to say either.

For example, when a classroom goes "out of control" a professional teacher sits back and reflects on what is happening. That's because a professional teacher knows that something in the classroom environment is affecting the students negatively.

The teacher might not know what it is, but they will analyze and dig to find the answer.

Here's the problem. The Toxic K12 culture does not want the teacher to look at their classroom or analyze anything. The toxic culture forces a teacher to rush to judgement. The toxic culture wants that teacher to feel inferior and dumb in the eyes of the system.

That's not what is happening in reality, but the toxic culture wants the teacher to FEEL inferior and thus will blame the students, or parents or even their administrators.

The Teacher Path to Excellence

Back in 2009, I developed and started a teacher prep/training program called The Teacher Development Program. What this program did was help teachers grow as professionals. In only two school years, teachers would graduate from this teacher prep program as expert teachers.

And one thing that these newly trained teachers could do was manage a classroom of "unruly" and disruptive students.

If you have a classroom that is "out of control" then you might want to pay attention.

Four Steps To Control an "Out of Control" Classroom

Before I outline those four steps, I wrote an article on Medium last school year about how to create a safe and conducive classroom. If you haven't read that article, I highly recommend you go and read it after you finish this one. There is also a short classroom management quiz you can take that will give you feedback data to prove if you have a "safe and conducive" classroom environment. (FYI: Less than 20% of teachers who have taken this quiz passed it).

Step One: Develop Structured Routines for the Classroom

Not sure if you have routines or not?

Then start with a classroom observation. What you should be looking for is "if" the students know what to do without the teacher telling them what to do. In other words, are the students independent or semi-independent from the teacher?

Here's what this looks like. When the period begins, do the students automatically know what they should be doing? For instance, do students put away materials and get ready for the next period or subject?

When a teacher has a structured classroom, students know what's coming next. If the next period is English class, then students know they need their journals for writing or the reading book assigned. The teacher does not need to "tell" the students how to get started, since the students were already taught the routine.

If the period begins and students are out of their seat, running around, talking and not paying attention, the problem is there are no routines in this classroom. That's not the student's fault.

Don't get upset with them, it's a waste of energy. Instead, decide what routines you want to see your students doing. And then you need to TEACH them the routines. Don't expect kids to do what you want, unless you TEACH them how.

The single biggest mistake that non-expert teachers make is that they don't spend enough time teaching the routines. Too often, average teachers go over routines maybe once or twice and then expect students to follow. This is a huge mistake. A teacher should go over the routines until the students are begging you to stop because they know them by heart. Let the students "prove" they know the routines by demonstrating them -- and then you can stop going over them.

Step Two: Limit Your Class Rules

How many rules are on your class poster?

If you want to set your classroom up for success, you should have no more than 5 rules to enforce. Think you can have more than 5 rules, think again? Every rule that is on your poster must be reinforced. If you have an "out of control" classroom, do you want to spend MORE time on enforcing rules, or more time on academic instruction?

The more rules you put on your class poster, the more time you need to spend reinforcing those rules. Just like in the section before, you can't expect students to do what you want, unless you teach them how.

If you have more than 5 rules, you need to rewrite your class poster. Think of the five most important rules you want to enforce. By limiting the number of rules, you will show your students that you mean business. And you need to reinforce those rules, so don't forget to remind students of the rules ALL the time.

You'll find some enforcement tips in the next section.

Step Three: Don't Forget About Positive Praise

How do you enforce rules?

For 100 years, old teachers and principals thought the way to enforce rules was through punishment, discipline and punitive methods. The problem with this thinking is that it's OLD. Like a century old and it doesn't follow 21st century research or best practices.

Are you an old teacher or a modern teacher? And I'm not talking about old-school, I mean are you an OLD mind, and out of touch with reality?

All of the best research has shown that punitive consequences create "out of control" classrooms. That's right, the more punitive you get, the more rebellious your students behave. That means, if you already have an "out of control" classroom, you need to do the opposite, in order to get it back under control.

What's the opposite of punitive? The answer is positive praise.

The biggest mistake that non-expert teachers make in the classroom is "assuming" the students know the rules and know how to follow them. Don't make this same mistake. Your students only understand the rules and how to follow them, when you have taught them the rules and shown them what you want them to do.

Are you seeing a pattern here? Teachers need to teach and show students EVERYTHING they want to happen in the classroom. The more you assume, the more you leave up to chance--that's why your classroom is pure chaos right now.

Stop guessing, stop assuming and start teaching.

In the last step, you rewrote your class rules poster. Now you have only 5 rules to enforce. It's time to start enforcing them using positive praise, not punitive consequences. Here's what that looks like.

Every 20-30 minutes, you should read the class rules to the entire class and you should let each student know which rules they followed. Yes, you are going to focus on the positive, not the negative. It's less important to point out to students which rules they didn't follow and more important to make sure students know what they did well in class.

If you have 5 rules, then it shouldn't take too long to get your students to recognize that you are praising and recognizing students for achievement in class. If a student follows three out of five rules, then they should only receive three positive praise comments. You can go a step further by also creating a chart that tracks the number of rules students follow every period during the day.

Step Four: Start Using a Grading Rubric

The first three steps addressed the behavioral and emotional issues in class, but you can't forget about academics either. And if you have an "out of control" classroom, it's possible that could be caused by you not using a grading rubric or not teaching students how to use the grading rubric you have created.

Why is this so important?

First of all, the latest research has proven that the use of grading rubrics increases equity in the classroom, by limiting the impact of unconscious bias and blind stereotyping that is part of the normal human condition. As the teacher, you want your students to feel like they have an equal opportunity in class. The problem is that if you don't use a grading rubric that is NEVER going to be factual.

But it's not enough to create a grading rubric, you also need to show students how to use the rubric themselves. And here's why?

When the students know how to use the rubric, it empowers them to take control over their academic achievement. Teachers that reinforce the use of grading rubrics allow students to "pre-grade" their work using the rubric. That's right, the students can use the rubric to grade their own work before handing it in for official grading from the teacher.

If the rubric is clear and understandable, every student can put in as much or as little effort they want, but the grading is perfectly fair to all. The students have the same opportunity to analyze and fix any errors before the teacher even sees the student work.

There's also another advantage to using grading rubrics that helps to keep classrooms under control. When students feel the classroom is fair, they are less likely to rebel against the teacher. The only thing a student wants is to be treated fairly. Students have very little control over their own lives. They can't choose their family, they can't choose the house they live in, they can't even choose the school they go to, so when grades are also out of their control--it's not a big surprise that students will act out in class.

If you want to limit student misbehavior in class, start using a grading rubric and show the students how to use it to improve their own grades. Can you imagine how well-behaved a student will act in your classroom when they start showing their parents "B"s on their work, when every other class and teacher was giving them "Ds" and "Fs"?

That's only possible when you use a grading rubric and the student knows exactly what's expected academically from you.

Summary

There are over 3.2 million teachers in America, which means millions of students are sitting in classrooms that are completely "out of control" right now. The situation is not good for students, but also not good for teachers either.

The best research shows that punitive consequences do not work effectively to curb student misbehavior, in fact, it amps up negative behavior in class. That's why teachers who want to get control over an "out of control" classroom should follow the Four Steps outlined in this article.

If you have more questions, post them in the comments.

About the Author:

D. Scott Schwartz, M.Ed. was recognized by the #1 ranked state for education for his expertise in the field of education, as well as his groundbreaking Teacher Prep/Training program called The Teacher Development Program. This 2-year program helped teachers improve their in-class performance by showing them how to become expert teachers in only two years. This program saves K12 schools hundreds of thousands of dollars. To learn more, contact "The School Doc" through the LinkedIn profile or visit his online school for 21st century skills, Leaf Academy. https://leafacademy.org