Mid-Year Classroom Management: Hope, Reassurance, and (Possibly) a Few Solutions 

Many new teachers feel that establishing a positive learning environment at the start of school is easy.  The challenge is maintaining that class culture over a long school year.  However, a few mid-year classroom management strategies can help.

This article provides a list of ideas, tips, and reminders for classroom management.  No single strategy will magically eliminate all behavior issues.  However, if you can implement them as a group, you should begin to see small improvements in your stress level and your classroom environment. 

“I’m beginning to question myself.” 

Why did you choose to become a teacher? Perhaps you have a desire to help people?  The job stability? The ample vacation time?  

Or maybe it was more simple: You became a teacher because you believed you would be good at it.  

Hopefully, you’re having a great year.  However, many new teachers struggle in the first few years, especially with classroom management.  

Negative student behaviors can make you question yourself.  You may even seriously be doubting your career choice.  

Fortunately, with a few relatively minor tweaks in a classroom management approach, many teachers are able to see an improvement right away.  This article will detail the basics of Classroom Management 101 and provide you with seven strategies to help make your class tomorrow a little less stressful. 

,Mid-Year Classroom Management Strategies

1. Make it your daily goal to stay calm.

It’s human nature to lose your cool when faced with disruptive or disrespectful student behavior.  In fact, one common effect of stress on behavior is “angry outbursts”.  This stress can be worse for new teachers who feel additional pressure to establish a reputation amongst colleagues of competence and someone who “always has it under control”. 

Losing your temper harms the classroom culture.

Becoming angry enough to yell is a surefire way to escalate a bad classroom situation.  It can even become an invitation for students to yell back.

At the very least, if you lose your temper, your students will talk (and laugh) about your outburst outside of class. 

Losing your temper is physically harmful to you.  

For you, it can be mentally and physically exhausting to lose one’s cool.  When a teacher engages in a stress response, known as “fight or flight”, it leads to a rapid increase in heart rate, muscle tension, and fatigue.    

If you can stay calm, you’ll still likely go home tired at the end of the day, but you won’t experience the crushing “can I do this?” fatigue.

2. Understand that student behavior is rarely about you.

Student behavior can feel extremely personal.  In many cases, it isn’t.

Students walk into your class with diverse backgrounds, experiences, home lives, and even trauma.  Not to mention the daily mood swings or drama associated with being a young person.  

We acknowledge some students carry burdens, both seen and unseen.  At the same time, teachers hope — even expect — that students will be able to push that aside and focus on an academic task.  That expectation, unfortunately, isn’t always realistic.

If you’re interested in reading more, check out “How Trauma Affects Kids In School” from the Child Mind Institute. To summarize the article: Trauma presents itself in school as misbehaviors and even ADHD. 

If you feel the need to talk to the student about their behavior, keep it short and respectful. Ask for their input on how the two of you might work towards improving the situation.  

3. Adopt a “firm, yet friendly” approach to student interaction.

Staying calm doesn’t mean being passive or indifferent.  An approach that is too laid-back might result in students taking advantage of you.  On the other hand, a teacher who is too rigid or unyielding might be unable to connect with the students. 

What’s the right balance? Firm, yet friendly.

As always, avoid acts of hostility or derision that make it appear that you are susceptible to losing control.  It may take a bit of practice to perfect being both firm and friendly at the same time.  But choosing one or the other is not typically a recipe for success.

4. Try to connect, however briefly, with every student, every day.

It helps to be as observant as possible of your students.  Make it a habit to stand at the door to greet students by name as they walk in.  This feedback can reveal which students might need a little grace during that class period. 

5. Become a whiz at avoiding confrontation.

Create options that prevent a confrontation.  Consider how you might approach a student who is having a bad day.  Is there somewhere they can go for a short break?  Is there an option to get help from a counselor or administrator?  Instead of talking to them right now, let them (and you) cool off before having a conversation.

6. Look for and praise positive behaviors.

Praising students can have a profound impact on the tone of the classroom. Some teachers set a goal for the period or track the number of compliments they give within a given activity. 

Authentically praising your most challenging students is a great way to shift the relationship you have with them.

7. Use location and proximity to your advantage.

Determine a typical location for beginning or getting the attention of the class.  This can serve as a visual cue that you’re ready to speak.  Students rely on cues such as this to help guide their behavior.

If a student is engaging in low-level disruption, simply decreasing the distance between you and the student is often enough to stop the behavior. 

8. Experiment. View this year as a learning experience. 

Do your best to not jump to early conclusions about your ability to be a teacher. Give yourself time to improve.  Give yourself a break. 

Some tips:

• Try to adopt a growth mindset when it comes to your classroom management.  Tell yourself “That class forces me to be on my game every day” as opposed to “That class is impossible, I can’t do this.”  

• View each day as a learning experience. Allow yourself to emotionally detach from those not-so-great days.

• Experiment with different approaches to challenging behaviors. See what works and what doesn’t work. 

• Think of every interaction as beneficial. Positive interactions with students can be super energizing.  Negative interactions can teach us how to be better in the future.

Lots of new teachers question whether they can do the job. If you focus on what isn’t going well right now, it’s very easy to become emotionally discouraged.  Instead, reflect on the opportunity this group of students is providing you to gain experience and hone your craft.  

9. Follow through with reasonable consequences.

Despite how you may feel at times, it isn’t the job of a teacher to accept negative behaviors or disrespect.

In this era of “positive relationships,” some teachers are understandably reluctant to give out consequences. (Based on some feedback we’ve received, some teachers work at schools that have virtually eliminated behavior consequences.)  

The result can be endless teacher warnings without any follow-through.  

Enforce your behavior expectations. Find reasonable consequences that fit with the culture of your school – whatever that may look like.  If you’re not sure how to proceed with discipline, talk to a veteran teacher or an administrator on-site.

Brad has taught history at the middle and high school levels for 19 years, almost exclusively in American public schools.  He has a master’s in educational technology and is passionate about elevating the status of professional educators.