Best Behavioral Management Tips for New Teachers

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” was the classroom management advice I received from an administrator my first year.  (Must have been after an observation.) 

“If the kids made it easy,” he said, “what would be the fun in that?”

The point is that education is a profession with a steep learning curve. New teachers make mistakes. Unless you’re a unicorn, you WILL struggle — at least a little — with classroom management.  Your goal should be to reduce the amount of time and the severity of that struggle and skip to the part where you feel in control of your class.

You’re probably swimming in “tips and tricks” as a new teacher.  Keep in mind that classroom management is full of nuance — ideas that work for a specific teacher, grade level, school, etc. may not work elsewhere.  

Check out the list below and choose one or two ideas to get started on tomorrow.  Aim for slow, steady progress, and remember: Don’t be too hard on yourself.

For simplicity, we’ve organized our best behavioral management tips into three categories:

• • • classroom demeanor
    • student engagement
    • expectations/follow-through

We’ve had success with the following tips.  But we always encourage new teachers to find a style that works for them.

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Tips on Your Classroom Demeanor

1. Own the room.

This is an attitude more than anything: It’s YOUR classroom.  You’re in charge.  Anything that happens is because you allow it to happen.

Find your “teacher voice” — you know that voice, it’s calm yet commanding.  It assumes cooperation rather than asking for it.

Think of it as if you’re hosting a party at home.  When guests arrive, you’re happy to see them.  You direct them where to put their coat or where to sit.  You want them to relax and enjoy the evening, but it is your house.  You’re running the show.

2. Be firm in your tone and posture.  

Speak and act with confidence.  For some teachers, authority comes naturally.  For others, it’s a bit like playing a role in a movie.  It takes practice.  You can do it.

3. Don’t yell.

Yelling isn’t consistent with your demeanor and will only reduce your authority.   If you lose your temper, your students will talk — and laugh — about your outburst.  

Plus, yelling isn’t healthy for you.  It prompts a stress response, known as “fight or flight”, resulting in increased heart rate, muscle tension, and fatigue.   Nobody ever yelled all day and went home feeling great. 

4. Stand at the door and greet every student by name every day.

This sends a subtle message to students: “Hi, welcome to my classroom.”  Second, it lets you acknowledge and make a quick connection with every student.  Note: Depending on your class, it might be a good idea to stand where you can still see inside your classroom.  

5. Use proximity as your silent weapon.

Managing behavior without saying a word is a power move. (Remember, demeanor!)  Disruptions can often be eliminated by simply placing yourself in physical proximity.  Think about your classroom desk arrangement.  Are all areas of the room open and accessible?

6. Have a system for getting the class’s attention that doesn’t involve your voice.

Here’s another technique to reduce your verbal workload. Whatever your system or method, teach and practice it until all students stop their conversations and listen.  

Some ideas for quieting a classroom:

• Use a bell or chime on your desk – digital versions exist 
• Flip the lights
• Call and Response or hand clapping “Clap twice if you can hear me”

7. Try to maintain a good-natured approach to the job.

You mean business, but you can still smile and have fun.  Humor is great for cutting the tension at times.  Research shows that smiling displays confidence and increases your likability.

8. Make an effort to have positive student interactions.

Polite and respectful interaction between you and your students — like cordial co-workers — makes for a more productive and meaningful classroom experience for everyone.  

Take an interest in their sport, hobby, pets, or anything at all.  A little positive attention goes a long way for so many of our students.

9. Don’t engage with students about your rules or policies.

Students will want to discuss your decisions.  The longer a conversation lasts, the more control you lose.  Never argue with students, it’s pointless. 

As you walk away, offer the student a chance to chat about it after class–privately.

Tips on Student Engagement

1. Create, teach, and reinforce a “start of the period” routine.

Have something for the students to do right away.  Keep them accountable for this work by stamping and periodically collecting it.

If you can get students working right away, you set the tone for the rest of the period.  If they’re off task in the first five minutes, it’ll take significant effort to steer that ship back around.

To read more about setting up a routine at the start of class, read “How to Streamline the First Five Minutes of Class“.

2. Vary instructional activities often.

Depending on the grade level, switch up the activity every 10-15 minutes.   If students are quietly working in one activity, get them working together in the next activity.  

3. Limit student downtime.

Work to maintain a good, reasonable pace with your instruction.

Pacing is tricky with a class of 30 individuals so use your judgment.  A quick pace is best and it’s easy to add more time for a task if needed.  If your pace is too slow — and I’ve been there — the class can grind to a halt. Suddenly kids are looking for distractions.  Not ideal.

Another way to limit downtime for students is to break an activity into smaller chunks.  You teach a little, they work a little, and repeat.  It gives you more control than turning them loose to rush through the entire assignment as quickly as they can.

4. Use engaging instructional practices.

Here are three easy ideas for any lesson, any class:

• Get students talking 
• Get students out of their seats and moving
• Give students choices

* For much more check out the related reading “Three Simple Ways to Boost Student Engagement in Any Lesson”

5. Time activities! (Ready and…go!)

Use a visible timer during activities, especially for brief bursts of writing or discussion. By defining how much time students have to reasonably complete a task, you create a sense of urgency that results in more work.

Undefined or unlimited time to complete a task typically yields less work and more off-task behaviors.

6. Assign important work that connects to your learning goal or larger unit.

If students don’t see how a task is relevant, they will correctly identify it as “busy work.”  Busy work leads to disengagement and behavior issues for you.

7. Have a productive “end of the period” backup plan if your lesson ends early.

Some lessons will simply take less time than you thought.  This happens to veteran teachers also, but they typically have a plan to fill the last 5-10 minutes.

It might seem fine to tell your class they have a few minutes to relax or talk amongst themselves, but we don’t recommend it.  If “free time” becomes a regular occurrence, you’re asking for classroom management issues.  (Not to mention, a negative reputation with the administrator.)

We like to fill any extra class time with exit tickets or student reflection questions.

The best exit tickets are open-ended and ask students to think critically as opposed to simple recall.  You can also find out what your students learned (or did not learn) during the lesson.

Keeping an exit ticket at the ready will decrease your stress and increase the productivity of those final few minutes. 

You might be interested in the following resource:

Click the image to learn more.

Tips Related to Clear Expectations and Follow-Through

1. Clearly define the basic behavior expectations on Day 1.

Many classrooms have similar expectations.  Something along the lines of:

• Be respectful of yourself and others.
• Be on time and prepared with all necessary materials.
• Use language that is respectful and kind.
• Act in a way that supports learning for all members of the class.
• Follow all school rules.

*Some teachers create the rules/norms in collaboration with students.  This is a fine idea!  However, this isn’t something new teachers should worry about until you have a few years behind you — just our opinion.

2. Plan out the consequences if students don’t meet your expectations.

Create the steps of our discipline plan.  Communicate it to students.  Expect students to test you to see if you’re serious.  Find out what consequences work at your school.  

Examples include:

• Three strikes: two warnings and a consequence
• Four steps: non-verbal warning, verbal warning, teacher consequence, school consequence

3. Issue consequences fairly and consistently.  Follow through.

To have an effective and productive classroom, you need respect.  You can’t have respect without fair and appropriate consequences.  Endless empty threats without follow-through will only result in a long year.

Be fair and consistent.  Inconsistent application of the rules is confusing and unfair.  It can also lead to accusations of favoritism.

4. Find consequences that work for you.

If you’re not comfortable with a behavior consequence, you’ll look for any excuse NOT to issue it.  Ignoring or pretending you don’t see a behavior problem damages the class culture you’re working hard to maintain.  

A few examples: 

• If you don’t feel comfortable giving a zero on a quiz when someone talks, find a consequence you can feel comfortable with — perhaps a verbal retake after school.

• If you don’t feel comfortable issuing detentions (the word “meeting” can soften it) for disruptive behavior, find another consequence — perhaps ask a colleague if you can pull the student out of their class for a three-minute hallway conversation.

• If you dislike addressing issues in front of the class, develop a system for having the student remain after class to talk about behavior.  

Trust your instincts.  The more you learn about yourself as a teacher, the more comfortable you will be issuing consequences that line up with your values, and that also help students.

5. Keep parents involved/informed when it comes to discipline.

Communicate with parents before issues get too large.   

Colleagues may tell you that contacting home doesn’t work.  While this is true in some cases, there are still plenty of parents who support and work with the teachers when their child isn’t meeting expectations. 

It doesn’t reflect well on you if you decide to forgo contacting home because you assume it to be a waste of time.

6. Document your discipline. 

Make it a habit to maintain a paper trail of your discipline. Keep a parent contact log.  Keep a detention log.  If you use behavior reflection sheets for students, keep those.  

The more you can point to and say, “I’ve tried these interventions” the better.

Documentation is work, but ideally, the work will pay off with fewer issues for you during class.

7. Teach your procedures.

Procedures are the oil that makes your classroom machine run smoothly.

How do you want students to pass in papers?  What is the procedure for sharpening a pencil?  What if a student needs to use the restroom?  How do we turn our desks to get into groups?

Clarify and teach the procedure for anything that regularly happens in class.

8. Use a seating chart.

The expectation in your class is that we’re here to learn.

It has become trendy for teachers to let students choose their seats.   If you’re a newer teacher, this is asking for trouble.  It’s common for new teachers to let students choose seats in the first month only to try to implement a seating chart in the second month.  No fun.

9. Create a predictable structure for your class.

Create a basic structure or schedule for the class.  Something like:

• First 10 minutes: lesson intro/warmup.  
• Middle 30 minutes: learning activity
• Last 10 minutes: review or assessment

If you have a special activity or lesson, the schedule can be flexible.  (It’s nice to do something different now and then!)  But if students generally know what to expect, they can settle in and focus on your learning task.

Ultimately, your classroom management success is up to you.

We believe in — and have had success with — the classroom management tips described in this article.  Seeking advice from veteran teachers in your building will help also.

But if you’re looking for an administrator, book, or resource to provide the perfect formula for classroom success, you’re unlikely to find it.

There’s one person who will ultimately determine your success in the classroom: you.  Trust yourself.  Learn from your mistakes.  And don’t be too hard on yourself.

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