Why is classroom management important? The answer might surprise you! In this article, I’m going to discuss the importance of classroom management and reveal 3 reasons to take it seriously.
Read all the way to the end, because I’m also giving you a FREE Classroom Management Slideshow. Let’s get started!
Why is classroom management important?
Reason #1 – Kids crave structure
Scenario
You’re teaching at the front of the classroom when Johnny realizes his pencil is dull and needs to be sharpened. Just as you get to the most important part of the lesson (the part you don’t want students to miss), Johnny gets up, walks to the pencil sharpener, and begins sharpening his pencil. The pencil sharpener is loud, and students turn their attention from you to Johnny. Agitated, you scold Johnny for being out of his seat without permission and disrupting the lesson. Johnny frowns and sulks back to his seat, upset and confused as to why you’re making such a big deal out of nothing. “After all,” he thinks, “I was just trying to sharpen my pencil.”
Analysis
Johnny is a generally well-behaved student who simply doesn’t understand your expectations and procedures. If they were communicated clearly, he might follow them. However, if he continues to be scolded as in the example above, he may grow confused, uneasy, resentful, or even rebellious. Like Johnny, other students feel like they’re walking on eggshells. They never know when you might “snap.” Again, why is classroom management important? Because students crave structure.
Structure allows processes to run smoothly in your classroom, and children desperately crave it. Students feel safe when expectations, consequences, and procedures are communicated clearly. This trinity of classroom management helps students understand how to operate within the classroom without fear of reprimand. When these (procedures especially) are not in place, students often take matters into their own hands, and this is often misinterpreted as “misbehavior.”
Not surprising, when the trinity of expectations, consequences, and procedures in place, there tends to be less “misbehavior.”
Solution
Communicate to the classroom that students are expected to raise their hands before leaving their seat for any reason. Implement a non-verbal communication strategy to allow students to inform you of their needs without disturbing the class. Rehearse the non-verbal communication method with students, and continually remind them to use it. Thank students every single time they raise their hand, and others will follow suit, desiring that same praise.
In our case, we teach hand signals and display anchor charts for hand signals at the front of the classroom. Students are expected to use them, and as long as they do, there is no fear of consequence.
If this procedure taught and practiced, Johnny is likely to hold up two fingers and indicate he needs to sharpen his pencil.
Reason #2 – It saves time
Scenario
Class is supposed to start at 9:00 AM, but realistically, it’s more like 9:03. When students arrive, several greet and have casual conversations with you. Others arrive unprepared and ask you for pencils and other supplies. Some students are slow to start. Eventually, you announce that it’s time to review the bell work, but students groan and complain that they need more time. You decide to push back the time, and when the review finally begins, many students are eager to contribute their answers. There’s often great classroom discussion. On average, you finish reviewing daily bellringers between 9:15 and 9:20. Not bad!
However, you get an email from your principal suggesting that you’re spending too much time on bellringers. “Spend no more than 5-7 minutes on the bellringer,” the email reads, but considering how long it takes to get students seated, on task, and through the bellringer each day, this doesn’t seem possible. What gives?
Analysis
Classroom management and time management go hand in hand. For example, entry routines help class run smoothly at the beginning of the hour and result in a quicker start. Likewise, end of day procedures lead to better use of time. Too many teachers end the day with a disorderly classroom and have to spend time cleaning it up after students leave. I worked with a teacher who spent the last 30 minutes of their day sweeping the floors, putting chairs on desks, and plugging Chromebooks into their technology cart. That same 30 minutes could have been spent prepping for the next day, grading papers, or lesson planning. So why is classroom management important? It saves you time.
Solution
Define your classroom entry routine and review it thoroughly with students. Have an answer for every situation:
- Where will students place their backpacks?
- Where can students borrow supplies?
- What is the consequence for students who are not sitting down and working on their bellringers by 9:00 AM?
Then, allow them to practice. Set a timer and drill the routine. You might even make it a competition and see which class can get seated and on task the quickest.
Finally, make it a part of the everyday routine. Display a timer that lets students know when they are expected to be seated and working on their bellringer. If class officially starts at 9:00 AM, the timer should go off at 9:00 AM. When students arrive, greet them, but do not stop and chat. Move around. Create a sense of urgency in your classroom. Redirect students who are off task.
At 9:00, set another timer for 9:05, and when it runs down, begin reviewing the bellringer. Work through it quickly, display it on the board, and move on. Set a goal to be finished by 9:10.
Classroom management routines like these will save your time, energy, and sanity.
Reason #3 – It keeps you organized
Scenario
Last week, students took a standardized assessment, and everything seemed to go well. However, you get an email from the principal asking if Sally was given accommodations during the exam. You remember receiving IEP and IAP documentation at some point during the year, so you begin searching for them. After 10-15 minutes of searching, you find an IAP with Sally’s name on it and realize she is allowed to use headphones and text-to-speech features during testing. You respond to the principals email, admitting that you forgot to give Sally her accommodations. A couple of days later, you get a reply from the principal that says, “Sally’s parents have scheduled a conference with us at 1:45 on Wednesday. Please bring any documentation you have.”
During the conference, Sally’s parents are not happy. They threaten to remove Sally from the school and pursue legal action.
Analysis
Organization is an essential part of classroom management. Teachers handle ample amounts of paperwork on a day to day basis, and keeping it all organized is part of the job. Student records, assessment data, and lesson plan records must all be sorted and filed away neatly. Individual Education Programs (IEPs) and Individual Accommodation Programs (IAPs) contain confidential information that must be treated with care and kept in a safe location.
So, why is classroom management important? Poor management leads to disorganization, wasted time, and dire consequences. By law, Sally’s parents may have grounds to pursue legal action if their child isn’t receiving the accommodations detailed in the IAP.
Solution
Create a testing binder full of key information to have at your fingertips. Include student rosters, accommodation lists, seating charts, login information, assessment guides, and other useful documents.
If you don’t have a filing cabinet in your classroom, get one. Use hanging files and manilla folders to group and file everything away in its right place.
Clean off your desk. Store student work in a safe location. Make sure there are no loose papers lying around your classroom.
Find a spot for everything, and don’t stop until you’re completely organized.
Final words
These are just a few of the reasons classroom management is important. To help you get started, we’ve provided this FREE Classroom Management Slideshow for reviewing expectations, consequences, routines, and procedures with students.
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