You’ve already spent time working on the three big pieces of classroom management (individual accountability, group incentives and building community). Chances are, some parts of the day are still going better than others. Try to pinpoint the problems… lining up? getting books for independent reading? walking in the hall? bathroom requests? putting away math supplies?

Step 1: Visualize What you Want
This is often difficult for new teachers. They are not sure what to expect. You know that your students are talking too much when they are supposed to be reading, but can you really expect them to be totally quiet the whole time? You can. You have to know what you want before you can ask your students to change. Here is an example: The students come back from lunch totally wild. They can’t calm down and your first subject after lunch is a real challenge.  Visualize how it should look. The students should come in quietly, in line, and sit down to begin working. Think it through carefully and then move on to step 2. If you’re really not sure what to expect, go observe some of your peers.

Step 2: Create a System
Create a routine for beginning work as soon as they sit down. Maybe they start the math warm-up or take out their writing journals. Everyday it’s the same routine.  Also, stop your students before they enter the classroom. Challenge them to come in and start working in a certain number of seconds. Use your group incentives to reward them.
Here are a couple more examples.
- The kids are losing math supplies. Label them, put them into baggies and ask a student to pass them out and check them back in each day. You won’t waste any time and you can be sure nothing is lost.
- Students have their independent reading books in “book boxes” and you store those all on a bookshelf. But, when it is time for them to get books, there is a bottleneck. Students are waiting to get their books when they should be reading. So, create a book box storage area for each table in different parts of the classroom (table 1 on the bookshelf, table 2 in a basket under the table, etc.). No more bottleneck.

Step 3: Communicate to Students
Call a class meeting to let your students know you’ll be making some changes. Be honest with them. Tell them you’re not happy with the way things are going. Ask them for ideas; tell them about your idea. Make a chart that outlines the new system. Practice. Practice again.  Depending on the situation, you may want to make a rubric.

Step 4: Monitor Progress
Give the class feedback on their progress with the new system: “OK, that was pretty good today. I noticed it only took 20 seconds for everyone to get their books.” If you’ve made a rubric, ask students to rate themselves: “We did great on the timing, but some of us were still talking instead of working. Let’s try to get it perfect tomorrow.”