Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers
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why you need a written classroom management plan

Step 1: clarify your expectations

So many issues arise in our classrooms because we haven't actually thought through what we expect of our students. Sometimes we assume students know what they should do without defining what exactly that looks like. So it's very important that we think through every area of our classroom and actually spend time deciding what behavior is and isn't appropriate.

Here are some examples of the types of questions we want to ask ourselves: How should students enter the classroom? Do they go straight to their desk? Are they allowed to visit with friends? What are the expectations there? How should students sit at their desks? When is talking permitted and when is it not, and what level is appropriate? Are students allowed to blurt out answers without raising their hand? If so, when and when not? For what reasons are students allowed to get out of their seats? Will students be held responsible if they fail to bring certain supplies, or will you provide extras? What do you expect from students regarding participation and effort? When are students allowed to use the restroom? What does it look like for students to treat others with respect and what does it look like when they're not respectful?

Okay. These types of questions are getting at clarity, because if you're not clear in your own mind what is an issue in your classroom and what you want it to look like instead, you can never communicate that with your students. You also won't have confidence in your mind about knowing what to address and what not to. So getting clear on your expectations is really key, and writing that down can be immensely helpful as well. So that's step one, clarify your expectations.

step 2: determine your procedures

Expectations and procedures are sometimes lumped together, but I think it's helpful to think of them separately. Here, we are talking about expectations in terms of behavior. What type of behavior am I expecting in all these various situations? Procedures are about what is actually happening in the class. One example of a procedure is: students turn in papers by passing their paper to the person on the left and the last person in the row puts it in the turn-in box. Another procedure is: when we use the restroom, we line up here and 3 students go in at a time. 

Now, expectations and procedures do meld together. For example, my procedure for the restroom break would also include expectations for how students will behave. I need both expectations and procedures for restroom break time or for the start of class or for homework. But when you're thinking about procedures, you're thinking specifically about the tactical piece of it. Tactically, what are we going to do? How is this going to work in all these different areas of the classroom?

There are so many areas to think through, such as, start of class, restroom breaks, passing in papers, grading papers, signing out hall passes, getting tissues, lining up, passing back papers, regaining attention, emergency drills, homework, late work, absent students, and so many more. 

When you think through every area of your class, think through, “How do we do this?” and “What would help this run smoothly and efficiently?” If you are a new teacher and you've never taught before, you have to think through literally every area. If you've taught in the past, you can take a little bit of a shortcut and just ask yourself, “Which areas were really chaotic? Which things did not go smoothly? In what areas did things get a little crazy?” Ask, “What would make this run more smoothly?” Rethink those procedures and once again, write them down because it forces you to get really clear on exactly what you want it to look like.

step 3: plan positive reinforcement

We definitely don't want negative attention to be the main way students get attention from us. Both natural consequences and positive benefits occur every day in real life, so it's great when our classrooms reflect that reality. We should definitely plan ways to positively reinforce good behavior, good actions, and all the things that our students are doing that we want to encourage.

It's good to plan this so that it doesn't fall through the cracks. Once again, you can say, "Oh yeah, I'm always encouraging. I'll do that for sure." But if you don't plan it, it may or may not happen as much as you want. So it's good to spend a little time in your classroom management plan thinking about how you are going to have positive reinforcement.

There are a couple different ways this can look. You could have a structured reward or encouragement system, like class dojo, class economy points, sticker charts, etc. You can have a structured program or just do it as it makes sense, but you want to think through and plan that. Even if you decide not to use an official system, you still want to think ahead of time, “Okay, what are some things I want to look for? What are some things I want to acknowledge and encourage?”

Once again, if you're a new teacher, you definitely want to think that through. If you're a veteran, you can be more reflective and think about whether or not what you did before worked and if not, consider how you want to be more intentional with positive reinforcement this year. If you need some reward ideas that are free or inexpensive, head to 60+ Classroom Reward Ideas.

step 4: Plan logical consequences

We want to plan some consequences that we can use in our classroom as they're needed. If you're not sure if consequences should be part of your classroom, check out Why Classrooms Need Consequences. 

We are going to talk about how to actually plan this. The first thing you want to do with consequences is make sure you understand your school's discipline system, know what consequences are available to you there, and what types of offenses are supposed to result in certain consequences in your school-wide system. It's important to start there, make sure you understand that and have that incorporated into your classroom first.

Depending on how your school is structured, that might cover most things or that might cover hardly anything. So once you make sure you understand your school's discipline system, then you want to consider what misbehavior or issues are not covered there and find some consequences to fill in those holes. For example, when I was teaching, our school had detentions. So that was part of the school-wide discipline system and they were appropriate for certain offenses.

But detention was a very big deal at the school that I taught at. It was two hours long and it cost $20. So it was not designed for really small infractions like talking in class. Instead, a lot of the teachers came up with smaller consequences that they could use for smaller offenses and saved the detentions for bigger or repetitive issues. If you're not sure what ideas to use, we do have a consequence ideas list at 30 Logical Classroom Consequence Ideas. 

step 5: plan out how to respond

What you want to do is plan what you're actually going to say or do when various behaviors occur. This is where the rubber meets the road and where you really get your confidence and can be consistent.

Start with your positive reinforcement. Look back at what you've planned for positive reinforcement and actually think about, “What am I going to say when I'm encouraging students for their behavior?” Maybe even practice it. Write it down so that you're ready to go.

Then think through misbehavior. You want to plan exactly what you'll say and how you'll respond to all kinds of common classroom issues. If a student is talking without permission, what are you going to say? Write it down. If they're blurting answers, if they're disrupting class, if they're disrespectful, if they're rude to classmates, if they get out of their seat, if they're not completing their work - think through all these areas. Think, “What am I going to do when students do these things? How am I going to respond?” That involves both thinking about what you’re going to do and exactly how you’re going to say it. Write out exactly what you're going to say. That is so helpful. If you've been struggling, that level of detail in your plan will give you so much confidence and help.

some practical ideas

Here are a few quick ideas on addressing misbehavior:

• Re-do: One option is to have students re-do it the right way. For example, if a student runs into class, you can say, "You need to go back out and come in correctly." That could be a response that you planned.
• Re-direct: A re-direct is when you divert students’ attention back to refocus them on what they should be doing. That can be an appropriate way to deal with certain issues.  
• Quick correct: Certain things just need a quick correction. For example, if a student has their head on the desk, they probably don't need a consequence. You can just say, "George, please sit up."
• A Warning System: A warning system can be really helpful. If you've been following Teach4theHeart for some time, you’ve heard about warning systems, but a warning system is basically where you give students official warnings with a yellow card, or class dojo, or writing names on the board, etc. This works really well for something like talking where you would give one or two official warnings and possibly not give a consequence until the third offense in the given class period.
• Pocket Phrases: A pocket phrase is a saying you pull out of your pocket that you have ready to go, and you use it repeatedly. Love & Logic has a lot of these, but an example is something like, “I care about you too much to argue with you.” So that's a phrase you can pull out whenever a student is arguing.  
• A "Catch-All" Phrase: I definitely recommend that you have a catch-all phrase that you can use whenever there is a situation where you don’t know what to do. As much as you plan, there's always going to be something that throws you off. That is just a teacher's life. So you want to have a catch-all phrase ready that you can pull out and use if you don't know what to do. One example  is, “See me after class.” That shows the whole class that you’re  going to deal with it, but you have some time to think about it first. Another one that you can use, and this one comes from Love & Logic, is, “I'm going to have to do something about that.” Similar idea, right? 

I hope that walking through this is really helpful for you and that you're starting to see how valuable this can be. Imagine starting the school year with this type of plan. You will come in confident and you'll know how to handle issues. When you handle issues consistently starting the first day of school, something magical happens: students really respond to that. 

want help creating your plan?

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resources mentioned:

60+ Classroom Reward Ideas

Why Classrooms Need Consequences

30 Logical Classroom Consequence Ideas

AACS

Your Smooth-Running Class been replaced with the All-New (and even better) Classroom Management 101. Check it out here.

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10 classroom management mistakes

Expectations mean that students know what behavior is expected of them in the classroom. Are you really clear on that and have you clearly communicated it with them? When you think about your classroom, are your expectations clear? Before you automatically say “yes,” let's just take the simplest expectation of talking in your classroom. Do you, as the teacher, know exactly when students are allowed to talk, when they're not, and at what levels?

You typically can’t have a “no talking” rule across the board because sometimes they're working in small groups, working with a partner, or having a class discussion. There are times when they're allowed to talk. Are you really clear in your own mind when they are and are not allowed to talk and at what level? The expectations start in our own mind before they go to students. Do my students understand exactly what's expected of them? A lot of times we might think our expectations are clear, but they're not. 

5. not having logical consequences

Consequences are a bit of a controversial topic. There are even schools that say you’re not allowed to have them. The reality is, if there are no consequences at all in your classroom, students aren't learning about life because in life our actions have consequences. Logical consequences mean that they are related to what happened and make sense. For example, a student who is not turning in homework will have to do it during a fun activity. That's logical, right? "I didn't get it done so I have to do it now when I wish I could be participating in whatever the class is doing.'' Okay, that's a logical consequence.

Your consequences are going to depend on your school, the age of your students, the culture, all those things. You can get a consequence list idea here. Whatever consequence you use and whether or not it is from that list, it should be as logical as possible. I don't like to jump right to consequences. I like to give students a lot of time to self-correct and to turn things around, but if we don't have logical consequences, then how are they supposed to learn from their mistakes? 

By the way, if you're at a school and you're not allowed to give consequences, you don't have to call them consequences. Not getting a reward is a consequence. You may have to manufacture things that students earn as a reward and those that don't earn the reward don't get them, you can do that. 

6. bailing students out when they make bad choices 

I have to admit, I always want to bail my students out because I feel bad, but when we bail them out, we rob them of that opportunity to learn. And typically, the consequences we're talking about here are very minor. Now, does this mean we never give grace? Of course not. Grace can be extended when it's what's best for the student, when there are extenuating circumstances, when we can tell they've really been trying, etc. This should be a rare thing, we shouldn't be perpetually bailing students out of their poor choices. They need to understand cause and effect and it will influence them to make a better choice next time. 

7. not building relationships with students 

I doubt many of you are making this mistake because you're here and you're listening, so you clearly care about your students, but I did want to mention it. Obviously, it would be a big mistake to not simultaneously be focusing on building relationships with your students. Classroom management isn't just procedures and expectations and consequences. It is also heavily relationship-based.

Also, consequences and building relationships are not at odds with each other. Think about it- you're not going to have great relationships with your students if your classroom is out of control. That goes back to mistake number one. This is not a choice between being kind and firm; we need to be both. Simple things to help build relationships are talking to students one-on-one about things, noticing things about them, showing that you care about them beyond school, etc. Remember that students who are struggling behaviorally need this as well and it may require more effort from you in order to be able to build a relationship with them.

8. only focusing on negative behavior

Sometimes when we create our plan, we are so focused on the inappropriate behaviors, we can forget to encourage and praise the positive behavior in our classroom, and obviously we don't want to do that. Don't neglect that positive reinforcement and the encouragement you can give students by noticing their effort, noticing when they're improving, noticing when they're doing well, etc. and telling them so.

9. worrying about what students do

We cannot control another person’s behavior. If we’re worried about what our students are going to do next (particularly the challenging ones), that’s wasted mental energy. We can do a lot to prevent misbehavior, but we can’t ultimately control it. We should instead focus our energy on how we will respond to students. This is really a mindset shift, but I think it's a powerful one to not get discouraged in your classroom management.

If you're always worrying about what your students are going to do or not do, if you're judging your classroom management based on how well the students are responding, that can be really discouraging. Sometimes you just have a really tough class or you're early in your teaching journey and you're still working on your skills. Instead of focusing on what the students do, spend your energy instead on this question: What strategies am I using to prevent issues and then am I responding consistently and lovingly when student issues do arise?

10. Not having a plan 

This was another one of my really huge mistakes. I showed up to my classroom and I had a plan for my lessons. I did plan out a lot of my procedures. That was good, but I had no plan for what I was going to do when students misbehaved beyond just giving them the teacher look, and just the teacher look by itself with nothing backing it up does not work too well.

I didn’t have answers ready to the common classroom management problems that arise. What am I going to do when students are talking out of turn? When they get up and walk around the room? When they put their head on their desk? When they're rude to each other? When they're rude to me? When they don't turn in their homework? Those are just a few examples. Do I know how I'm going to respond? Do I know how I'm going to follow through and be consistent?

I didn’t have a plan so I didn't do anything and those little problems did not stay little. They grew and grew and before I knew it, it was just really out of control. It was really bad.

Once I had a plan, my confidence started to improve and I was able to be more consistent because I knew ahead of time how to handle things.

how to create your plan:

Creating a plan helps you be way more consistent and way more confident, and that translates into more respect, more focus, and way less chaos.

But what if you aren't sure how to create a plan?

Our FREE training How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing walks you through how to create a classroom management plan that works. 

Get the free training here.

Join classroom management 101

resources mentioned:

How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing

The All-New Classroom Management 101

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The 9 Strategies for difficult students

resources mentioned:

How to Reduce Disruptions Without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing

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reset Your Classroom

resources mentioned:

Christian Teacher's Lounge

All-New Classroom Management 101

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creating an orderly learning environment

Procedures may not seem like the most important thing in the midst of the unknown, but they should actually be one of your top priorities. Your routines and procedures need to be well thought-out, especially in light of social distancing guidelines. But that’s not enough. 

You need to invest time in making sure your students learn the procedures. Even when you may feel more pressed for time than usual, this is not a waste of time. It will pay off! Teach them clearly, practice them with your students, and insist they are followed. If your class doesn't do the procedure correctly, have them re-do it. This will pay off greatly in a calm, conducive learning environment for the year.

For more about teaching procedures, check out our article How to Teach Procedures that Your Students will Actually Follow.

2. give students clear expectations

Be really clear with your students about what you expect of them and what’s needed to succeed. Don’t assume; communicate directly what you need them to do. 

This is especially important if students are doing long-distance or blended learning at home. For example, if you’re doing flipped learning, explain to the students that they need to watch the videos with headphones, no distractions, and have supplies with them to take notes. Over-communicate your expectations.

3. allow real student choice

Allow real student choice about what you’re doing, especially for older students. Choices can increase student motivation by giving them ownership in their learning. 

They can also be helpful in accounting for the varied circumstances our students faced in the spring and may continue to face this fall. The pandemic really reminded us that every student comes from a different situation. Some students stayed on track or even did better than usual during distance learning. Others may not have logged on all spring. 

You can provide student choice by giving the options to complete a remedial skill or a more challenging skill. Teach students how to self-assess themselves to make the right choice. That also takes the burden off of you to assess every student for every assignment option.

You can also offer choices of different learning formats. For example, one assignment requires internet access, but the other doesn’t since students have different technology options.

A quick reminder to offer student choice in a sustainable way that doesn’t put extra burden on you. Small tweaks work; you don't need to create two completely different assignments.

For even more student choice ideas, check out 20 Student Choice Ideas that Share Control Without Losing It. 

4. create space for community

Some students may have continued to have social interactions through the pandemic, but others have been isolated for 6 months. Teachers may feel the crunch to push academics every minute of the day, especially since some students have fallen behind.

But we also need to create space for social/emotional learning. Some students have faced serious trauma in these last few months, some have faced more minor trauma, but we have all been affected by these last 6 months. We are all bringing different experiences back into the classroom and ignoring that would be doing a disservice to our students. 

Building relationships and giving students space to express their emotions is not a waste of time. One way to do this in elementary school is through morning meetings. This is based on the book The Morning Meeting Book. You can find out more about morning meetings in Classroom Management 101, but basically, you take 15-20 minutes in the morning every day to meet together as a class. You can review academics, teach social skills, teach communication skills, and have some social interaction.

In secondary education, you might do this through exit slips that ask more personal questions, allowing students to turn and talk for the last few minutes of class, or having students share in the beginning of class. This social time is especially needed if your school is very strict on social distancing. Students can be far apart physically, but you can help them feel closer emotionally and socially.

5. provide clear communication with parents

Clear communication is necessary so that parents can better support their kids, especially when doing distance or blended learning. As much as possible, give responsibility and ownership to the students, rather than the parents. But at the same time, you need to clearly communicate what’s going on with the parents. 

If there’s something the parents can do to help their students stay on pace, let them know that. The younger the students, the more important communication is because parents are usually administering the work.

Remember to put yourself into the parents’ shoes. They don’t have the same background on the assignment that you do. Ask yourself: “If I weren’t the teacher, would I know what to do?” Instead of "Do the assignment on page 8," you may need to say, “Before s/he does the assignment, remind your student how to add using the hundred chart.”

It's difficult to live in the unknown and not know exactly what next year will look like. However, whether it's virtual, in-person, or blended learning, these five principles can make your classroom run smoothly.

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[Marilyn] Yeah, so I have been a teacher in Chicago since 2003, and I’ve been running Teachers Who Pray full time for the past two years. But I worked in Chicago Public Schools, for about 15 years and I've worked in mostly elementary school, K through 8th. I also was briefly a counselor for alumni students who I had taught that were in high school and doing high school persistence work. But Teachers Who Pray was something that I felt was missing in my experience as an early new teacher, and I felt like I needed a community of believers to just build me up at work and help me get through a lot of the tough situations that most new teachers encounter.

[Linda] But we are excited to talk about a couple of the topics here today. So I picked out three. Like I said, there are so many great ones, but we'll just start with these. In lesson number four, you talk about crossing the street on race and then in lesson five, you talk about crossing the street on class. You talk about how racial reconciliation is a spiritual mandate and how serving the fatherless, the widows, and the poor is a key role in God's economy. Can you share a little bit about this and about some of the specific actionable ways that teachers can make strides in these areas?

[Marilyn] Yes. So I find that the discussion about race, people either really lean into it and want to talk about it or they just don't, and it becomes awkward. So I put this in here because I felt like Jesus crossed the street on race all the time. It wasn't race as we know it today, but there were boundaries. They were cultural boundaries and tribal boundaries. And when he came in and he healed people, he healed everybody. He reached out and loved everybody. And there were situations in the Bible where he crossed barriers, like the Samaritan woman. She says, "Why are you talking to a Samaritan woman? Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans." And that was just how it was.

[Marilyn] And he's like, "Not exactly. I am the Lord and I am reaching out to you." And so I feel like teachers are in a very special position to cross the street on race in a way that is maybe different than people in other professions. if you're a white teacher serving black students, your job is to serve and to love and to reach out to families. Like you're doing the Lord's work as you are doing your job. And it just opens that door for you to do those things. And likewise, if you're a black teacher serving white children or children of other races, it's your job to cross the street, it's your job to reach out and try to understand the culture in a non-judgmental way, in a way that empowers people and helps them.

[Marilyn] But also if you're on the receiving end too, like I say, no matter the race of origin, everybody has to give a little bit. And so if you are in a position where you feel maybe you are the oppressed group or whatever, you have to give grace to the person who you see in a dominant, more advantaged, privileged position. You also have to give them grace to allow them to come into your life. And so I try to unpack it more in the book, but I do believe it's a spiritual mandate because how can you love your neighbor as yourself if you don't reach out to your neighbor who might be of a different race? That is the whole story of the Good Samaritan. He reached out to someone who he shouldn’t even culturally have been dealing with. So I don't know if that really gets to your question. I was trying to break it down in short bits.

[Linda] Yeah, that was helpful. So do you think that it really just starts with getting to know people and getting to know who they are, about their culture, their history, what they enjoy, and just kind of building those relationships. Is that where it starts?

[Marilyn] I believe so. I believe the best thing a person can do, if they don't have any friends that don't look like them, then you need to pursue friendships, genuine friendships, close friendships. And that will definitely open the door to many opportunities because once you build those personal relationships with people across racial lines, then you can probe and you can ask the questions that you might have always wanted to ask. And it's a safe environment. You have a relationship where you know that they trust you and that they will respect your inquiry. And so I believe that's where it starts. It's hard to really cross the street on race in a big, systemic way if you don't have any personal friends who are from a different culture or from a different part of the world.

[Marilyn] And that's really where it starts, and you see Jesus, he's reaching out in a very personal way to people, like in the story of the Good Samaritan. He went to Samaria, spent two days with Samaritan people, and that was unheard of. Who does that? Well, once he met the woman at the well, she changed her perspective on what Jewish men were like. And then he changed the perspective of all the people in the village because they all came out to meet Jesus and they saw how loving and caring he was. And then he actually would stay in their homes and eat their food and just sit around and get to know them.

[Marilyn] And that's what I feel like we're really missing in this country, in education.  I drive into this school and I work there, but I don't have any connection with the community or the people there at all. It would drastically change your practice if you changed that habit and you got to know your students and the families and maybe going to a birthday party or maybe spending a little time at a basketball game. Sitting with the families of students or things like that makes a huge difference. And that's what I believe is one of the reasons why public education in particular is struggling is because there's such a disconnect, a lot of times, between the students and the teachers who are teaching.

[Linda] That's really helpful. I like how you give those few examples about what this might look like. So maybe you are intentionally attending sporting events at your school and not just sitting with another teacher, you’re going out and trying to get to know the families. I'll be honest, as an introverted person, that is so scary to me. But it is so important. And I think just those relationships just continue to develop. Are there any other practical ways you can think of for teachers who maybe don't live near their districts? They're not in that community a lot except for when they're at school. Are there any other ways that they can be intentional about connecting with the community or with the parents and the students?

[Marilyn] So there's an endless number of things that you can do. So for example, I'm an African American woman. I worked in a Hispanic community. It was 12 miles away from my house, but there were things that I could do. So I wrote a grant and I got some books in English and in Spanish, it was the same book but with different translations. And I started a parent book club. So the parents who spoke only in Spanish read the same book that I read. And then there were enough parents who were bilingual to translate for this book club. And it was my way of crossing the street on race. It was totally my way of doing that. And it was great. It was a great book and they just really enjoyed that opportunity.

[Marilyn] But it did take a little bit of effort and it required me to stay after school longer, one day a week. But it was so worth it. And yeah, so there's tons of examples like that that you can do. The most important thing is that the heart has to want that. You have to want that and want community and want to not be “the other.” You want to be us, not just me and them.

[Linda] And I can just imagine how powerful that must have been. Even more powerful, like you said, with just the mix of cultures. But no matter, even if you are of the same race or same culture, just that power, really getting to know your students and their parents.  I can just imagine how much easier that made it when you had to deal with issues and just to be able to understand them and they knew you and all the rich discussions I'm sure that came out of it. That's an amazing idea. And every teacher has different things that draw them, different passions. And so maybe if you can find a way to connect around one of your passions, then it will be something that is easier for you to do, right? And won't get left by the wayside when things get a little bit busy.

[Marilyn] Exactly. And then just learning. I was the choir director at one point and so the music selection that I selected wasn't just songs that I knew, that were part of my cultural tradition or background or something that I was nostalgic about. There were songs that the kids recommended and songs in a different language. I can sing a song in a different language if I practice hard enough. So those are the things that really make a difference. And involving the parents in helping you in the classroom, like, “Why don't you come in and volunteer for a day or during this time?” There are just so many endless ways to build community while you're in that building.

[Marilyn] And I can truly say some of the parents that I connected with the most were parents that I had very little in common with, but I just made that extra effort to reach out to them and to their children, so I became like a part of the family. I got those invitations to birthday parties and sometimes I could go and sometimes I couldn't go, but I wanted to be there because I cared about them and I enjoyed their company. And so those are things that, when your heart is open, then whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, people are drawn. It's magnetic when your heart is open toward people, and you'll find yourself building wonderful relationships without having to go that much beyond your level of comfort because people come to you.

[Linda] That's amazing. We talk a lot about building relationships and I would imagine, you never know what Gospel opportunities or Kingdom work that's going to open up as well, just as you get to know people outside of school. That's amazing. Well, I feel like we could talk about this forever, but I did want to talk a little bit about one of your other lessons and that was lesson number 10. You talked a little bit about discipline and you talk about the goal of discipline being not to punish but to restore and maintain peaceful relationships. And I completely agree. Can you explain that a little bit for us?

[Marilyn] Yes. So, in America, we have gotten used to a very strong penal system. We're tough on crime and we're tough on guns and we're tough on drugs and all of these things. But if you look at Christ, he recognized that a lot of misbehavior was rooted in hurt, was rooted in a cry for something. Christ told people, you love God and love each other and take care of one another. But when there was time for punishment, or I should say discipline, he was very restorative. He wanted people to be restored back to himself and back to God.

[Marilyn] And I didn't put this particular example in the book, but when you think about the woman who was found caught in adultery, her punishment according to the law was death, and he could have stoned her according to the law because she was caught in adultery. Interestingly enough, the Roman system of law though at the time said that you can't just kill someone. They have to be tried. So the Roman system was even more gracious than the actual law. But Jesus chose neither one of those systems. He didn't choose the Roman system of giving her a trial. He didn't choose the law of stoning her. He said, "He who has no sin cast the first stone." And he was the one, the only one who had no sin. So he very well could have cast the first stone. So the point is, he spoke to her and he said, "You know what, go and sin no more." His whole point was, "I don't want to hurt you. I want you to be whole. I want you to be better."

[Marilyn] And so I think we need to take a little more of a holistic, creative stance toward disciplining children and find out what is it? Why you are not behaving properly? Just going back to the woman at the well. He totally could've slammed her for her promiscuity and damned her, but he spoke to her and he told her about the living water and that he was the one that could provide water. She wouldn't thirst anymore, that all of her needs would be met through him, and it changed her life. So in the classroom setting, obviously we're not able to deliver the spiritual context in the classroom with students directly, but indirectly, we can take the time to unpack these behaviors and try to work with students to help them get over that desire to act out.

[Marilyn] And I've seen time and time again, that it is effective. Again, it's a matter of your heart and to know what you actually believe that these behaviors can change or that you have enough faith in the student to know and believe that they can get better. And there are things that you can do and I talk about them in the book. Different systems you can set up to be more restorative. But I just imagine if God wasn't restorative to me. I have to forgive my students when they act out because when I act out, God has forgiven me. He doesn't throw me under the bus. And this is particularly important because in this country we have a disproportionate group of students, black students, Latino students, that don't get those graces.

[Marilyn] And as I said, I've worked in schools with different racial makeups and I've seen it with my very own eyes where, oh, a student of a certain racial background acts up and they get suspended or expelled like almost immediately. And then another student with a different skin tone does the same thing or very similar, and they get talked to, they get counseled and they get maybe a parent phone call or conference, but they're not kicked out of the school. They're not suspended or expelled. And it's just, again, all of these values kind of intertwine where we have to see kids as a whole, not just what paint God put on them, on the exterior, but they are all valuable.

[Linda] Absolutely.

[Marilyn] Yeah. So I can go on about discipline, but it does take a restorative heart to implement these types of strategies that I mentioned in the book. And it's not something that you can just flip a switch and everything is better. Like the disciples-

[Linda] It's a lot of work.

[Marilyn] It's a lot of work, and the disciples were classic examples. They didn't always listen to Jesus. They didn't always pay attention. They had unbelief. Judas was stealing from the treasury bag. Peter was impulsive and he made some mistakes, like denying Christ and cutting off the soldier's ear and making decisions that he shouldn't have made. Nathaniel said when he heard about Jesus, he's like, "Nothing good can even come from this. I don't believe he's the savior." But he still chose them, and Jesus still took them under his wing, and poured into them until we have the word of God through a lot of their writings now. And you know, I just believe that there's a little bit of God in every person.

[Linda] Well, we are created in his image. Right?

[Marilyn] Exactly.

[Linda] The goal in a classroom is to restore those relationships, right? For you and the students and each other to all be in a community where you can learn together. So when we make that the priority of the discipline and other conversations, that can be so transformative. And another reason that this is so helpful is because, as you talk about in your book, a lot of times the behavior on the outside is like the tip of the iceberg. It's not really what's causing the problem. It's just the outward symptoms, and we're throwing Band-Aids on these gaping wounds. And when we can take time to really get underneath and get to the issues, then it's so much more helpful.

[Linda] More of these strategies are in your book. We also talk about them in our Classroom Management 101 course. I do have one question for you, though. What would you say to a teacher whose class is just out of control? They're frustrated and they're worried, thinking, “Well, if there are no consequences, how are we ever going to make progress?” Does this approach mean there are never any consequences or what would you say to a teacher like that?

[Marilyn] Yes, that's a great question. And trust me, I've had my moments where I'm just like, “Can I get some support in this classroom and real consequences?’ And so I don't think that consequences are in opposition to the philosophy of Jesus or his practice because we know the Bible says that, "The wages of sin is death." There is a consequence for bad behavior. You see a student acting out and maybe not doing his homework or distracting in class and he’s preventing other kids from learning, right? The consequence for that child, in time, is going to be some form of death in terms of maybe not learning how to read, which would lead to bad outcomes in life or not being able to have good self control in a work environment and not being able to keep a job or get into college or whatever.

[Marilyn] So the idea is that that's the ultimate consequence you are trying to avoid for the child. Okay. So you are going in and saying, “How can I restore this child so they don't suffer the ultimate consequence?” Because I see it all the time where if these behaviors aren't checked, they're going to be the end of the kid. There's no way that they're going to be functioning adults if this behavior just continues to persist over time throughout their school career. They do need consequences, but the consequence is in order for them to get in right standing with the class and with themselves. And so there are ways to get at that. There are, like I mentioned in the book, you could have peace circles, you could have a special part of the class where you have to sit there or you might have to be removed from the class.

[Marilyn] But that is all something that the student has to know and be a part of and know that we're not removing you out of this class because we don't like you, because we hate you and we want you to leave our school. You're a burden to us. You're a nuisance and we really wish you weren't here. And I think that is the key, when kids know why they're being removed out of love and not because we'd be better off without you. You mess up everything and you're a loser, and we just wish you would go away kind of thing. And I think too often that's how kids feel when they're disciplined or when they  have consequences. But I feel like we have to go above and beyond to make it very clear that the purpose of this consequence is to restore you, to make you miss us, to make you want to be back in community with the class.

[Marilyn] And all of that is conversation, it's a culture. And when the class is completely out of control, I feel that that conversation and that culture hasn't been had effectively, and that does take some coaching. That does take a lot of effort. Sometimes it takes a second person in the classroom, depending on what's going on with the students and how disruptive. Sometimes you'll have a student who's dangerous, like behaviorally dangerous and they need to be escorted out. So I am very careful not to say that we don't believe in consequences, we absolutely never believe in a suspension. There are no complete absolutes. But the tone of the classroom has to be a restorative tone. It's a posture, it's an ambiance and that makes the discipline feel less about punishment and more about love and restoration and community.

[Linda] I love that so much. It doesn't start with the strategy, it starts with the teacher's frame of mind, and what is my goal? Yes, my goal is to create a great classroom environment, but part of that is loving these kids, restoring these kids, making sure they're all this vital part of it. And I think just always going back to that, right? Every discipline decision, as you are coming up with your classroom management plan, you're always going back to that. How can I create this system that's going to restore and help us all create this community? That's so wonderful.

[Marilyn] Yeah. You can see how they fold in on each other, right? You take one of the lessons away and it weakens your ability to do the other lesson. Right? Like my son, he's five and sometimes he's naughty. But I'm going to discipline him in a way that shows love, but also gets him to realize his boundaries and make sure he keeps those boundaries. And that's the same heart that I'm encouraging teachers to take with other people's children. You may need a break from the kids, and you may be super upset about something they have done, but the end goal is to restore that child to prevent them from the ultimate, -like if they take that behavior to the limit- where that's going to land them, and that's death. And so you're protecting the child because you want to help steer them into the right direction on the right trajectory for life and that's discipline done right.

[Linda] That's so wonderful. Well, I know we just scratched the surface on these issues, but I think you really gave us so much to think about. I really appreciate it and I don't know if everyone knows this yet, but you're going to be speaking again at our coming Christian Educators Summit with CEAI in September. Is that right?

[Marilyn] Yes, that is right.

[Linda] So you guys will definitely have to sign up for that and you can hear Marilyn again on some of these same issues and other ones related to her book, The Master Teacher. Like she said, the lessons do tie into each other. So we've talked about two of them, but there are so many more great ones in the book. Before we sign off Marilyn, is there anything else you'd like to share with teachers?

[Marilyn] Thank you so much for having me. And I would just encourage teachers again to go to Teachers Who Pray for ongoing support and to start their own prayer group at schools. We have over 140 different chapters of prayer groups right there in the school and it's legal to do if you do it right. So we talk about how to pray and bring prayer back into public schools legally, making sure that God is in our practice and in our community and that's how we're going to really make a difference in education.

[Linda] And yes, definitely go check that out.  Well, thank you so much, Marilyn. We so appreciate you being here.

[Marilyn] Thank you.

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As teachers, we want to create a vibrant classroom community that engages our students, makes them excited to learn, and helps them feel safe and loved.

There are *so many* facets involved - so many strategies we can employ. We go into more of them in our free How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing training as well as our full Classroom Management 101 course. But for today, let’s discuss four simple strategies that will help you create a stronger classroom community.

create a strong classroom community

1. Earn respect with consistent classroom management.

Too often teachers throw themselves into creating a positive culture while ignoring the need for strong classroom management. But that's like trying to build a house with a foundation.

In order to have a thriving classroom community, your students need to respect you. And that won’t happen if your classroom is out of control.

It’s critical that we have high expectations and hold our students to them. That we consistently deal with problems that occur. That we kindly insist students follow procedures, and that we only set limits we can actually enforce.

If you’re struggling to keep order, please join us in our free training How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing. You can reduce disruptions and get to the point where you can actually teach and your students can focus & learn.

2. Employ the 2 x 10 strategy.

This amazingly simple strategy works wonders - particularly with challenging students. Here’s how it works: Commit to talk to that challenging student for two minutes a day for ten days - about anything they want!

This simple effort will help forge a relationship, and you might just be amazed at the turnaround!

Oh, and if even two minutes seems too overwhelming, pair it down to a simple one-liner - pointing out something you noticed. “I noticed you like hockey.”

The point is that you’re showing them that you see them as more than just a troublesome student - that you care about them and are glad they’re in your class.

3. Always show empathy.

Normally when it comes time to give consequences, we’re frustrated - and that frustration too often shows through. What happens then is the students gets upset at us rather than learning from their mistakes.

The answer? Show genuine empathy - all the time, but especially when enforcing limits.

It can be as simple, “Oh, this is so sad, but…..” or leading with “Ohhhh….” (said with an empathetic nod).

Empathizing with the student shows that you’re on the same team and want to work with them to help them succeed.

4. Incorporate “morning” meetings

Regular class meetings (whether in the morning for elementary or periodically in secondary) are a great way to build your classroom community. In them, students practice communication, social, emotional, and academic skills.

In a typical “morning” meeting, students greet each other, share and get to know each other, play team-building games, and practice academic skills.

Yes, it takes time, but it’s an intentional investment into your classroom community. And when students are comfortable with each other, care about each other, and are invested in the success of the class as a whole, that pays off in huge dividends the rest of the day!

We teach how to start morning meetings in both elementary & secondary in our Classroom Management 101 Course. You might also want to check out The Morning Meeting Book.

These are just a few strategies to help build your classroom community, but we’ll be sharing so many more in our free training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing.

You can reduce disruptions and get to the point where you can actually teach and your students can focus & learn!

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Here's some resources I recommend for help:

1. Create Your Dream Classroom

We're also hosting a free book club!

2. Classroom Management 101

3. Reclaim Your Time 101

I strongly encourage you to get with a mentor, grab one of these resources, and to start thinking. You don't have to give up because you can have a fresh start next year. And it really can be an incredible year!

What made your year challenging and what's one thing that needs to change next year? Share your experience with a comment below.

Throughout the summer we'll be sharing lots of tips for how to start the school year right. Click here to sign up for email updates and you'll get all that great advice right in your inbox.

 Additional Resources:

• 6 Questions to Ask When You Feel Like Quitting Teaching
• How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing
• How to Calm a Disruptive Class: The Quick & Easy Method that Saved My Sanity

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you purchase a resource after clicking on the link, Teach 4 the Heart will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping support Teach 4 the Heart in this way.

Does teaching ever feel like a battle? Maybe even one you’re losing?

I remember one class in particular where we were not on the same page. It seemed like every little thing I tried to get them to do, they fought me. Nothing was easy. Everything was a battle. And I was beyond exhausted.

Now the main reason we had such a hard time was because I was horrible at classroom management. I had no plan, I made a million mistakes, and things went from bad to worse. Thankfully, some great mentors helped me learn from my mistakes and turn things around – and I share what I learned in Classroom Management 101.

Once I got a handle on some basic classroom management strategies, things got a whole lot better. But sometimes it still felt like me versus them. Like I was trying to force them to learn against their will.

I mean, it was working okay, but sometimes I wondered if I was missing something – if there were a way to get us on the same team, actually working together to unlock their potential and accomplish great things.

Fortunately, there is. But it may just require a new approach.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Beyond Classroom Management has been replaced with the All-New (and even better) Classroom Management 101. Check it out here.

How to get everyone on the same team

1. Change yourself first.

If you want you & your students to work together, you need to start by acknowledging that something has to change. What you’re currently doing may be working to an extent, so we’re not saying you should throw everything out. But you have to be open to new ideas and some important paradigm shifts.

In particular, we need to see ourselves as the guide on the side rather than the sage on the stage: helping our students take ownership and responsibility for their own learning rather than keeping the focus on us as the teacher.

We explore this concept – and other key mindset shifts – in our online course Classroom Management 101, which will help you go beyond simply managing your classroom to truly lead and inspire your students.

2. Build relationships and earn respect.

We all want our students to follow our lead, but sometimes we neglect to consider an important question – do our students want to follow us?

In order to get their buy-in, we need to simultaneously earn their respect and forge strong relationships. We build relationships in a variety of ways: showing genuine empathy, getting to know them, taking time to talk with them, etc. 

But at the same time, we also need to earn their respect by establishing strong procedures, creating a conducive learning environment, setting limits we can actually enforce, and handling discipline issues without breaking a sweat – all things we teach you how to do in Classroom Management 101.    

3.  Engage your students.

Stale lectures and worksheets full of busywork are not going to get your students excited about learning. No, you’ve got to engage them with challenging, thought-provoking, and intriguing lessons and activities that grab their attention and make them want to learn more.

To do this, start by realizing that students learn more from doing than from listening. So ask yourself, “how can I get my students more involved? How can they be the ones actively working in class, rather than mostly me?”

Beyond that, consider flipping your class, adding movement to your classroom, replacing worksheets with engaging activities,  incorporating elements of whole brain teaching, and giving students more choices. Encourage students to lead, help them set and reach goals, and use rewards wisely. 

4. Teach life and leadership skills.

In order to be successful (both at school and at life), students need certain life skills – skills that help them be responsible and independent. Skills that allow them to cooperate with others and work successfully as a group. 

In past generations, we counted on parents to instill these core skills and character qualities, but we can no longer assume this is taking place. Instead, we must embrace our role in teaching important life and leadership skills.

The question is – how? How are we supposed to find time to teach these skills on top of everything else we are doing? 

The key is not to look at it as one more thing to do but instead find a way to incorporate these skills into what you're already doing.

The book The Leader in Me provides an excellent framework for teaching and modeling important life and leadership skills in a way that doesn't add to your day but instead elevates everything you're currently doing. We give a practical overview of this approach in our Classroom Management 101.

5. Create a classroom environment where students learn from their mistakes.

As teachers, we often want to fix all our students’ problems for them – or prevent them from making mistakes in the first place. But the truth is that experience is often the best teacher. As such, we must allow our students to make mistakes and learn from the natural consequences.

When we allow natural consequences to be the teacher – not rescuing our students from them but genuinely empathizing with their struggles, we position ourselves on the same team – working together to grow, succeed, and make wise choices.

Of course, we can’t stop there. To be successful we also need to avoid arguing at all cost and simply stick to our word instead. We must empower our students by guiding them to solve their own problems, find creative methods to keep difficult students from derailing class, and take a restorative approach to discipline that aims to restore the relationship and repair the harm caused, rather than to simply punish.

Once again, we teach all this – and more – inside Classroom Management 101.

6. Incorporate regular class meetings.

Our goal is to create a classroom culture where everyone is working together and on the same team. To do that, we’ve got to invest time into building and maintaining that culture. One of the simplest and most effective way to do that is through regular class meetings – sometimes referred to as morning meetings.

These meetings provide the opportunity to get to know each other, forge individual and class relationships, learn how to work together, and build communication and social skills.

Students are not only reviewing academic skills and seeing how they apply to real life, but they’re also learning how to observe and reflect, to think and listen – fundamental skills that are often lacking.

You’re building academic, social, and emotional skills – all at the same time. And intentionally creating a community of caring, respectful learners, thus setting the tone for a respectful, engaged learning culture.

We go into detail for how to make regular class meetings work in both elementary and secondary in Classroom Management 101. You may also find The Morning Meeting Book helpful.  

In case you couldn’t tell, we’re really excited about our Classroom Management 101 course. We can’t wait to see how it will help you end your learning battles and finally get you and your students on the same team – striving together to unleash their potential and accomplish great things. We hope to see you there!

Join us in Classroom Management 101 to get you & your students working together on the same team.

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