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Culture Over Content: 5 Steps for Effective Classroom Management in Middle School

Friday, July 12, 2019

5 Steps for Effective Classroom Management in Middle School


5 Steps for Effective Classroom 
Management in Middle School 




Empty classroom with desks in rows

Have you ever felt like your classroom is out of control? Or, wondered how much better your lessons could be if you could just get those students to listen? I sure have! There have been times when I have wondered why those students won't listen or why those students won't follow the rules.  Until I realized, those students don't set the tone for my classroom, I do. My classroom management needed some work.  I know it is difficult for educators to admit we are not perfect, but since you can't change other people, the only thing left to do is to change you.


Classroom management isn't just one thing. It's all the little things you do every day that keep your classroom running smoothly, your students engaged and learning. It's not some elusive little creature that you have to spend years searching for. It takes planning and effort, but all educators are capable of effective classroom management!

Middle school students and classrooms are unique though. Many techniques that work at the elementary level, simply do not translate to middle school (think clip/color charts, etc). Here are 5 steps you can take to become more effective in your classroom management skills at the middle school level.

Middle School Sign



1. Relationships

Hopefully, this is not the first time you have heard that building relationships is important in education. Your students truly will care more about what you are saying if they know that you care about them. I know it seems like a lot of middle school students walk around with a chip on their shoulder. They do this because life really is difficult for them. Middle school is HARD. Adolescence is HARD. The sooner you realize (or remember...you were in middle school once too) this, the better for you and your students. 

Spend time getting to know your students and let them get to know you too.  Start the year off with interest inventories (grab your free copy here), games, and conversations with your students...not about school stuff! Continue this throughout the year.  Try introducing a 3-5 minute share out time at the beginning of each class period, but try not to worry if those 5 minutes turn into 10. You WILL get that instructional time back as your classroom starts to run more effectively.


2. Expectations

In the middle school classroom, you will get more "buy-in" from your students if you allow them some autonomy. Involving them in creating the classroom expectations will go a long way with middle schoolers. Each year, I allow my classes (5 sections of 7th grade social studies) to create their own classroom constitution. I begin by asking them, "What do you want our classroom to be like?" They will tell you they want to be treated with respect, kindness, etc. I usually probe and ask them to be more specific, to tell me what it looks or sounds like to be treated with respect. More often than not, they will come up with a list of expectations that is almost identical to the list I used to provide.

3. Procedures

This is the stuff you get to decide; the everyday movement around your classroom. Do your students know what to do when they need a pencil or to go to the bathroom? What about when they are done with their work? Or when they have missed a day of class? Having well defined, and PRACTICED procedures will help your classroom run more efficiently.

I like to begin the year (not day one...that's for getting to know your students) with signs up around the room to help students locate things and understand what they are for. I model how I expect these procedures to be completed and then we practice them. Sometimes it's fun to do it the wrong way and listen to your students correct you!



4. Clear and consistent consequences

Your students will be more comfortable if they know how you are going to respond when one of the classroom expectations or procedures are not followed. If your response is always to yell, your students may have difficulty trusting you (remember how important relationship are!) However, if you don't react at all, you run the risk of losing control of your classroom. So, what should you do?

This is the perfect opportunity to allow your middle schoolers some more autonomy! Involve them in creating the consequences for violating the expectations THEY put in place. Obviously, the students have no control over consequences for major offenses (violence, drugs, etc.), but they can have control over how to respond when someone in the class disrupts their learning environment or doesn't pull their weight during group work. For the time they are in your class together, they are a team or a family, and they need to figure out how to work together to create an optimal learning environment, for everyone.

It is also important to have clear and consistent consequences when YOUR procedures (remember, these are the everyday movement around the classroom details) are not followed. Do you have a non-verbal response? A verbal response? A written response? What do you do if one student violates the same procedure multiple times during a class period? Your responses may vary depending on your school discipline system. However, they should always be consistent.

So far, these have all been behavioral consequences, but can also be academic consequences when procedures aren't followed in your classroom. When students don't turn in work, when it's late, or when it's plagiarized. In these instances, you MUST make sure your procedures and consequences are in line with your building and district policies. I find it helpful to have these procedures and consequences in a document that all students (and parents) receive and are required to sign during the first week, or two, of school. That way, when you have a student or parent (that's right, I said when...it will happen) who disagrees with something you have done, you have documentation that they had been informed of, and agreed to, your procedures and consequences.


Chalkboard sign reading "Follow the rules"

5. Relationships

I know I already said relationships, but they REALLY are that important. Invest in your students, as much as you can, and you will see a difference in your classroom. Forget not smiling until after Christmas and enjoy the time you spend with your students!

The Journal of Educational Studies published this - 

"student learning is influenced by building relationships, availability, and organisation of classroom resources, establishing classroom guidelines, and making the students feel safe and cared about in the classroom." 

Christopher Barksdale, Michelle L. Peters & Antonio Corrales (2019) Middle school students’ perceptions of classroom climate and its relationship to achievement, Educational Studies, DOI: 10.1080/03055698.2019.1664411






There you have it, 5 tips for effective classroom management in middle school. I'd love to hear how things are going for you after you have implemented these strategies. Come back and comment to let me know! Also, if you have any other strategies you have had success with, please feel free to share them in the comments below!


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