I’ve heard over and over in my career that you can’t teach anything until you have a handle on classroom management. If your kids are out of control, you cannot teach them anything.
There are multiple classroom management strategies out there. You have to use whatever works for you. HOWEVER, these three tips will work with whatever kind of classroom management system you already have in place.
3 Ways to Stay Calm and Consistent
1 - Take deep breaths and relax your jaw.
If you aren’t in control of your emotions, the students will control them. Before you react to anything, take a few deep breaths and relax your jaw. Relaxing your jaw will help your whole body follow suit. If you have trouble relaxing your jaw, put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and move it back. Your jaw will fall and relax naturally.
2 - Move slowly.
As the leader in the room, you must project calm. Calm is slow. Slow is strength. Strength is control. Take a few seconds to S-L-O-W-L-Y and deliberately turn toward disruptive students. When your body goes into the fight/flight reflex you react quickly. Slow and deliberate movements show control over your body.
3 - Don’t make rules you aren’t willing to enforce ALL THE TIME.
Consistency is key. Don’t make rules you know you won’t enforce. I’m very laid-back as a teacher. I’ve decided what rules are important to me, and I let the rest go. While this doesn’t work for everyone, I do not make rules that I know I will end up letting slide later. This one was a game changer for me. When I first started teaching, I had lots of rules and I wasn’t consistent about enforcing all of them. It did not work out well. Again, don’t make rules you aren’t willing to enforce ALL THE TIME.
Check out: Classroom Management Tips by veteran teachers
How do you stay calm and consistent? Comment below!
