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The ultimate list of classroom management strategies, organized into verbal and non-verbal strategies, parent communication tips,rewards and prizes, games, brain breaks, and visual strategies.

Refocus classroom management in your classroom by using these 10 tips for positive behavior management. Watch your students' behavior transform!

I love sticky notes. I make lists of things I need to do on them all the time. (Does it even count as completing a task if you don't get to cross it off a list?) I use them as labels on copies that have already been made for what day and class they are for. I write down notes to myself about how the lesson went if there's something I definitely do or don't want to repeat next year. And now... a new use! I keep a pad of sticky notes easily accessible so I can write a positive note to students in the moment and stick it on their desk while they're working. I'm talking about that moment when the class clown finally settles down and gets to work. I write a happy note, and quietly stick it on a student's desk when I walk by as I'm answering questions or just generally monitoring how things are going while students work independently. It's a nice way to let students know that you see them working hard, you appreciate them, and to encourage their positive behavior. Especially the students who do not always display positive behavior in your class and seek out any attention - including negative attention. Building relationships with students can be so hard because it takes time. It doesn't happen over night. Writing a short note that is genuine (students know when you're being fake from a mile away) can be a step in the right direction and let them know you see when they're doing great work. Know that evvvvvvvvveryone in class will notice you put a note on a student's desk. They will allllll want to know what it says, why they didn't get one, and what they need to do to get a special note from their favorite Spanish teacher. Maybe strive to write 2 notes to students in every class period twice a week. See how it improves your relationships with students, especially if you give a positive note to a difficult student. It's the little things that can build great relationships with students over time! What little things do you do in your class to build relationships with students? Please share in the comments below!

Manage your middle schoolers during speech therapy with my 10 best strategies for behavior management to encourage and motivate!

Thousands of teachers have used these tried and true GUARANTEED tups to stop students from blurting out. Chatty Class? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

Dealing with oppositional defiant disorder at home or in the classroom? We've got 18 ODD discipline tips to help with problem behaviors in a positive way!

As an educator or parent, getting into a power struggle can be an awful thing. We waste so much of our energy trying to get we we want that we sometimes forget what our goal was in the first place. Power struggles can be especially difficult with kids with ADHD, autism, oppositional-defiant disorder

This simple behavior management strategy allowed me to anticipate possible behaviors that would happen and plan my reaction or consequence.

Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner

I know I am not alone when I say that I struggle to sit through staff meetings without doodling on my paper, shifting in my seat, getting up to use the bathroom and occasionally whispering with my teacher friend next to me. Now, these are every other week, and only for an hour. Every time I leave, I […]

Last week we talked about how to be consistent with your classroom management plan. Which is especially important to begin the school year. This alone will go a long way toward creating the learning environment you really want. Once you’ve conquered this challenge, however, ... Read more

I've been working on a few things for Behavior Management so I thought I'd join the party! Check out The Lesson Plan Diva to see others who have linked up! I've seen a lot of clip charts and stop lights in blog land and I have to say that I am not a fan. Don't get me wrong--I think they are pretty, easy to use, and a quick visual for the teacher at the end of the day when getting things ready to go home. BUT I strongly believe that kids should not be publicly embarrassed for their behavior. EVERYONE makes poor choices from time to time. Would you want the entire staff to know when you missed a deadline or made a mistake? I know this is not the intention, but it happens anyway. Instead I use a binder. I wish I had a photo to show but sadly it is locked up at school. In the binder is a chart with student numbers instead of names. When students make poor choices, they are asked to visit the behavior binder where they place a check mark next to their number. There is also a copy of our Quality Student they should quickly review. When sending students to the binder, I make sure to do it privately so the student is not embarrassed. Each Monday we discuss the previous week's data, celebrate if we made a goal, and make new goals for the coming week. The binder is also handy at conference time. As a class, we set goals for the number of checks we will try to stay under per week. Students also may have personal goals for how many checks they will have each week or grading period. Recently I found Homeworkopoly on Ladybug's Teacher Files and decided to teacher-lift it. She uses this for students who consistently complete their homework, but I decided to use it as a behavior incentive. ALOT of people have been posting about doing away with the prize/treasure box and this could work for that too. I included two "prize box" places on the board but you could easily replace them with something else. I am still working on the Chance cards and I also added a spot for "Student-written questions." My plan here is to have students write their own review questions for topics already covered. So my printer is running low on ink and the colors are a bit distorted but this is the basic idea. My plan is to post it on the chalk board and use pictures of the kids faces to make magnetic playing pieces. Students who made it the entire week without any checks in the behavior binder (or who met their personal behavior goal) will get to take a turn on the Behavioropoly Board. Check out Ladybug's Teacher Files to see how she runs the game. ***Update*** Due to a high volume of requests I am no longer sending out my template by email. You can go to my TPT store and download the files for free!

Classroom management is one of those things that can make or break a teaching career. It’s a bigger deal than I think I even realized when I first started teaching. The lack of it can steal your joy quicker than butter melts on hot toast. People who have it can make miracles happen with students...Read More »

Attention Getters will cut out your classroom chaos and work for all grade levels. Attention getters in the classroom are the perfect solution if you are...

I often hear from teachers who in long missives describe awful behavior towards them. They describe angry, argumentative, and aggressively disrespectful students. Students who tell them off and try to disrupt and sabotage their class. Students who roll their eyes and refuse to look ... Read more

Is there a way to keep kids from eye rolling, teeth sucking, and muttering under their breath every time you give a direction?

The educational strategies I use in my classroom are things I continuously reflect on and develop. The classroom management of my middle school classrooms is one of the things I’m most proud of with my teaching. I generally had a happy classroom that was under control and focused on learning, which wasn't always easy considering my classes each consisted of 30+ seventh graders at ALL possible academic levels working out of their seats on science experiments and activities. My biggest pieces of advice for a well-behaved class are to keep your rules and consequences simple, clear, and consistent. My Classroom Rules: I only had three rules in my classroom and they were broad enough to cover just about any out of line behavior. At the beginning of the year we went over these rules thoroughly and acted out examples and nonexamples so there was no room for confusion or purposeful misinterpretation. Find links to get these posters at the end of this blog post. Rule Number One: “Respect yourself, your peers, your teacher, and your surroundings.” This rule is meant to cover all interactions in the classroom. Students who respect themselves value their education and learning time and get their assignments completed to the best of their abilities. Students who respect their peers understand their classmates need a safe learning environment free of distractions and impolite communications. Students who respect their teacher recognize the importance of the education opportunities being presented in class and allow the teacher to facilitate lessons and help all students learn. Students who respect their surroundings acknowledge the resources, furniture, and equipment in class are used by others for the pursuit of education and need to be kept in good condition. Rule Number Two: “Raise your hand silently to speak.” Having strong student participation is important for learning, but entering chaos territory is so easy when middle school students are allowed to interject whenever and for whatever. Students need to know every voice is important; for everyone's thoughts, ideas, and questions to be heard there needs to be an order to the sharing process. Rule Number Three: “Follow all directions quickly the first time they are given.” It sounds basic (and it is) but so much educational time is saved with this rule, especially in a science classroom where there is limited time to complete time-consuming experiments. My Class Consequences: After much trial and error and some great advice from an administrator, I developed a list of consequences that worked perfectly to enforce the rules of my classroom. The key with consequences is they must be followed in order every single time for every single student. Find links to get these posters at the end of this blog post. Consequence Number One: "Warning." This was in place so I could let students know their behavior was unacceptable in the classroom and needed to be changed. I gave the warning in different ways to communicate with the offending student, depending on what worked the student’s personality. Sometimes I would approach the students discreetly and quietly tell them they had a warning. Other times I would catch the student's eye from across the room and show a number one with my finger. If I had a particularly easygoing class where the students were all comfortable with one another I'd pause in the lesson to tell the student they had a warning. Consequence Number Two: “Complete a Behavior Think Sheet and move seats.” If students continued to disregard the class rules they would get this consequence that served three purposes. First it removed the student from the situation, making it easier to revert to proper behavior. Second, it allowed them to reflect on their behavior and analyze its effect on themselves and others. Third, the BTS provided me with documentation of misbehavior that I could save and keep on file. I realized completing a BTS takes time out of learning, and so did the students. My lessons were fun, engaging, and rigorous; the students did not want to and could not afford to miss part of the lesson by acting out and completing a BTS. In addition, if the misbehavior was allowed to continue it would distract others from learning the content. Occasionally I would have a student test me by not completing the BTS. For those students I gave them a choice: They could complete it in my class and be late to their next class (without a pass), or they could leave it incomplete and move on to the third consequence. The Behavior Think Sheet (with English and Spanish copies included) is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Consequence Number Three: “Parent or guardian contact.” If the first two consequences were not effective, consequence three often curbed the desire to misbehave. Sometimes I would have the student call home with me right after class. Sometimes I would make the contact immediately after school. Rarely, and only after exceptionally poor misbehavior, would the family be contacted during class. Consequence Number Four: “Referral.” I was lucky enough to teach in a school with a fantastic dean of discipline. The fourth consequence involved me contacting the dean about the student’s misbehavior and it would then be handled in a fair manner. In other schools a similar consequence might be used with the principal or other administrator instead. As I said earlier, the consequences should be followed in order every time for every student. There are exceptions to that, and I was always upfront and honest about the exceptions with my students. My students knew that if one student punched another student in class that a simple “warning” would not happen. That just wouldn't make any sense. The steps can be skipped for serious breaches of the classroom rules. The only other reason I would skip a consequence was for repeat offenders. If the same student had the same problem over and over again I met with that student privately to make a plan. Usually that plan involved skipping one or two steps in the list of consequences until the student was able to demonstrate appropriate behavior consistently over time. All of my classes knew skipping steps could occur in such situations, so there was never any backlash of “that’s unfair” if I went out of order. Using These Rules and Consequences in Your Classroom: As I mentioned, I created these rules and consequences for my middle school students. However, they work just as well as part of an upper elementary or early high school classroom management plan. I hope this post provided you with useful information and gave you ideas for rules and consequences in your own classroom. If you like my rules and consequences, save yourself some time by getting my rules and consequences posters from my TpT or Etsy store. The posters come in a variety of styles that are sure to brighten up your classroom while displaying important information that will make your teaching life easier. Find your favorite from the options below! And remember to check out the Behavior Think Sheet! Rules and Consequences Posters: Version 1: This is the original set with solid blocks of color and a structured layout. Version 2: It's a warm and calming set. Black and White: Perfect for printing restrictions—you can print the posters on vibrantly colored paper or grab a set of colored pencils and make them your own. Scales: They're wonderful for mermaid or dragon-themed classrooms. (Get it from Etsy instead.) Floral: My favorite! See these posters in the video below. (Get it from Etsy instead.) Lemons: Something about lemons just draws me in every time. I don't know if it's the happy yellow color or the reminder of delicious foods. (Get it from Etsy instead.)

special education, behavior, behavior plans, BIPs, writing a behavior plan

If you think I have the answers here, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm far from having any answers.

Social Emotional Workshop offers practical tools for social emotional learning and counseling.

Are you a Special Education teacher who feels like your classroom is constantly in chaos? Do you struggle to manage behavior and create a calm learning environment for your students? If so, youR…

Addressing attitudes towards student behavior and strategies for behavioral intervention in middle school and high school classrooms.

The purpose of a classroom management plan is to hold students accountable for misbehavior—without having to yell, scold, or lecture. When used correctly, a classroom management plan eliminates the need to use these and other stressful, counterproductive methods. It allows you to demand impeccable ... Read more

As an educator or parent, getting into a power struggle can be an awful thing. We waste so much of our energy trying to get we we want that we sometimes forget what our goal was in the first place. Power struggles can be especially difficult with kids with ADHD, autism, oppositional-defiant disorder

So, if you remember, one of the things I talked about when you write your hypothesis statements, if you write them correctly, the first part addresses the prevention strategies. Prevention strategies are going to address the setting events and antecedents of the challenging behavior. Antecedents are pretty easy--they are what we find in patterns that indicate they may be triggers for the challenging behavior. They are the events the IMMEDIATELY precede a challenging behavior. So, I ask him to do math, and he throws it, the request/demand to do math is the antecedent.

As teachers, we all face different behavior challenges in the classroom. These challenges can change day to day or even year to year, but dealing with student behavior is something that no teacher can escape. We can however, use all the tools in our tool box to proactive instead of reactive. I have found over ... Read More about 3 Behavior Essentials for Teachers

We experience replacement behaviors daily...with the children in our lives, people in our close circles, and even ourselves! So, what IS a replacement behavior?

A lot of times parents give up because ignoring did not work, but I'm going to tell you it's so much better to power through. We are going over extinction bursts in this post!

As teachers, we all face different behavior challenges in the classroom. These challenges can change day to day or even year to year, but dealing with student behavior is something that no teacher can escape. We can however, use all the tools in our tool box to proactive instead of reactive. I have found over ... Read More about 3 Behavior Essentials for Teachers

This simple behavior management strategy allowed me to anticipate possible behaviors that would happen and plan my reaction or consequence.

The modern classroom presents educators with unique and overwhelming obstacles. However, rest assured that help is at hand! The Responsive Educator is here to provide teachers with the support and resources they need.

Tips For Special Ed Teachers The four functions of behavior are, Sensory, Escape, Attention and Tangible. Effective intervention involves identifying the function of a behavior and incorporating st…

Behavior is a constant struggle among many teachers. The stress of trying to teach the curricullum constantly gets interrupted by student behaviors. When we reach out for help there is a lot of documentation needed in order to receive the proper intervention. I am sure you have heard many different times if you are currently dealing with a student that is having behavior difficulties that you need data to support the behaviors you are seeing in the classroom. For example, if you have a student that is throwing chairs or constantly running from the classroom, you would need data that shows how many times a day, what is happening before, during, and after the behaviors. All of this documentation is needed to help come up with a plan to help reduce and eliminate the behaviors. Data needs to be collected each time the behavior occurs so the team that is helping you can look at the frequency, intensity, and determine what is the cause for the behavior. This is imperative in order to come up with an effective behavior intervention plan for a student. Many teachers will say they do not have time to document every single occurrence or incident. Documentation can be time consuming, but if an effective and quick system is in place it can become quick and stress-free. Below are some quick and easy to use forms to quickly and effectively document and track student behaviors. Click the behavior binder link below to purchase this product. Behavior Binder Behavior Binder These forms I keep in my behavior binder and I have a tab for each student that I am tracking data on. I can quickly tally or check off the boxes on the ABC data forms and I am done. I will prefill the date for each day at the beginning of the day and write in any specific information before hand. Behavior Binder Behavior Binder Another way I use these forms in putting them on a clip board with a confidential cover sheet (included in product). That way it is very portable and easy to grab. I put it in an area that is easy to access throughout the school day. All in all you need to find a system that works best for you when tracking behavior data. In my behavior binder you will find many different forms, behavior resources, observations notes and much more. Please reach out to me and leave a comment if you have questions!

Unlock the power of ADHD accommodations in schools. Learn evidence-based strategies for effective implementation. Empower students, educators, and parents for lasting positive change.

Child behavior problems at home or school? Easily track behavior with these behavior charts ( ABC Charts and Scatterplot). Examples & Printables

By addressing student behavior with compassion -- even when they're acting out -- teachers can find productive ways to get kids on task or engage in relationship-building.

Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner