We’ve all been there. Your class walks out the door and you let out a huge sigh. You shake your head and you feel like you need to take a break to regroup your own mental and emotional strength. What just happened?! You know you’re a good teacher, so how why is this happening week after week?! What is going on and how do I get a handle on this class??

It is never easy to have one of those classes that throws you for a loop. And it’s not necessarily your fault! You could be a veteran teacher of 20 years or a new teacher in year 1 or 2 and have the same difficulties if the class mix is just right. They are probably good kids individually, but together as a group, the combination might just make for a lot of challenges. So what do you do? I have a list of strategies to share that might help when dealing with a difficult class. It also might not…everyone is different, every situation is different. Many times we just throw things at the wall and see what sticks. I hope you find something here that might just stick for you.

Play a Management Game

Kids love games! And they love competition. So why not add that into your classroom? There are many classroom management games out there if you search the internet. But one I love to do is the smiley/sad face game. I do this with younger grades primarily like kindergarten through 2nd grade. But occasionally I do it with older grades if they need a visual reminder or if they are working towards a larger goal. I simply draw a smiley face and a sad face on the board in a t-chart. I explain that every time the whole class does something great like listen super well or work hard on task, they get a tally mark on the smiley side. If they make me sad by doing something like not listening or talking too loud, they get a sad face mark. At the end of class if they have more smileys than sad faces, they get some kind of reward. This could be a video, song, game, or sticker on the way out the door. If it’s tied or more sad faces, they don’t get it. This can help with really chatty groups or classes you need to push to get more work done.

Review Expectations

Sometimes simply reviewing the expectations over and over again is necessary. If you only see your classes once a week, it could seem like it takes awhile for them to get it. But they have a whole week in between seeing you and being in your room. It’s okay to break it down and review the expectations in detail with them until they prove to you they can do it on their own. Stop at every transition in your room and remind them of what and how you expect them to do things. Have a student model it or model it yourself. Have them tell you what to do.

Break down your lesson step by step.

Teach them as if they are younger than they are. It’s not an insult to them. It might just be the way you need to accommodate for the way they learn. Maybe you need to show them step one, then they do it and you check. Then you show step two, then they do it and you check. “I do, You do” in the most simple way. You may even create visuals to put up showing what you are expecting them to do and what the steps are. Simplify everything for them.

Tier Students

Group students together by skill level or ability. It could help you manage students by giving different groups different tasks or being able to check on certain students if you know exactly who needs it and where they are. You could also pair students together in ways that can help. Either putting students together that are similar in ability so you can go help all of them at the same time or mixing them up and pairing students together in a way where they can help each other.

Change Seats

A very chatty group needs broken up. Spread them apart around the room. Sometimes the whole class needs just needs a change. They are with each other all the time and after awhile, switching up their seats might make a big difference and you don’t even realize it.

Change of Environment

Speaking of switching it up, sometimes getting a change of environment can help. Take them outside, get them moving around the room or around the school, play music in the background, work with the lights off. Try different things to see what works. Think of yourself and how everyone learns differently. Maybe this group needs something different that you haven’t thought of yet.

Individual Student Help

If you have individual students in a class that seem to be throwing off the rest of the group, try working one on one with that student. Build a relationship with them. See what they need from you. Maybe they are acting out because they need something. Work with other teachers in your school to come up with a plan for them. Maybe they are a special education student that can be given special accommodations or have some sort of incentive from their other teachers. Whatever the case my be, if one individual student is throwing off the whole class it can be very hard and frustrating for you. But there are many things you can do and hopefully you can lean on others in your building for support and help.

Ask for help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Most likely you are not alone if there is a class in the school that is especially difficult to manage. Ask their classroom teacher if they have anything that helps in their own classroom. Reach out to your instructional coach to pick their brain for strategies. Talk to your own specials or related arts team to see what they have been doing with that class. Have your administration come and observe the class to give their feedback. You shouldn’t be alone in this and you should be able to collaborate with others in your building to help you!

I hope this gave you some ideas or at least sparked your thinking when it comes to trying new things to work with a particularly challenging class. It’s never easy when you come across speed bumps like these and it throws off your whole groove! You are not a bad teacher and you are not failing because you don’t know how to manage one class. It’s okay to ask for help and it’s okay to not know what to do. Try something new to change things up and see what happens. Good luck and just remember, you’ve got this! You can do it!

Keep blending,

Laura