Unlock the secrets of the magic behind the classroom management strategies used by master teachers to maximize student engagement.
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Imagine you’re an invisible observer of a master teacher’s classroom with high student engagement. What hidden classroom management strategies do you see?
The first thing you notice when you walk in with a group of students is the welcoming classroom atmosphere. It’s like a warm hug that makes you feel calm yet energized for the day ahead.
The students greet the teacher, then stop inside the door to put their belongings into assigned cubbies, turn in any homework, and read the message of the day. Within 5 minutes, they’re at their desks, doing an assignment, some whispering quietly about the work at hand. Meanwhile, the teacher is taking attendance and chatting quietly with a student who has a message from home. Everyone is busy on an assigned task, yet the teacher hasn’t done anything but greet each student with a genuine happy-to-see-you smile, a few soft words, and perhaps an elbow bump or two.
This happens in classrooms every day, — no fuss, no muss — and if you thought it sounded like magic, you’d be right.
It’s the magic of positive classroom expectations, clear guidelines, and strategic planning. You can harness this magic, too.
Over twenty years of working in classrooms, I found a common theme with how master teachers have their classroom setup to create positive learning environments. Here are ten classroom management strategies many of them use.
Student Work Is Displayed on the Wall
Displaying student work is important for several reasons, one being that it gives the students a sense of pride and ownership in the classroom. It showcases their accomplishments and growth which boosts student engagement.
At the beginning of the year, there obviously isn’t any student work to show. But experienced teachers will have a bulletin board ready with a message like, “Coming Soon: Stellar Student Work” or something to that effect.
Once the work goes up on the wall, it doesn’t stay there forever. Students love to see new work displayed on a regular basis. But this can be a bit of work for the teacher.
One shortcut to changing out student work is to have a dedicated space for each student. It could be a decorative paper with a clothespin and their name. I used clear plastic sleeves with each student’s name and just popped the new work into it on a regular basis.
We also had a long wire, the kind you can find at IKEA, strung in front of the windows. Every art project got clipped on the wire with a colorful clothespin. I remember one holiday season, we made stained glass art using colored tissue paper and laminating paper. When these were hung in the window they cast a beautiful light in the classroom.
Consider having more than one area around the room to display student work.
Students Working Collaboratively, Seated in Groups
The days of ancient history of students seated in rows, no talking allowed, are gone. I read somewhere once that in some classrooms the desks were bolted to the floor. How horrible would that be? I’m so happy some classroom management strategies have changed.
Today there are so many options. Just do a search and find the seating arrangement that fits your style. In the rooms of master teachers I observed, students could move desks together to work collaboratively. They also had quiet areas where students could work alone. Whenever there were projects like PBL or STEAM where students needed to work together, the classroom was set up to facilitate coworking.
Some teachers are intimidated by the noise level or by the prospect of some students doing all the work. I have one word for this: Proximity.
When the teacher moves around the room, interacting with the teams, it encourages everyone to focus on the lesson. Always planning engaging lessons helps to minimize the chance of anyone being off-task.
One helpful trick is to tell students ahead of time that you’ll be looking for someone to share with the class after the teamwork. As you walk around the room, when you find someone who has a good idea, or a correct answer, quietly ask that student if they would like to share at the end. Students love to have a moment to share a thought or idea when you’ve built a positive classroom community for this type of activity.
Solid Routines Let Students Take Responsibility To Know Where and What They Should Be Doing
The first weeks of school are the time to teach these routines. Some teachers think that they’re losing a week or two of academic time. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Experienced teachers know that teaching solid routines and procedures actually saves time. It allows strong teaching and deep learning to happen. When the teacher doesn’t have to correct and redirect as often, more learning time is available.
Having regular, specific, identifiable routines are one of the most powerful classroom management strategies for an effective learning environment.
Have the routines posted in a highly visible place. It can be in pictures or words. That way, when a student asks, “What are we doing?” you don’t need to say a word. Just point to the board or presentation where the routine is posted.
It saves your voice, and saves the students’ dignity. After a couple of weeks, they’ll stop asking. They’ll either know the routine or know where to look.
Physical Environment is Clean, Clutter-Free, and Well-Organized
Knowing where to find things and where to put things away brings a sense of calm to the classroom. This means labeling everything. Label shelves, book bins, cubbies, coat hangers, charts, everything. I even labeled my pens and markers with a bright flag.
At the end of the day, I never cleaned up. My students did it all. At the beginning of the year, before students had time to destroy the room, I took bunches of photos. I photographed the shelves, arranged with books and cubbies in the way they should be stored. I photographed a smiling student looking into their clean organized desk.
(Yes, I even had a specific way they needed to keep their desks. That way they could find their things.)
I photographed the cupboards students would use to get supplies and put supplies away. If it was something students used, it was photographed.
At the end of the day, I turned on some happy tunes, and students danced and cleaned the room. The goal was to have everything back in their places and all the trash put in bins before the song ended. They loved doing it because it was fun.
Students Have Easy Access to All the Materials They Need
Similar to the previous topic, allowing students to have access to materials without having to ask you for it, works fabulously. Even in the primary grades, you can set up an area for them to get materials they need.
Every student should have a number. Expert teachers number everything. That way, with materials that can be used more than one year, they don’t have to relabel it with a name the following year.
Students can put things in bins based on their numbers. Perhaps students #1-6 put their headphones in one bin, #7-12 in another, and so on. That way, there’s no crush of kiddos trying to get everything in one bin all at once.
Again, label everything. Shelves, books, bins, baskets, even doors.
Music or Ambient Background Noise During Study Time
Many master teachers have soft music or ambient background noise during study time. I used sounds of nature, such as rain, aquarium bubbles, leaves rustling in a breeze. This lends a calming effect and allows students to have a quiet environment in which to focus for studying.
Using music and ambient sounds is one of the classroom management strategies in my simple systems for teaching writing. It’s the cue to begin in the Cue, Routine, Reward system. You can read about it here.
Teacher Works with Small Groups and Has Positive Positive Interactions With the Students
Once the routines are solidly in place, small group and individual teaching can happen. When students know where and what they should be doing, during every moment of the day, it’s easy for a teacher to sit down and teach on a more personal level.
Lesson Plans Are Clear on the Objective, Engaging, and Fill Every Moment
Effective lesson plans are like a good novel.
- They have a hook.
- They have a beginning where students learn about the material and the problem at hand.
- They have a time where they need to be working. Complications may arise, but the teacher has plans for contingencies and can think on their feet.
- They have an ending, a conclusion, and perhaps a summary.
In my member vault I have a lesson plan template that uses the 6E model. These are six lesson planning strategies that begin with the letter E:
- Engage
- Explore
- Explain
- Expand and Elaborate
- Extend or Enhance
- Evaluate
You can download your free lesson plan template here from the Member Vault.
Differentiation and Choice
Choice boards are quite popular, and for good reason. They allow students autonomy in how they present their learning. They allow for differentiation of many types. Expert teachers know that one size does not fit all when it comes to learning. For this reason, in a positive learning classroom, you’ll see classroom management strategies for differentiation and scaffolding happening every day in many ways.
The Teacher is Positive and Responsive and is Happy to Be With the Students
The teacher sets the tone of the classroom. The example the teacher sets is a huge part of the magic of a classroom management strategy that works. They expect the best of themselves, and this magic dust of expectations rubs off onto the students. Soon the students understand that positive traits are expected and bring their own rewards, not the least of which is a happy classroom.
Additional Tips for a Welcoming Classroom
Allow students to have a voice in the classroom community. Ask them for suggestions and hear what they have to say.
Incorporate regular community and team building activities and talk in the classroom. When the community is strong, students can focus on learning.
Be culturally responsive and celebrate the diversity of our students and our world at large.
Read more ideas for classroom management strategies that master teachers use in this article, How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment on Edutopia.
Becoming an effective teacher is a skill that can be learned by observing master teachers, and incorporating ideas and teaching strategies they use into your own teaching repertoire. That’s when you’ll see the magic happen in your classroom, too.