There is a classroom management strategy that hums along in the background of the most effective teachers.
You can’t see this strategy.
It isn’t applied once and reused when needed. It isn’t a step-by-step, how-to process. I don’t believe it’s ever been revealed in the history of education.
Until now.
The strategy is simple, remarkably effective, and no one will ever know you’re using it. It’s a secret held only by a select few. However, and this is key, anyone can do it.
The only downside is that when you finish reading this article you may doubt that it’s possible. You may harrumph and roll your eyes and say “Yeah, right, not at my school.”
But you’d be wrong. It works everywhere and with every grade level from kindergarten through high school.
It does take strong leadership. It takes knowing your power—the power of every teacher, in fact, whether they’re aware of it or not—to create the exact classroom you want.
If you believe you’re at the mercy of your students, however, then it won’t work for you. You may as well not read any further.
One more thing I should mention before the reveal. The strategy is individual. In other words, the way you apply it may be considerably different than the way I do, or anyone else.
Are you ready? Okay, here we go. The strategy is this: You decide beforehand how every moment will unfold in your classroom.
In other words, your students don’t decide how, when, where, what, how long, or with who they gather into groups, enter the classroom, work independently, walk, talk, take out their laptop, write their name, etc., etc., etc.
Every moment of student behavior/performance/action is decided by YOU.
This doesn’t mean that your students have to line up and walk to lunch like little soldiers, for example, or that you never allow for student choice.
Maybe you want them to be able to talk at certain times along the way or walk in a big herd around you. Perhaps you want them to make all design choices about their science project.
Regardless, the point is you decide, not them. Because every time your students choose—that is, without your express direction or instruction—your authority drops like an anvil.
Eventually, emboldened, they’ll wrest as much control from you as they possibly can. It’s human nature. When there is a void in leadership, someone or someones will step in and fill it.
To be clear, if you want your students to be able to call out during certain lessons or ask a neighbor for help with a math problem while working independently, fine. But you decide how it’s to be done.
You explain, model, and/or teach how to do it.
This “You Decide” strategy is the secret to why some teachers make it look so easy. It’s why their students seem so relaxed, content, and effortlessly well-behaved.
It doesn’t just happen. It’s chosen, choreographed, and then taught ahead of time by you. The students then are relieved of the stress of decision fatigue.
They’re relieved from having to fend for themselves or fill in for the missing ship’s captain. They’re free to learn, enjoy your class, and focus 100 percent on the challenges placed before them.
All because they have a leader who actually leads.
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