According to conventional wisdom, a teacher's actions during the first few days of the school year are critical to successful classroom management. Experts agree that getting off to a good start is vital. So what should teachers do—and not do—during those all-important first days of school?
Teachers should start the year by helping students develop good habits, says Edmund Emmer of the University of Texas at Austin. Children need to learn appropriate behavior, he emphasizes. Students don't necessarily know how they should behave in a given classroom. Therefore, the teacher needs to communicate that information directly, in a friendly way.
Pete DeSisto of the Cooperative Discipline Foundation offers similar advice. Teachers often assume that students know how they should behave, DeSisto says. "This is a deadly mistake. Teachers should assume that students dropped in from Mars."
During the first few days of school, teachers should work with students to develop classroom rules and the consequences for breaking them, DeSisto advises. They should also teach classroom procedures—how to line up to go to lunch, for example—and have students practice the procedures "until they realize you're serious."
Establishing classroom procedures is vital, agrees Harry Wong, coauthor of The First Days of School. When teachers begin the year with fun activities, their classes "break apart," Wong says. "You don't start with fun and games," he insists. "You start with organization."
Teachers should establish procedures to govern daily classroom operations, such as taking role, sharpening pencils, and exchanging papers, Wong says. Other procedures might govern what students should do if they are tardy or absent. Yet another procedure might be, "When you come into the classroom, sit down promptly and start working."
These procedures must be taught and rehearsed, Wong says. At elementary school, teachers should take "much of the first week" to teach procedures, he advises. At high school, teachers might need to spend only a day or two. Teachers also need to review procedures with students from time to time, especially after long breaks, he says.
Wong prefers procedures to rules. Procedures are "nonconfrontational," he says, whereas "a rule is a dare to be broken." (Rules also imply punishment.) If students don't follow a procedure, they should be required to practice it, Wong says. A teacher might ask a transgressing student, "Now, what's the procedure, George? Show me."
When a teacher establishes classroom procedures at the beginning of the school year, students perceive that "this teacher knows what he or she is doing," and they will respect the teacher's authority, Wong says. Students actually want procedures, he adds, because procedures give them a sense of security—of knowing what's going to happen.
Besides establishing procedures, teachers need to develop a discipline plan, Wong says. "There are lots of them out there," he notes, ranging from the authoritarian to the "loose and liberal." Teachers should study some of these plans, he urges. They should also ask their colleagues with well-run classrooms to share their discipline plans. Then, teachers should "sit down and construct their own plan," remembering that the goal is to develop good habits. "You can't discipline students after they leave your classroom," he points out.
Creating a Community
Other experts in classroom management emphasize the importance of creating a spirit of community in the classroom.
Teachers should strive to create "a strong, cohesive, team feeling" among members of the class, says Barbara Porro, author of Talk It Out: Conflict Resolution in the Elementary Classroom. Teachers should foster the attitude: "We're all in this together."
At the beginning of the year, teachers should create a sense of community "so students feel related rather than isolated," agrees Alfie Kohn, author of Beyond Discipline. Teachers can create this spirit by having students work together on projects and by involving students in group decisions, for example. This community-building approach is "far more likely to help kids grow into responsible learners than the traditional classroom-management beginning, which emphasizes getting the classroom under control," Kohn believes.
At the beginning of the year, teachers need to "build a trusting relationship" with students, says Richard Curwin, coauthor of Discipline with Dignity. Students need to feel that the teacher will be on their side, and that effort will be the main determinant of success, he says. Teachers should also show students what the curriculum will mean to them. "Sell yourself and the curriculum, and make kids feel they'll be successful," he recommends.
"That first day is critical—it sets the tone for the whole year," says Anne Wescott Dodd of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. To convey "I'm in charge" on the first day, a teacher should be "incredibly well organized" and set forth clear expectations and policies. "Be strong but not like a drill sergeant," Dodd advises. For example, when students are talking inappropriately, "deal with it, don't let it go by," she says. Inexperienced teachers will ignore such behavior in hopes that it will go away. "It doesn't; it gets worse," Dodd says.
Teachers should concentrate on preventing behavior problems, recommends H. Jerome Freiberg of the University of Houston, coauthor of Universal Teaching Strategies. The need to discipline students indicates "a breakdown of the preventive system," he says. Good prevention procedures include providing students with something engaging to do when they enter the classroom, and being consistent in response to student infractions. "There needs to be predictability," Freiberg says.
Durinda Yates, principal of White Oak Middle School in Silver Spring, Md., advises teachers to "do a lot of one-on-one" with students early in the year. "Get to know that child—let him feel you're on his side," she says. She also suggests that teachers phone parents and say, "I saw good citizenship when your child did . . ." This positive feedback sets an upbeat tone and "opens doors" with parents, Yates says.
Don't Smile Till When?
Not too surprisingly, the classic classroom-management advice to new teachers—"Don't smile till Christmas"—is soundly rejected by experts.
"That's terrible advice!" says Emmer. "We want kids to see the teacher as a positive influence, not someone to be avoided," he says. Rather than trying to inspire fear, teachers should set expectations, then follow through on them consistently. "Teachers need to smile much more than frown," Emmer says.
The "don't smile" advice is misguided, agrees Curwin, who rejects the notion that teachers should "be tough enough so students fall in line." Instead, teachers should "be human" and show a range of emotions. "If you don't smile till Christmas, students won't either," he warns. And if teachers pretend to have a tough attitude, students will see through it and "eat you alive," he adds.
According to Allen Mendler, coauthor of Discipline with Dignity, the only grain of truth in the classic advice lies in the importance of the teacher's being authoritative, "but there are ways to be authoritative and friendly at the same time," he says.
Barbara Coloroso, author of Kids Are Worth It!, believes the "don't smile" advice reflects the "false dichotomy" that a teacher must be either "the Gestapo" or a pal. "I give every kid a smile, hug, and humor every day," she says. "Would you like your administrator to not smile till Christmas?"
Sandy McNiven, who teaches 4th grade at Fort River Elementary School in Amherst, Mass., also rejects the notion that teachers should "start hard, end up easy." His own advice to new teachers? "Start consistent and stay consistent."