Easy Classroom Management Hacks for Middle School ELA
Ah, middle school.
What a special time in a person’s life.
I personally love teaching seventh grade, but some days? It’s a lot.
Kids are dealing with drama and hormones and family stressors, and sometimes their essays are the last thing on their brains.
So I’ve come up with a few little tricks to manage my students’ behavior without adding to the stress they already feel.
Here are a few easy classroom management hacks:
(This blog post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own.)
Create an iPad drop-off spot. I’m at a 1-1 school, so my students bring their iPads with them to every class. I love having these devices for so many reasons, but I got tired of constantly reminding my students to close them while I was talking or while they should be reading. This year, I just got a set of bins (one for each student in a section) and numbered them with my Silhouette (here’s a link to a Silhouette Portrait for labeling all the things). My kids know to walk in the room, drop off their iPads, and head to their seats. It’s not easy to sneak across the room to the bins, so I’m not dealing with the same iPad issues anymore!
Give students 3 chances for free seating. I always have a seating chart for my students, but I have found the most wonderful way to help my students stay quiet and focused during work time. After instruction is over and it’s time to work, I will sometimes let my students choose their seats. I then put three tallies on the white board. If the class gets unfocused or disruptive, I erase one tally. (I don’t say anything or scold them. I just erase.) If the class loses all of their tallies, they go back to the seating chart. Sometimes they do have to go back to their seating chart, but overall, this has been incredibly motivating for them. The class is so much more quiet and focused!
Post the expectations for each activity in the classroom. This takes a little time in the beginning, but it saves so much hassle! Our school follows C.H.A.M.P.S. as our school-wide behavior management system, so I post my participation expectations for every activity we do in class. I have a poster for independent reading, instruction, quizzes, book clubs, etc, and each poster says what I expect for conversation, help, activity, movement, participation, and success. If the class isn’t behaving the way I expect, I don’t have to give them a lecture; I just point to the poster and specific points I want them to notice.
Seat students in a “circle.” I know it’s not always possible, but I do whatever I possible can to arrange my desks in a circle (or rectangle) where everyone faces the center of the room. Yes, this sometimes encourages face-making across the room, but mostly it allows me to make eye contact with each student at any time. I call students out much less frequently than I used to because I can just look at them; it makes a huge difference. Read more of my seating-chart strategies here.
Obviously, we can’t control our students’ behavior, and not every day will be a good day. Still, making a few quick changes can make a world of difference for our students . . . and our sanity.
