Classroom Management

1. Teach a Book: Classroom Management for
Middle and High School Teachers
Edmund T. Emmer
Carolyn M. Evertson

2. Chapter 1:
Organizing Your Classroom and Materials
• Room arrangement:
‣ Consistent with instructional goals and activities
- Teacher-led vs small groups
- Mix of both?
‣ High-traffic areas free of congestion
‣ Students easily seen by teacher
‣ Frequently used materials/supplies easily accessible
‣ Students easily see board

3. Chapter 1:
Organizing Your Classroom and Materials
• Suggestions for arranging your
classroom:
‣ Bulletin boards/walls
- Daily assignments on decorative display (colored paper or
borders)
- 9th grade and below post rules of classroom
- Reward “class of the month”
‣ Floor space - starting point: where is whole-class
instruction?
‣ Student desks - avoid students w/backs to instructional area
‣ Teacher’s desk and other equipment
‣ Storage space and supplies

4. Chapter 1:
Organizing Your Classroom and Materials
• If you have to float:
‣ Familiarize yourself with the room
‣ Try to arrange a projector for daily use
- Prepare transparencies for lessons/hw assignments, and notices
‣ A regular space on the board for assignments
‣ Storage space for materials that cannot be carried with you
everyday
‣ Try to get a cart
‣ Assign early arriving students the task of preparing the room
- Erase boards, set up projector, arrange chairs

5. Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures
• Why rules and procedures are needed
‣ Rules identify general expectations or standards - best when positively
stated (You may talk when given permission)
‣ Procedures communicate expectations for behavior - apply to a specific
activity
• Planning classroom rules and procedures
(consequences?)
‣ Identify school rules and procedures
‣ Around 5 sufficient to cover most behavior (student participation?)
- Bring all needed materials to class
- Be in your seat and ready to work when the bell rings
- Respect and be polite to all people
- Respect other people’s property
- Obey all school rules

6. • General Procedures
‣ Beginning of period
- Attendance: use seating chart, keep track of missing work
- Absences: write name and date on handouts and keep in absentee folder;
daily assignments on calendar; student volunteers to assist returning
students
- Tardy students: be consistent; sign in sheet
- Expected behavior: Warm up questions at beginning of period, copy outline of
class activities
- Leaving the room: emergencies only; keeping a record; reduced credit for
work not brought to class
‣ Use of materials and equipment: teachers and student materials
‣ End of period: clean up of materials and reminders of upcoming work
Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures

7. • Procedures during seatwork and instruction
‣ Student attention during presentations: respect and note-taking
‣ Participation: raise hands, student call?
‣ Seatwork
- Talk among students (no student talk vs quiet talk)
- Raised hands for help
- Out-of-seat procedures: sharpen pencil, get paper; one-at-a-time
- When work is completed (enrichment activities folder, work on hw)
Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures

8. • Procedures for group work
‣ Distribution of material stations/helpers
‣ Assigning students to groups: well-balanced, separate clashing
personalities, save time, efficient
‣ Outline goals and participation roles (recorder, reader, etc.)
‣ Cooperative learning
• Miscellaneous
‣ Signals: obtain student attention, transitions (turn off lights, bell)
‣ Announcements, special equipment, fire drills, and split lunch periods
(what to do with work and personal belongings)
Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures

9. Chapter 3:
Managing Student Work
• Your grading system and record keeping
‣ Achievement, effort, hw, improvement, participation, and percentages
‣ Accurate assessment: frequent evaluation
‣ Record all student info in grade book rather than separate lists
• Feedback and monitoring procedures
‣ Students check own work (different ink and model how to check)
‣ Students keep own record of grades
‣ Long-term/group projects: divide into smaller goals and deadlines
‣ Peer review (must teach)
‣ Guided beginning for group seatwork then work the room
‣ Long-range monitoring - keep track of missing assignments

10. Chapter 3:
Managing Student Work
• Communicating assignments and work
requirements
‣ Instructions for assignments
- Oral explanation of requirements/rubric as well as visual aid on board
- Routine of copying down assignment
‣ Standards for form, neatness, and due dates
‣ Procedures for absent students
- Post weekly assignments or keep absentee folder
- Length for make-up
- Place for late work turn in and graded pick up
- Missed group work - assist groups in inclusion of absent members

11. Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start
• Perspectives on the beginning of the year
‣ Resolve student uncertainties: expectations, procedures, and rules -
opportunity for students to learn appropriate behavior
‣ Plan uncomplicated lessons to ensure student success
‣ Keep whole-class focus (group work should maintain this); prepare
extra credit or enrichment assignments; later introduce complex
activities
‣ Be available, visible, and in charge: work the room; praise, prompt,
leave
‣ Teacher authority: rights to set standards for behavior and performance
- Traditional, bureaucratic, expert/professional, charismatic
- Most teachers derive authority from several sources
- Authoritarian (control through threats and punishment) vs authoritative (provide
basis for actions/discipline, give students independence for maturity, and

12. Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start
• Planning for a good beginning
‣ Checking books out to students (wait until lockers have been assigned):
record book numbers, name stamp, cover
‣ Paperwork (hall pass, emergency forms, etc): all forms on hand and
separated in folders
‣ Rosters organized by period, noting accommodations for
seating/medication, 3x5: name, book #, attendance, grades until class
stabilized - useful for calling on students
‣ Seating assignments: learn names/attendance faster, class
management
‣ First-week bell schedule, tardiness leniency for first few days,
administrative tasks, rules
‣ Course requirements: tests, quizzes, hw contributions - parents sign?
‣ Beginning routine and alternative activities (wkst, puzzles, logic

13. Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start
• The first day of class
‣ Stand near door (sign w/name outside), make eye contact and smile,
correct any students that enter with unacceptable behavior, and make
sure students are in the correct room
‣ Administrative tasks (forms on hand), check attendance by raised
hands (not call-outs), teacher/student/course introductions
‣ Discussion of class rules and rationale/penalties, emphasizing benefits
to all, and presentation of course requirements
‣ Interesting initial content activity: should require little or no assistance,
which allows time for teaching procedures
- Explain what students are expected to do, list steps on board if complex,
demonstrate when possible, give corrective feedback
‣ Avoid pre-tests, small groups, projects, and individualized instruction
‣ Establish end-of-period routine

14. • The second day of classes
‣ If 1st day was short, review class procedures and follow 1st day
plan
‣ Identify new students and get them seated, re-state beginning-of-
class routine, review major rules and procedures
‣ Present content activity
‣ Close period with procedure introduced on day 1
• After the second day
‣ Continue using procedures, adding new ones as needed
‣ Monitor student behavior and give students feedback when their
behavior does not meet expectations
‣ Should start giving regular assignments for in-class and at home and
check work promptly using grading procedures
Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start

15. Chapter 5:
Planning and Conducting Instruction
• Planning classroom activities: types
‣ Openers to transition into the classroom (Do Now’s) and Closers
‣ Checking work: must teach appropriate procedures (different ink color)
‣ Recitation: oral check of student understanding, distribute questions to all members
of class, watch for too slow or too rapid pacing
‣ Content development: intro/extension of material, concepts, or skills; teacher
questions/collect work for understanding
‣ Discussion: encourage evaluation, awareness of other points of view, sharing of
opinions; requires planning prompting questions and management of activity
‣ Seatwork on previously presented material, start as class then independent work
‣ Test administration (plan work for early finishers)
‣ Student presentations and demos - give guidelines in advance, audience behavior
‣ Small-group work: lab work, promote greater comprehension, cooperative learning,
reciprocal teaching
‣ Tests and presentations/demonstrations

16. • Organizing activities - depends on number of
different topics covered in class; focus on see-
say-do
• Kounin: managing group instruction - activity flow
‣ Preventing misbehavior
- withitness and overlapping
‣ Managing lesson movement
- momentum (pacing) and smoothness (continuity; ex. dangle, thrust)
‣ Maintaining group focus
- group alerting (tell students they might be called on next)
- encouraging accountability (performance observed and evaluated)
- higher participation formats: write answers, read along during instruction
Chapter 5:
Planning and Conducting Instruction

17. • Transition management (see problems/solutions)
• Instructional management
‣ Planning
‣ anticipate problems (new terms and examples, demos)
‣ do homework to find difficulties - build hints in lesson
‣ infuse enthusiasm into lesson
‣ Presenting new content clearly: Learning objectives at beginning and
provide an outline for a complex lesson or video
‣ Checking for understanding: formative and summative assessments
- ask review questions
- discuss and solve problems as a group; recitation
- indicators (multiple choice question, “hands” to indicate response
Chapter 5:
Planning and Conducting Instruction

18. Chapter 6:
Managing Cooperative Learning Groups
• Research on cooperative learning
- Equal or greater learning than individualistic or competitive teaching
methods with effective cooperative groups due to increased
engagement with content; NEED feedback/instruction on how to
collaborate
• Strategies and routines that support cooperative
learning
- Room arrangement - line up desks to marks on floor for quick
transitions
- Talk and movement procedures: 6-inch voices, materials manager,
state timed movement expectation w/verbal reminders
- Group attention signals: MS raised hands, HS turn on projector and ask
for eyes at the front; avoid interruptions/present info ahead of time
- Promoting interdependence within groups: individual tasks (vary skills,
research different topic for report), group grades
- Individual accountability - id contributions, peer evaluation, individual

19. • Monitoring student work and behavior
‣ Work the room w/clipboard to write notes about all students about
satisfactory group functioning - note degree of explanation/demonstration
and use for feedback
‣ group and individual performance -self-monitor to identify difficulties
• Interventions
‣ Non/verbal redirect, time out/work alone, conference w/individual students,
conference w/entire group
• Effective group work skills:
‣ Social skills: teach active listening/sharing/support before group work
‣ Explaining skills: Rotate summarizer role, explain something to partner
and explain back, work as group to answer a question and present to
class
‣ Leadership skills: assign presenter/discussion leader roles to build skills
Chapter 6:
Managing Cooperative Learning Groups

20. • Beginning the use of cooperative learning groups
‣ Room arrangement, procedures, and routines
‣ Forming groups: star with pairs, working up to larger groups that have a
range of achievement levels, match extremes w/middle to motivate lower
achiever
‣ Initial group tasks to build skills: turn to your partner and explain/compare
answers, drill partner, reading buddy, checking, reviewers
‣ Teaching group skills: listening, explaining, asking for help, encouraging,
and sharing - introduce one/week and give feedback; assign and rotate
roles (keep on index cards w/behaviors) so everyone gains experience
‣ Using group and individual rewards to practice/improve skills - tickets for
good behavior for toy raffle/points for fun activities
Chapter 6:
Managing Cooperative Learning Groups

21. Chapter 7:
Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior
• Monitoring student behavior
‣ Student involvement in learning activities: “active eyes,” work the
room and don’t spend more than 1-2 min/student, start whole-group
activity
‣ Student compliance with classroom rules and procedures: clear
expectations that have been communicated to the class
• Consistency
‣ Inconsistency from unreasonable/inappropriate rules, no detection
of inappropriate behavior, not willing to enforce every time
‣ What to do if you are inconsistent
- Re-teach procedure (discuss problem) and enforce it
- Modify and reintroduce it
- Or, abandon it and substitute another in its place

22. • Prompt management of inappropriate behavior
‣ Eye contact/move closer and prompt appropriate behavior
‣ Reminder of procedure by stating correct one or note students who
are doing what is expected
‣ Redirect attention to task and monitor shortly thereafter
‣ Ask/tell student to stop inappropriate behavior
‣ Make it private: call to desk, whisper, nonverbal cues
‣ Briefly talk to student/assess penalties
‣ Time out at desk or another room
Chapter 7:
Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior

23. • Building a positive climate
‣ Communicate positive expectations to students: convey confidence
in students’ ability to do well, can do attitude, maintain high
expectations
‣ Appropriate teacher praise (public vs private): both informative
feedback and genuine teacher approval that focuses on
accomplishment, not effort
• Improving class climate through incentives or
rewards
‣ Grades (tie as many facets of work as possible) and recognition
(display work, certificate, verbal, stickers, improvement/conduct)
‣ Activities (PAT) and material incentives (food, games, books): relate
to behaviors most important to you (attendance, hw), everyone can
achieve it
‣ Caution of effect of rewards: enhance or hurt? - imperfect conditions
Chapter 7:
Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior

24. Chapter 8:
Communication Skills for Teaching
• Constructive assertiveness
‣ Clear statement of problem or concern and describing effects - reduces
student defensiveness, avoids labeling students/behavior, use
statements
‣ Unambiguous body language: eye contact, posture, facial expression
matches tone of statements
‣ Obtaining appropriate behavior and resolving the problem: student
needs to accept responsibility for behavior, dramatic emphasis for
evasive students
• Empathic responding
‣ Keeps lines of communication open between you and the student and
aids problem solving process
‣ Two components: listening skills and processing skills

25. • Problem solving
‣ Identify the problem: state purpose of meeting, get students point of
view/describe problem, ask students reaction; evaluate: help/hurt?
‣ Identify and select the solution: student suggestion, multiple teacher
alternatives; positive focus with plan for improvement
‣ Obtain a commitment: student acceptance for period of time followed by
evaluation (sometimes in a contract) with consequences if not followed
• Talking with parents
‣ Constructive assertiveness, empathetic responding, problem solving
‣ Express appreciation for parents’ efforts to meet,work w/them as a team
‣ Focus on choices student is making and how to encourage better
decisions
‣ Document concerns: student work and notes of behaviors
Chapter 8:
Communication Skills for Teaching

26. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• What is problem behavior?
‣ Nonproblem: brief inattention, transition talk
‣ Minor problem: students calling out, leaving seats, talk during group
work
‣ Major problem, but limited in scope/effects: chronically off-task, failure
to pass in hw assignments, vandalism, cheating
‣ Escalating or spreading problem: unabated social talking, back talk
• Goals for managing problem behavior
‣ Judge short-term (bad behaviors cease) and long-term effects
(prevention) of any management strategy chosen
‣ Optimal: Maintain/restore order w/out adversely affecting learning
environment; should prevent repetition of problem

27. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• Management strategies
‣ Minor interventions
- Nonverbal cues: finger to lips, head shake, hand signal, light touch to arm
- Get activity moving: quick transitions, all materials ready
- Proximity: zones of proximity, combine w/nonverbal cues
- Group focus: group alerting, accountability, higher participation format
- Redirect behavior: state what should be done, “everybody should be writing
answers to the practice problems”
- Provide needed instruction: check student work, whole-class instruction
- Brief desist: direct eye contact and assertiveness, combine w/redirection
- Give student a choice: behave appropriately or continue behavior
w/consequence, “choose to clean up now or say after class until area is clean”
- I-message: “it’s distracting to me and the class when you get out of your seat,”
learn awareness of effects of behavior on others

28. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• Management strategies
‣ Moderate interventions
- Withhold privilege and earn back w/appropriate behavior (sit near friends, work
together on project)
- Isolate/remove problem students: desk at back of room, time out, switch if
rewarding to student, time out or walk to principal’s office, labels student as
excludable
- Fine or penalty: extra work, but defined as punishment - quick to administer, but
content negatively affected, non-content (look up and copy 10 definitions)
- Detention best for behaviors that involve time (tardiness, time-wasting behavior)
or repeated rule violations; adv: disliked, administered away from classroom;
disadv: takes teacher time, student skipping, additional records
- Referral to office for fighting, vandalism, rudeness and disrespect; adv: effective
limit, short-circuit escalating situation; disadv: depends on others for
effectiveness, potential for discrimination; use sparingly

29. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• Management strategies
‣ More extensive interventions
- Design individual contract with student - problem solving
- Conference w/parent: describe situation and appreciate support that parent gives
to help understand and resolve problem, have grade book handy - require time
and energy
- Check (name on board)/demerit (record that student signs to accept
responsibility) system; adv: set/maintain limits, consequences are clear; disadv:
catch bad behaviors, hard to detect behaviors
- Problem solving
- “Think time” strategy - remove student to another teacher’s classroom, debriefing
form: what was behavior? what behavior do you need to display upon return?
- Reality therapy: establish caring relationship, focus on behavior, accept
responsibility, evaluate behavior, make plan, commitment to follow plan, following
up
- Peer mediation: students trained to listen/clarify issues, help negotiate, write

30. • Special problems
‣ Chronic avoidance of work: good records a must
- Ability: break assignment into parts/modify assignment
- Parent phone call, reach out to coaches, no grade leniency
‣ Fighting: injury if intervene? disperse crowd, get help
‣ Other aggressive behavior: all behavior, even if playful, is
unacceptable; respect others; one warning; separate students;
conference w/student
‣ Bullying: bullying prevention programs, monitor student behavior, talk
with class about behavior and effects, bully and victim problem solving,
involve school counselor, incorporate social skills training in class
‣ Disrespect/hostility towards teacher: don’t go brainstem
- Best to defuse: keep it private and individual conference with student
- Depersonalize: “This is taking time away from class. I will discuss it with you in
Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors

31. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Teaching heterogeneous classes
‣ Assessing entering achievement: previous tests, pre-tests, monitor
initial classwork (class notes, summary from book)
‣ Modifying whole group instruction: participation (pacing), procedures for
managing student work, thoughtful seating arrangement, assignments:
EC and enrichment, peer tutoring (expectations and management
skills)
‣ Cooperative work groups
‣ Small (homogeneous) group instruction: location of group/seating,
materials/storage/accessibility, student movement/transitions, out-of-
group procedures and expectations
‣ Mastery learning: re-take tests until proficient by providing increased
feedback
- Labor intensive: managerial skills, alt. forms of tests, extra grading, scheduling,
enrichment activities, recordkeeping
- Develop/introduce incrementally, due dates, specified days for test re-takes

32. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Teaching remedial classes
‣ Learner characteristics: high absence/tardies, arbitrary grades, frequent
failure, poor study skills, low attention span
‣ Establishing your management system: continually reinforce
procedures and routines, question class, practice, feedback
‣ Monitoring behavior and prompt responses
‣ Managing student work of daily/weekly grades for frequent feedback,
grade for effort/performance, incorporate participation (involvement,
learning, attendance)
‣ Planning and presenting instruction
- Short activity segments w/frequent assessment of understanding (see, say, do)
- Extra attention to presenting directions and instruction clearly
- Build teaching of study skills in lesson (note taking, identifying main ideas)

33. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Students with special needs
‣ Content mastery classroom: provide extra help, extra time for tests, staffed
w/special education teachers who can provide suggestions for adapting
teaching/management
‣ Inclusion - special education students in general education classrooms: IEPs,
regular planned meetings for progress and support, assignment modifications
‣ Emotional/behavioral problems
- communication with all, overlook minor inappropriate behavior, reinforce
acceptable behavior, identify/reduce/prevent stressors, temporary lowered
expectation on bad days, offer structured choices, allow leaving classroom
- remember you are convenient target, but not cause of anger
‣ Serious social deficits (ASD)
- odd social skills with poor communication skills, extreme anxiety to
change/unmet expectations, acute sensitivity to sounds, poor motor skills,
stereotyped movement
- use visual prompts, brief instructions (write down), social stories, strengths and

34. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Students with special needs
‣ ADHD:
- distractible, impulsive, disorganized
- predictability and structure, ask others what works best for them, make sure you
have their attention when giving clear/brief instructions, observe as they work,
remind/reinforce effort and accuracy over speed, finger card/marker for reading
‣ Deaf/hard-of-hearing: auditory devices, center of room seat, projector not
chalkboard, repeat/rephrase info, restate responses, close monitoring, note takers
‣ Bind/visually-impaired: board work - read aloud, tape recorders, hands-on work,
change in activity to prevent tiring, seat w/back to window, move as needed
‣ Extreme poverty: increased communication and relationship building, presentation
of non-weak image/insolence, extra materials/supplies, bracket anxieties, peer
buddy, provide underlying assumptions for behavior, + self-talk, help another
student
‣ Limited English proficiency: understanding of English, learn key words in native
lanuage, body language/gestures, visual aids, long receptive period before
confident in classroom, consult counselor if language barrier prevents benefit from