Classroom Management Ideas
This article contains a few classroom management ideas for those pesky
classroom rituals that need more emphasis than the one-liners on your
rule list.
If you're a new middle school teacher you may not yet know the
importance of the following two classroom management ideas. They truly
will be the two instances where classroom control can be totally lost
if not implemented correctly and from the first day of school!
Classroom Rituals
- the Bathroom Policy
Sound silly to you? It's NOT! The bathroom is the single, most
controversial, most argued, most interruptive aspect of a middle school
classroom. 
Students are always trying to
get to it.
Parents are always trying to argue about it.
Teachers are always trying to keep students from abusing
it and parents from arguing about it.
How you handle the bathroom pass will also depend on
your overall school rules so be sure
to check with them first.
Bathroom Policy
Keep a notebook (very sturdy and a bright color) on the chalk tray at
front of class.
Separate by week and class (each class has their own
page). Students are allowed 2 bathroom passes from THE class period a
week. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Do not interrupt the middle of a lesson to ask for the
bathroom pass. Be respectful of your fellow students and teachers when
obtaining permission.
You have at least 4 other times that you can use the
rest room so be sure to take care of your business on your time if
you’ve run out of passes in this class!
The only students exempt from this policy are ones who
have a doctors note ON FILE in the office.
Classroom Rituals - the
Late Policy
Some schools have bells, some don’t. Whichever way your school is run,
be sure you’ve posted the class block times in a very visible position
for your students to see. That way there is no argument about start and
end times.
Late Policy
All Students
must be on time to class. This
includes at the start of each class period, after lunch, and after
electives/PE. Consequences for lateness are:
1st Time Late:
Warning
2nd Time Late:
Phone Call Home
3rd Time Late:
Office Referral
You are only excused if you have a pass from another
teacher with a signature and time. I will keep track of your late
mistakes. Resets once a term. If you become a repeat offender, you will
lose all locker privileges and have to carry your all your belongings
to every class. This will prevent you from lingering in the hallway.
Keep Classroom Control
Don’t make the mistake of letting these extremely important classroom
rituals go untended to. Without implementing a policy for these two
occurrences, you WILL inevitably end up losing classroom control when a
student tries to go to the bathroom in the middle of a lecture or shows
up late for the third time in a week. If these classroom management
ideas don’t work for you, definitely figure out some that do.
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