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Sound Strategies

Classroom Management 101

Julie Elcook
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When I first began teaching my biggest fear was classroom management. I understood how to write a lesson plan, how to break down bigger concepts into smaller parts, how to sequence, but managing a room full of kids was very intimidating. I observed teachers who cried in front of me during their planning time because the students were not cooperating, only increasing my fear.
Over my 23 years in teaching, I have overcome that fear and received high marks in the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System. My successful teaching experiences stemmed from not only a well managed classroom but highly engaging lessons with my students. Below are some classroom management tips (warning: these are not hard and fast, they are flexible).
1. Assigned seats:
  • Put students in assigned seats on day one. Maintain the expectation that they use their assigned seats. (Learning names is much easier as you can refer to your seating chart)
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2. Short list of rules:
  • Express your rules as simply as possible.
  • Ensure your rules are broad enough to cover multiple scenarios.
    • Examples: Listen, Participate, Respect are posted
      • Listen to each other while talking, singing, playing and listen to directions.
      • Participate correctly so you can earn a good grade and so we can practice the skills being taught.
      • Show respect to the teacher, your peers, and the instruments.
3. Chunk and vary your activities.
  • Kids, especially young kids, have short attention spans. By chunking the learning up over several lessons and including different activities you can keep them better engaged. Remember, busy kids are usually better-behaved kids.

Example lesson outline:

a. Warm-up Routine:
  • Rhythm reading
    • Use the same patterns for various grade bands to save time
    • Expect to spend only two or three minutes on reading through the rhythms
  • Slide whistle-vocal sirens/vocal warm-ups
    • One to two minutes vocal exercise
  • Solfege exercises
    • Sing and sign different patterns for them to echo for about 30 seconds
    • Sight-singing on 2 or 3 line staff occasionally

b. Rote teach London Bridge:
  • Review song learned last lesson
  • Add non-pitched ostinato to song
  • Learn game for song to play next lesson
  • If time, review previously learned songs
4. Don’t take things personally:
  • A child is allowed to have their own opinion, but they aren’t allowed to be rude or disrespectful.
  • Be direct when correcting behavior.
5. Intervene before they escalate beyond reason:
  • If two children are arguing, move toward them immediately. Usually things will de-escalate faster.
  • Whispering, over-explaining, and simply stating a consequence and then moving on with the lesson will sometimes keep things calm.
  • Bring attention back to yourself by doing something silly.
6. Let it go:
  • One of the most important parts of classroom management is providing a clean slate. Holding grudges against a student, making comments to them or at them constantly, talking about them negatively in front of them to another teacher may cause the child to continue to act out.
7. Call the counselor:
  • Do not assume behaviors are all aimed at you because the child doesn’t like you. The child may be in the middle of a huge change in their life or might be experiencing traumatic events. If they are responding to normal discipline and consequences in a concerning matter, immediately make your counselor aware and document as soon as you can. This may help the student get the services they need faster.
  • We are mandatory reporters, so talk to your administrators and counselors immediately if you are unsure if the behavior constitutes a call to CPS. Talk to them as soon as you suspect anything because you want to report asap if necessary.
My biggest piece of advice is to stay as calm as possible (you will break this rule at some point because we are human). One warning and then the consequence. It will save you a lot of write-ups and your class will run much smoother. Also, MODIFY! As my former college jazz instructor, Jan Diehl, said, “Steal what you can and make it your own.”
Again, nothing is fool proof, and nothing works 100% of the time. You will be befuddled and taken aback quite a bit. You will have to grant yourself grace and remember to accept your mistakes and apologize sincerely. I’ve messed up so many times, and I know I will again but I aim to reset and try again the next day!
Julie Elcook is a 23-year public school veteran teacher. She has experience teaching Kindergarten through 12th grade. She currently teaches K-6th General Music and 5th/6th Grade Band. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education from the College of Mount St. Joseph and her Master of Music Education from the University of Dayton. She completed Orff Schulwerk Level III at Baldwin Wallace College and began her Kodaly training at Indiana University. She is also a semi-professional musician and a current member of the Cincinnati Wind Band.