Most teachers respond to losing control too late.
They wait until they can’t even get their class quiet and seated before making changes. But trying to gain control of an already out-of-control class is exceptionally difficult.
It takes expert knowledge, skill, and a wholesale restart of your classroom.
It’s far easier to recognize the signs that you’re headed toward a cliff than it is to wait until you’ve reached terminal velocity.
So what follows are 17 signs you’re definitely, 100 percent losing control of your class.
- Your students talk during instruction.
- Behavior worsens as the day goes on.
- Transitions take longer than 30 seconds.
- Your students are messy and don’t clean up after themselves.
- Your students don’t get along well with each other.
- Your class can’t walk in a quiet line.
- You have to bribe your students into compliance.
- Your lessons are frequently interrupted.
- Your students are often confused.
- Your students laugh while you’re serious.
- Your class is disruptively energetic.
- You often repeat yourself.
- The same students misbehave every day.
- Your students don’t listen well.
- Independent work time isn’t silent.
- Behavior has gotten worse as the year has gone on.
- You’re stressed-out at the end of every day.
You must act now.
The moment you notice your class going off the rails, you must stop everything, return to the previous transition, and reteach what you expect in exacting detail—which may also include your classroom management plan.
This is the secret to never losing control.
Great teachers always have their wet finger in the air. If they sense anything amiss, however small or subtle, they reverse course immediately and fix it.
In other words, they never move on until they’re getting exactly what they want from their students.
It’s the relentless pursuit of success from one moment to the next that not only negates the possibility of losing control, but assures a calm, well-behaved classroom every day.
PS – Check out this week’s YouTube videos:
1. How to Handle Students Who Give You Attitude
2. Why Students Stop Listening to Teachers
3. The Fastest Way to Regain Control of Your Class
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