Middle school classroom management is very important.
Do you wonder why your colleagues don’t spend their time complaining about the little things? Do you look into their classrooms and wonder why they got the perfect class AGAIN?
If you asked your colleagues, they would probably tell you that they worked hard from the first day of school to set the tone and structure of their classes.
In this blog post, I will share some middle school classroom management strategies that can be implemented at any time of the year.
The Importance of Middle School Classroom Management
Building professional student-teacher relationships is one of the most important parts of any middle school classroom management plan. Many teachers fall into the trap of wanting to be the “cool” teacher or “best friends” with their students. Students need adults they can depend on, not another friend.
Building Relationships
At the start of the year, allow students to give input into classroom rules and expectations. I give students time to share what makes a good classroom learning environment – stressing the “learning environment” as the key focus.
Meet each student at the door as they walk into the room. I often say hello and remind them of what materials they need. This is a positive way to start class. I try to notice when a student has something different and complement them, whether it’s a haircut, pencil case, shoes, etc.
Walk around the room as students work to check on their progress and ask them questions about their lives. Many tweens and teens love to chat about their hobbies, interests and jobs.
If you want to read more ways you can build relationships with your students, check out these blog posts:
- Building Classroom Relationships Through Conversation Part 1
- Building Classroom Relationships Through Conversation Part 2
You can also build relationships and a classroom community through daily attendance questions. To learn more, read the post, 22 Interesting Ways to Use Daily Attendance Questions.
Another critical component of middle school classroom management is organization, not only of the physical classroom space but of daily lessons.
Be Organized
Write on your chalkboard or use a digital template (e.g. Google Slides) to share the daily lesson schedule with students. This saves answering the question “What are we doing today?” thirty different times.
Keep lessons organized using a binder or digital method. This allows students who are absent to easily get caught up and assists students who need additional organizational support.
The easiest way to collect papers from students is to assign each student a number that aligns with their location on the class list. I assign these numbers to students during the first week of school so that they get used to writing their numbers on every paper that I collect.
This also helps with accountability and organization during fire drill attendance. During fire drills, once all the students are outside, I have them quickly line up alphabetically to make attendance faster.
For more classroom organization strategies, check out these posts:
- Classroom Organization Ideas
- Classroom Organization Hacks
- How To Teach Students Organization Skills
- Useful Rotary Classroom Organization Ideas
- Classroom Organization Tips For New Teachers
- 3 Easy Ways to Help Middle School Students Organize Their Thinking
- Helpful Middle and High School Classroom Organization and Setup Ideas
- Professional Development Organization: Managing the Overwhelming Paper Load
- Virtual Classroom Organization Tip: How to Make a Digital Table of Contents with Google Sheets
Another great classroom management tool are lessons that help to create a classroom community. This free Pet-Themed Digital Escape Room can help promote teamwork, encourage problem solving, and get students moving in the classroom. You can get this resource by signing up for the 2 Peas and a Dog email list.
Keeping parents informed about classroom curriculum, success, and challenges is another important component of middle school classroom management.
Parent Communication
In this blog post, Parent Communication: It’s Not Just For Elementary School, learn about strategies for positive and negative communication and how best to involve students in this process. From phone calls and letters to technology and social media, find out what other middle and high school ELA teachers are doing to improve parent communication in the classroom.
In this blog post, Effective Parent-Teacher Communication: Keeping the Lines Open, read about quality Ed Tech tools for parent communication. This is a very important part of classroom life that can benefit from integrating technology. You might also want to check out the blog post, Creating Positive Parent-Teacher Relationships.
Finally, don’t discount the importance of seating plans. See how I use these effectively in my classroom. You can also use my Flexible Seating Choice Cards, which provide students with variety in their seating plan and can be used to help students get to know more students. You can also find flexible seating ideas in this blog post, 5 Budget Friendly Flexible Seating Ideas.
By investing time and energy into your middle school classroom management, positive things will happen in your classroom.
Looking for more middle school classroom management advice? In this blog post, Classroom Management Routines and Procedures For Middle and High School Classrooms, you can see what other middle and high school teachers do in their classrooms.
Remember, effective middle school classroom management takes time and practice. Having a strong teacher support system and finding strategies to prevent teacher burnout should also be a priority.
For more information on middle school classroom management, check out these posts:
- Top Classroom Management Tips
- 10 Fantastic Middle School ELA Routines
- ELA Classroom Routines In Middle School
- Classroom Management in the Music Classroom
- 10 Great Tips For Teaching Middle School Students
- Great Classroom Management Strategies For Middle School
- 7 Creative Ways To Make Partners and Groups in the Classroom
- Back to School: Classroom Management Tips and Resources
- Effective Middle School Classroom Management Resources for Teachers
- Incorporating Key Social Emotional Learning Techniques into Middle School Lessons
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