Classroom management and expectations are a teacher’s best friend or worst enemy. It depends on how well a teacher conveys them to the kids. Research I’ve read shows that the beginning of the year is the best time to declare your classroom rules and expectations. If you fail to get the point across at that time, you have exponentially less control in the classroom until year’s end. You might say it is the most crucial learning objective you’ll have. Most teachers I talk to agree the beginning of the year is the time to establish authority, rules, and expectations. What they don’t all agree on however is how to do it.
I knew one teacher who believed in passing out a handout with the rules and not going over them. I knew another who would would take the entire first week of the school year modeling, explaining, and getting the kids to act out every scenario imaginable. He actually used puppets and the kids would “ad-lib” scenarios with him such as: “Hey, imagine the puppet is a kid outside and he says: ‘Your momma is ugly.’” The kids would horse around and make the puppets fight. Then, that teacher would take the teaching opportunity to talk about how silly it is to fight over words. What he’s really doing is setting the stage for child discipline. I feel the second teacher had a much better approach.
I don’t focus solely on behavior management the whole first week, but I use most of it to set the curriculum aside and teach rules and expectations. I had kids the first week holding up crossed fingers and I had no idea why. I found out their teacher last year used that as a signal to go to the restroom. This is an example of why teachers should take time establishing new “grooves” of activity in the classroom. There is something called “affective filter” that hinders kids from feeling comfortable learning and taking risks in the classroom. When the rules are unclear, an anxiety permeates the room. This anxiety can keep kids from learning to their potential and cause all sorts of mayhem.
I don’t recommend an entire week of nothing but rules and expectations but I think at least half a week with time for followup is a must.
Last week I noticed on Thursday that my kids were still not quite sure how I check for understanding. My method is different from many teachers as you may know if you’ve read my pieces on that. To summarize it, I say the question, wait, and then call on a random non-volunteer. This breaks with the traditional method of checking for understanding by forward questioning. I decided I would review and practice it until the kids were “awake” and answering when their number was called. They eventually did get it and we are ready to start the year strong. When things like this work, I share them here as teacher tips.
Have you thought about your style of class management? Is there a way you could convey it more clearly at the beginning of the year?
Whether you are learning or teaching, it’s important to not over stuff your brain. Studies have shown that the mind cannot absorb more than three things at a time. So, if you are writing, don’t make more than 3 main points or they will be wasted on over-fed minds. If you are looking to read and understand something, break it down into three or less main categories. Yellow pads are great for this. You’d do well to “space out” the time you have to study as well. The 
