TL:DR
Proactive Classroom Management is complex, but the key is to deliver consequences with empathy while maintaining students’ dignity and self concept. Effective proactive classroom management helps build a positive math community.

Proactive Classroom Management to Build Math Community

Reality is, problems occur in community. Every community on earth has problems… people make mistakes, students disrupt our classrooms, and bad choices are made. However, what we do in the face of those mistakes and problems is what can build and strengthen our community.

So, on today’s episode we’re diving into what we can do when some common classroom management issues arise in our math communities. 

Proactive classroom management is something I think we work on no matter what year we are in our teaching. We can always get better at communication as humans, and that is what classroom management is– it is communicating the expectations and the boundaries and the response or consequences if those expectations are not met. 

One thing I learned pretty early in my career was that our job was not to just provide clam to the chaos, but to use our classroom as a way to help students’ grow their character. Fay & Funk wrote a book called Teaching with Love and Logic in 1995 and they say this,

“Character is built out of a formula that involves three things: a child making a mistake, an adult feeling empathy & compassion for the child, and the child learning from the consequences of his/her actions.”

Teaching with Love and Logic, 1995

The shift in my mindset upon hearing this was the– adult feels empathy and compassion for the child. It is REALLY frustrating when kids don’t listen or when they do things that are clearly against our norms and expectations. However, everything changed in my classroom community when I started looking at their mistakes and bad choices as opportunities to help them. After all, that’s why I’m a teacher. I like to help. 

Preserving Self Concept with Proactive Classroom Management

And further Fay & Funk talk a lot about preserving or enhancing self concept. Self concept is the way we see ourselves, the beliefs we hold about who we are. Our dignity is how we feel we are worthy of respect. These are two things that need to be considered when we are redirecting or managing a classroom of students. The weight of this work is real… 

Let me pause and say, this is NOT me up on my high horse. I am a yeller. I truly lost the highest octave of my voice in my first year of teaching. I didn’t know how to get kids to do what I said… so I yelled, tried to be firm, and it never worked. It did work in the short term because students would stop to see me yelling and loosing my shit. And now looking back I see that it was silly and embarrassing. However, there is nothing we can do about the past, it is about the choices we make going forward. Luckily for myself and my students I learned a better way. One where the community was prioritized and students feelings of safety and belonging were of utmost importance. 

Adult Agreements about Proactive Classroom Management

#1 Students can be in control of their behaviors, because all students can.

#2 We, the adults, are here to help students through mistakes with empathy. 

#3 Choices provide students with agency and dignity.

#4 We will do something and students understand that their choices result in consequences (positive & negative)

Overall Tips for Proactive Classroom Management

• Scan the pool 
• Seek to understand first 
• Give students a voice 
• Provide lots of little choices “fill the tank” 
• Deliver delayed consequences & utilize the clam down time

Steps to Respond to Classroom Behaviors

1. Scan the pool & identify a problem. 
2. Seek to understand what is going on– observe and ask questions.
3. Enforceable statement
   “We sit during grapple time.” “Students who want to participate put their thumb on their knee.” “I’ll call on you when you’re in your seat and calm.” “You can go to the bathroom once you’ve completed the first problem.” 
   If behaviors continue… 
4. Give a choice.
   “I notice you still haven’t started. You can start your work or you can work on this during choice time.” “You continue to call out. You can go to the take a break space to re-group or you can raise your hand.”
5. Give student a prompt to take a break.
   “Please go to your seat. You can come back when you are ready to raise your hand and speak.” *Notice this is now not a choice 
6. Follow up to Debrief. Now it’s all about breaking down what happened and how we will learn from it.
   That might sound like, “So, you were feeling really talkative today in class. Then you got sent back to your seat because you kept calling out. What do you think about that?”
   *Here students will either take responsibility for their actions or require you to have a more structured restorative conversation.
   “Yeah, you were mad that  you had to leave the carpet. I understand that being excluded doesn’t feel good. Do you have any ideas of why I had to adk you to leave? It is my job to keep everyone safe and learning. You calling out was distracting students from the learning. They weren’t given a chance to think because youw ere yelling out the answers. What could you do next time so you can stay at the carpet with us?
   *If the student doesn’t have any ideas or doesn’t answer…
   “Would you like to hear some of my ideas about that?” 

A child won’t solve the problem or a student doesn’t know how to get started 

What do you do when…

1. Observe & Ask 
2. Provide some support at understanding the problem and ensure it’s not a math issue 
3. Offer a break 
4. “We’ll have to talk about this at recess. If you choose not to participate and grow your brain now, then you’ll have to do it later.” 

Students are distracting others by chatting 

1. Observe and ask 
2. Provide a choice with an enforceable statement.– You are welcome to stay with us as long as you and others are not being bothered.
3. Move seat. “Sit here. When I see you are able to work calmly without distracting others I will allow you to go back to your seat.” 
4. Debrief
   

A student avoids work by going to the bathroom, getting a drink, etc.

1. Observe & ask 
2. Provide some support with understanding the problem. 
3. Feel free to go to the bathroom after you’ve done the first problem. 
4. Debrief- this one specifically requires you to get to the root cause.
   
   I’m doing a video training on these types of restorative conversations on in my Facebook group- Math Teachers Honest Math Chat

Misusing Manipulatives (throwing, building)

1. Observe & ask 
2. Enforceable statement. We use our manipulatives like this (show) or quietly, as tools, etc. You can use them properly or I will have to take them away. 
3. Take the manipulatives away. 
4. Debrief later 

A student is wandering around the room during small group time or Building Thinking Classrooms, vertical non-permanent surfaces (White Board) time?

1. Observe & ask 
2. Enforceable statement. You are welcome to learn with us at the whiteboards as long as you and others are not being bothered. 
3. Move to an independent seat/ away from others 
4. Debrief later

Other Classroom Management Articles:

33 Math Culture Starts with a Strong Math Vision

What is a Student Centered Math Classroom?

How to Build a Community in a Classroom in 3 Simple Steps