The Perfect Classroom Management Strategy for Middle School

Are you looking for an easy way to keep your class under control? This 15-minute classroom management strategy only requires a whiteboard, an EXPO marker, and seconds of your time. Your students will work towards a 15-minute goal by acquiring seconds for completing tasks such as turning in homework, entering the classroom appropriately, and completing Bell Ringers on time. A whole class reward will be given at the end of the allotted time frame. Your students will get so excited about winning they won’t even realize that this is the easiest classroom management system you’ve ever used.

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[jean-mariesimpson]

I'm doing this for my freshman and it works!! They are holding each other accountable!! They are making it a competition between classes !! Their reward is a movie day when they reach the 15 minutes

[BornTeachAndGrow]

I know this video is old but I just came across it and LOVE this idea. I will be a middle school teacher in the fall coming from elementary and will definitely be doing this!!!

[colestersclassroom-teachin]

Very clever strategy for several reasons. It’s positive. It creates a collaborative effort. Students hold each other accountable. Well done. I may use it for my high school students.

Keep being awesome!

[weaponizedcuriousity]

Absolutely going to implement this in my new social studies class! Thank you for sharing!

[caitp]

I love this! I am going to implement after winter break!

[leilafranco]

I am one of those strict teachers and I am aware that I get burned out if I always try to have my students follow expectations. Thanks for this. I will try it with my kids, but it may also be hard to keep track of or come up with a reward.

[Greg]

Can you please share some examples of ways your students spent their 15-minute reward?

[gatekeepersacredshapes]

Great strat! I use 2 minute breaks. I have 80 minute long classes and I build 3 to 4 two minute breaks into each class period. If the students come in as expected and start their work, they get their first break after about 10 to 15 of a BR. If something went wrong with the way they entered, I use their first 2 minute break to talk about entering expectations. So basically they either work towards their next 2 minute break, or I use that 2 minute break to talk about an expectation that went wrong during a certain time of class or chunk of information I was teaching. They keep each other accountable because they want their 2 min breaks to be free time and not an expectation review. 2 minutes is enough to for them to get up and walk around, but not enough to start getting on each other's nerves or run around. I teach 6th grade at a completely free lunch, title 1 school. So my students tend to get toxic with each other due to poor social skills or just by seeing how their toxic parents talk to them etc.

[Nymeria]

This is so clever! So going to steal this idea

[angelaclairecostoy]

This is great! Could you suggest an attractive visual aid to ďisplay the seconds adding up?

[thetruthwillsetyoufree]

This would work if my principal wouldn’t tell me to teach bell to bell. I used to give students a 10 minute break based on their behavior, and he came in and said that it was too long. 😒

[nicoleolden]

What are some examples of rewards they have chosen/you gave them for their time?

[helenamccutcheon]

I’d love to hear some other options the kids suggested

[theombrehombre]

What is the average time to get to 15 minutes?

[tishanorman]

How does this work for multiple class periods? You just keep the seconds in different spots? I have two really good classes, and four wild periods.

[annamariacorino]

How long do you think it usually takes to reach the 15 minutes? My concern is that they would reach it too fast and then get too many rewards? If that is possible... lol

[katiecase]

Curious—how long does your whole class reward last? Is it 15 minutes? Or whole class period?

[jackiebentsen]

Would it be wise to take off seconds for bad behavior or is it better to just keep it positive and simply award no seconds for bad behavior?

[rebecca.menashe]

What do you for 15 min they can do whatever they want?

[nhwkxgc]

What are they doing with the time when they get?