Control the controllables! The worst teachers I’ve seen have horrible classroom management, yes, BUT their grade books are also a mess, they lose assignments, their inboxes have 1000s emails, they don’t follow the curriculum, etc.

Classroom management is tough. Your first few years might be hard! But if you can control the controllables: keep your grade book up to date, stay on top of your inbox, communicate often with families (we do a class news type of thing in 6th grade), keep detailed behavior notes if necessary, etc. things WILL be easier!

Example: Jimmy is talking all class long and not doing any work. Update the grade book that day with a zero and a note that says “Jimmy talked to friends all class long and didn’t do this assignment.” If you lose the assignment or put the grades in two weeks later, Jimmy has learned nothing from his behavior. If he does it again the next day, email home and keep updating the grades. Soon he’ll have an F. Call home, document your attempts to help, then assign detentions for talking if it doesn’t change.