Middle School Classroom Management

"Middle school is a whole new experience. The difference between middle school and high school isn’t anywhere near as great as the difference between elementary school and middle school. So, for some of our students, the transition is not particularly easy," said former superintendent Suzanne Tingley.

Tingley’s Inside the School online seminar reviewed Middle School Classroom Management techniques, characteristics, academic challenges and social concerns for middle school students. Her presentation also offered strategies middle school teachers can use for academic management, classroom management and bullying prevention.

One of the main challenges middle school students face is adjusting from elementary school into their new routine in middle school.

"Now, instead of having reading, math, social studies and science with just maybe two teachers, and one or maybe two rooms, students will move from room to room. Time becomes more important. Reading just doesn’t flow into math, give or take a few minutes," Tingley said.

This speedy transition can make it hard for the students to transition into subjects physically and mentally.

"The bell rings and you have to move. And this is why, at the beginning of middle school, combination locks are the bane of a student’s existence. It takes a while for students to figure out what materials they’re going to need for all of their classes, before they can return to their lockers," Tingley said.

In addition to the bell schedules and the lockers, students have the option of participating in co-curricular activities. These activities support students’ education, but they also challenge middle school students. There are many middle school classroom management issues.

"In some large middle schools, in sports and clubs, there may be try-outs, and there may be cuts," Tingley said. "In some large schools, a student’s soccer career, or basketball career is over at eighth grade if he or she doesn’t make the cut. The same may be true of band, or orchestra, or chorus. In middle school, the competition is tougher, and students have to start all over again to make a reputation for themselves, for good or for bad."

Middle school students make choices that affect their status among their peers. It’s a confusing time for these kids. They’re trying to fit in without sticking out. They’re dealing with homework and hormones. In addition to their changing adolescent bodies, these kids are dealing with bullies, too.

"They are intertwined. You know that middle school students mature at different rates. The girls may be taller, and very likely they’re going to be more mature than the boys," Tingley said. "However, girls are going to begin to wonder if being smart is going to keep them from being popular, and they may adjust accordingly. Height and weight suddenly become crucial issues over which students have no control, everyone wants to be normal, whatever that is."

When dealing with bullying Tingley said to be proactive, because being the target of a bully can make a child’s life miserable. Cyberbullying is one of the main middle school classroom management issues.

"[Bullying] can keep him or her from studying, from participating in school activities, and maybe even from coming to school. It can literally make a child sick," Tingley said. "With boys, it can be physical in an attempt to intimidate. With girls, as noted in a great deal of current research, it tends to be social, and it often takes the form of exclusion. It is serious business."

Bullying isn’t just kids being kids, she said, and ignoring a bully almost never works. In fact, Tingley said, suggesting that a student ignore the bully implies that the bullying is partially the victim’s fault. Adults who suggest that a student ignore a bully are offering the student an implied criticism – that the bullied student is too weak to handle a little bullying. She said that schools need to face the bullying problem head on and create a middle school classroom plan for dealing with it.

"You’re going to listen to what the bully said. You’re going to talk to the bully. You’re not going to prove that the student is a bully," Tingley said. "You’re simply going to deliver the message. And unless [the bullying is] egregious, you’re going to ignore the past. The plan starts today."

Tingley’s middle school behavior management plan strategies include the manner and tone of a teacher’s voice. She said when dealing with a difficult student to move closer, speak softly, never threaten, always use a respectful tone and never use sarcasm.

"Responding in a professional manner reassures the other students in the class that you are in charge, and it may keep the challenge from escalating," Tingley said. "When a teacher uses sarcasm, there’s a good chance that the student will not only be hurt and angry, but very possibly permanently alienated. The teacher who uses sarcasm unfairly uses his or her position of power and authority."

Tingley said that even though middle school students act out, teachers should enjoy each student and take advantage of the students’ youth and energy.

"Despite some of the challenges, a really great thing about teaching middle school is that you can introduce students to some interesting academic topics, and they can be still really enthusiastic. They look to you for guidance, especially when some of them aren’t getting steady and dependable adult guidance at home, maybe," Tingley said. "They are amazingly candid and honest. They aren’t little kids, but some days they act like they are. Other days, they can be thoughtful and pensive. They laugh easily. They’re easily hurt. It’s a challenge, but it is a rewarding challenge."