13 Classroom Management Tips for the New Year

The alarms are set, the bags are packed, and a fresh start is here! As we kick off the second half of the school year, I’m sharing classroom management tips and teaching ideas to help you hit the ground running in the New Year. 

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1. Set the Tone

Be excited to be back!  Let your students know that you missed them.  Be a source of comfort, especially for younger students who may be missing parents and home.  Share some fun units and activities that are coming up.  This will get them looking forward to what this semester has to offer.

A super fun activity to do upon your return… making salt snowflakes!!! Follow this simple activity to create beautiful snowflakes without all of the glitter mess. Add some writing for a cute “Welcome Back” bulletin board.

2. Keep Morning Work Easy

Our students will most likely be coming back tired.  Let’s give them a little bit of time to ease back into school mode. The mornings are a good place to start.  Some ideas for possible morning work include…

• Morning Tubs (play-doh, tangrams, I Spy activities)
• Write/Draw about Winter Break
• Easy review pages

3. Share Time

Allowing students to share about their winter break now will save you A LOT of time throughout the week.  Of course, they want to tell you and their classmates what they did, so let’s get to it!  Some possible ways kids can share are…

• In small groups (3-4 kids)
• Whole group with a sentence starter… “My favorite part of winter break was…”
• Write the teacher a letter about your break
• Musical Partners (play music as kids walk around the room, music stops and they share; repeat)
• Write about your break and share in Author’s Chair
• Make it a “mini” party (talk about break over hot cocoa and cookies)

4. Intentional Procedure Practice 

Just like us, students need time and practice to settle back into school routines after a break. Since they’ve been out of the daily routine for a while, this is the perfect time to revisit key procedures that impact your day most—like lining up, bathroom routines, and whole group instructional time. Reviewing these expectations helps reset the tone, strengthen classroom management, and set students up for a successful rest of the year.

Get those listening ears back on track as well by including some Listen and Color activities into your lesson plans the first couple of weeks back. You can even theme them with topics you may be teaching in other subject areas.

 5. Zero In On Positive Behavior

Going along with #4, set your expectations in a positive manner.  Start this semester off by keeping you and your students happy with a positive outlook.  Spend more time pointing out desired behaviors and less time paying attention to the negative ones.  Here are some neat reward tickets you can use with your students!

I know that focusing on the positive and ignoring the negative behaviors is easier said than done, but make it a New Year’s resolution to “smother your students with kindness”.  You will find that it makes you have a better day too!  Having a positive classroom management system is always the best plan.

6. Take Time to Review

I know that you have a ton of material to cover, especially with today’s world of high-stakes testing in the spring.  Take the time to review what was taught the month or so before winter break began.  Going back over that material in the first few days will get your students on the right track to learning new material in the coming weeks/months.

Use activities that your students love to review the material.  Play some games (Jeopardy, Around the World, Fact Fluency Challenge), or use activities that get them moving in the classroom (Find Someone Who…, Write the Room, etc.).  This is also a great way to know what was retained over break and what needs to be retaught before moving on.

7. Set Learning Goals for the New Year

Have your students reflect on what they want to learn by the end of the school year.  Students set their end goal (ex. to read at 75 wpm on my fluency test), and then identify small steps needed to reach that goal (complete my fluency passage homework nightly, practice heart words, etc.)  They can write a goal or two for Reading, Writing, Math, and other areas.  These goals would be great to share with parents during spring conferences.

8. Embrace Technology 

Let’s be honest—many of our students spent a good chunk of winter break on a screen. Instead of fighting it, let’s embrace it and make it work for us! Using digital instructional slides is an easy way to get students engaged while simplifying your teaching and saving yourself time.

• Phonics
• Math
• Writing
• Get Up & Go Brain Breaks

9. Classroom Management by Over Planning

Just like the beginning of the school year, have some extra easy-to-complete activities for your students to do in case lessons run shorter than planned.  These can be fun, but academic (possibly a review of past skills).  It is a great way to spiral in old skills, especially in preparation for testing coming up.

10. Use Brain Breaks

With winter comes bad weather and unfortunately, indoor recess.  It is really hard to keep students focused all day when they don’t get the chance to be outside and be “kids”.  We all know that when recess is canceled, our classroom management issues go through the roof.  Schedule a few “brain breaks” into your day to give them time to “get their energy out”.  Some ideas include…

• Dance party
• Yoga poses
• Class game (Heads Up, 7 Up, Simon Says)
• 5-minute exercises (there are many movement videos on YouTube for students)
• Board/Card games (limit game time to 5-10 minutes)

11. Plan an Art Activity

The first week back is an excellent time to freshen up your bulletin boards.  Plan an art/writing/science/social studies/math activity that can be posted on your bulletin boards or walls. 

Allowing the students to help decorate the room gives them a stronger sense of belonging to the class community.  This type of activity also tends to be open-ended and a little less structured, which helps students ease back into the school routine.

12. Give Yourself Grace

It won’t be perfect on Day 1—and that’s okay. Both you and your students are adjusting back into routines after time away, and that transition takes patience and practice. Instead of aiming for immediate perfection, focus on being consistent with your expectations, routines, and follow-through during the first couple of weeks. Revisit procedures as needed, offer gentle reminders, and celebrate small wins along the way. With steady consistency, your classroom will quickly settle back into a calm, productive rhythm.

13. Clean House

If you didn’t before the break, now is a great time for students to completely clean out their desks, tables, folders, and backpacks.  It’s also a good opportunity to replenish student supplies (pencils, glue sticks, crayons, etc.).  Use this time to create a “supply needs” letter to send home to families letting them know what you will need for the remainder of the school year.

If you have any awesome classroom management tips for getting back into the routine with your students after the break, please share them in the comments section below.  We would love to hear what great things you do with your students these first weeks back!

Written by: Janessa Fletcher

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