We all want our mini lessons, one on one conferences, and small groups to run as smooth as silk. But without classroom management strategies that work in our back pocket this will likely not happen. I like to think of classroom management as a solid foundation to student success in your classroom. Take a look at the delicious cake below. This will help me explain why classroom management is so important for mini lessons.
Classroom management strategies are the foundation to not only keeping your mini lessons short and sweet; but to also ensure that you have enough time for one-on-one conferences, small groups, and partnerships. As you look at the cake above, classroom management is the yellow plate. It will hold the cake and keep it from toppling over when you pick it up to move it to another place. Without effective classroom management strategies, implementing the four tiers of this cake will be very challenging to do.
Making sure we stay in the 10-minute range for live mini lessons is very important. I know it is not always easy to do this, especially when you are trying to manage negative behaviors or have a lot of interruptions. There is so much going on that can cause your mini lessons to go longer than you want. So, here are a few classroom management strategies that you can use to keep your mini lessons short and sweet!
Classroom Management Goal For Teachers: Demonstrate and practice what minilessons should look like, feel like, and sound like.
One classroom management goal for teachers, especially at the beginning of the school year, should be demonstrating and practicing with students what a mini lesson should look like, feel like, and sound like. It will be important for students to know when it’s time for a mini lesson, how to transition to the meeting area quickly, and what materials they need to bring. You definitely don’t want to stop in the middle of the mini lesson to have them go get these materials.
Have you thought about what students can do after they get to the meeting area, and they’re waiting for the mini lesson to begin? You will have some students transition to the meeting area super fast. While other students are going to take their sweet old time getting there. Maybe you can have students reread anchor charts from previous mini lessons while they wait. They can set up their readers' notebook with the learning target for the lesson. Or you might have them reread partner time expectations so they are ready for the active engagement part of the mini lesson.
Because there are so many things to plan out ahead of time to ensure your students know what it’s gonna take to have a successful mini lesson; I made a list of 20 things you’ll want to demonstrate and practice with your students. Make sure you model exactly what it looks like, feels like, and sounds like.
Classroom management strategies can help you keep your live mini lessons to 10 minutes or less.
Before we dive into 4 classroom management strategies that I’ve used to keep my mini lessons to 10 minutes or less, I want to talk just a bit about lesson planning. When you are writing out your lesson plan, try using BULLETS instead of full sentences. What I’ve noticed, at least for myself, is that the more sentences I write; the MORE I say. But when it’s in a bulleted format with a couple of words or a phrase, it keeps me from saying more. I don’t know why that is, but it works for me. So the next time you use a mini lesson template, use bullets for what you want to say for the connection, teach/model, active engagement, and the link. This will really help to keep your mini lesson time down.
Okay here’s a quick video where I share 4 classroom management strategies that I’ve used to keep my mini lessons to 10 minutes or less. One of the strategies is using a 10-minute timer. I’ve seen a lot of teachers put a timer right in front of them to keep them on track. I’ve used physical timers, the timer on my phone, and I’ve also created a digital timer that I display on the smartboard or in a Zoom meeting. I absolutely love my digital timer that I made in Canva. Here’s the elementary 10-minute timer and the secondary version of this timer, if you need one.
Have classroom management systems in place to increase student engagement in mini lessons.
I have another video for you I shared on Facebook. But this time, I’m going to share 7 ways you can boost engagement and get students to participate more in the active engagement part of a mini lesson. If you are trying to figure out how to get your students more engaged in your mini lessons, specifically the active engagement part of the mini lesson; then definitely listen to this video. This is a prime time for teachers to walk around, coach in, and observe what students are able to do. This is a great time to take some notes on who you need to meet with in a one-on-one conference or small group.
Now if you’re looking for effective methods of teaching in one-on-one conferences or small groups, I would like to invite you to our summer book study called “Building Stronger Writers”. We are going to be diving deep into Jennifer Serravallo’s book, Teaching Writing in Small Groups. You can still join us and it’s absolutely FREE! Grab your spot now.
Classroom management behavior strategies such as anchor charts show students when they can talk in a mini lesson.
Giving your students a visual or anchor chart to let them know when it’s their turn to talk and when it’s the teacher’s turn to talk is very important. You can also teach your students the structure of a mini lesson, so they can see how it flows. For example, you can tell them what the connection, teach/model, active engagement, and link is.
For younger students, they might not fully remember the words “active engagement” and “link” and what they mean. So when I taught 1st grade, I changed the anchor chart to say “practice” instead of active engagement. And I changed the link to the word “review”. My first graders were able to remember those words a whole lot more. Here are the anchor charts I used to remind my students when it was their turn to talk in a mini lesson.
I’ll see you in the group,
Whew!!! Now you know why classroom management strategies are important. And you have a few strategies or systems to keep your mini lessons to 10 minutes or less. If you’re looking for even more FREE training, strategies, and resources on mini lessons and classroom management; come on over to my Literacy Teacher Greatness Community on Facebook. I just love this positive, supportive community of literacy teachers and instructional coaches. We are all in this together and we can fill each other’s toolbox of classroom management strategies along the way to make sure our mini lessons are successful all school year long. So hop on over into the group and say hello. I would LOVE to meet you.
I'm Desirée McGee-Greene
I help teachers & instructional coaches grow into their literacy teacher greatness through coaching, strategies, and resources that help students become stronger readers & writers faster than ever before.
You can get to know me a little better here.
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I have a FREE Summer Book Study Coming Your Way. You In? 👍 We are going to dive deep into the amazing book “Teaching Writing in Small Groups” by Jennifer Serravallo. It all starts June 14th and it’s absolutely FREE! Grab your spot now: 👇
3 Writing Conferences to Jump Start Your Small Group Instruction
If you get really good at these 3 writing conferences; then you will be unstoppable when you start using them in a small group. Are you ready to support ALL your writers even if they’re at multiple levels?
Hop on over to our Literacy Teacher Greatness Community because that's where I'll be and I want to be your coach & cheerleader every step of the way!
In this EDITABLE Adobe PDF, there are conference forms for 9 different types of conferences PLUS strategy trackers for partnerships, small groups, and a weekly conferring schedule template to help you balance 1-1 conferences and small group work.
