Set up your room to be “student friendly”. Arrange desks for easy teacher access to all students. 

Post an Agenda in an obvious place and follow it every day. Students need to know the daily routine. 

Have materials ready for the lesson. If a student needs a pencil, provide them one. 

Clearly define and teach classroom procedures and routines and practice them consistently. 

Monitor student behavior. Show students that their work and behavior is important to you. 

Teach students the expectations for each and every activity. Never assume that a student will know what you expect from them. 

Instead of sitting at a desk during instruction, walk around the room challenging the students to learn. 

Tell students what to expect before a transition. Tell them exactly what to do. 

Tell the students what you are going to teach, teach it then tell them what you taught. 

Present material in a way students can relate to. If the presentation is boring, they won’t pay attention. 

During instruction, challenging students should not be in the corner or back of the room, but within two to three feet of the teacher. Proximity and eye contact work wonders for increasing positive student behavior. 

Handle inappropriate behavior promptly and consistently. 

Keep students on task with instructional activities during academic classes (effective teachers know that unstructured time—or down time—causes problems). 

Reward all students who are following procedures in a positive way with praise, a note or phone call home, privileges, or tangible incentives like raffle tickets, lucky horseshoes, etc. 

Look for classroom tested resources to motivate and manage challenging students. 

Positive reinforcement strategies are excellent for boosting good behavior and learning. 

Speak with other staff members who have worked with a challenging student. Find out what interventions have worked best for them. Collaborate. 

Pick your battles. Does the benefit outweigh the battle? 

Expect improvement, not perfection. 

Remember that each day is a new start.