Top 10 Classroom Management tips for Drama Teachers

These tips are designed to help you lay a solid foundation for discipline. Whether you’re a beginning teacher facing a classroom full of students for the first time, or a theatre veteran (with the creative battle scars to prove it), here are our top 10 classroom management tips.

10. Utilize your space to its maximum potential

Whether you’re working in a classroom, a theatre, or a gymnasium, you need to prep your space to define workspaces and reduce distractions. Have designated class, work, and performance spaces and eliminate places where students can hide. This will help keep your students on task.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are there areas in my room that invite off-task behavior or allow students to disengage unnoticed?
• How intentionally have I arranged my classroom space to define clear learning areas, minimize distractions, and prevent off-task behavior?
• What specific changes can I make to better support student engagement and accountability?
• How does my current classroom layout influence student behavior, both positively and negatively?
• Do seating arrangements and designated areas ensure every student has equal visibility, voice, and opportunity to participate?
• How efficiently can students move between class, work, and performance spaces?
• Can I easily see and monitor all students from multiple points in the room?

9. Be prepared

There’s no worse feeling than facing a room full of students and being unprepared. If this is your first time teaching, take some time NOW to string together your first week or two of lesson plans and put together an emergency list of last-second games or activities just in case you need them. (See the end of the post for a download of emergency activities.) If you are a seasoned teacher, review your unit plans and look for lessons that didn’t quite go as planned. Now would be the time to tweak them.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Do I have a ready-to-use list of emergency activities that align with my curriculum and keep students meaningfully engaged?
• Do my lesson plans include clear objectives, materials, and transitions to prevent downtime?
• How comfortable am I adapting my lesson in the moment if something doesn’t go as planned?
• Which past lessons were less effective, and have I intentionally revised them to improve outcomes?
• What patterns do I notice in lessons that didn’t go as planned (timing, pacing, engagement, clarity)?
• How does my level of preparation affect student behavior, engagement, and confidence in the classroom?
• Have I realistically planned for how long activities will take, including setup and transitions?
• Where might I build in flexibility to account for unexpected interruptions?

8. Be honest

Even though you are in charge, you don’t have to be an insensitive dictator. Don’t be afraid to share your hopes, dreams, and expectations with your students. Knowing your vision for this class will go a long way to your students helping you achieve it.

Questions to ask yourself:

• In what ways do I communicate my genuine enthusiasm for teaching theatre?
• How does honesty help build trust and mutual respect in my classroom?
• Do my students see me both as a leader and a real person?
• How often do I revisit and reinforce our shared goals throughout the year?
• How do I invite students to contribute to or align with the vision for our class?
• Am I willing to acknowledge mistakes or areas for improvement in front of my students?

7. Clearly communicate expectations

Whether you print them in your syllabus, write them on the board, or put them on a poster, make sure your students are aware of your expectations in the classroom. This goes for performance and academic expectations, as well as discipline.

Questions to ask yourself:

• How clearly have I communicated my academic, performance, and behavioral expectations to students?
• Are my expectations consistently visible, and do I actively reference them?
• Do my daily routines and procedures align with the expectations I have set?
• How do I check that students truly understand what is expected of them?
• Which expectations seem unclear or ineffective based on student behavior or performance?
• What adjustments could I make to ensure expectations promote both structure and student success?

6. Be aware of school and district rules and boundaries

Make sure you know what can and can’t be done in your classroom. That includes what you can do on stage! If there is any question about an activity or a script, run it by an administrator first. You knowing the rules helps your students know the rules.

Questions to ask yourself:

• How well do I understand my school’s and district’s policies, rules, and guidelines?
• How consistently do I follow school rules in my classroom and on stage?
• How clearly have I communicated school and classroom rules to my students?
• Do students understand why these rules exist and how they connect to classroom expectations?

5. Get student feedback on rules

Allow your students to provide feedback on classroom rules and expectations. When students have ownership of the rules, they feel empowered to encourage their peers to follow them.

Questions to ask yourself:

• How often do I invite students to provide input on classroom rules and expectations?
• Do students feel their feedback genuinely influences how the classroom operates?
• Are the rules co-created with students still aligned with school and district policies?
• How do I balance student input with maintaining clear and enforceable expectations?
• After getting feedback, how often do I revise or clarify rules to make them more effective?

4. Have consequences

If rules are broken, make sure there are appropriate consequences. This lets students know that you are serious about discipline in your classroom.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are the consequences for breaking rules clear, fair, and consistently applied?
• Do I respond to similar behaviors in the same way every time?
• Do students understand why each consequence exists and how it relates to their behavior?
• Do the consequences I use actually change behavior in a positive way?
• Which consequences have been most effective, and which might need adjustment?
• How do I encourage students to take responsibility for their actions following a consequence?

3. Get student feedback on consequences

Having students suggest consequences for rule breaking not only makes them more fair (after all, THEY suggested them), but oftentimes makes them tougher.

Questions to ask yourself:

• How often do I involve students in suggesting consequences for breaking rules?
• Do students feel their input influences the fairness and appropriateness of consequences?
• Do these consequences feel fair to both the students who follow the rules and those who break them?
• What patterns in student feedback reveal opportunities to improve classroom management and fairness?
• How do student-suggested consequences impact classroom behavior compared to teacher-only decisions?

2. Follow through on consequences

If rules are broken or expectations are not met, the failures must be acknowledged and the consequences must be imposed. If you don’t follow through, you tell your students that you don’t mean what you say.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Do I consistently enforce consequences when rules are broken?
• Do students understand that rules have real, predictable outcomes?
• How effective are my consequences at changing behavior when consistently applied?
• Do students feel that consequences are applied respectfully and equitably?

1. Be consistent

This is the number one management tip. Hold ALL students to your standards of work, performance, and integrity, no matter if they are the class darling or class clown, and they will respect your class. Consistency is the mark of a successful teacher.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are there situations where I unintentionally show favoritism, and how can I address them?
• How do I ensure that expectations are reinforced regularly and fairly?
• Do students perceive my classroom as predictable and fair because of consistent enforcement of rules and expectations?
• Where could I improve my consistency to strengthen classroom management and student accountability?
• How does my consistency (or inconsistency) impact student behavior and classroom culture?

Want More?
In the Drama Teacher Academy we have classroom management courses for both high school and middle school. Check it out!