Be proactive in your teaching approach. On the first day of school, discuss the classroom, school rules and consequences with all of your students. Don't rush this process, as school is new, and sometimes scary, for little ones. They will be most comfortable and feel safe and secure in the long term if you explain everything to them now. Remember, transition can be a slow process for some kindergartners, so give them time to learn the rules. The first month will be learning the rules and classroom routine, as well as their daily schedule. Your hard work will pay off as they all eventually settle into a predictable pattern.
Kindergarten students will thrive on positive reinforcement. Students enjoy reinforcement they can visualize. Try the traffic light system. Make a large traffic light out of poster board. Write the name of each student on a card and glue to a clip. At the beginning of each day, all students begin at the green light, regardless of their behavior the previous day. The yellow light serves as a warning and the red light means stop. Too many red lights warrant a phone call home. Staying on green light for most of the week earns your students a prize out of the prize box at the end of the week. Other variations could be a special certificate or sticker.
Arrange your classroom so it is easy for you and your students to move about the classroom. Keep all supplies neatly organized in crates or other types of file boxes. Color code folders and homework boxes so students know where to put things. Arrange your students in groups and rotate them once a month to enable your students to get to know one another. You will also find who works best with one another. This increases team work, social skills and group bonding.
Know what is in your control. Let go of things you have no control over. Classroom management problems are in your control. You can fix them by going over your lesson plans and assessing what worked and what you will discard next time. If a student acted out because she was confused by the way you taught the lesson, look for what might have confused her and go back and clarify it. Were your students bored? Find out where the lull in your lesson occurred and teach it differently next time. Individual behavior problems are not completely in your control. You can find the problem and offer solutions to your students, but the students themselves must be able to change their behavior for the better.