Here are steps you can take right now in your school, or on your school bus, that can help you establish, maintain or restore order.

Greet students as they enter your classroom. This not only provides a model of the kind of courteous behavior you want to instill in your students, but also gives you an opportunity for "early targeting" of potential troublemakers. You may pick up early warning signs of potential trouble, e.g., anger, illness, arguments, fights, trouble on the way to school, inappropriate attire or paraphernalia, no homework assignment, etc. Without early targeting or intervention, small problems can escalate to major disruption or violence.

Make "Before-Class-Starts" activities available in the classroom that engage students in positive and productive work. Such activities could include board games, a five-minute "free conversation" period or simple calisthenics. The "dead time" before the bell can be "deadly" if students don't have a way to channel their energies.

Have a designated place within your view for students to turn in homework assignments as they enter. The failure of students to turn in homework on time can be a major disruption to the class. When asked why they have not completed their assignments, students will often engage in denials and excuses, resulting in wasted learning time. With a homework box, or other designated place for students to turn in work, the teacher or paraprofessional can watch the students as they enter to see who has completed  assignments and who has not.

Have a few (three to five) basic overarching rules in place to help govern student behavior in the classroom or on the school bus. Overarching rules provide parameters within which each student can function in the group and identify his or her own appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. This promotes individual ownership of the rules and encourages responsibility. (Examples of five good overarching rules: Be prompt, be polite, be prepared, be productive, treat others as you wish to be treated. Examples of bad rules: Do not chew gum, do not talk.) Recite the rules often at the beginning of the school year, and make sure to explain why these rules are necessary.

Be sure your students know and understand the rules. Teach and reinforce the rules as if they were curriculum, repeating them as often as needed. Many school employees believe that a read-through and quick review of classroom or school bus rules is enough to ensure student understanding and buy-in. This is a dangerous misconception. Researchers have discovered that many young students really don't understand the meaning of words in the rules, such as "courteous." Also, don't assume that students have been taught proper behavior at home. Learning how to respect oneself and others is something that must be learned.

Develop expectations for behavior that are backed up by a set of fair, workable, enforceable consequences. Consequences are an important link to the effectiveness of your discipline code. Do not promise a consequence you cannot deliver. If the consequences fall apart or are not there to begin with, the whole thing collapses. If they are not enforced, the teacher's credibility is damaged. Negative consequences should increase in severity. Rule breaking and the punishment should be documented so that you can prove the those students whom you disciplined exhibited totally unacceptable behaviors. This is very important when dealing with parents. Proper documentation can also help to ensure that administrators give you the support you need to enforce your discipline plan.

When possible, involve your students in developing the rules. By involving students in drafting the rules, you help create an environment in which the students have a role in enforcing the rules. Peer pressure can be very effective in helping to keep an orderly class.

Be sure that parents know and understand your rules, including the consequences. Make several different attempts to contact parents. Telephone calls and letters mailed to the home are the most effective means of contacting parents. Do not depend on students' hand delivering the rules to parents. Parents who are not aware of or are not well versed in discipline policies are prone to side with their children and might feel that the school employee's actions (especially suspension or expulsion) are arbitrary or biased.

Ask any child who acts up on a school bus to come to the front of the bus to talk to you. You should avoid, if possible, going to the back of the bus and disciplining a child in front of his/her peers. This can result in a situation where the child feels that he/she needs to show off by being even more disruptive.

Be sure that school administrators are aware of your rules and consequences and the roles they may have to play in supporting your efforts. While you cannot always count on getting the support you need from the school administrators, you should still try to elicit their help. The worst thing that can happen to dismantle a classroom discipline plan is to have "no supportive action" or "counter-enforcement action" from building administrators. This sends a message to students that nothing is going to happen no matter what the infraction. By the same token, don't set rules you know won't be supported by administrators.

Plan the arrangement of furniture, desks and supplies in your classroom for ease of traffic flow, access and visibility. Design seating charts that keep all students within eye contact. Do not put all troublemakers together, and do not place them in the back of the room! Avoid, to the best of your ability, congested aisles and stumbling blocks to easy access of supplies. (Appoint class monitors.)

Classrooms are places where there is constant traffic. The ease of flow can prevent "traffic jams." Often, when students are placed in close and uncomfortable contact, flare-ups become common. Moreover, teachers should be able to see each student, and each student should be able to see the teacher. This provides opportunities for what is called "early desists" of potentially disruptive behaviors.

Learn all students' names as soon as possible--within the first three days of school. Knowing students' names helps to develop a personal relationship between you and your students. It also helps with early targeting and early intervention by accurately identifying troublemakers. When you don't know names and try other forms of identification (boy-in-blue-shirt), students can play games of avoidance, denial and trickery.

Make routine classroom procedures as smooth as possible. Teach your students procedures that you use for taking attendance, tardiness, leaving the room, bulletin boards, grades, make-up work, etc., as if they were curriculum. Student disruption and dissatisfaction can result from student anxiety and uncertainty about how to do things in the classroom. Procedures change from class to class, based on teacher style. Students should know how to function in each class.

Look for and try to understand differences between ADD (attention deficit disorder) behaviors and general misbehavior. It is difficult to identify those students affected by ADD and those who are not. Issues of fairness or legal problems can arise with the teacher caught in the middle. Your school should already be supplying training and policy information about this, especially in view of current increases in mainstreaming and inclusion. If not, contact your local union representatives and ask them to work with the administration to make this kind of training available.

Educate yourself on the rules and policies concerning the disruptive and violent behavior of special education students. Rules governing what you can or cannot do with disciplining special education students who have committed the same infractions as regular education students can be different. This can cause havoc in the classroom or on the school bus. If you are unsure of your authority or the rights of your students, ask your school's administration for clarification.