Abstract
Effective classroom management is essential to maximizing instructional time, which in turn, increases the likelihood of successful student learning outcomes. Classroom management is an area many teachers, especially those with limited teaching experience, fail to claim proficiency. The following is a qualitative report illustrating five novice teachers who are effective classroom managers. The researcher sought to identify the beliefs and practices that contributed to the participants’ success with classroom management. This study utilized a qualitative method of inquiry. A narrative inquiry approach was selected because the researcher’s objective was to understand, describe, and analyze the stories shared by the novice teachers involved in this study. The qualitative methods of data collection included surveys, interviews, and observations. Data analysis was comprised of text analysis, identifying and coding emergent themes, and interpreting the findings. During the data analysis process, the researcher identified the following emergent themes: leadership, high expectations, positive reinforcement, multitasking, environment, and collaboration. The findings of this study answered the research questions. The first research question sought to uncover the provisions and procedures the participants had established to maintain a productive learning environment through their leadership abilities, setting high expectations for all students, using positive reinforcement, creating a productive environment, multitasking, and collaboration. The second research question sought to identify how the provisions and procedures that promoted successful classroom management were developed by the teachers in this study. Pre-service teacher education programs, in-service professional development, and past experiences were recognized as being influential.