BrainZones: Where Science Meets Classroom Strategies
Proven Proactive Strategies Used by Expert Educators
If you’re not using proactive classroom strategies, you’re already playing catch-up. Every moment you spend reacting to misbehavior is a moment lost to learning, connection, and calm. Proactive strategies put you back in charge, creating the kind of classroom where students know what to do, feel supported, and stay engaged.
The art of weaving proactive strategies into your planning is essential to your classroom management techniques and your students. Research shows that classrooms where proactive strategies are embedded see higher engagement, fewer disruptions, and improved teacher wellbeing — 🌱 creating safer, happier, and more productive learning environments.
What Are Proactive Strategies Anyway?
Proactive strategies are the steps you take to build positive habits in your classroom. They help you focus on and reinforce the behaviors you want to see rather than reacting to what goes wrong. Over time they create patterns that bring out the best in everyone.
Why Proactive Strategies Matter
Without intentional proactive strategies, many classroom management practices unintentionally focus students on what they are not doing, rather than modeling and reinforcing what you do want to see. For example, teachers often list positive behaviors in their rules — respect others, engage in learning, manage emotions — but then give most of their attention to these only when students fall short.
The chart below, grounded in research, illustrates how proactive strategies benefit your students, yourself, and the entire classroom environment. Use it as a conversation starter with your students: explain how these qualities support learning and behavior, and how you’ll work together to create a culture that values engagement, happiness, and self-regulation.
📊 What the Research Shows
Proactive strategies are a win-win for students and teachers. They foster the conditions students need to thrive — engagement, self-regulation, and strong relationships — while preventing the conditions that undermine learning — conflict, stress, and withdrawal.
Below you’ll find a closer look at two proactive classroom management strategies designed to promote positive behavior and help students take responsibility through self-awareness and self-regulation.
🔷 Strategy 1: Square Up and Zero In
There are moments when you need every student’s full attention and you are tired of repeating yourself. You say “turn around,” but they only half-turn. You remind them “all the way around,” and you get just a head swivel. You say “eyes up here,” but a few are still putting things away or continuing their work. Or my favorite, as soon as you finish giving directions, someone asks, “What page?” 🙄
To break this pattern, teach the proactive strategy Square Up and Zero In. Explain what it means and why it matters: when you call it, students stop what they’re doing, align fully forward, and give you their undivided attention.
👀 What It Looks Like
First, model the position clearly: sitting tall at your desk, with eyes, shoulders, hips, knees, and feet all facing forward. Have students practice this “Square” position in isolation until everyone can do it cleanly and quickly.
Once they know what to do, let them experience it in action. Start with everyone laughing, chatting, and turned around, let the noise and movement build. Then, with confidence and a smile, call out, “Square Up and Zero In!” immediately praising the students as they respond.
Build momentum by calling out: “All of row 2 is Square. Row 4 is Square. Wow! The entire class was Square in under 30 seconds! Let’s see which row can beat that.”
When everyone understands the routine, pause to discuss how it helps them and the class. Then practice again, keeping it fun, fast, and a little competitive.
With consistent modeling and reinforcement, Square Up and Zero In becomes second nature. Over time, it shifts from a prompted routine to an automatic habit you can rely on anytime you need the room’s full attention.
🧠 Why It Works
When students fully align their body toward the teacher, they signal to their brain that this moment deserves focus. The physical act of turning eyes, shoulders, hips, knees, and feet forward interrupts their previous attention and helps them shift into a learning-ready state.
🌟 Teacher Tip
Focus your attention on the desired behavior. To get stragglers on board, call out the rows that are already “Square,” peer pressure often does the rest. Begin with individual recognition, then shift to groups, and finally whole-class praise.
Strategy 2: Chill Mode — Choose Your Reset
🏀 Chill Mode is designed to give you a power boost of confidence and calm when facing a stressful or challenging task.
Sometimes pressure and anxiety fill the room. Students feel it in their bodies and minds; their thoughts race, their stomach tightens, and they can’t focus. The stress may come from an upcoming test, a mistake they made, or even a challenging social interaction.
Chill Mode gives students a personal way to calm their anxious nerves, quiet their inner noise, and regain focus so they can move forward with confidence.
👀 What It Looks Like in Action
Once you have explained the purpose of Chill Mode, model your own “power-up” for the class. Sit calmly, close your eyes or fix your gaze, take a deep breath, and speak your thoughts aloud:
"When I feel tense, I picture my power as a shining star lowering to touch me with light and energy. I tell myself, ‘I got this,’ and breathe slowly until I feel calm again."
Then invite students to quietly think about their own “power-up.” Have them practice while you watch for signs of struggle.
Finally, find time every day for regular practice; at the start of class, before a transition, or after a challenging event.
🧠 Why It Works
When emotions or energy spike, the brain releases stress hormones that make it harder to think clearly and stay composed.
Chill Mode interrupts that stress response by engaging both the body and the mind. A deep breath calms the nervous system, while the personal image and phrase focus attention on something steady and positive.
🌟 Teacher Tip
Practice Chill Mode under stress to make it stick. Since mental stress is hard to recreate, use physical activity to simulate it. Have students check their resting pulse, then do jumping jacks, or another quick exercise. Afterward, apply Chill Mode and check their pulse again, demonstrating how quickly they can calm themselves with practice.
🔷 The Power of Proactive Strategies
✨ Proactive strategies add a sense of empowerment and control, allowing you to guide the classroom instead of reacting to disruptions.
🚫 They prevent small problems from escalating, building resilience and helping students adapt without spiraling.
😌 You and your students experience less stress and feel prepared for the unexpected, creating a calmer, more manageable learning environment.
🤝 They help build trust and stronger relationships, showing you care enough to prepare them for success.
🎯 Proactivity fosters an attitude of preparedness, making both you and your students more confident when facing challenges.
🌟 BZ: Where Science Meets Classroom Strategies
Unlock Square Up & Zero In and Chill Mode, plus 100’s more, with a 30-day trial at BrainZones.org. Built for real classrooms like yours.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” — Benjamin Franklin
Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear what resonated with you, what challenged you, or what you’d like to explore further in this series.
— Debbie
Make sure to follow us on Instagram @Brainzones for more strategies!
Article one, of our Classroom Management series - How to Handle Disruptive Students
📚 Research Highlights
These are brilliant!