What if while on vacation a coconut fell from a tree, bonked you on the head, and took away your ability to get annoyed at your students?
You’d never lecture again.
You’d never sigh, glare, or shake your head in frustration. You’d never scold or give your students the third degree. You’d never get angry.
The only thing in your toolkit to curb misbehavior would be your classroom management plan.
What would be the result?
Well, here at SCM we know the result because this is what we’ve been doing for decades—along with many thousands of our readers.
The truth is . . .
Your stress level would plummet.
Your likability would skyrocket.
Your rules and consequences would have real power.
Your room environment would be without tension.
You would have more time for learning.
You would never get complaints from parents.
Your students would want to behave for you.
You would have more fun teaching than you ever though possible.
There are more many benefits, but you get the picture.
The best part is that it’s all so predictable. It just happens—every year to every teacher, no matter the grade level, who removes the possibility of reacting in anger.
Of course, there is more to the SCM approach than this one principle. But it’s a big piece of the Pan de Coco. There is also the question of how.
How does one go about doing it, especially if you’re prone to irritability and stress?
Well, before we get there it’s important to point out that all SCM principles and strategies are designed to work together. They align, support, and make each other easier and more effective.
Thus, using the entire approach removes any reason or need whatsoever to rely on hurtful, harmful, or resentment-creating methods. If you never have to get angry (in order to deal with misbehavior), you’re less likely to.
But there is a strategy that gets rid of all that negative emotion. It works almost as well as getting a coconut to the head, but without the headache.
It does take some discipline, but you only need to set aside a minute or two every morning before school.
Here’s how it works:
1. Close your classroom door.
2. Sit comfortably.
3. Close your eyes.
4. Relax and focus on your breathing for 30 seconds.
5. Decide that no matter what happens that day—even if a troop of bonobos come swinging through your classroom—you’re going to keep as cool as a morning mist, inside and out.
That’s it.
It seems almost too easy. But remarkably, astonishingly, it works. Although you’ll feel the difference immediately, if you do it every day, you’ll get better and better at it.
In time, and with results so good, you’ll never go back.
Keeping your cool will become a habit. It will become your default setting, just who you are. Again, even if you tend to be a nervous person outside of the classroom.
Try it. Commit to it. Go all in. You’ll be forever changed.
And so will your students.
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Thank you for this!
This works ok. But for me, I recognize that each behavior is a clue to what that child ultimately needs.
The teen refuses to complete the assignment? And it is 7th period, the last class of the day? Are they ADHD? Are they facing paralysis? Is it overwhelming? Are they demand avoidant?
There are so many reasons to cause bad behavior, and my job is to help them learn, which means figuring out the cause of the behavior without anger. Anger will only close my eyes. I need to open my mind to the possibilities.
Maybe if I had had a door, I could have done this better!
This is just good advice. I get to my classroom early and set everything up as needed, then take some time to just sit and go over the lesson plan, check the tech stuff ,make sure it’s working, visualize the lesson flow. This tends to slow things down, I feel calm in the middle of the storm. I see teachers running to get to class, stress in the teacher work room, lots of complaints. I got my tea, LoFi music, lesson ready to go. I’m good.
Great!
it s a decision!!!!
Becoming owner of your ego.
No re-acting but pro-acting.
Thanks!!!
Good Day
Do you offer a free classroom management course?
I would also appreciate a certificate for attendance for professional development.
King regards
Lian Chetty
lchetty@bryneven.co.za
I would like to have these books for our office library, where can I get them?
Hi Phillip,
Just click on the book images at right.
One of my main ways of avoiding anger is to consciously, intentionally avoid processing–or verbally framing– certain behaviors as being disrespectful. Instead I process and frame them as being impolite.
When you perceive you’ve been disrespected, it tends to trigger anger. And it can tend towards an escalating negative cycle. For example, I suspect road rage is often motivated by perceived disrespect.
Perceiving–and verbally framing– “disrespectful” behavior as impolite behavior allows me to respond with what I call an “aspirational correction.” My standard one is, “Please try harder to be polite.”
I can’t control my students inner minds or feelings. But I *can* try to consistently frame and steer our outward interactions towards a “politeness model” and a culture of politeness.
Saying disrespectful does put a certain “taste” in your mouth vs saying impolite. I’m going to give it a whirl 🙂
Thank you! This topic is my main concern with my teaching and I really need this to work. I want to understand how much TIME you are suggesting I dedicate to this. So to clarify, is it just 30 seconds of meditation or do I just focus on my breathing for 30 seconds and focus on “no matter what” for another 30 seconds? Or is it better to to take as much time as I have before school starts? Is it sort of like, the longer I do this (30 seconds vs 5 minutes) the better? Or is it simply more important to do shorter sessions (30 seconds) constantly everyday?
My plan is to do 30 seconds eyes closed focused only on breathing, then 30 seconds of “no matter what I will not get angry,” then 2 mins to visualize myself using my management plan throughout the day in chunks: morning routine to recess, after recess to lunch, after lunch to dismissal, and smiles at the dismissal gate.
I’m thinking from what I got from your article, the most important thing is to take a small amount of time each and every day before school starts, to meditate on breathing and commiting to not getting angry. Beautiful!