You spend precious minutes preparing a great lesson. It seems fun. It’s interactive. It gets students moving. And you’ve got a great story to introduce it. But just as you begin explaining to your class what they’ll actually be doing, you see eye rolls. … Read more
A student breaks a rule. You calmly give them a consequence. And they react badly. They sigh dramatically. They roll their eyes. They complain under their breath, glare at you, blame others, etc. This is very common in the beginning of the school year. … Read more
Pulling a student aside for a chat about their misbehavior is a common practice. Intuitively, it would appear to make sense. —Which is why nearly every teacher does it. But the truth is, it’s a mistake that causes more misbehavior, not less. Here’s why: … Read more
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 … Read more
You can’t just talk about your teaching-related stress. You have to do something about it. You have to make changes. Hoping it’s going to be better this year isn’t a solution. Only action will yield results. The power is in the doing, not the … Read more
Last week’s article defined the conditions that must be met before enforcing consequences, which should be completed within the first hour of the first day of school. So . . . are you going to do it? Are you going to start holding students … Read more
Here at SCM, we believe you should start enforcing consequences as soon as possible (i.e., once the new school year begins). The quicker you’re able to establish a high standard of behavior the better. However, it must also be fair. Giving warnings and time-outs … Read more
Although outside my focus on classroom management, I’ve been asked again and again how I would improve reading scores. So here it goes. For context, reading scores are the lowest they’ve been in decades. Just 33 percent of fourth graders and 31 percent of … Read more