Since returning to in-person learning, respect has taken a nosedive. Students are just different. We all see it. We all know it. The question is, what to do about it? Well, the usual keys are still in play. Clear Boundaries 100% Consistency Calm Enforcement … Read more
There is a simple way to get better at classroom management week after week. It involves doing one small thing. This one thing takes just minutes a day and isn’t a behavior strategy. In fact, it’s something you do after your students leave for … Read more
Kids don’t misbehave because they don’t want discipline. They misbehave because they do. They crave it. They seek it out. They push and probe and increase their misbehavior in order to find your limits. Firm boundaries tell them that someone cares. It let’s them … Read more
My gosh, how they’re bounced around like a ship in a storm. Rewarded one minute, lectured the next. “Caught being good” then counseled. Punished then praised. Scolded then appeased then forced into another humiliating behavior contract. Tighten and loosen, tighten and loosen. Difficult students … Read more
There is a way to stand head and shoulders above any teacher at your school. Not that that’s the goal, mind you. But I assume it is your goal to get the most out of your students, to see dramatic improvement, to propel them … Read more
A number of schools and districts are outlawing time-out. The thinking is that it’s too punitive. That it’s associated with sitting in a corner and wearing a dunce cap. Setting aside for now that the way we teach it here at SCM is wholly … Read more
It’s popping up more and more in IEPs and 504s. Called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), it’s marked by disobedient behavior toward authority. But what is it really? It’s a student who doesn’t want to be told what to do. They don’t want rules or … Read more
The daily pressure of the job causes many teachers to experience anxiety. The symptoms are elevated heart rate and tension throughout the body that lasts the entire day. The result is exhaustion. This constant state of stress can also have a profound effect on … Read more