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
Well-taught routines eliminate the need for narration. They also . . . Save time. Fill students with purpose. Support independence. Increase responsibility. Improve motivation. But each of these benefits can be enhanced and made more effective with one small adjustment. It’s an adjustment very … Read more
Two teachers standing next to each other were supervising a large group of students when two of them began wrestling. One had the other in a headlock. They weren’t laughing. They were bent over, red-faced, breathing hard. It may have been a fight. Or … Read more
You taught your group-work expectations in exacting detail. You modeled what it should look like. You had a few students model while everyone else looked on. You took your time. You checked for understanding. You made sure your class was ready before trying it … Read more
Classroom management isn’t micromanagement. It isn’t narration and correction. It isn’t guiding, advising, or praising students through every this and that. It isn’t shepherding them like little soldiers from point A to point B. This is handholding—which is a gross misunderstanding of effective classroom … Read more
Wild-eyed parents. Petrified students. Bat-crazy colleagues. Changing policies. Uncertainties. Obstacles. Frustrations. STRESS. Political division and its effects is enough to make you curl up rocking and sobbing on your kitchen floor. But there is one thing you can control. A trump card, if you … Read more