Your classroom management plan is a small part of effective classroom management. It’s critical and absolutely mandatory, but by itself won’t get you very far. It’s the rest of it, primarily what SCM is about, that makes the plan go. A common refrain here … Read more
If you stress over the possibility of misbehavior, then it’s a sign your classroom management is in need of an overhaul. You see, when you take on, mentally or otherwise, even an ant’s toe of what should be your students’ burden, you ease the … Read more
Redirection as a classroom management strategy is common, accepted, and wholly uncontroversial. Touted from Baja to the Canadian Rockies and circumnavigating the civilized world, it’s recommended de rigueur without a second thought. “Just redirect” they say, so easy and breezy. It rolls off the … Read more
Typically, when I walk a class across campus I let them do so without my input. With as much independence as possible. It’s something I begin teaching on the first day of school and then slowly release to them as the days and weeks … Read more
There was a viral video a few months ago of a teacher standing between two students who were arguing back and forth. The students were about a dozen feet apart. The teacher was facing one of the students when the other picked up a … Read more
I happened to see an email from a teacher designating a list of students as those who would be assigned an “alternative” final project. Alternative in this case meant easier. Evidently, this group of students failed to meet a series of benchmarks leading up … Read more
No, you don’t have to be riotously funny. You don’t have to prepare daily jokes and stories. You don’t even have to try to make your students laugh. But you do need to prioritize humor in your classroom. Have a spirit of laughter, a … Read more
You don’t have to call it time-out. You can call it the reflection zone, the accountability desk, or anything you like. The name is unimportant. But what is important, critically, is that it must be taught. It must be explained in detail, modeled explicitly, … Read more