There is a compulsion among teachers to react too quickly to misbehavior. As soon as it shows up on their radar, they’re on it in a flash, making judgments and decisions before fully understanding what it is. Teachers with this compulsion tend to take … Read more
I think you’re going to like this strategy. It’s fun and easy, takes very little planning, and can improve behavior in your classroom the first time you try it. It’s called the preview strategy. It works through a simple change in the way you … Read more
Ask a hundred teachers if it’s important to be consistent with classroom management and every last one of them will tell you that it is. But knowing that it’s important is one thing. Actually being consistent is another. Most teachers only kinda-sorta follow their … Read more
Five minutes. That’s all it takes to improve your relationship with your students. And why is that important? Because having rapport with students translates to powerful and behavior-influencing leverage—the kind of leverage that compels them to want to behave, to want to do well, … Read more
One of the most common email questions we get is . . . “What about students from disadvantaged backgrounds?” The question never ceases to knock me back on my heels because, truth be told, every strategy on this website has been developed in classrooms … Read more
There is a pervasive fear in teaching that if you’re not on top of your students every moment—coaxing, guiding, advising, directing—you’ll lose control of your classroom. If left unchecked, this fear turns otherwise easygoing men and women into micromanagers, hovering over their students like … Read more
As the school year winds to a close, here at Smart Classroom Management we’ve been getting a burst of emails from teachers voicing their frustrations with their students’ inability or unwillingness to pay attention. Although a common struggle given the freedom of summer lurking … Read more
Whether starting over from scratch or opening a new school year, many teachers come on too strong when teaching classroom management. Demanding and forewarning, growling and glaring. Even the mildest-mannered teachers can become overbearing when it comes to laying down the law in the … Read more