One of the biggest classroom management mistakes teachers make is taking disrespectful behavior personally. To quote Tom Hagen speaking to Sonny Corleone in the movie The Godfather, “This is business, not personal.” When you take disrespectful behavior personally, two things are likely to happen: … Read more
A few days ago, my wife removed the sliding screen door that leads out to the backyard because it needed cleaning. When she finished, she popped the door back into place, then left to do other things. Later that day, when I tried to … Read more
I took my class on a field trip to a beautiful aquarium one year, and as we made our way along a circuitous passage of small caverns loaded to the gills (sorry) with exotic sea creatures, we found ourselves sharing viewing areas with another … Read more
An early mentor for me was a teacher named Chuck. Chuck taught sixth grade and was a master at classroom management. In him, I was able to see what was possible. I can remember how impressed I was when, two or three days into … Read more
Many years ago, on a whim, I wrote a short note to a student named Joanna to let her know how much I appreciated her leadership qualities. I wrote the note before school one day and left it folded over and taped to her … Read more
The sight of a teacher lecturing an individual student is commonplace on school campuses. This classroom management method seems to be preferred by a majority of teachers, but is it effective? Does it work to curb unwanted behavior? Another common sight on campus is … Read more
A couple of years ago, I went back to my college alma mater for homecoming weekend. I met up with a few buddies on Thursday evening, and we spent the next day touring our old haunts. It was a great time reliving the past … Read more
In his seminal book, The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell describes the precipitous fall of crime in New York City in the early 1990’s. There were several factors that accounted for the drop, but the most interesting from a classroom management standpoint, and perhaps … Read more