The link between classical music and learning is well established. It has been shown to enhance certain forms of intelligence, like verbal and spatial abilities. And teachers who regularly play Mozart while students are practicing math skills report that it helps with concentration and … Read more
Much of your classroom management success is dependent upon your ability to avoid making big mistakes. Make them often enough, or repeatedly, and you’ll lose control of your classroom quickly. Before long, you’ll begin to believe teaching in a chaotic environment is just part … Read more
If you’re looking for elaborate or decorative classroom management ideas, you won’t find them here. Though prevalent, such ideas are unnecessary, even counterproductive, for classroom management. On this site, we’re focused on only two things: 1. What works best. 2. What is simplest for … Read more
Among the traits that make a great teacher, enthusiasm is near the top. Your passion for delivering captivating lessons and activities to your students largely determines your success in motivating students. We’re all attracted to people who live their lives with zeal, and students … Read more
Your classroom management plan doesn’t have to be complex to be effective. Four rules and three consequences will usually do the trick. Indeed, there is no magic in the plan itself. It’s the stuff in between, the strategery (see Will Ferrell), that determines whether … Read more
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