Emotional outbursts, temper tantrums, yelling, lashing out. Severe misbehavior like this needs to be dealt with differently than typical rule breaking. How you respond to an aggressive child in the classroom goes a long way toward gaining control of the incident, keeping it from … Read more
Why does it pain teachers to hold students accountable? Why are some so quick to ignore misbehavior, look the other way, or make excuses for it? Accountability is important, right? So what’s the problem? I have a few ideas. Teachers are slow to hold … Read more
The key to effective classroom management is leverage. If your students like being part of your classroom, then you have leverage, and accountability will work the way it’s supposed to. If your students don’t like being in your classroom, then you’ll struggle with classroom … Read more
I have a technique you can start using tomorrow that will eliminate stress from your teaching life. This no-stress method is so effective, in fact, that many professional athletes use it before a competition. For them, keeping their composure can mean the difference between … Read more
Clip charts, prize boxes, incentive systems, seating arrangements, stickers, pep-talks, noise makers, red cards, table points, trinkets, tokens, awards, erasers, free time, computer time, first in line, contracts, privileges, and… enough!!! It can make you want to scream. For many, classroom management has become … Read more
If you can eliminate this one mistake when responding to misbehavior, you will lower your stress level, save time, and have a more influential relationship with your students. What is it? The mistake most teachers make is asking students why they misbehaved. Example: Mr. … Read more
It is one of the most common teacher complaints. You give a single direction to a quiet and seemingly attentive classroom, and then watch as a third of your students either don’t know what to do, or they do it incorrectly. It’s as if … Read more
This third and final part of this series is about communicating with difficult students in a way that will compel them to behave the way you want them to. But I must warn you. It’s going to be different than you’re used to and … Read more