A sharp, well-maintained classroom sends so many wonderful and powerful messages to students—from an expectation of excellence to personal pride in their work habits. It’s a slam-dunk, surefire, easy way to improve behavior in your classroom. Yet, remarkably, classroom organization is an area typically … Read more
Oh no, not again. At the worst possible moment, just as you’re homing in on your lesson objective, you notice a desperate hand waving at you from the edge your peripheral vision. Your first instinct is to ignore it and plow ahead, but then … Read more
It’s common for behavior to worsen during the final few weeks of the school year. Sensing summer break approaching, students begin to feel their age outpacing their grade level. They grow restless and excitable. They become bolder, testing the boundaries to see if they’re … Read more
Like so much of classroom management, the key to managing voice levels is to define for your students what you expect of them—and then hold them to it. Your students need to know during every minute of the school day whether it’s an allowable … Read more
Toes tap, knees piston, eyes dance about the room—the air hangs heavy with uneasiness and distraction. The students can barely contain themselves, all but bursting to talk and move and burn off pent up energy. Even when the classroom is quiet, the enveloping tension … Read more
Friendship drama. The very words can make you shudder. Tears, jealousy, hurt feelings, histrionics, he said-she said . . . Although it’s the last thing you ever want to deal with, you simply can’t ignore it. Because it will dominate the lives of whoever … Read more
You can’t teach your students to respect you. Oh sure, you can try. Many teachers do. They harp on it, do read alouds about it, and even role-play it. But in the end, students can’t be persuaded or talked into respecting you. No, in … Read more
Glaring, threatening, yelling, scolding, browbeating, pressuring, overbearing . . . few teachers would admit to using intimidation as a classroom management method, even to themselves. But many do. Perhaps not all the time, mind you. Perhaps only in weak moments or in short bursts … Read more