If you’re a regular reader of SCM, then you’ll no doubt take your time teaching your classroom management plan. You’ll model what is and isn’t okay. You’ll provide examples. You’ll shore up gray areas and show your new class what not to do. This … Read more
There is a simple thing you can do right now to ensure better classroom management next school year. It only takes a few minutes. The way it works is to list the five most disruptive, annoying, and stressful misbehaviors you witnessed last school year. … Read more
Here at SCM, we’re used to hearing horror stories from teachers. But the sheer number of emails we’ve received this past school year is like nothing we’ve ever seen. Students were different. There is no doubt about it. How? Just more of everything: Aggression … Read more
So you’re cruising along having a good day and a student pokes you with a stick. “What you said isn’t true.” “Shelby didn’t deserve a consequence.” “My old teacher did it this way.“ Statements like these, spoken with attitude, are meant to goad you … Read more
Walk into any classroom anytime of day and chances are the class will be in the middle of a discussion. Led by the teacher, the dialogue will typically narrow to a predetermined conclusion. Sometimes an assignment will follow. Often, however, it will not. —Because … Read more
If you’re currently struggling to manage group work, it’s already too late. You’ve missed the boat. There is nothing you can do to fix it unless you’re willing to go back to the beginning. No, I don’t mean to reteach it. I mean to … Read more
The strategy is counterintuitive and therefore doesn’t reach many teachers. When a class gets off track, the tendency is to talk. It’s to rehash, remind, and redo. It’s to circle-up the community, lecture and rebuke. And while you may see temporary improvement, it’s unlikely … Read more
It’s not to teach your classroom management plan. With an out-of-control class, bringing up rules right away will fall on deaf ears. No, the first step after losing control or taking over an unruly class is to remove excitability. You see, in poorly behaved … Read more