This time of year things tend to get sloppy. Students are feeling the lazy pangs of summer approaching. It’s in the tea, the daily grind, and the changing weather. Left alone, this feeling will morph into poorer and poorer performance. Only you can do … Read more
The jettisoning of firm consequences in favor of a purely restorative approach has caused more dangerous behavior among students. It’s like nothing I’ve seen in 30+ years of teaching. Nowadays, a student can fight, bully, torment, throw chairs, and threaten a teacher without being … Read more
Have you heard of pressure passes? They’re slips of red or yellow paper that allow difficult students to leave your classroom anytime they like. Yep, they just flash you the pass and then walk out. They’re all the rage among counselors and administrators, who … Read more
Your classroom management plan is a small part of effective classroom management. It’s critical and absolutely mandatory, but by itself won’t get you very far. It’s the rest of it, primarily what SCM is about, that makes the plan go. A common refrain here … Read more
Typically, when I walk a class across campus I let them do so without my input. With as much independence as possible. It’s something I begin teaching on the first day of school and then slowly release to them as the days and weeks … Read more
There was a viral video a few months ago of a teacher standing between two students who were arguing back and forth. The students were about a dozen feet apart. The teacher was facing one of the students when the other picked up a … Read more
No, you don’t have to be riotously funny. You don’t have to prepare daily jokes and stories. You don’t even have to try to make your students laugh. But you do need to prioritize humor in your classroom. Have a spirit of laughter, a … Read more
You don’t have to call it time-out. You can call it the reflection zone, the accountability desk, or anything you like. The name is unimportant. But what is important, critically, is that it must be taught. It must be explained in detail, modeled explicitly, … Read more