You notice it an hour or so into the school day. Your students are chatty and distracted. Their heads are on a swivel. They’re squirming in their seats. Only the most dedicated appear to be following along. What do you do? Do you plow … Read more
It can be a nerve-racking experience. Without warning, a parent appears in front of you. He (or she) is angry and wants answers. Right now. Maybe he’s upset about a student picking on his son. Maybe he’s mad about how you handled his daughter’s … Read more
Do you follow your classroom management plan yet still struggle with behavior? Do your students seem unfazed by your accountability measures? Do they return from time-out with a shrug, no more inclined to follow your rules than before? Then chances are you’re interfering with … Read more
For regular education classroom teachers, giving rewards in exchange for good behavior is a mistake. It’s true that “do this and get that” type rewards can improve behavior in the short term. As in, “Sit up straight and give me your attention, and I … Read more
Can you tell if you’re going to have a long behavior day within the first few minutes of the morning bell? Most teachers can. Dark clouds on the horizon will appear before your students even sit down. Maybe it’s in the way they enter … Read more
With over 500,000 page views, How To Handle Disrespectful Students is one of the most popular articles on this website—and for good reason. A disrespectful student can get under a teacher’s skin like almost nothing else. When confronted with disrespect, it’s easy to take … Read more
It’s one of the great challenges of teaching. How do you compete with the distractions of a modern student’s life? How do you interest them in what you’re offering when their entertainment options are so immediate, so exciting, and so easy? How do you … Read more
If you’re like most teachers, you stray from your classroom management plan. Oh, your intentions are good. You really do want to follow it to the letter. But ultimately you don’t. Situations keep getting in the way. Like, for example, when one of your … Read more