In his seminal book, The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell describes the precipitous fall of crime in New York City in the early 1990’s. There were several factors that accounted for the drop, but the most interesting from a classroom management standpoint, and perhaps … Read more
I received an email yesterday from a teacher who wondered how I would have handled a couple of her most challenging students. It seems that these two students have caused her nonstop headaches throughout the school year, and she was relieved her summer vacation … Read more
Confidence is an important trait in a teacher, but so is humility. Although I don’t subscribe to the belief that a teacher never truly arrives or can never reach a high level of excellence, I do believe in the continual need to be self-aware … Read more
Modeling is so effective that it should be among your most often used teaching strategies. When most people think of modeling, they envision a teacher standing in the front her class performing a task she expects from her students. For example, if she were … Read more
There are teachers who have been searching for answers to their classroom management problems for years without success. They try one new idea after the other in the hopes of finding the magic combination of techniques and strategies that will work for them. They … Read more
I’ve watched the same students at recess every day for years. They emerge from their classrooms a minute or two after their sprinting classmates. They shuffle slowly toward a lunch table or an empty bench carrying a fluttering sheet of paper or a book … Read more
Classroom management is more than just rules and consequences. Everything you do as a teacher, from creating your room environment to how you praise your students, affects their behavior. Recently, I watched a teacher praise a student for the good work he had done … Read more