The link between classical music and learning is well established. It has been shown to enhance certain forms of intelligence, like verbal and spatial abilities. And teachers who regularly play Mozart while students are practicing math skills report that it helps with concentration and … Read more
If you’re looking for elaborate or decorative classroom management ideas, you won’t find them here. Though prevalent, such ideas are unnecessary, even counterproductive, for classroom management. On this site, we’re focused on only two things: 1. What works best. 2. What is simplest for … Read more
Your classroom management plan doesn’t have to be complex to be effective. Four rules and three consequences will usually do the trick. Indeed, there is no magic in the plan itself. It’s the stuff in between, the strategery (see Will Ferrell), that determines whether … Read more
One of the biggest classroom management mistakes teachers make is taking disrespectful behavior personally. To quote Tom Hagen speaking to Sonny Corleone in the movie The Godfather, “This is business, not personal.” When you take disrespectful behavior personally, two things are likely to happen: … Read more
Many years ago, on a whim, I wrote a short note to a student named Joanna to let her know how much I appreciated her leadership qualities. I wrote the note before school one day and left it folded over and taped to her … Read more
A couple of years ago, I went back to my college alma mater for homecoming weekend. I met up with a few buddies on Thursday evening, and we spent the next day touring our old haunts. It was a great time reliving the past … Read more
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