As the school year draws to a close, voices tend to grow louder. Routines get sloppier. Students become distracted, excitable, and primed for misbehavior. After all, they can feel the warmth of summer on their skin. The smell of sunblock and freedom is in … Read more
Success is secured ahead of time. It’s something you set your students up for through detailed instruction. You make your content compelling. You show them—model for them—what you expect. You provide precise steps to follow. You practice, review, take questions, and check for understanding. … Read more
It’s demoralizing. You plan a great lesson. You give it your enthusiastic best. But your students don’t respond well. At all. They’re distracted and sleepy. They’re bored and slouched in their seats. They’re uninspired and blase’ about what you have to teach them. When … Read more
There is a common misconception that effective classroom management means silence. It means rigidness and tight restriction. It means backs straight and eyes forward. Hour after hour. And while there are teachers who try to run their classroom this way, or think they should, … Read more
It happens every day in classrooms from Fresno to Kathmandu. The teacher pulls aside their most difficult student for a private meeting. Sometimes it’s a lecture. Sometimes it’s a pep-talk. Sometimes it’s to threaten or praise or question like a trial lawyer. But in … Read more
I’ve failed a lot in my life. And I’m thankful for it every day. Because hidden within every failure is a blessing. Failure teaches us more than our successes. It reveals our mistakes and areas needing improvement. It uncovers our carelessness and unpreparedness. It … Read more
It’s important that your students know you care about them. It’s important that they know you’re there for them. It’s important that they know you only want what is best for them. This is no small thing. The teacher whose students believe this about … Read more
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” “What? That doesn’t make any sense.” “Where in the world did you get that idea?” They are comments that roll off the tongue without second thought. They’re a gut reaction to a private question or … Read more