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
Time-out is an important part of any effective classroom management plan. But how is it best enforced? There is much confusion over where time-out should take place, how long it should last, and what students should be doing while they’re there. It’s a rare … Read more
A typical time-out consists of 5 to 10 minutes of sitting at a desk separated from classmates. But for many students, this isn’t a strong enough consequence. For time-out to be most effective, your students need to feel the full weight of accountability. They … Read more
A reader posted a question this week asking what to do if a student, in this case a kindergartner, crawled on the floor and under tables after being sent to time-out. Playing, straying, and not sitting quietly in time-out can happen regardless of grade … 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
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