How To Be A Better, Happier Teacher By Slowing Down. If you’re like most teachers, you’re in a hurry much of the time.
Your schedule is overloaded. Your curriculum is bursting at the seams. And you have precious little time between one activity and the next. Stress rises along with your dissatisfaction, but you continue to push the pace because you’ve been lead to believe that if you can somehow shoehorn everything in by the end of each day… How To Keep Your Cool. Gordon Cooper courtesy of NASA Among the traits that make a great teacher, enthusiasm is near the top.
Your passion for delivering captivating lessons and activities to your students largely determines your success in motivating students. We’re all attracted to people who live their lives with zeal, and students are no different. One of my favorite movies is Braveheart, which tells the story of William Wallace, a 13th century knight who fought for the resistance in the Scottish Wars of Independence. His rousing speech to his fellow freedom fighters tingles the spine. Although we don’t need to bring this level of intensity to our classrooms, there are times that call for us to rally our troops and remind them of the importance of their daily task.
Motivational speeches, to be sure, can be a well-needed shot in the arm. How A Party Can Improve Classroom Management. If you could schedule one classroom party a week and improve classroom management, would you do it?
Before you answer yes, you should know that the kind of party I’m referring to is not of the celebratory variety. You’re not going to order pizza or have a piñata. No animated videos are involved. And you don’t need parent volunteers. But done a certain way, this party can improve your students’… CooperationWork habitsRespectMaturity. Why Speaking Softly Is An Effective Classroom Management Strategy. You don’t always have to make big, dramatic changes to see classroom management improvement.
Sometimes it can be a slight adjustment. A small change in the way you do things, in how you speak, move, or relate to students, can make a big difference. Your voice is a good example. Most teachers talk too loud. They turn up the volume because they believe that the louder they are the better their students will listen. But it isn’t true. Students tune out teachers who bark commands and instructions. This is why students often grudgingly follow directions or ignore them altogether.
How To Make Your Classroom A Safe Haven For Your Students. We know about the public cases, those gossiped about so offhandedly—the homeless student, the one whose mother is in jail, the two with drug dealing fathers no longer around.
But what of the others? What of the secrets hidden and locked away, keys all but resting on an ocean floor? What about the shy boy seated near the front who won’t look you in the eye? He appears well taken care of—clean clothes, hair moussed, new sneakers. But what you don’t see is waiting for him at home. 5 Ways To Be A Calmer, More Effective Teacher. Your temperament has a strong impact on student behavior.
If you have a tendency to become tense, stressed, or uptight around your students, then they’re far more likely to misbehave. Because a tightly wound teacher translates to a tension-filled classroom—the kind of tension visitors can feel tingling in their sensory receptors the moment they enter your classroom. Why You Should Respond Slowly To Misbehavior. There is a compulsion among teachers to react too quickly to misbehavior.
As soon as it shows up on their radar, they’re on it in a flash, making judgments and decisions before fully understanding what it is. Teachers with this compulsion tend to take misbehavior personally. It offends and annoys them so much that they feel like they must attack it aggressively. But rushing toward the first suspicion of misbehavior or calling out in an attempt to interrupt it is like trying to stop milk as it’s being spilled. How To Rid Your Classroom Of Student Interruptions. So you’ve got this great lesson.
You’re excited, worked up, really feeling it. Everything is groovy, near perfect. You’re telling this cool story and your students are rapt—leaning forward, eyeballs glued to your every move. It’s a special moment. And so much fun. But before your story can reach its climax, just as you’re revving up the crescendo, a student barks out, “Hey, I saw a movie like that once!” Why Intimidation Is A Terrible Classroom Management Strategy.
Glaring, threatening, yelling, scolding, browbeating, pressuring, overbearing . . . few teachers would admit to using intimidation as a classroom management method, even to themselves.
But many do. Perhaps not all the time, mind you. Perhaps only in weak moments or in short bursts of frustration. Maybe it’s only once in an azure moon. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s only reserved for certain students. Any amount crosses the line. Here’s why: