The 9 Biggest Classroom Management Mistakes Teachers Make. Sending Students To The Office Will Weaken Your Ability To Manage Your Classroom. 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 of one’s mistakes and open to new ideas. A dose of humility keeps us flexible and willing to try a different approach when the current one isn’t working. Having written that, I must be especially careful with my upcoming statement. I don’t want to appear as though I’m singing my own praises because this couldn’t be further from true. Doing so would be off-putting. In nearly 20 years of teaching, I’ve never sent one of my students to the office because of a behavior issue.
This isn’t something I’m especially proud of, nor is it a streak I’m purposely trying to extend. The only exception to this would be an incident involving dangerous or grossly insubordinate behavior, which would need to be documented. 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Lecture Your Students. Your lesson ends, the recess bell rings, and you release your students to the playground to let off some steam.
But on the way you notice one of your students, call him Anthony, rudely shoving others aside on his way out the door. How dare him, the little bugger. 6 Teacher Personality Traits That Make Classroom Management More Difficult. If you’re struggling with classroom management and wondering why, one of the first areas to examine is the personality you bring with you to the classroom.
Many teachers become different people the minute their students walk through the door. Sometimes this is a good thing—if being around students makes you brighten like a Broadway singer or become as preternaturally calm as a mountain lake. But for the vast number of teachers, the presence of a large and active group of students can, at least to some degree, bring about personality traits that are detrimental to classroom management success.
The good news is that with a simple two-minute routine you can condition yourself to eliminate those traits that work against you, and replace them with those that work in your favor. The following six teacher personality traits make classroom management more difficult. Why Playing Favorites Is Bad For Classroom Management. A lucky few students—those cute, smart, and well-behaved ones—are accustomed to big smiles and open body language from their teacher.
For others, though, it’s a half-hearted greeting and barely a glance. Some students are afforded the privilege of helping out in the classroom before school or during recess, but others are rarely invited. Some call-outs are answered without a second thought. 50 Things You Don’t Have To Do For Effective Classroom Management. Classroom management shouldn’t feel difficult.
If you’re straining, trying hard, and feeling heavy burdened, if you’re stressed-out and exhausted at the end of the day, then something is amiss. You see, exceptional classroom management is knowledge based, not effort based. It’s knowing what works and putting it into action and what doesn’t and discarding it. It’s letting proven strategies do the heavy lifting for you, giving you the confidence to take any group of students, no matter how challenging or unruly, and transform them into the class you really want.
Why Persuasion Is A Poor Classroom Management Strategy. Trying to persuade students to behave is one of the most prevalent methods of classroom management.
Why Micromanagers Make Bad Teachers. There is a pervasive fear in teaching that if you’re not on top of your students every moment—coaxing, guiding, advising, directing—you’ll lose control of your classroom.
If left unchecked, this fear turns otherwise easygoing men and women into micromanagers, hovering over their students like a nervous driver’s education instructor. Skittering like water bugs from one desk to the next, they burst through bubbles of personal space, kneel down hot-breath close, and force their unwanted and unnecessary help upon their students. They comment, advise, opine, and counsel. They warn and praise and interfere. They fret over every this and every that. Are You Sabotaging Your Own Classroom Management Success? One of the most common email questions we get is . . .
“What about students from disadvantaged backgrounds?” The question never ceases to knock me back on my heels because, truth be told, every strategy on this website has been developed in classrooms with students living in among the most challenging circumstances. Disadvantaged, crime-ridden, poverty-stricken, you name it. The fact is, it doesn’t matter where you teach or who shows up on your roster, the well-behaved classroom you long for is within your grasp.
But there is an obstacle blocking the path of so many teachers in their quest for a dream class. Why Your Students Need Breathing Room. Walk into a typical classroom and you’ll find the teacher in perpetual motion. In an effort to be the best teacher they can be, most teachers over teach.