The Zen of Classroom Management - Teaching Now UserID: iCustID: IsLogged: false IsSiteLicense: false UserType: anonymous DisplayName: TrialsLeft: 0 Trials: Tier Preview Log: Exception pages ( /teachers/teaching_now/2012/12/the_zen_of_classroom_management.html ) = NO Internal request ( 198.27.80.148 ) = NO Open House ( 2014-06-24 17:33:57 ) = NO Site Licence : ( 198.27.80.148 ) = NO ACL Free A vs U ( 2100 vs 0 ) = NO Token Free (NO TOKEN FOUND) = NO Blog authoring preview = NO Search Robot ( Firefox ) = NO Purchased ( 0 ) = NO Monthly ( 3d55b1c4-514c-2dd9-67ec-8954772355ff : 3 / 3 ) = NO 0: /edweek/finding_common_ground/2014/06/are_bad_ideas_making_us_miss_the_good_ones.html 1: /ew/articles/2014/06/11/35ii-big-picture-side.h33.html 2: /ew/articles/2014/06/11/35ii-big-picture.h33.html
How Tough Kids Can Make Us Better Teachers Early in the school year, Mr. Spriggs asked me to sit in on a conference with his most challenging student. Jon rarely participated appropriately in class, instead drawing attention to himself by "accidentally" dropping books, suddenly having coughing spells and loudly expelling air from either end. As the conference began, Jon seemed prepared for an expected onslaught of demands and nagging, defending himself with a steely downward glare and arms firmly folded across his chest. The Importance of Attitude Educators often ask me for strategies that work with difficult students, and I have devoted a considerable amount of effort and creativity in developing these, filling up numerous books. Let's look at the attitudes reflected by this strategy: Your presence is important to me. A Simple Experiment It is not unusual to think that if only others changed their ways, our lives would be so much better. Start by thinking about your most challenging student (or class). See what happens.
Classroom Management: More Than a Bag of Tricks UserID: iCustID: IsLogged: false IsSiteLicense: false UserType: anonymous DisplayName: TrialsLeft: 0 Trials: Tier Preview Log: Exception pages ( /tm/articles/2012/11/28/fp_garrett.html ) = NO Internal request ( 198.27.81.81 ) = NO Open House ( 2014-06-24 17:31:58 ) = NO Site Licence : ( 198.27.81.81 ) = NO ACL Free A vs U ( 2100 vs 0 ) = NO Token Free (YSQFLObp25w6fG NqhXIDWFPtmitpQgA7IB6) = NO Blog authoring preview = NO Search Robot ( Firefox ) = NO Purchased ( 0 ) = NO Monthly ( 22806bae-75b4-41a0-cd65-a3f3d8a101d5 : 3 / 3 ) = NO 0: /tm/articles/2014/06/03/ctq_wilbanks_website.html 1: /edweek/on_innovation/2014/06/celebrating_success_a_snapshot_of_edtech_procurement_in_houston.html 2: /ew/articles/2014/01/29/19el-math.h33.html
Defusing Power Struggles: It's Not About Getting the Last Word Mrs. Nelson is teaching a lesson when she notices Mason's head on his desk with distracting noises coming from him. She cruises his way while still teaching, leans in as she nears him and quietly reminds him to sit up and stop making noises. As she walks away and resumes teaching, Mason mumbles an inappropriate epithet that contains denial of the deed and offensive language. Other students sitting nearby turn their attention away from the lesson, collectively showing a look along with a few "oohs" that unmistakably challenges their teacher with the question, "What are you going to do about it?" Mrs. Many power struggles start over issues of consequences, fairness, embarrassment and being told what to do. The Most Effective Word When my daughter was a teenager, her last word during a disagreement was often a snooty "whatever." The wisdom is for educators to be satisfied with "the most effective word," and this almost always comes next-to-last. Great Expectations
Let’s Not "Fall" Behind: Three Tips to Help You Stay Organized "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Smith It's about that time of year: the turning of the leaves, the excitement of the holidays . . . the falling behind in your process. I can't tell you how many times during my work as a principal that I would frequently come upon new teachers sharing the woes of falling behind. In all seriousness, the need for new teachers to stay focused and organized is going to be critical not only to their own success, but to the success of their students. So how can we support ourselves to stay organized? How does a new teacher get started? 1. Here is an excerpt from David Allen about this process in his book Getting Things Done: Creating a method for organizing your thoughts and actions depends on five key stages. These are five basic ideas, but they're great ideas to support us as educators seeking and using our own personalized organization method. 2. Here’s what David Allen shares about that simple action: 3.
Eye On Education Bryan Harris shares four simple but effective ways deal with common classroom disruptions, from his new book, 75 Quick and Easy Solutions to Common Classroom Disruptions, co-authored by Cassandra Goldberg. C.M. Charles, author of The Synergetic Classroom noted that, “Teachers have two great dreams – to work with students who try to learn, and to escape from the constant struggle against misbehavior.” Dealing with student disruptions can take the joy out of teaching and cause stress, anxiety, and frustration. In fact, student misbehavior has been cited as a reason some teachers leave the profession (Allensworth, Ponisciak, & Mazzeo, 2009). While dealing with classroom misbehavior can be a challenge, it is important to remember that, in many cases, the students who are difficult inside the classroom are the ones who have problems of their own outside the classroom. Fortunately, there are some simple and effective ways to deal with classroom disruptions.
Tools for Teaching: Managing a Large Class Size In a recent conversation with a public high school teacher, she explained that this year, her social studies classes increased in size to nearly 40 students. Resignedly, she added, "Well, there goes group work." Do you have more students this year? Tip #1: Don't Give Up on Collaborative Grouping Students need opportunities to check in with each other around their learning, ask questions, guide each other and reflect together. Tip #2: Accept That Things Take Longer Accept that presenting and discussing a unit's learning objectives may have taken 20 minutes with that smaller class in the past, and probably takes twice as long with this larger group. One remedy, especially when it comes to checking for understanding? Tip #3: Find New Ways to Know Students Unfortunately, the larger the class size, the more the relationships with students suffer. You can also rotate your focus every few days to 5 or 6 different students. Tip #4: Be Okay With Loud and Letting Go
How to Work With the No-Homework Kid Editor's Note: Holden Clemens (a pseudonym) is an educator who has dedicated his life to providing hope to students in his classroom. He is also a humorist, and he hopes to bring smiles to the faces of hard working educators around the globe. This is the first in his series on how to teach to a variety of different student archetypes. I wanted to talk briefly today about a series of posts I have entitled: The Other Student. The Other Student is about those kids in your class that seem to fall between the cracks of our great educational system. (It's hard to believe that a student can slip by in a class of 32 with varied special needs, but I heard a story once where a child was left behind, and it made me sad.) Back in the day, I taught at JFK Middle School in the great state of Ohio. These Ideas Didn't Work My first instinct as a teacher was to worry about the other 36 students who were doing the homework. But This One Did... One day, I decided to talk to Kevin. What Happened?
Top 16 Classroom Control and Management Tips One of the daunting challenges that face up newly fledged teachers ( and sometimes experienced ones too) is classroom management issues. Not every teacher is lucky enough to get the wheel turning smoothly right from the start. Disruptive behaviour can pose a real threat to the learning and teaching process and often times it turns a teacher's life into a living nightmare leading , in most cases, to giving up the job as a whole. As an experienced teacher who have taught in different countries and as a researcher in the field of pedagogy and methodology ( in connection with technology ) I can comfortably confirm that if classroom management issues are not dealt with seriously they can backfire and destroy what we are trying to build. healthy learning milieu is not feasible without a well managed classroom and this latter requires a set of techniques that every ( new ) teacher should know of. " by David Fontana which I highly recommend for you. Classroom Management Techniques : 3- Be Fair
Back to School: Rules and Routines in the Classroom I admit it. I allowed students to chew gum in class. Why? I chewed gum. I have a throat that tends to dry up mid-morning. Gum helps. The point is that if you have a rule, you have to follow it yourself or the kids will question you, and worse, lose respect. Follow Through Rules have consequences, and routines have reminders. Once you make a rule, you have to stick to it. All the other students are watching and expecting the follow through. Choosing Routines to Emphasize There will be procedures and routines that will take several seconds to go over and then others that are more in-depth. You will want to address all scenarios for getting out of one's seat: sharpening a pencil, getting supplies or a tissue, turning in work, etc. There isn't really a limit to how many routines and procedures you have, but you will need to make sure that each one is clear to every learner in your room that first week of school. Transparency Have the class brainstorm examples and you add a few yourself.