Classroom Out of Control? JD2718 Has Some Great Comments

February 1, 2009 Joel Wagner Classroom Management 1

1148745_crashed_car Okay okay. So I’m a band director. Why would anyone listen to me anyway. I’m just an elective teacher.

My friend JD2718 emailed me and told me about some stuff that he does in his math class. So even if you ignore my advice about classroom management, maybe some of his advice about keeping students engaged will apply to you. Hop on over and check out Teaching off topic 3.

By the way, I have ADD so my kids know that if they ask me a question about my dogs or what I did over the weekend or pretty much anything else, I’ll get off topic. But even when I do stay focused, I find ways to bring some off-topic material into the classroom as well.

For more reading by JD, check out Teaching off topic 1 and Teaching off topic 2.

About Joel Wagner 522 Articles

Joel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.

1 Comment on Classroom Out of Control? JD2718 Has Some Great Comments

Tina May 8, 2017 at 4:15 am
Hi, I’ve always taught younger grades and the classes were always so well behaved. This year I have a year 4 and I’m finding it hard to keep them under control. I have one kid who does not want to do any work and another kid who is always defiant and never follows my instructions. It’s making it really hard for me to enjoy teaching and I’m constantly thinking about quitting.
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