Classroom Management

You Better Smile Before Christmas!

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The common classroom management wisdom we all hear is, “Don’t smile before Christmas.” I believe that advice is good advice when taken metaphorically. If taken directly as written, it is about the worst advice you can follow. Good advice In the middle of my fourth semester of teaching, when I was learning how to really … Read more

Why I Hated Teaching During My First Two Years

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Newby writes: I have noticed lately in a couple of your posts you mentioned how terrible your first couple of years of teaching were. As a new reader, I have gone back into your archived information to learn more about this blog but have not come across why you had such a hard time. What … Read more

What To Do When Students Flagrantly Disregard The Rules

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The following comment was left yesterday and I thought it was worthy of its own article as I have seen numerous things of this type happen over the years: This is my first year as a professional teacher; I have three (90-minute block scheduled) enthusiastic groups of students who have begun to test their boundaries. … Read more

What My Classroom Is Really Like

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I realized something this week. As I start my sixth year of teaching, I finally have an amazing level of confidence when going into ANY group of students and knowing that I will be able to get them to be quiet and follow whatever directions I give them. I have been absolutely thrilled with my … Read more

Week 1 Summary (Total Teacher Transformation Day 7)

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This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. What a wild week this has been! I’m surprised by how much even going over these classroom management basics on here has impacted my teaching. When I preach this stuff, I sort of have to force myself to follow … Read more

Transforming A Tense Relationship Where There Is Low Respect

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Recently, a reader wrote to me saying: I am currently midway through student teaching and am struggling with classroom management (surprise!). I am not really getting any feedback from my cooperating teacher, other than “use short, quick redirects” and “your emotions are too transparent to students”. I worked in business for 18 years prior to … Read more

Total Teacher Transformation: Hope For All Teachers

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This is an ongoing series. Bookmark this page as a way of navigating your way around the series. By the way, this was my 400th post on the blog. Day 1: Find A Moment Day 2: Find A Mirror Day 3: Find A Mentor Day 4: Find A Mother Day 5: Find A Motivation Day 6: … Read more

Total Teacher Transformation Begins

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This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. As I suspected when I started this blog, there are a lot of teachers who don’t really have a strong grasp on how to be a great teacher. The number of emails and comments that I have … Read more

The Single Most Important Advice Anyone Can Give To A First Year Teacher

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When I first started out teaching, I desperately wanted the kids to like me. To this end, I ended up letting my classes get out of control. A handful of things contributed to this: Concerning myself with every matter that was brought to my attention Allowing kids to mesbehave Trying to get the kids to … Read more