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This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents.
Congratulations
First of all, I want to congratulate you on taking the first step of this journey toward becoming a great teacher! I can’t even begin to describe for you the exciting possibilities that await you as you move through these lessons and begin to come over to the other side. If your experiences are anything like mine as I went through this process five years ago, you will not believe that you used to have classes the way you currently do. If you follow the advice here, I can virtually guarantee you a completely different classroom environment before this month is out.
To get the full effect, you need to really spend an entire day on each of the weekday articles. Each one will have an assignment for you to put into practice in the upcoming school day. If you try to cram two articles into one reading, you may not get the full effect. So be warned.
But first…
I’ve been writing this blog for over two years now. Over the course of that time, I have assembled quite a bit of information and advice on classroom management. As I continue adding articles in the future, this page will serve as a gateway for all of those. So feel free to bookmark this page and check back from time to time. Or if you don’t have time to read all of the articles, you can come back later and catch up some.
Find a moment, and read some of these articles.
- 4 Similarities Between Strep Throat And Classroom Management
- 5 Surefire Tips For Handling Misbehavior
- 5 Ways To Win When Children Test Your Limits
- 10 Things I Wish I Knew As A First Year Teacher
- 10 Tips To Stay Motivated And Love Teaching
- 50 Classroom Management Tips I Have Learned This Month
- A Customer Service Oriented Classroom Experience
- All Time Best Teaching Advice
- Are Classroom Rules Needed?
- Are You Still Out Of Control In Your Classroom?
- Arguing Is Normal, isn’t It?
- Back To Basics
- Calling Home
- Classroom Management: The Key To Your Success
- Classroom Out of Control? JD2718 Has Some Great Comments
- The Deep-Seated Problems With Public Education
- Gone Wild: Classroom Jobs
- Habit 2: Classroom Procedures
- The Honeymoon Is Over: What Killed My First Teaching Job And 7 Tips For Getting Your Next Job
- How Do I Keep My Students Learning?
- How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?
- How to Empower Your Students
- If You Really Must Have Classroom Rules…
- Make A Two Year Commitment, And 100 Other Great Teaching Tips
- Make Love not War – How to Control an Unruly Class
- My Education Background
- New Classroom Rule: Don’t Talk To Me
- Old School Classroom Management
- Pacing: What Every Great Band Director Knows
- Seven Years Later: 7 Things I Would Do Before My First Year As A First Year Teacher If I Knew Then What I Know Now
- The Single Most Important Advice Anyone Can Give To A First Year Teacher
- You Think You Pay Attention? What Else Are You Missing Out On?
- Three Basic Classroom Skills
- Turning The Ship: Overcoming The Voyage To Becoming A Great Teacher
- Videos: Revolutionary Teaching Style
- What My Classroom Is Really Like
- Why I Hated Teaching During My First Two Years
- You Better Smile Before Christmas!
Today’s assignment
To get you started and to help establish the habit, I want you to read through some of the articles above. Your assignment is to leave at least one comment. The comment can be either a question, an answer to another reader’s question, a response to something someone else has commented on, or whatever. You can even go to another blog and leave a comment.
If you’re looking for a different blog to go to, check out these 20 Blogs I Wish Were Around When I Started Teaching.
If you are going to make it through this process, you need to start asking questions and looking for answers. You’re going to have to start listening to what other people are telling you, and figuring out what works best for you. So what are you waiting for? Go ye therefore and comment…
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After months of reading tons of your articles I am finally leaving a comment! I just finished student teaching and am now subbing in the same district. I have good days and bad days with classroom management. However, the bad days (or just bad periods) are so out of control I wonder if I really had control in all the other classes or those kids were just being nice. It’s worrisome because although right now I am a sub I am afraid these same out of control classes will pop up when I have a permanent position. Do you have any advice for getting control when you are there for one day and the kids are already turned against you? I feel like I know how to prepare for my permanent position but want to make subbing more enjoyable. Thank you.
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In our web-site about teaching in the teach for America project we are try to inspire people with stories about becoming a great teacher like yours.
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I taught special ed for 5 years and thought that switching to general ed would be less stressful and help me to sleep through the night. I am teaching 3rd grade and have a tough bunch of kids, I know most of it is my fault due to bad classroom management. I started with having the kids tell their parents how they were misbehaving, but somehow the parents kept getting mad at me as if it was my fault. I am going to work more at not raising my voice and waiting quietly for the class to do what is expected. I find myself continually thinking about what I’m going to do differently next year instead of focusing on this year, so thank you for helping me with that!
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Ashley, this is exactly why I started this series. In fact, it’s the whole reason I started this blog two years ago. Thank you so much for your comments and I hope to hear back on how this project is helping you soon!
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I’m in my 4th year teching maths at a high school in the uk. I feel like I’m about 7 years behind where I should be!! Thanks for your blog, it is persuading me to think more clearly about what I do.
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I am a teaching assistant for a 3rd grade class and I will be going into my second year doing that. I had a tough time with classroom management last year and I am really praying that I conquor it this year. I took the First Days of School online class but, it is a little different for me since it is not my own class. My cooperating teacher is a yeller and undermines my authority at times…any advice on how I should start out in September??
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Oh, thank you, kind blogger! This is a great series. Seventh year teaching and it is still hard for me…will definitely be following your series!
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I am in my fifth year of teaching. I have been teaching in the UK for one and a half of those years. I am finding it extremely difficult to adapt to teaching in the UK. For the most part this is due to lack of discipline in UK schools and in turn my inability to assert discipline and effective classroom management in my classroom. I have reached the point where I am no longer certain teaching is the career for me. My self belief and confidence in my abilities as a teacher has reached an all time low. I am hoping that this series can help me in my last attempt to reform my flagging teaching career.
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I am in my first year as a Special Education teacher. My class is out of control. Kids are yelling at each other. Nobody is focused on their work. I am yelling and screaming and they are talking back and yelling back at me. Everybody is trying to help me out. Some say I need to be more positive, some say I need to be stronger and more strict. I do not know what to do. As a group, they are against me. The situation is very confrontational. I can not stop them going crazy. The kids know it. They are going crazy but they do not care. Some kids even have a lot of fun of it. they want the class go crazy so I can get fired. Please help. I am seriously thinking resignation because I do not think I can turn the classroom around since I can not change the nature of some of the students.
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