This Is Why This Site Exists Inspiration by Joel Wagner - June 21, 2010June 30, 20100 Emails like this are the reason this site exists. I am an 11-year high school English teaching veteran in the Los Angeles area. Most of my teaching was done in the trenches of suburban, low-SES "nay-bah-HOODS" and the fringes of, um, gangsta lands. (I teach English ... go figure.) I've had my share of awesome kids, classes and experiences, and I've had my share of kids who practice "learned helplessness" and come to school looking like Snoop Droopy Drawers. Overall, I love my subject matter, and love working with high school age kids, especially helping them to "read, write and think your world" (one of my class mottoes). I wanted to thank you for your no-nonsense, honest site that both
Be Respectful (Total Teacher Transformation Day 11) Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - May 14, 2009June 30, 20100 This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. As we're going through the transformation, one of the key things to remember is that you must remain respectful to your students. As I've written before, classroom control is essential. Some of us have a naturally abrasive personality, and so when we begin to re-assume control, politeness tends to go out the window. Don't take things personally The thing to remember is that even our worst behaved students actually have a genuine reason for doing the things that they are doing. Most misbehaviors are not personal attacks. They are simply misbehaviors for the sake of themselves. One of my mentors once told me a
Be Prepared (Total Teacher Transformation Day 8) Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - May 11, 2009June 30, 20103 This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. I took the day off from blogging yesterday because it was Mother's Day and I play in a mariachi. If you don't know what that means, I started playing serenatas (Mother's Day Serenades) at 6pm Saturday afternoon, wrapped up a little after 8am Sunday morning, then played for another 4 hours Sunday afternoon. We played three songs 40 different times, and also had a one-hour gig in somewhere along the way. With a church service thrown in on Sunday morning for good measure, it probably goes without saying that I was exhausted yesterday when we finished up. But now I'm back and ready to go! Be
Calling Home Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - September 14, 2007July 5, 20102 I just recently read NYC Educator's article entitled, Startup Tips. Great stuff there. Neither she nor any teacher of education ever advised me on classroom control. The standing platitude was “A good lesson plan is the best way to control a class,” but I no longer believe that. I think a good lesson plan is the best thing to have after you control the class. ... The best trick, and it’s not much of a trick at all, is frequent home contact. It’s true that not all parents will be helpful, but I’ve found most of them to be. When kids know reports of their classroom behavior will reach their homes, they tend to save the acting out for your
What My Classroom Is Really Like Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - August 30, 2007July 5, 20102 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 classes this week. So I thought that I would describe what goes on and see if maybe I can shed some light on WHY those things happen. Someone will be in control When my dad was getting his degree in education a few years ago, he passed along a story to me about one of his college classes. In the discussion, he said something that