Old School Classroom Management Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - January 3, 2008July 2, 20100 It still works. Check it out at NYC Educator. I wish I could say I handle it the good ol' boy way all the time. I don't. What I have discovered is that as I get older and wiser (ha), I handle misbehaviors better. The key is coming up with a contingency plan and knowing how you will respond to certain behaviors.
The Loneliest Articles of 2007 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - December 23, 2007July 2, 20100 In the Christmas break, I am looking back at this blog's growth and development. I began writing a little bit for the blog in February, but didn't officially launch it for real until June. Since that time, growth has been pretty consistent. I now seem to regularly get a small number of comments for every article I write, with some eliciting more than others. As I look through the blog's archive, it strikes me that there are some articles that have either been buried deep in the archives, or for whatever reason, have gone unnoticed by my readers. So I am giving all of those articles a chance to redeem themselves, come up to the light of day. Here is
You Better Smile Before Christmas! Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - December 8, 2007May 29, 201610 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 get a handle on classroom management, I asked lots of questions. Among the answers I got was this little gem: Never smile before Christmas! I asked further questions for clarification, and my mentors advised me that basically my job as a teacher is to educate the children. It is not to be their friend. The funny thing is that when you are strict, they will like you more than
148th Carnival of Education Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - December 5, 2007July 2, 20109 Welcome to the 148th edition of the Carnival of Education! As is one of my signature styles, I want to present this carnival in list format. We'll begin with a Top 5 list... The Main Attraction Obviously the process of creating any "Top 5" list is subjective and open to argument and debate. With nearly50 submissions, I had a handful of options from which to choose. I narrowed it down to about 8 and did a little bit more weeding down to come up with my favorite five articles from this week. Some are from blogs that my readers and I read, others are brand new discoveries for me. Either way, I enjoyed these. #5 A 10% solution (Learn
50 Awesome Classroom Management Tips You Can Use Tomorrow Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 27, 2007August 4, 20169 As we come to the conclusion of Reader Appreciation Month, I want to summarize some of the things that we have learned. Today, I'll focus on the incredible wealth of knowledge that we have learned about classroom management with these 50 awesome classroom management tips. I found that when I put all of the tips together, I had over 70 suggestions. I combined a few of them and broke them down into categories. The tips all fell into four categories: Personal, Student and Parent Relationships, Organization and Teaching, and Behavior and Rules. After consolidating, I came up with 50 classroom management tips I have learned this month. Personal classroom management tips Find out who you are as a person; find your strengths,
Reader Appreciation: Joel Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 26, 2007May 29, 20161 With all of the great responses I have read with the Reader Appreciation Month, I decided to go ahead and fill out the survey as well. Name: Joel Location: The border of Texas and Mexico Occupation: Middle School Band Director Blog: So You Want To Teach? Tell me some of your favorite things about your job Inspiring children. Spreading my passion for music, life, and learning. Watching the students grow year after year. Recruiting kids into my program. Being creative with the music. Transforming students from knowing nothing about how to play an instrument to being able to perform complicated (for them) music by the end of the year. Demonstrating the value of long-range planning to achieve crazy cool results. Guiding students to success, both individually
Reader Appreciation: Pamela Reader Appreciation by Pamela - November 23, 2007May 29, 20160 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Pamela. Name: Pamela Location: Michigan Occupation: Elementary Teacher, Reading Specialist Blog: Blog may be coming soon, but none yet ;-) Tell me some of your favorite things about your job Some of my favorite things about teaching: I enjoy sharing my love of learning and my passion for certain topics. It goes beyond just teaching the material...it's about making a personal connection with the students. Along those same lines, I love sharing the excitement of a good book. When I introduce it and starting talking about it with excitement, the students can't wait for me to start reading. When it's time to stop reading and begin our next lesson, they beg
Reader Appreciation: Jonathan Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 22, 2007July 5, 20101 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Jonathan. Name: Jonathan Location: The Bronx Occupation: High School Math teacher Blog: JD2718 Tell me some of your favorite things about your job I love kids and I love math. How many jobs can combine them? I guess the guy at the carnival who counts the kids getting on the rides, but he has to clean puke, so that's out of the question. Honestly, I can, in the space of 55 minutes, (on a good day) get booed for telling a bad joke, discuss planetary motion or the etymology of "radish," clearly explain how a new-for-them algebra technique flows from their previous knowledge, give
Reader Appreciation: Jeremy Aldrich Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 21, 2007July 5, 20100 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Jeremy Aldrich. Name: Jeremy Aldrich Location: Harrisonburg, Virginia Occupation: Middle school (6-8) electives - French, Foreign Language Exploratory, and Global Citizenship Blog: Global Citizenship in a Virtual World Tell me some of your favorite things about your job I love the push to keep learning, to keep discovering new questions and to help students discover their own questions. Tell me some things you loved about your favorite teacher(s) My favorite teacher, Mr. Newton, helped me feel like I was a good writer. He inspired me to read and to think and to share. He wasn't fake or shallow with his comments to students.
Reader Appreciation: Clix Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 20, 2007July 5, 20100 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Clix. Name: Clix Location: Georgia Occupation: Freshman English; Journalism Blog: Epic Adventures Are Often Uncomfortable Tell me some of your favorite things about your job I seem to be good at it. I get to explore stories and try new ideas and encourage others to do the same. It's never dull. I love messing with their heads. I love how wee the freshmen are and watching them grow into young ladies and gentlemen (in theory). I love the power of CONTROLLING LIVES - well, at least for an hour or so a day! I love listening to their ideas and seeing the way their minds
Reader Appreciation: Pat Hensley Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 19, 2007July 5, 20100 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Pat Hensley. Name: Pat Hensley Location: South Carolina Occupation: I was a high school special ed teacher, now I am a college instructor and educational consultant. Blog: Successful Teaching Tell me some of your favorite things about your job Sharing my experiences and helping unexperienced teachers solve problems Tell me some things you loved about your favorite teacher(s) Making me feel that I was important, listening to my ideas, and learning new things from them List some of your most effective classroom management strategies Improving students’ self concept Have a consistent behavior plan Name (up to) three other blogs that you frequently visit/subscribe
All Time Best Teaching Advice Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - November 17, 2007July 5, 20104 As I have been reading the interviews for the Reader Appreciation Month (by the way, there is room for another 7 interviews. If you don't send them in, they end on Wednesday!), I have been amazed at the depth of knowledge of some of the readers of this blog. I was going through my Google Reader the other day and came across a post by Gxeremio entitled Best (and worst) advice. In it, he lists some of the best teaching advice he has received. Additionally, he points to some standard "wisdom" that really isn't all that wise. It made me think... If I were to give only one piece of advice to a brand new teacher, what would it
Reader Appreciation: Athena Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 16, 2007July 5, 20100 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Athena. Name: Athena Location: South Texas Occupation: ELA 9th & 10th grade Blog: http://athena81469.blogspot.com/ Tell me some of your favorite things about your job I like the freedom of the job. I used to be in a cube job where I had to punch a timeclock all the time. Every moment of my job was timed. I sat and stared at 4 grey fuzzy walls everyday. Now, I come to work at my own time. Nobody is watching. Plus, I have control over my job. I decide what and when I teach. I decide if I am going to stay late. I can
Reader Appreciation: Jane Little Reader Appreciation by Jane Little - November 15, 2007July 5, 20102 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Jane Little. Name: Jane Little Location: Los Angeles, CA Occupation: Third Grade Teacher Blog: My Many Colored Crayons // Moved to Out of The Crayon Box Tell me some of your favorite things about your job I love getting to know the kids and I especially love having siblings come up and watching the family grow. It is a real privilege to be part of people's lives like that. When I taught 5th grade it was hard because the kids left our school at the end of the year. I didn't get to see them from afar in the next grade. I didn't get to
Reader Appreciation: Miss Profe Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 14, 2007July 5, 20102 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Miss Profe. Name: Miss Profe Location:The Northeast Occupation: Middle/High School Spanish teacher Blog: It's A Hardknock Teacher's Life Tell me some of your favorite things about your job The kids, the challenge of teaching a second language in the 21st century Tell me some things you loved about your favorite teacher(s) They demanded my best; they recognized my potential. List some of your most effective classroom management strategies Walking around the room, tapping on the shoulder, not shouting over students Name (up to) three other blogs that you frequently visit/subscribe Ms. Whatsit So You Want To Teach? RepairKit