How Do We Show Our Students That We Love Them? Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - November 8, 2009May 30, 20160 When I was struggling to find hope early in my career as a teacher, I came across a few pieces of advice given by King Solomon from the Proverbs: He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly. — Proverbs 13:24 This one jumped out at me as I realized I overlooked way too much misbehavior. I came to understand that by continually letting the students misbehave because I wanted them to like me was actually counter-productive and instead it made them respect me less. More than that, it showed me that whereas I thought I was being loving, I was actually being hateful. That helped me a whole lot as it set me on a
Three Basic Classroom Skills Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - October 21, 2008July 1, 201013 When I began turning my band around during my second year, I received some of the best advice ever from one of my former band directors. He noted that he had observed three Rehearsal Skills that were lacking in most bad bands. These same three Rehearsal Skills are present in most great bands. The three skills are: Do not turn and talk to your neighbor when you are not playing. This eliminates the "but we were talking about the music" part of the "DO NOT TALK" equation. Sit still and quiet when the band director is working with another section. I don't have any idea how many times kids got up without asking to during my first two years.