One of the greatest challenges that I had as a first year teacher was with classroom management. I’ve mentioned that a number of times before and I think most first year teachers go through that. As with most, I noticed that I had some days where the kids were good, and others where they were … Read more
Pat, over at Successful Teaching, recently tagged me in her blog challenge. She suggested that I write an article about the single most important piece of advice I would give a new teacher. It’s odd that she would write that, as it has been something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. So much so, … Read more
We’ve all been there. The beginning of the first year of teaching can be daunting, to say the least. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. First year horror stories abound. The number of teachers who quit after the first year or two of teaching matches or exceeds the number … Read more
We’ve all seen them. People who are able to motivate large numbers of people to do things as a team. Great coaches, teachers, politicians, and even dictators. All of them are great motivators. Until recently, I would have agreed with that statement. I sat down this week and began reading through Bandmasters Review, the official … Read more
Most students argue. It’s a fact of life. So it shouldn’t be a concern when our students argue with us. Or should it? Great teachers don’t have arguers Have you ever noticed how you can walk into a classroom and hear the teacher talking, and the students being quiet? They are given directions, and nobody … Read more
In my last post Organization Leads To Sanity, I wrote about how I personally get organized at work. In this post, I am going to give some pointers that I have and that I plan to begin implementing that will allow anyone to get and stay organized much more easily. These tips apply both to … Read more
After a conversation with another teacher last night, I started looking through the archives. I realized that I have written a few times about having a clean desk and a clean desktop on my computer, but I have never really given a step-by-step guide of how I got there and some of the things I … Read more
A band director I used to work with said this. The concept is that success comes from finishing something well. It’s easy to start something great. Greatness comes from finishing something great. That is why greatness is so elusive. One And A Half Is Not The Same As Two I find myself saying the very … Read more
Dave Ramsey recently wrote an article entitled High-Performance Achievement and it’s about his training to run of a marathon. In this article, we’re going to look at how you can use that knowledge to help you become the best teacher in the world. In Seth Godin’s latest book, “The Dip” (which I’m going to read this … Read more
If work just isn’t seeming to work out for you, maybe you are focusing your attention in the wrong place. Here is a list of the people in the educational world of your school who should get the most attention. Students Parents Secretaries Assistant Principal(s) Principal Counselors Other Teachers In Your Department Custodians The Rest … Read more