The phrase “classroom management” often makes high school teachers, especially new teachers, cringe, conjuring images of rigid control and constant discipline battles. However, the reality is that effective classroom management is the cornerstone of a positive learning environment where student learning and academic achievement can flourish. High school students are young adults with diverse individual … Read more
Walking into a middle school is like stepping into a whirlwind of energy, growth, and discovery. For students, these years are a profound journey from childhood into young adulthood, a time of exhilarating and often confusing change. For the teachers who guide them, the challenge is both immense and deeply rewarding: how to harness that … Read more
It was the middle of a Tuesday in October, a year I’ll never forget, and I was standing in front of a class of 34 high school students who had collectively decided that my lesson on the causes of World War I was the perfect time to stage a silent revolt. Heads were down, eyes … Read more
We’ve all been there. You walk into your classroom with a vision…a place where learning flourishes, where students are engaged, and where you actually get to teach instead of constantly redirecting. But somewhere between the first bell and the end of the day, that vision collides with reality. The good news? You can reach your … Read more
I remember my first year of teaching like it was yesterday, but the truth is, I walked into that classroom in 2007 with a history degree, a stack of lesson plans I’d spent all summer perfecting, and absolutely no idea how to actually manage a room full of teenagers. I taught at a nationally ranked academic school … Read more
Drafting a philosophy for classroom management can feel overwhelming because it asks you to answer a deceptively simple question: What kind of teacher do you want to be? The answer isn’t found in a single set of classroom rules or a pre-packaged behavior chart. It’s a living document, shaped by your core beliefs about how … Read more
Click above to listen to podcast episode 58: “Classroom Management Skills Necessary for Success“ A simple Google search for “classroom management skills” reveals a landscape that is not only plentiful but overwhelmingly complex. For educators at any grade level, from high school to the purview of university teachers, the quest to find a system that … Read more
If we can agree on anything, it’s that COVID-19 made its mark on education. Good, bad, and indifferent, our classrooms were thrown for a loop and are still settling into what the “new normal” actually means. I’ve spent the past several years training K-12 teachers across the country, and the question I hear more than … Read more
You can spend hours crafting the perfect history or science lesson, but if you haven’t built dedicated classroom management lesson plans that naturally weave into the curriculum, that beautiful lesson will fall apart before the first bell rings. I learned this the hard way during my first year of teaching back in 2007. I walked … Read more
Walk into almost any teacher workroom during lunch, and you will hear the same confession whispered over a sad microwaved meal. “I totally lost control of second period today.” The teacher across the table nods. They have been there too. Maybe that teacher was you yesterday. Classroom management mistakes happen to everyone who stands in … Read more
One of the biggest challenges plaguing teachers in the classroom today is developing (and implementing) classroom management techniques that actually WORK. The amount of inappropriate behavior and classroom management issues that we are currently seeing is at an all-time high. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that 87% of schools reported that the … Read more
Utilizing flexible seating in the classroom (properly!) doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you know where to begin. Flexible seating classrooms offer students choices in ways that traditional classrooms lack, moving beyond traditional desks and rows of desks to provide a variety of seating options like wobble stools, bean bags, yoga balls, crate seats, and … Read more