One of the biggest classroom management mistakes teachers make is taking disrespectful behavior personally. To quote Tom Hagen speaking to Sonny Corleone in the movie The Godfather, “This is business, not personal.” When you take disrespectful behavior personally, two things are likely to happen: … Read more
A few days ago, my wife removed the sliding screen door that leads out to the backyard because it needed cleaning. When she finished, she popped the door back into place, then left to do other things. Later that day, when I tried to … Read more
I took my class on a field trip to a beautiful aquarium one year, and as we made our way along a circuitous passage of small caverns loaded to the gills (sorry) with exotic sea creatures, we found ourselves sharing viewing areas with another … Read more
An early mentor for me was a teacher named Chuck. Chuck taught sixth grade and was a master at classroom management. In him, I was able to see what was possible. I can remember how impressed I was when, two or three days into … Read more
Many years ago, on a whim, I wrote a short note to a student named Joanna to let her know how much I appreciated her leadership qualities. I wrote the note before school one day and left it folded over and taped to her … Read more