Perhaps more than any other profession, teaching requires you to be mentally prepared before the heavy lifting of the day begins.
If you’re feeling hurried, stressed, or distracted in the moments before the students arrive, teaching can be unforgiving—particularly in the area of classroom management.
This is why it’s important to spend a couple of minutes every [...]
Teachers who struggle with classroom management do too much hoping. They hope they have a well-behaved class this year. They hope their students won’t be too talkative or disrespectful. They hope they don’t have to deal with yet another disruption.
They try to set limits in their classrooms, to be sure, but setting limits doesn’t work [...]
Among the traits that make a great teacher, enthusiasm is near the top. Your passion for delivering captivating lessons and activities to your students largely determines your success in motivating students.
We’re all attracted to people who live their lives with zeal, and students are no different.
One of my favorite movies is Braveheart, which tells the [...]
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 open it, the screen door wouldn’t budge. It was locked in [...]
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 my teaching career, I saw him leading his students across campus.
All [...]
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