It’s common for behavior to worsen during the final few weeks of the school year. Sensing summer break approaching, students begin to feel their age outpacing their grade level. They grow restless and excitable. They become bolder, testing the boundaries to see if they’re … Read more
Misbehavior tends to increase as we edge closer to holiday break. It’s a phenomenon as old as Santa and just as predictable. But it isn’t inevitable. There are strategies that allow you to avoid the rise in rambunctiousness, excitable voices, and impulsively bad behavior. … Read more
Once in a great while, especially in the first few weeks of the school year, your students may test you to see if you really, really do mean what you say. Or sometimes there is bad luck involved . . . A fire drill. … Read more
You can’t just talk about your teaching-related stress. You have to do something about it. You have to make changes. Hoping it’s going to be better this year isn’t a solution. Only action will yield results. The power is in the doing, not the … Read more
With just days left in the school year, your students can feel the freedom of summer fast approaching. Testing is behind them. Grades are all but complete. Anticipation is in the air. And with one foot already out the door, it changes them. They … Read more
Getting involved too quickly is among the most common classroom management mistakes. Yelling from across the room, waving to catch an offending student’s attention, rushing into a disruptive scene with flashing eyes and rising temper . . . These are natural, instinctual reactions. As … Read more
Five of the most frequently recommended strategies for dealing with difficult students can actually cause an increase or a worsening of misbehavior. Which begs the question: If they cause behavior to get worse, then why are they recommended? Well, for a few reasons. They’re … Read more
Since returning to in-person learning, respect has taken a nosedive. Students are just different. We all see it. We all know it. The question is, what to do about it? Well, the usual keys are still in play. Clear Boundaries 100% Consistency Calm Enforcement … Read more