Many school districts are racing to remove student accountability. Time-out is being outlawed. Suspensions are becoming a no-no. And rules are now mere suggestions and open to wide interpretation. The result, of course, is a worsening of behavior. Remove accountability and bullying, rudeness, disrespect, … Read more
One reason many teachers struggle with classroom management is because they confuse motivation and accountability. Although related, they are two separate areas of classroom management. To be effective, they must remain separate. Teachers run into trouble when their attempts to motivate students to behave … Read more
When students aren’t held accountable for misbehavior, they take advantage of it. They become brazen and disrespectful. They affect a cool, uncaring attitude. They take their sweet time responding to instruction. And no matter how hard the teacher tries to stay positive, no matter … Read more
How you give a consequence matters. How you speak to your students, what you say to them, and how you react emotionally and with your body language after they break a classroom rule goes a long way toward curbing misbehavior. Whether you’re giving a … Read more
It starts with a perceived injustice then builds quickly from there. Vibrating deep within the body, anger rises to the surface, turning down mouth corners, narrowing eyes, and flushing the skin. Pouting and stewing over the “unfairness,” the student loses the inner battle for … Read more
Your lesson ends, the recess bell rings, and you release your students to the playground to let off some steam. But on the way you notice one of your students, call him Anthony, rudely shoving others aside on his way out the door. How … Read more
World-class archer Kristin Braun practices six hours a day trying to do the impossible. Standing 230 feet from her target, she takes a deep breath and, while simultaneously lifting her bow into place, draws a steel-tipped carbon arrow. She peers over her left hand, … Read more
Most teachers talk to difficult students—those with a proclivity for misbehavior—way too often. If you’re spending more time on these students than others, it’s a sign you’re not curbing their behavior. It’s also not fair to the rest of your class. There is a … Read more