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New Website for Classroom Management Tips

Jennifer Wagaman — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:17:48 +0000

Looking for a site devoted just to helping you improve your classroom management? The My Classroom Management website has free information and ideas for how to create that perfect classroom.

Find new ideas, ask questions and share things that worked in your classroom!

Visit: myclassroommanagement.com

Back to School Tips for Teachers

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:12:09 +0000

It may still be early in summer vacation, but it’s not too early to be thinking about preparing to go back to school. The preparation process is slightly different if you are a new teacher, but basically, the process is the same.

First, create or tweak your classroom management plan. This is important because only when your students are obeying the rules and on task will great learning take place in the classroom. If you are a returning teacher, think about what worked and what did not work, and find something new to add to your classroom management plan. It may also be helpful to become familiar with individualized behavior plans.

Second, create a curriculum map or review previous lesson plans. If the curriculum is new, a curriculum map will cut down on lesson planning time during the first quarter. If the curriculum is not new, reviewing the first few weeks worth of lesson plans will help prepare you for the new year.

Here are some more great tips for preparing for the first day of school.

Teach Proper Vocabulary to Minimize Discipline Problems

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:37:37 +0000

Everyone gets frustrated and upset. Students are no exception to that rule. How children are taught to handle their frustration and anger will make a huge difference in the classroom behavior and overall atmosphere for learning. Unfortunately many parents are not teaching their children how to handle their anger and the job is left to teachers. Here is an idea for helping students learn to manage themselves while keeping problems to a minimum in the classroom:

Teach Proper Vocabulary: Instead of simply chastising a student for swearing, encourage the class to learn the meaning of words and to find words that better describe their emotions. In addition to helping students talk about their emotions and thus working through those emotions, you will also help students expand their vocabulary and prevent fights and other behavior problems in the classroom.

Teaching proper vocabulary will also help students clearly communicate with you and others. If they are frustrated, they can explain their angry outburst with words that tell you and others what is frustrating them and why. While it may be awkward at first, with consistency, using proper vocabulary in the classroom will help to minimize discipline problems.

Motivating Positive Student Behavior

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:19:19 +0000

It is important to come up with rewards for students that will motivate their good behavior. There are many methods for coming up with behavior plans and class rules and consequences, but a reward system may in fact work more effectively than a list of consequences.

Some ideas for rewards include:

Lunch with the teacher
Earning tickets to spend in a “store”
Extra recess
Computer time

Involving the students in the process of thinking up the rewards will ensure that the options are indeed motivating to the students. While some things, such as lunch with the teacher, will always be a motivator, other things such as computer time, may not be what helps a student choose good behavior.

For more information on classroom management, read these articles. You may also be interested in purchasing an eBook on classroom management with tips and suggestions for teachers on a variety of management issues.