Education

As part of my personal coaching practice I speak to a lot of teachers. And although many of the classroom management struggles they need help with are diverse and unique to them, there are commonalities. One such commonality is…

Classroom management has always taken a backseat. Now it’s sitting in the trunk. Since the (official) end of the pandemic, behavior standards have fallen down a mine shaft and have yet to hit bottom. It’s maddening. In recent…

There is a classroom management strategy called “the five questions” that a number of school districts have adopted. I’ve been asked about it several times recently so thought I should cover it. The way it works is that when a…

The lowly fist bump, offered as students file out of your classroom, is arguably the easiest way to build rapport. It’s also super effective. Here’s why: It cleans the slate. No matter what happens during class, no matter how…

There are two reasons why students continue to misbehave in the classroom. The boundary lines are ill-defined. Enforcement is inconsistent. Let’s take these one at a time. By nature, children as young as one and all the way up until…

There is a way to teach a great lesson without preparation time. But first, a caveat: You must be an expert in your subject area. You can’t be an effective, compelling teacher if you don’t know your subject area well. It’s our firm…

I’m often asked what to do when your class isn’t badly behaved, but still disruptive. In other words, as a group they tend to be excitable and talkative. Every transition and activity you have to settle and quiet them down. It’s a…

Here at SCM we’ve long lamented strategies that limit the freedoms of difficult students. —Which include: Permanently moving their desk nearest the teacher. Not allowing them to work with certain students. Restricting their…

More and more teachers are allowing students to listen to music in class. Perhaps not during direct instruction. But once students are let go to work independently, in go the earbuds. It’s odd to me, to be honest, that anyone would…

I love learning games. They’re a great way to build camaraderie. They create fun and energy. They also have a knack for making information stick. One of my favorites is called the vocabulary game. It’s a review game you can play for…