Are you stuck in a rut in the classroom? Feel like student behavior is simply out of control? Well you’re not alone. In fact, in the U.K. over 50% of teachers consider leaving the profession each and every year.

And their reason? Inappropriate student behavior that makes classroom management almost impossible.

But it really doesn’t have to be like this. In fact you could go a long way towards improving your classroom management skills TODAY.

Simply enter your details into the field in the top right corner and get part 1 of your FREE classroom management guide within seconds.

Don’t wait until tomorrow. Claim your FREE effective classroom management guide NOW!

I was sat at my desk today and my thoughts were racing around my head at a million miles an hour.  And one classroom management question just kept popping into my head.

Now it’s only a small question, and it doesn’t really matter, but I just thought I’d throw it out there anyway.

Do you think teaching classes for just one lesson per week leads to better or worse classroom behaviour?

The only reason I ask is because a lot of my colleagues only teach many of their classes once a week.  And it’s often these teachers who seem to have more classroom management problems that others.

So what do you think? Does the amount of lessons that you teach your classes per week have a big impact on the behavior of the students you teach?

I’d love to hear what you think…

I have some pretty exciting news for regular readers of this classroom management blog.  I’ve been writing classroom management articles online for some time now.  Yes, it takes a long time to do, but sharing classroom management tips and tricks really does make me happy.

And receiving praise for your work is always nice.  Especially when you’ve been doing that work for free, just to help other teachers out there.  Well, over the past month I’ve written about 20 effective classroom management articles. 

And guess what? Today EzineArticles.com sent me a nice email, praised my work, and then awarded me EXPERT author status.  It seems that my classroom management articles have provoked a strong positive reaction with the EzineArticles readers.

I feel even more inspired now to share my classroom management ideas and tips with as wide an audience as possible.  I’ll speak  to you soon

Okay, I’ve just finished putting the final touches to a new classroom management video. Now, I’m no hot shot director, BUT I’m pretty happy with my latest attemp at making anything resembling a decent video.

Yes, it’s a bit silly. But then silly can be good sometimes! Hopefully the sillyness of this video will help spread the effective classroom management message of this teacher blog.

I’ll stop the fanfare now, and introduce ‘Classroom Management…and Jaws’, my latest creation. Yeah, it’s a bit silly, but then who said there was anything wrong with being silly?!

Hit the video below and my latest classroom management video will play. Enjoy

I just wanted to post a quick thank you to all the people who have sent such positive comments regarding my free classroom management mini course.  I knew people would like the course but I genuinely didn’t expect to receive such positive emails about it!

So, a huge thanks to everyone who has sent in such nice emails over the past few days…you really have made my week :)

If you haven’t already signed up for my FREE effective classroom management 7 part mini course then do so NOW!  Enter your details in the form at the top right of this blog and receive part 1 within seconds.

Not only will you get a fantastic classroom management mini course for FREE, but you will also get a few nice surprise too ….but it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you about it now would it?!

Go ahead and enter your details NOW and receive part 1 within seconds.

Being a teacher in the the rainy UK means that I am curretly enjoying a very nice half term holiday. 

In fact, my holiday at home is so nice that I didn’t even get out of bed until near midday today

And now that I’ve had two full days off school I’m not sure I can even remember the names of the student that I teach!

Okay, I’m not quite that relaxed yet but I am having a very nice break!

Being a teacher in the UK does have some advantages though after all….

But just because I’m on holiday from school, it doesn’t mean that I’ve rested in my mission to spread classroom management help and advice far and wide.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth….

You see, even when I’m on holiday I can’t rest.  Which is why I’ve spent the past 4 days putting together a very special FREE report, just for you.  It’s basically my thoughts on classroom management, and how it can be improved.

It’s taken a lot of toil and sweat to produce, but if it helps just one person improve their classroom management skills then it will have been worth it.

And remember…the report is completely FREE so you have no excuse not to download now.

>>> Classroom Management Nightmares….And How To Avoid Them <<<

Click the link above and then save the PDF to your computer.  But if you want to enjoy this FREE report you must download it NOW, as if I get too many hits I might have to pull it.

Download this FREE special report and then make sure you pop back to my blog to tell me what you think.

>>> Classroom Management Nightmares….And How To Avoid Them <<<

I can’t wait to hear from you

Now I’m off to enjoy the rest of my holiday and pray for some weather other than rain

As part of my one man mission to spread classroom management tips far and wide, I recently created a FREE 7 part email course. 

I have a lot to say in this course, and it’s probably not what you’re expecting.  So if you want to find out why I got in trouble by a policeman in Vienna, and what this has to do with classroom management, then click the link below now!

>>> FREE Classroom Management Mini Course <<<

Trust me, you will like what you receive

Well, I’m getting more comfortable with all of the technology out there by the day.  I showed this classroom management blog to a friend today and he was amazed when I told him that I’d built it myself.

And I’m not surprised that he was so impressed.  When I think about the skills that I’ve learnt this year I get impressed!  It wasn’t that long ago when I could barely use a spreadsheet, and now I’m building websites.

But I’m not stopping there.  Whether it’s articles, or videos, or whatever, I’m going to leave no piece of technology unturned as I strive to spread the word about effective classroom management!

So with that in mind I’d like to introduce my latest classroom management project.

Drum roll please……

I’ve gone and made a Squidoo lens!  No, this is not a piece of modern art, but rather a pretty cool piece of web 2.0 technology that allows me to spread my message even further.  Don’t worry by the way, I had never heard of Squidoo or Web 2.0 until recently either!

>>> http://www.Squidoo.com/Classroom-Management-That-Works

Check it out at the link above and let me know what you think.  Wow…my effective classroom management roadshow just keeps rolling on doesn’t it?!

Okay, enough of the self adulation for this week!  I’ll be back in the coming days with yet more effective classroom management tips….

I know the anguish that classroom management problems can cause.  You feel alone, frustrated and even worthless.  I know, because I’ve been there. 

Yeah, I don’t feel like that anymore, but I know that there are thousands of fellow teachers out there that are experiencing the pain of classroom management problems.  And they are going through this emotional turmoil right now.

Helping these fellow teachers is the main reason why I decided to launch this classroom management blog.  It’s the main reason why I spent months slaving away creating Classroom Management 101.

And I’m going to be completely honest with you now.  Even though this whole process has taken such a long time, it’s been worth every second that I’ve devoted to it. 

Why?  Because already I’ve received several emails thanking me for my advice in Classroom Management 101.  Thanking me for giving them hope again. 

Putting myself out there in this way wasn’t easy.  It took guts to write a book on a topic such as classroom management.  But when I receive such positive feedback that all just fades away. 

Which is why when I received an email today from Infet.co.uk I was so delighted.  You see, not only did they have positive things to say about my book.  They also gave me a ‘recommended by Infet badge’ to display proudly on my site.

And let me tell you now.  This kind of recognition from my peers is worth its weight in gold. 

Like a 7 year old celebrating his birthday with his shinny, round badge, I’ll be wearing by badge with pride.  If websites could puff out their chests then my shirt would be popping through your screen!

Enjoy the site, and as always get in touch by clicking here for any reason at all.

Wishing you a peaceful classroom.

Proudly sponsored by Infet!

Okay, you can all stop emailing, because at long last Classroom Management 101 is live! 

An incredible amount of work has gone into this project which will hopefully provide YOU with the skills and tools needed to claim back your classroom FOREVER.

Go check out what all the fuss is about NOW by clicking here right this second. 

With so many teachers struggling with inappropriate behavior it is hardly surprising that more people are coming online to find classroom management ideas.  Effective classroom control is hard, and coming up with classroom management  ideas is difficult when you are swamped by ever increasing piles of work.

One of the best sources of effective classroom management ideas, is also one of the most overlooked.  In every school, in every part of the world, there will be a few teachers who have superb classroom control.  No matter how much student behavior has deteriorated in the wider school, these teachers can control even the toughest students.

These teachers manage to demonstrate excellent classroom management skills, day in and day out. Each teacher will have a different range of effective classroom management techniques and strategies, but they will all be effective. 

I’m often amazed how few teachers actually commit the time to go and watch these teachers in action.  If you’re struggling with student behavior in your classroom, and if you’re desperate for some top quality classroom management ideas and tips, then go and watch these teachers tomorrow.

You will be surprised by how much you can pick up by watching them at work.  I frequently have other teachers, especially new ones, come and ask if they can observe one of my lessons. 

And each and every time, I’m delighted to say yes. Having your peers ask to observe your lessons is second only to seeing your excellent classroom management strategies start to yield results.

So if you’re desperately in search of effective classroom management ideas, then go and watch a fellow teacher tomorrow.  You never know, you might just pick up a life changing classroom management technique, and never look back.

What is it about wet weather that makes children go crazy?!  Okay, maybe crazy isn’t the best choice of word, but they do go a little wild.  I teach secondary school in the UK, all the way from 11-18 year olds, and it astounds me how hyped up the kids get when they’ve been kept inside due to the rain.

And where I live, we get a lot of rain!

I can understand that they get frustrated as they want to be outside, and that they have a lot of ready to burn energy, but sometimes the way they come back into school shocks me just a little.

Of course, if you have a wide range of effective classroom management strategies up your sleeve then you can quickly get your class under control. 

But I still find it astonishing how hyper the students are after a rainy break time.

The forecast for tomorrow is more rain, so I better make sure that I’m on the ball, and think carefully how I’m going to proactively manage their behavior.  As with all types of poor student behavior in the classroom, if you proactively manage the outcome, the you take away a LOT of the stress during the lesson.

Well, at least I have ANOTHER reason now to emigrate to a sunny country…

One question that I get asked a lot, is what skills are needed for effective classroom management.  Now this is a hard question to answer for many reasons.  I’ve seen a lot of excellent teachers over the years, and they all seemed to be so different in their style.

Since good classroom managers all seem to have different skill sets, is it really possible to identify common skills needed to develop the effective effective classroom management  strategies that will reduce inappropriate behavior in your classroom?  Absolutely!

Teachers who have effective classroom management strategies might all appear to have different skills on the surface.  But scratch the surface a little, and you will discover that they all share some core attributes.

Below are some of the skills that all effective classroom managers seem to have.

1. Patience. 

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that patience is a virtue.  Well scrap that, because in the classroom patience is a necessity. In order to maintain good working relationships with the students that you teach, you need to be able to demonstrate patience.  Get stressed out and start snapping at your pupils, and you will find classroom management harder than ever.

2. Determination

Effective classroom management takes skill, but it also takes determination.  You need to be determined to establish your authority in the classroom at all costs, or you will see a deterioration in student behavior.  The teachers with the most effective classroom management skills are the teachers who are determined to follow through, and appl their rules consistently, whatever the situation.

3. Consistency

If you’re not consistent in your classroom, then you will find effective classroom management hard to achieve.  The teachers who have the least problems with student behavior are the teachers who deal with the pupils in a consistent fashion.  Treat identical situations differently, simply because of the child involved, and you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Teachers with effective classroom management skills all seem to have different attributes.  Even so, all have the three skills above in abundance.  If you want to reduce inappropriate student behavior in your classroom now then concentrate on developing the skills listed above.  Your effective classroom management skills are dependent upon it!

I’ve had quite a few emails over the past couple of days (well 2 but it felt like a lot!) asking me what is classroom management.  Since classroom management  strategies forms a huge part of what we do as teachers, I’m guessing these nice people emailing me aren’t teachers themselves.

But, in an effort to stop the stampede of emails (is 2 really a stampede?!) I thought I’d answer the ‘what is classroom management’ question here.  Put simply, classroom management is all about using strategies within the classroom to influence the behavior of the students that you teach.

Some people think that classroom management is only effective if you control the behavior of your pupils, but actually control is impossible.  Effective classroom management is where you influence the behavior of the students you teach in a positive way.  We all have free will, and teaching has changed.  You will never achieve total control over anyone (unless you’re a hypnotist which sounds fun!), but you can influence the behavior of others.

And here’s the thing.  Influencing your students so that you promote positive behavior in the classroom is actually a lot more powerful than just trying to control it.

So there you have it.  The answer to the question what is classroom management solved forever.  Hopefully people will find something else to email about or my inbox will be very lonely by tomorrow!

After I posted my first post it occured to me that I didn’t really explain why I’m so incredibly passionate about promoting effective classroom management in the classroom.  Let me explain why.

When I started to train to be a teacher I was placed in a very rough, low achieving school.  Student behaviour was poor to say the least.  And the class that I had to teach my subject to 4 times a week were no better.  In fact, I’d go as far as to say they were probably the worst class in the whole school.  If not the whole world.  Okay, I’m exagerating, but it’s my story!

They were pretty bad.  Before I had to teach my first lesson I was up all night worrying about how I was going to control this rabble. Sorry to call them a rabble, but if you could see the class you would think I was being generous!

When the lesson came I was literally shaking with fear. My hands really were trembling.

 And so how did the lesson go?

This is the point where you will be expecting me to say that it went great, and that my amazing classroom management plan promoted excellent student behaviour.

Erm, well it didn’t! 

In fact, if I’m honest the lesson was a disaster.  I’d imagined some pretty horrible outcomes before teaching the lesson, but what actually happened was far worse.

So you may be wondering how did I go from a classroom management nightmare, to wanting to write a blog about classroom management tips and strategies.

And here’s why.  Not long after the lesson I sat down with my training course leader and explained the whole story.  He listened, nodded, and was understanding.  And he gave me some great advice.  Really, truly great, classroom management advice.

He believed strongly in positive and proactive classroom management, and he explained in detail how to use this model to promote good student behevior. 

What he told me that day inspired me.  It truly did.

There was no miracle.  My lessons didn’t certainly become amazing, and I didn’t become a classroom management ‘guru’ overnight.  But when I implemented what he told me my classroom management skills improved hugely. 

And more importantly he sowed a seed soemwhere deep inside that made me want to learn more about this stuff.  And I did.  Fast!  On my next teacher trainee placement my skills were unrecognizable from the months before. 

I had literally turned my greatest failing into my greatest strength.

And I owed it all to my very generous, and very clever course leader. 

You see, we are all passionate about something.  I just happen to be very passionate about sharing classroom management tips and strategies. 

So much so that it provoked me to write a book AND to write a blog.

To this day I am as passionate about effective classroom maangement as I was after that conversation.  I’ve left my course leader’s name out of this blog for privacy reasons.  But he know who he is.  To you sir, I say thanks!

Classroom management isn’t really that hard.  It just seems hard when you’re struggling.  But it doesn’t have to be.

I just hope that I can help share what I learned with someone out there and make it all a bit easier for you…

Wishing you a peaceful classroom!

Welcome to the first post of my effective classsroom management blog!  Those who know me will tell you that this project has been a long time in the making.  In fact, I’ve been planning to launch a classroom management blog for a considerable amount of time.

Why? Put simply, effective classroom management is the difference between a happy teacher with high achieving students, and a stressed out teacher with students not achieving their potential.

Sure, there are shades of grey in the middle, but there is no doubt that effective classroom management is of critical importance when it comes to the enjoyment that you and your pupils get from your lessons.

Well, that explains why I think classroom management is important, but it doesn’t explain why I’ve decided to write a blog about it.  Next time you are on Google have a look how much good information you can find about effective classroom mangement in the classroom.  My guess is that you won’t find much.  I certainly can’t and I’m pretty good at finding things online

So since I like learning new skills so much, and since I’m so passionate about good classroom management, it seemed like a great project to take on. 

I’m pretty new to this blogging stuff however, so please be patient with me if things don’t quite appear as they should.  I already have enough problems with my girlfriend nagging me, without having hundreds of you emailing to tell me that I messed up my blog, in some weird technical way!

Hopefully over the coming days and weeks I can share my own classroom management ideas and tips, and in the process help you to make your classsroom a more positive learing environment. 

That’s the plan anyway!

The aim of this blog though is not just for me to have fun.  The real aim is for you to learn some new classroom management ideas.  So if there is anything that you would like to see covered on this blog, please get in touch and I’ll see what I do:)

Wishing you a peaceful classroom!

So what is effective classroom management, and how can it be used to reduce innappropriate classroom behavior?

With more and more teachers suffering an ever increasing amount of teacher stress at the hands of negative student behavior, it is of no surprise to find so many teachers coming online to try and find effective classroom management tips.

There is no doubt that effective classroom management can provoke positive behavior in the students you teacher, while at the same time helping to reduce teacher stress. 

Different teachers have different standards of behavior that they expect from the students they teach, and so ideas about what is inappropriate pupil behavior, and what is an effective classroom management plan varies from teacher to teacher.

In my opinion, classroom management is effective when you are able to minimise innapropriate student behavior, and promote a positive learning atmosphere.

How you achieve a positive learning environomnet in your classroom is secondary to actually achieving it. 

Some people tell you that in order to have effective classroom management strategies you must be a strict teacher.  Others will tell you that the opposite is true. 

It’s important to realize however that we are all professionals with different skills and different personalities.   Stop trying to follow one one good  classroom mangement model, and understand that we are all made different, and so we will all teach differently. 

Effective clasroom management will differ from teacher to teacher.  How the teacher minimises inaproprate classroom behavior isn’t that important.  What is important is that the teacher uses their unique skills to promote positive student behavior in the classroom.