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

A couple of days ago I talked about the importance of having the best teaching resources if you want to reduce inappropriate student behavior in your classroom. 

But of course, as busy and stressed out teachers, we don’t always have the time to make these resources.

Well one option is to drop by an excellent free primary and elemantary teaching resources website such as Gareth’s brilliant Primary Resources.

Another option however, is to buy some teaching resources.  Now, I know that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea BUT for very modest amounts you can often get some incredible resources.

John at Leafy Teaching Resources recently asked me to review his new resource bumper pack and I was blown away.  His new Primary Power Pack really is THAT good.

==>> Check Out The Primary Power Pack NOW!

This package comes HIGHLY recommeneded and is an excellent way to reduce inappropriate behavior in the classroom.

Wishing you a peaceful classroom!

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

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….

You are awoken abruptly by the sound of a neighbour merrily dancing around the garden, cheerfully pruning a rose bush. The sweet smells of freshly cut grass invade your nostrils as you jump enthusiastically from your bed. 

Refreshed by your recent holiday, your thoughts turn instinctively towards the day ahead, and the inevitable pleasure that this will bring.  Being a qualified teacher in 2007; a truly joyful experience.  If you’re retired that is.

The reality of teaching today is that student behaviour is deteriorating fast, and teachers are left stranded and helpless to pick up the broken pieces.  The emotional anchor around your neck, pulling you under, as you gasp for air.  Wondering where it all went wrong as you thrash around frantically, desperately trying to grab hold of something solid.

Teaching in a 2007 classroom can be a draining experience.  A lack of support from above, and a lack of respect from below, conspires to make you question your chosen career.  A toxic combination of guilt, shame and embarrassment paralysing your social life, as you plough on through the monotony of yet another taxing term.

If this sounds familiar then you’re not alone.  Teaching is harder then ever, and it isn’t getting any easier.  A divorce of rights and responsibilities, and a breakdown in the traditional values of respect, have made classroom management almost impossible.

A huge ticking time bomb of youth irresponsibility, just waiting to explode in your face.   Just ask an older more experienced teacher if student behaviour has gotten worse over the years.  Just be prepared for the inevitable barrage of laughter that comes your way.

Everyone knows that classroom management is getting harder, yet few seem to want to acknowledge the problem.  Certainly not the senior leadership team in your school, who sit blindfolded and merry, meticulously designing yet another proforma for you to complete.  Since when did meaningless paperwork ever solve the problem of rude and aggressive student behaviour?  Even if it is completed on an fancy piece of paper, designed carefully by your dedicated six person leadership team, while you’re toiling knee deep in swear words and aggression.

If only the world knew what teachers go through on a daily basis.  The press, the government and the rest, completely oblivious to the poisonous nature of many of our classrooms.  Unaware that thousands of teachers are left without the antidote.

Surveying the profession is a depressing experience.  Teachers worn out and washed up, their hopes and dreams millions of miles away.  Looking for a way out, but trapped for life, surrounded by a never ending cacophony of inappropriate student behaviour.

But it’s not all doom and disaster.  In every school, there are teachers who stand tall and brave, marching on fearless and unruffled, while dancing to a very different tune. Yes, the classroom management techniques of old may no longer work.  But it is still possible to control and manage even the most difficult classes.  If you’re properly trained that is.

Teaching has changed for the worse, and it’s not going to change back.  If you want to get back on top, and discover again the joys of this profession, then you need to change too.  Stop flogging to death the same old tired classroom management techniques that worked so well in 1987.  This is 2007, and if you want to survive you need to get with the changes.  And fast.

To discover how you can regain control of your classroom as quickly as 1-2-3 then click then link below and download the hugely popular Classroom Management 101 NOW

==>> http://www.ClassroomManagement101.com
 

The article above was published on the Infet website on the 20th May as part of the Classroom Mangement 101 blog’s ‘recommended by Infet’ status.

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!

Positive behavior in the classroom can make all the difference between an enjoyable teaching experience, and a teacher suffering from work related stress.  Having effective classroom management strategies really is that important.

So how exactly do you promote positive behavior in the classroom?  Below are three effective classroom management strategies that will reduce negative student behavior fast.

1. Be positive.

If you’re negative, then the students that you teach will also be negative.  And negative 
students are not well behaved students.  If you remain positive in the classroom, no matter how tired and stressed you feel, then you will have a better chance of promoting positive behavior in the pupils that you teach.

I don’t agree with the whole don’t smile until Christmas mantra.  Yes, you want to establish firm boundaries with the students you teach, but teaching with bubbly enthusiasm can do wonders for your classroom management skills.  Set clear limits, but remain positive while doing so, and your students will reward you with improved students behavior.

2. Highlight good behavior

How can students demonstrate positive behavior in the classroom, if they don’t know what it  is?  Find excellent examples of student behavior and then highlight it to the class. 

Highlight this good behavior, and explain why its good.  This can be as simple as praising a  group doing excellent quiet work, or a student who demonstrates constructive behavior with his peers.  Highlight good behavior and the behavior of the students you teach will 
increase.

3. Model good behavior

Like it or not, but in the classroom you are a role model.  And you’re a pretty influential 
one too.  So if you want to promote positive behavior in the classroom, then you better 
demonstrate as well. 

If students see you as moody, temperamental aggressive or worse, then you are not demonstrating the correct ways to behave in a classroom environment.  Show the  students how to behave well through your own actions, and your classroom will become a more peaceful place.

If you wan to promote positive behavior in the classroom then try these three top tips 
today.  Classroom management problems can be like a cycle.  When you experience poor student behavior you become negative, and the behavior gets worse.  Break the cycle today by being  positive and the students that you teach will reward you with improved behavior.

Wow, I have to say that I’ve managed to surprise myself with how well this blog seems to be running at the moment.  Day 2 and I’d had imagined crashing pages, broken links and worse….but at the moment the Classroom Management 101 blog seems to be running surprisingly well.

Fingers crossed that it continues that way in the coming days!  Fixing classroom management problems is one thing I’m good at.  Fixing broken websites is one thing I guess I’ll be very BAD at!

I hope that everyone is enjoying their weekend so far.  Here in the UK it’s a bank holiday tomorrow which means no school until Tuesday.  If you’re reading this from some place where you don’t have a day off tomorrow then I’m sorry to rub your noses in my good fortune!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend…

Wishing you a peaceful classroom!

If you’re stuck in a rut, with your pupils running wild, then you need to give your classroom management skills a top up.  Apply these three effective classroom management tips and notice an improvement in the student behavior  in your classes.

Number 1. Always Stay Positive – You’re stuck in a rut in the middle of January and what happens?  Yep, you become downbeat and negative.

But here’s the thing. If you’re negative, then your students will be negative too. And that will make classroom management even more difficult.

You become negative, and so do your pupils.  Before you know it you are in a terrible cycle that leads to poor pupil behavior and ineffective classroom management.

Take yourself out of the bubble and try and remember why you became a teacher in the first place.

If you can walk into your classroom with a smile on your face you will get a much more positive reaction from your students.

Stay positive and effective classroom management will be so much easier to achieve.

Number 2. Praise your students until you can’t praise anymore – Praise your pupils at every possible opportunity if you want to experience a positive learning environment. You need to train your students exactly how you want them to behave, and the use of praise is an excellent way to do this.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking.  Finding good pupil behavior is hard when you’re dealing with the worst kids in school.  But what you need to do is actively seek out good student beavior.  And then heap a ton of praise upon it.

And remember this.  Even the worst students behave for brief moments! Praise that good behavior and you are training the students you teach to behave like that again in the future.

Number 3. Use the language of choice –  Instead of telling children to do something, explain to them that you would like them to chose to do something. This subtle change in language is incredibly powerful and is sure to produce positive results.

An example of this would be explaining to Mike “I would like you to choose to sit down quietly”, as opposed to saying “sit down quietly”.

Classroom management is an incredibly subtle art, and small changes can have a huge impact on the relationship you have with your pupils.

Don’t believe me? Try it out tomorrow in your classroom. 

Use the language of choice and you will notice a huge improvement in your classroom management skills.  If you do it right that is.

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.