Let’s break it down:

1. 1. 1. Polite greeting. “Hello.”
      2. Name. “My name is Inigo Montoya.”
      3. Relevant personal link. “You killed my father.”
      4. Manage expectations. “Prepare to die.”

Researcher Dr. Terri Apter warns about the dangers of praise. She states, “Some psychologists warn that praise for overall ability is harmful because it suggests that any good performance is a result of natural ability, with the implication that a poor performance is a result of natural deficiency” (Apter, 2009). Therefore, praise must:

Be specific: Describe the specific behavior that you saw from the student. It should be observable.

Connected to character behavior traits: Connect the observable behavior to something that could be transferable (i.e. integrity, courage, empathetic, etc.)

Throughout the next few weeks, I made it a point to praise Levi. “Levi, I noticed the way that you came in and went straight to your seat to get started on your morning work. You are showing a lot of responsibility this morning,” I said one day. The next day, he did the same. Although he did not do this every day for the rest of the week, you could see his increased effort to meet the behavioral standards for the morning routine. Praise is powerful in shaping behavior and mindsets when done correctly.

Email communication can be an effective tool for communicating with a number of families across your classroom or school. When sending sweeping messages to the class, such as field trips, class parties, or the announcement of an upcoming spelling test, email can be a really effective tool.
However, when it comes to one-on-one communication with families, I give a huge word of caution. Here’s why:
Anything written electronically is a document trail and you never know how people may choose to use that information later on.
Tone is hard to read. Others may interpret your supportive tone as sarcasm or worse.
Emotions fester. You need to be able to sleep at night and be well.
Even when the conversation seems benign, it is always just as effective to pick up the phone to have a conversation with a family. Mutual understanding is always easier in real time.

When in doubt, choose the phone.

That being said, email communication can also help you as the teacher keep documentation of appropriate communication. For example, you may go back into your email to prove your correspondence when it comes to IEP meetings, discipline infractions, and other. As with any tool, its effectiveness is found in how and when it’s used. Take a moment and consider if sending an email is the best choice for you, your student, and the present situation.

For more information about effective classroom management strategies for new teachers, please visit our Classroom Management Workshop page. We’d love to have you attend our next one-day workshop! 

…what students should be doing with their bodies, their mouths, and their brains. According to Teach Like a Champion, there are three reasons why a student may demonstrate “situationally inappropriate behavior” or misbehavior:

1. Incompetence. (I don’t like this word) This can be defined by students simply not understanding a direction.
2. Opportunism. This is where students take advantage of gray areas (i.e. silent vs. quiet).  
3. Defiance. This is the act of a student saying “you cannot control me.” Keep in mind, only 10% of students are considered defiant. 

In other words, you can use magic like Ms. Tome and address 90% of your students by giving strong directions.

Oh, that’s right, it’s not magic at all!

For more information about effective classroom management strategies for new teachers, please visit our Classroom Management Workshop page. We’d love to have you attend our one-day workshop! 

So we decided to put Deon on a behavior management plan focused on helping him deal with frustrations. He was taught explicitly how to address his frustrations. Within a week, he played nicely at centers, managed transitions effectively, and used his hand signals when he was on the brink.

Fast forward… I was touring a school and walked into a fifth-grade classroom. I immediately recognized a much bigger Deon. I quietly walked over to his teacher and asked how he does in class. “He’s a model student. If I could have more Deons, I would,” the teacher replied. Learning frustration tolerance in first grade saved his life (PS. He is currently in the top high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a freshman).

For more information about effective classroom management strategies for new teachers, please visit our Classroom Management Workshop page. We’d love to have you attend our one-day workshop! 

There is a distinction between classroom management and classroom discipline. Classroom management means that we are just “managing” the behavior that comes into the classroom. “Discipline is about developing and creating appropriate behaviors, not just managing the ones that are already there,” Morrish says. So, if we want cooperative, respectful, insightful students, we need to be proactive in approaching discipline, not management.

What about school discipline? “But Mr. Fox lets me have my cell phone out!” We all know those teachers that let school policies slip. But these teachers set up negative interactions in other classrooms. Schools must move beyond the days of classroom management and move towards school discipline. It means that teachers are on the same page about policies, consequences, and systems.