I’ve got lots of amazing book give-aways scheduled for the coming months, but since everyone’s thinking about classroom management right now, I thought August’s feature should be The Cornerstone: Classroom Management That Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable. And since it’s my own book, I can give away multiple copies!
This book was born out of the need for PRACTICAL information for teachers. So many educators are drowning in paperwork and overwhelmed by student behaviors, but don’t have a sufficient support system within their school district. These teachers spend their ‘spare time’ scouring for resources on the Internet and in bookstores, hoping for solutions from someone who can relate to their struggles and offer guidance. And unfortunately, most of the resources they find focus on WHAT to do and not HOW to do it.
The good news is that these dilemmas are very normal for teachers–every single one of us can relate at one time or another in our careers! And the even better news? There are solutions which get results quickly. You can easily gain, regain, or maintain control of your classroom once you understand the keys to strong classroom management. Once you’ve developed the right mindset and created a realistic vision for your classroom, you can teach for it! The Cornerstone uses actual classroom photographs, forms, and dialogue examples to show you how to create procedures and routines that facilitate learning. It will guide you through every step of reinforcing your expectations.
The Cornerstone is an expansion of the ideas presented on my website, and provides a more comprehensive resource for teachers to keep and reference in the classroom. In The Cornerstone, you’ll learn how a positive teaching philosophy plays out practically in the classroom to create a calm, supportive environment that balances predictable routines with unpredictable teaching strategies and lessons. It is a comprehensive guide to making this school year the very best possible, whether it’s your first or your thirty-first.
This book will guide you to reflect on why you teach, what type of students you want to produce, and ways to run your classroom that fit well with your personal teaching style…all within the context of planning for specific procedures and routines. From the first minute you spend with your students in August to the final hectic week in June, The Cornerstone will show you how to stay focused on what’s really important, maintain your enthusiasm, and utilize all the resources you have available:
* Turn needy, disorganized children into self-reliant, responsible students
* Develop and teach ANY classroom procedure
* Train the class to follow along, stay on-task, and work together
* Use fun teaching techniques that help you assess student learning
* Eliminate homework hassles and parent miscommunications
* Prevent burnout by enjoying and growing with students
* Construct a self-running classroom that frees you to teach
To get this book in the hands of more teachers, I’m giving away eBook copies of The Cornerstone to FIVE readers! The book is available in Kindle, ePUB, and PDF formats (so even if you don’t have an eReader, you can still win a PDF version to read on your computer.)
Just leave a comment on this post telling us one tip you’ve learned that makes your teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. The contest will close on Thursday, August 23, at midnight EST. I’ll choose 5 winners randomly and post their names at the bottom of this blog post.
You can also use the discount code SUMMER2012 to buy The Cornerstone eBook at 20% off–that’s just $11.99! If you order multiple eBooks, the 20% discount applies for your entire purchase. And if you buy the eBook now and then win a copy through this give-away, I’ll refund your money.
I hope that The Cornerstone gives you practical suggestions that leave you feeling inspired, rejuvenated, and full of confidence that you can handle every task that’s set before you. And be sure to read through the comments below, because I know the teachers who read this blog, and they have some AMAZING ideas! Enjoy the start to your school year!
UPDATE: CONTEST CLOSED!
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your great suggestions! I’m sorry for the delay in selecting the winners. I subtracted the “reply” comments (when one commenter is replying to another commenter) from the total comment count so there were a total of 134 entries. Here are winners:
#15 Shanna D: “The best advice is to get to know your students. What do they like to do, what music or other media do they enjoy, what sports do they play, etc? Getting to know them on a personal level helps prevent behaviour problems!”
#33 Diane Bode: “I have learned to take it slow the first few weeks. I’m looking forward to having the kiddos visit the classroom (preschool) before the first day. Hopefully, they will feel more better on the first day!”
#41 Tammy Skiles: “Teaching procedures at the beginning of the year…making kids actually do them with you”
#55 Tammi Pittaro: “My best tip, in a nutshell, is say what you mean and mean what you say. Set the bar hhigh and practice, practice, practice!”
#59 Megan: “Do what is best for your students, which may not always be what is easiest for you, but it will feel good in your heart!!”
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Teach routines in first days, interspersed with curriculum. I use math activities that let me see each child’s thinking, “play” Tap the Map to assess geography knowledge, and start my favorite read-alouds in the first days. Students get a gradual entry back into the academics, I get a handle on math thinking, and everyone goes home happy.
Always have a hands on backup activity – you never know when the power may go out and your Smartboard is out of commission!
I give each child a whiteboard and I use them everyday in teaching Math. I can see right away who gets it and who I need to help.
I start the year with rituals and routines until they get the way they are supposed to do things. I usually do not have many issues after that.
Overplan!
Routines and clear expectations. My classes begin each day with a starter activity, followed by discussion of the starter, and the lesson/activity of the day. I think students respond to behavior guidelines and a regular routine because they know what to expect.
I begin the year trying to connect with the parents and build partnerships with them. I let the children know what to is expected and spend time modeling and practicing routines. I always have extra activities up my sleeve in case they finish early
My teaching became more effective efficient and enjoyable when I started with cooperating learning. The classroom is divided in groups every group has his own place where all the books and maps and pencil boxes are laying. Every week one person is responsible for getting and cleaning up there stuff. Also before every lesson I’ll tell the students what we will learn in this lesson. Thru this I’m more able to evaluate with them if they have reached the goal of the lesson. They do this in the group. After six Weeks every group also evaluate how they have worked on their group. They write down about each groupmember what was strong or what they have to learn. More enjoyable is that the children have more responsibility and I can see them grow. They like to have a task in the group. It’s been mine fourth year teaching and I know that I can learn so much more. Especially about classmanagement. So I would be very happy to win this book, and to be able to make my class even more efficient.
Getting routines and procedures in place at the beginning of the year and making your expectations clear is the essence of enjoyable and effective teaching. Although I have more than 20 years of teaching experience, I am always open for new ideas and never hesitate to try them out if they make sense to me. Therefore, I would love to get copy of the Conerstone book. I have already applied many of the ideas of the Conerstone web site with success.
Plan ahead!! Be well prepared with backup plans so when something goes wrong, you can still keep students busy. They start trouble when they don’t have anything to do!
I always to suggest to teachers to be flexible and open. Anything could derail your carefully made plans. The biggest one: the kids aren’t getting it so modify. But don’t forget the others: unannounced assembly, throw up, fire alarm, the list is endless. Being flexible means that you can modify your lesson to work for the kids without undo stress and wasted time.
Relate and involve! I teach high school social studies… the more I can
relate the material to the students’ lives the better. The more involved
the students are in class activities the more success I seem to have.
Consistency, relevancy, and making learning fun are key. That includes making it fun for me!
Do your paperwork right away. If I put things on “wait” i’ll end up ton of todo things and get frustrated.
I think one of the most important thing that has helped me is teaching procedures the first day.
I want to start each day for the students positively! I always greet them at the door as they enter my classroom with a BIG smile! I utilize a classroom management program with “How-to”posters around the room. This helps ensure a smooth classroom with easy transitions from subject to subject as well as classroom to other school destinations.
Being prepared is key!This includes emotionally, professionally, and those unexpected moments that could arise. Taking the time prep your classroom to make sure student rooster is near the door in case of a fire drill to extra work if students get done early.
Procedures the first day…and positive rewards. I am trying the token system this year.
Routines! It gives me the structure I need for planning and it benefits the students when they know what I expect.
Always have more than one strategy for teaching any skill. Always have a Plan B…in case of power outage or other problems. Hands-on lessons that require the active involvement of students is definitely the way to go!
I love using poetry as a platform for starting literature class each day. This establishes a cheerful and thought provoking routine, one that involves student interaction or recitation that can be followed up with discussion of all kinds of musical and literary skills even with younger children. From Christina Rossetti’s “Who Has Seen the Wind?” to Alfred Noyes’s ” The Highwayman” they can be taught rhyme and rhythm (prosody), tone, mood, theme, and narrative elements. Besides that, the class enjoys and learns from the beginning of class!
I don’t have a full time teaching position yet, but in all my experiences, I have learned to always have a backup plan in case something doesn’t work the way you want to the first time. On a spiritual aspect, to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS pray before, throughout, and after each day.
I am really encouraged by your blog! Thank you for being a blessing!
Routines and procedures to start, definitely. Once the kids are clear about the teacher’s expectations, then real learning can occur.
Establish routines the first week, have a bell or chime that cues the students to give them your attention (GREAT tool to keep from “fading” your voice), and last but not least stay excited! I know it’s sometimes hard around testing time and the end of the year, but if you remain excited about learning so will they!
After a thorough research for my diploma paper, I’ve discovered that in order to make teaching more effective and enjoyable one must resort to strategies that prevent the occurence of disruptive behaviour and I found and put together 8 preventative strategies: 1. curiosity (If one can get the students with curiosity s/he does not have to force them to be engaged in the lesson), 2. relevance (‘Lessons should have relevance to a pupil’s life. If they can’t see the point in learning a topic, or are totally uninterested in it, they won’t sit quietly and attentively.’(Plevin, 2008/9:25)), 3. humour (Humour helps students be more relaxed, for stress and fear are significantly reduced, and receptivity increased), 4. mini-tests – many short announced or unannounced written/oral tests (Students learn better bit by bit, as the information imprints better and for a longer period of time than when they learn everything at once for a final exam. The more information a student accumulates at once, the faster s/he forgets it. Mini-tests might determine students to pay more attention during the instruction time, instead of playing foolishly about. To a certain extent, mini-tests discourage disruptive behaviour and determine students to become more responsible.),
5. short activities (When a certain activity lasts too long, their attention scatters towards things they consider to be more interesting, thus perturbing the lesson. I believe that many short activities will visibly enhance the learners’ engagement in the learning process and decrease misconduct to some extent. The more a certain activity prolongs, the more their enthusiasm subsides.), 6. clear instructions, 7. clear procedures and routines, 8. praise (which has to be specific). Probably there are even more useful preventative strategies, but I thought these were the most important. If anyone has in mind other preventative strategies, feel free to reply. I would appreciate that because I am a novice in the teaching field. That is why I entered this contest, because as a newcomer I really, reallyyyyy need this book! It would help me a lot!
Taking the time to teach my kinders how to do everything from using a glue stick to the class bathroom during the first 4-6 weeks of school saves us SO much time later in the year. My students know my expectations and why I have those expectations. Subs really appreciate these well learned routines!
Everyone has something special that makes you “you”! This goes for teachers AND students.
For me, I try to look for the good – & I admit that some days I have to try really hard! – to have some systems in place to encourage students…we can get locked into discipline but we forget the flip side which is ENCOURAGEMENT. I’ve got stickers with a positive phrase on them + my name from VistaPrint that can go straight into student diaries, a treasure box, time in a special lounge chair, posting positive notes home to parents to let them know something great their child has achieved, etc etc etc. There are all kinds of things that students appreciate – you have to find what their ‘currency’ might be? I think this is really important…
Sing! Do lots of chants, choral reading of poems and of course try to fit in dancing too! The kids love it.
Plan with and support your teammates. If possible get materials copied and planned
for the first couple of weeks. Organize the classroom to be an efficient yet welcoming place. A great resource tha Imbreak out each year is a book by Harry Wong, The First Days of School. It has a wealth of great ideas!
I have learned that consistency, preparation, and routines are the key. I love using the individual whiteboards for all subjects. It is a great way to quickly check for understanding and keeps my students engaged, which leads itself to a love of learning. I have the traditional size individual whiteboards and I also use the small sentence strip ones, which fit in my table caddies and are great for short answers.
I have written and saved a 1st days of school script. It really helps me remember those little procedures to teach and find the perfect spot to complete those fun getting to know you activities. This helps me focus on procedures and routines without leaving it to chance. And, since I save it, I can just update and tweak instead of trying to remember what I did last year.
I do this for the first week of school. Each day I reflect on the script for the day and make notes so I can make adjustments when I am prepping for the next year.
As I get to know my students the first week of school, I always find areas in my classroom where routines are needed. I can tell by the behavior needs during the first days. If I have to prompt more on the rug, then I know that my rug routines need to be better developed or clarified. I have found that this sort of daily reflection and reaction helps nip classroom management issues early.
At the begining of the year, usually within the first week, I call all my students parents just to say Hi, welcome to my class and school and make sure their quetions were answered at open house. (We have ours before school starts) I want them to know that communication is always open and that just because they see my number on their caller id, doesn’t mean that I am calling for something bad. It is a partnership to get their child to succeed. I found that this makes it easier to communicate with parents when it is something more serious.
One of the best things is to keep it consistent. No matter what I do I do things the same way everyday. We line up in the same way, hand in papers the same way, dismiss for the day in the same way. Students like that they know exactly what is expected and there are fewer disagreements between students about what or who does what. Then, for a special treat I can decide to change things up once in a while.
Who are the winners after all???
I’m sorry, Tudose, this completely slipped off my radar! Just announced them!
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