Keeping students engaged and checking for their understanding while you’re teaching is kind of important. You probably don’t have to think back too hard to remember a time you sat in a meeting where you were mentally unengaged (i.e. checked…
Although most of us don’t have a choice when it comes to which classroom we get assigned to, we do have at least some control over how we set up the environment in that space. Effective teachers know the organization of…
If you’ve ever gone to the supermarket with a toddler in tow, you probably know the art of pre-correction. Anticipating the possibility of a bored or tired child acting out, you come prepared! You might think ahead to bring along toys, snacks, music,…
Are you noticing a gap between your expectations and students’ classroom behavior? Is that gap widening as the year goes along? If so, it might be time to revisit PCM #9 Teach, Model, and Reinforce Behavior Expectations. Teaching behavior expectations is pretty much…
From moving into groups to putting books away to exiting the classroom at the end of the period, successful transitions help your class run like a well-oiled machine. When transitions in your room are managed well, not only is there…
In a recent data-gathering round of classroom visits at KMS, we found that for a majority of the school day, our students are sitting in their seats. Lecture seating was the highest at 68%, followed by partners or groups at…
Think about the last time you were driving along on the freeway and suddenly looked into the rear view mirror to find a police car behind you. Perhaps his mere presence (depending on how fast you were going) evoked a response…
We all know that the best contests are the ones where we can win prizes that have multiple dollar signs attached (or that involve airline tickets, beaches, and words like all-expenses-paid)! Sadly, we can’t be offering such incentives to our…
Former New York Yankee, Yogi Berra, once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Today’s PCM #14 Goal Setting and Performance Feedback is going to help you help your students develop a plan, assess their…
A CEO of a major corporation has a motto for meetings at his company: No agenda, no attenda. In his experience, a meeting with no clearly outlined objectives is in danger of easily turning into an aimless waste of time. I’m sure we’ve all…