Conscious Classroom Management: Toolbox Resources
This website was designed to provide resource links for teachers who seek information related to classroom management. The resources provided are for beginning teachers and those teachers with experience but are seeking to be more effective educators. Resources are organized based on the book Conscious Classroom Management by Rick Smith and the related course Using Your Classroom Management Tool Box presented by Leon County Schools. Each category is defined and links are provided for further investigation into the particular management tool. Some of the links have many more resources that don’t neatly fit into one category, so visit each of the homepages for further investigation. Additional resources that have not been categorized are also listed.
Start with the assumption that all students want to learn behavior, content and procedures. Come to classroom management with a positive attitude even if your students do not.
This is an invisible quality that must be exercised to manage a classroom. Inner authority includes the concept of “holding your ground” and “responding rather than reacting.” If you don't already have a well developed sense of inner authority, many of the resources and tools provided below can help you to exercise this muscle.
Whether getting ready for a new school year or a new school day, starting out right will help to establish the procedures and classroom climate you want the students attain for successful learning. There are many things to do in order to get ready for teaching.
Students need to know that we care about them and their success. There has to be a balance between personal connections and holding your ground.
The backbone of classroom management is teaching procedures. Everything you want students to do in a classroom must first be taught in terms of procedures. Content can only proceed after the procedures are established. Don't assume students know how to do anything. Assume you must teach them how you want them to handle all situations.
All aspects of teaching requires conscious and unconscious consistency from the teacher. This doesn't mean teachers are robots; it means that teachers value fairness and routine in order to establish student success.
"Rules are what we can and can't live with in our classroom" (Smith, p. 165).
Ultimately consequences are the result of our choices. Establishing consequences that lead students to positive choices is the goal. Consequences are not punishment.
"Classroom management does not happen in a vacuum. It is intricately tied to what we teach and how we teach it. Lessons that motivate and engage kids keep management problems at a minimum" (Smith, p. 135).
There has been significant research done on the way people learn and how our brains function while learning. This research can impact the way we manage and teach students and ultimately improve classroom management.
Most of Rick Smith's philosophy on classroom management deals with prevention. When prevention doesn't work, then we must try interventions to establish positive behavior. One of the keys to breaking the cycle of student misbehavior is to address the root causes of the misbehavior while assuming that students want to learn the appropriate behavior.
Not all resources fit neatly into the previously stated categories for classroom management. These are the additional links that might be useful. Some of those links include topics like classroom design, behavior systems, and
Created by Shannon Ayrish
Last Updated 6-15-2013
Contact information shannonayrish@yahoo.com
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