When teachers think about whether AI is good or bad for education, it’s natural to approach it from two angles.
On the one hand, what possibilities does this open up for me to be a better teacher?
On the other, which parts of the complex set of skills involved in teaching are going to be irrelevant in five years?
The answer to the second question may be more reassuring than you expect.
(more…)When you boil classroom management down to its essence, it really is just two things.
In a well-managed class, a lot of problems stop before they even start.
(more…)One of the reasons that so many classroom management decisions can be difficult is that classroom management is really about priorities.
More than one thing is important.
Classroom management is often about choosing between competing priorities and taking a stand about which one is more important in the moment.
As an example, take something as simple as lining up elementary aged students to go to the cafeteria.
(more…)The worst part about hitting classroom management rock bottom is that you don’t know you’ve hit rock bottom.
All you know is that when your alarm clock rings in the morning, it feels like your skin is getting ripped off. It’s like you’re mad that you didn’t just die in your sleep, and now you have to go into school and face these students.
I’m kind of exaggerating.
But if this is where you’re at right now, you know I’m not exaggerating by that much.
(more…)If you’re a teacher, you probably already know that being consistent is very important to classroom management.
And. . . you also probably struggle with being consistent.
In the 20 years that I’ve been working with teachers, I’ve found that the best way to make classroom management advice work is to break it down into three steps.