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Smart Classroom Management - Education & Personal Development
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How To Actually Apply "High Expectations" Smart Classroom Management
The importance of having high expectations for students is thrown about so often that it’s lost any real meaning. It rolls off the tongue like a royal decree. “Thou maketh high expectations!” On cue, everyone nods along—Oh yes, yes, so important—while afraid to ask ... Read more
Why YOU Shouldn't Correct Wrong Answers Smart Classroom Management
The culture of teaching demands that you correct every wrong answer for every student for every assignment AND ensure they understand what they did wrong. It’s on you. This is, of course, time-consuming. It’s also stressful and frustrating given that most students don’t seem ... Read more
How To Program Your Subconscious For Teaching Success Smart Classroom Management
Here at SCM, we talk a lot about the importance of having a vision of your ideal class. Of seeing your students, like a movie in your mind . . . focused and learning. interacting politely. following rules. performing routines. participating eagerly. working together. ... Read more
Why Consistency Equals Compassion Smart Classroom Management
When a student misbehaves, giving them a reminder or otherwise letting them off the hook can feel like the right thing to do. Because we’re compassionate. Students have a history. Some have been through a lot. Mistakes happen and we want to believe they’ll ... Read more
The Easiest Classroom Management Strategy With the Greatest Benefit Smart Classroom Management
There is one thing you can do right now that will . . . improve behavior lower your stress build better rapport save time In other words, make teaching more fun and effective. Here at SCM we’ve been shouting this strategy from the rooftops ... Read more
How to Jump-Start a Stale, Boring Classroom Smart Classroom Management
This time of year it isn’t uncommon for students to become particularly uninspired. It’s the same-old/same-old syndrome. Every day feels like the one before and motivation ratchets downward. Some simple things you can do to help reverse the trend include: changing up your seating ... Read more
How To Handle A Disrespectful Class Clown Smart Classroom Management
Many years ago I read The Adventures of Robin Hood aloud to my 5th grade class. One day in the middle of teaching an unrelated lesson a student yelled out “Hey, when are we gonna read Peter Pan?” It was funny. The entire class ... Read more
The Danger of Reminding Well-Behaved Students Smart Classroom Management
It’s so easy to do. One of your smart, capable, polite, well-groomed, athletic, and/or charismatic students accidentally and ever-so-briefly breaks a class rule, and you smile and give them a gentle reminder. You trust them, after all. It was a mistake, after all. They ... Read more
Should You Give Consequences Privately? Smart Classroom Management
At first glance, the answer just might be yes. It makes sense, right? A student misbehaves and you give them a hand signal letting them know which rule was broken and the consequence. The benefits are: It’s quiet. It’s quick. It’s discreet. It’s respectful. ... Read more
When To Praise Students So It Matters Smart Classroom Management
The first article ever written at SCM was about praise; subtle, meaningful praise given at just the right moment. The kind that boosts motivation like a rocket ship. Common in this day and age is for teachers to throw out praise like they’re feeding ... Read more
A Simple Way To Improve Listening Smart Classroom Management
Okay, I won’t bury the lede. When students are doing, stop talking. Most teachers—yes, most—talk students through just about everything. Lining up to leave the room. Getting into groups. Starting work. Walking down the hall. Putting away materials. Playing a learning game. You name ... Read more
The Yin And Yang Of Classroom Management Smart Classroom Management
A danger in trying to improve classroom management is that you tighten up. You become more tense and wooden. You’re so intent on following your classroom management plan and holding students accountable that it changes your personality. Somewhere in the back of your mind ... Read more
11 Things Teachers Should Say No To Smart Classroom Management
Stress is crushing teachers, but there are things you can do to alleviate it. In fact, with a comprehensive approach, you can all but eliminate it. It’s a topic I’m hard at work developing here at SCM. (More details to follow.) But one of ... Read more
The Best Of Smart Classroom Management 2024 Smart Classroom Management
Hello Amazing Teachers! On behalf of the entire SCM team, I want to say “Thank you!” Your willingness to share our website with your friends and colleagues keeps us going strong. I’m eternally grateful. 2025 marks our 16th year, and we have no intention ... Read more
Why You Must Be Relentlessly Honest With Students Smart Classroom Management
In the eyes of students, the following are lies: You have class rules, but don’t always follow them. You preach kindness, but don’t practice it yourself. You have deadlines, but accept late work. You promise interesting lessons, but don’t deliver. You teach routines, but ... Read more
Time-Out For High School Students? Say What?! Smart Classroom Management
There is odd consensus that you can only use time-out for elementary-age students. This is silly. There is nothing wrong with removing a student who is interfering with the rights of others to learn and enjoy school. No one is too old. If I ... Read more
How To Handle A Student Who Talks Back Smart Classroom Management
Not much fires a teacher up more than a student talking back. It has a special way of getting under the skin because . . . It’s blatantly disrespectful. It typically happens in front of the class. It directly challenges your authority. How you ... Read more
How To Use Your Teacherly Sense Smart Classroom Management
In Malcom Gladwell’s 2003 book Blink, he describes how experts can know what they know but not know why they know it. They experience a flash of recognition or vision of truth—and blink moment—based on years of past experience and know it to be ... Read more
Why You Should Never Kneel Down Eye Level With Students Smart Classroom Management
Kneeling down to a student’s eye level to discuss behavior or impart an important lesson is common practice. It’s recommended without second thought. Teachers do it every day. The idea is that it’s more effective and the student is more likely to heed your ... Read more
How To Get Your Students' Attention Fast Smart Classroom Management
The ability to get your students’ attention anytime you need it is critical for good teaching. Because . . . It saves time. It allows you to give further instruction. It’s a sign of a well-behaved class. The signal you use is unimportant. It ... Read more
Why Fear Is Ruining Your Teaching Career Smart Classroom Management
Several years ago, a colleague confided in me that she was afraid to hold her students accountable because she was convinced that they would hate her for it. Some of her students were taller than her and looked like adults, which may have been ... Read more
How To Give A Consequence That Really Works Smart Classroom Management
How you give a consequence matters. It’s not just do or not do. The way it’s performed goes a long way toward your students taking responsibility. It’s another of the small details that separate just getting by from exceptional classroom management. The latter requires ... Read more
How To Handle Students Who Don't Mind Time-Out Smart Classroom Management
Last week, I wrote about how to fix time-out if it isn’t working. And I got some peculiar responses. “What if students like time-out?” “What if they want to stay in time-out?” “What if they prefer the quiet of time-out?” “What if they’re soured ... Read more
Why Your Time-Out Doesn't Work Smart Classroom Management
Understanding time-out, its purpose and function, is key to its effectiveness. Yet, as I visit classrooms, many teachers get it wrong. It’s not a dunce-cap punishment or place for students to feel shame, which only causes resentment and more misbehavior. Rather, time-out must be ... Read more
How To Handle A Disruptive Autistic Student Smart Classroom Management
I’m not an expert in autism. Nor do I have a degree or teaching credential in special education. I write only from the perspective of a classroom teacher. This article is a response to many questions we’ve received here at SCM about autistic students ... Read more
The Problem With Project-Based Learning Smart Classroom Management
Many years ago, my 4th grade class took part in a school-wide science fair. There were awards for best projects per grade level, best projects overall, and various other categories. The teachers acted as judges. A boy named Seth had what I believed to ... Read more
When To Reteach A Routine Smart Classroom Management
Whenever your students are performing a routine, you must observe them closely. There are three reasons for this: 1. Knowing that you’re watching keeps them on track. 2. It’s the only way to confirm expectations are being fulfilled. 3. It allows you to enforce ... Read more
Clearing Up Misconceptions Of The Letter-Home Consequence Smart Classroom Management
Here at SCM, we get many questions about the letter-home consequence. For the uninitiated, a letter home to parents can be part of the third consequence of the elementary classroom management plan that we recommend. The key word is ‘can.’ You see, it’s an ... Read more
How To Plan For A Sub And Ensure Good Behavior Smart Classroom Management
How to plan for a substitute teacher in a way that ensures good behavior is a question I’ve gotten a lot over the years. I’ve answered it dozens of times during coaching sessions and PD trainings. However, I’ve been reluctant to make it into ... Read more
Why Your Students Need To Hear The Hard Truth Smart Classroom Management
Here at SCM we love shortcuts. We love saving time, lowering stress, and simplifying everything so we can enjoy all that is fun and rewarding about teaching. We also love efficiency, clarity, and honesty. It’s this last one, honesty, that we’re going to talk ... Read more
3 Leadership Traits Every Teacher Needs Smart Classroom Management
One reason many teachers struggle with misbehavior, disrespect, and the like is because they’re not strong leaders. In other words, they lack . . . Presence Confidence Boldness Courage They tend to have an external locus of control and difficulty grasping that they alone ... Read more
How To Handle Misbehavior The First Weeks Of School Smart Classroom Management
Expect pushback and challenges to your authority during the first few weeks of school, especially if you teach in an exceptionally challenging environment. It’s normal, and it’s okay. You see, for now your students aren’t who they really are (or who they can become). ... Read more
How To Not Be Stressed Out This School Year Smart Classroom Management
Stress is not only bad for your health, but it makes you a worse teacher. It causes you to . . . Lose your cool. Raise your voice. Be unlikable. Worst of all, however, is that stress brings tension and excitability into your classroom, ... Read more
9 Ways To Never Lose Control Of Your Class Smart Classroom Management
The SCM approach is built on simplicity. Although it takes commitment, and there is a fair amount to learn, anyone can do it. Short or tall, new hire or veteran, follow SCM like a paint-by-numbers Hokusai and you can create a thing of beauty. ... Read more
When And How To Teach Your Classroom Management Plan Smart Classroom Management
It’s a common question here at SCM. Should you teach your classroom management plan immediately on the first day of school or wait and ease into it? Intuitively, it makes sense to wait. Perhaps a bonding activity or getting-t0-know-you game is a better choice. ... Read more
The Long Forgotten Classroom Management Strategy You Need Smart Classroom Management
It’s critical that you create a culture conducive to excellent behavior. Indeed, and of course. That’s what we do here at SCM. We teach exactly what you need to do to cause students to want to listen, learn, and behave. Much of this work ... Read more
The Big Lie Of Childhood Trauma Smart Classroom Management
The lie isn’t that childhood trauma doesn’t exist. Of course it does. Some of our students have been abused and neglected. Others have witnessed violence, criminality, drug use, and indescribable family strife. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Adverse childhood experiences can have ... Read more
How And Why Not To Take Misbehavior Personally Smart Classroom Management
I’ve spoken to thousands of teachers about their classroom management struggles. They all have much in common. I repeat myself a lot. My advice is “do this and don’t do that.” This is one reason SCM has been successful. Our strategies are straightforward. I ... Read more
Why You Need To Make One Classroom Management Commitment Right Now Smart Classroom Management
Now that your school year is over, it’s time to make a commitment. By commitment, I mean never going back. Never giving in. Never allowing yourself any other possibility. Iron-clad locked, guaranteed, and assured. What’s done is done. The commitment I want you to ... Read more
Your 2023-24 Smart Classroom Management Report Card Smart Classroom Management
Your personal 2023-24 Smart Classroom Management report card is here! To review, the SCM report card is a rating system that revels the extent to which you followed SCM during the past school year. It evaluates your strength and weaknesses so you can use ... Read more