presents

TEN TIPS

for CLASSROOM

MANAGEMENT
+++++
HOW TO
IMPROVE STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT

and

BUILD A POSITIVE
CLIMATE FOR
LEARNING AND
DISCIPLINE

Ten Tips for

Classroom Management
How to improve student engagement and build
a positive climate for learning and discipline
WEVE ALL HEARD THIS ABOUT STUDENTS: If they are
engaged, they are managed. And this is absolutely the truth. But we still
need rules, routines, trust, and student ownership to make a classroom run
smoothly and effectively. This guide will address those practical aspects
of managing a classroom, with suggestions and resources appropriate
for grades K-12.
Most of these tips are applicable to students of all ages, but the actual
techniques will look different for the various grades. For instance, Build
Community (tip #1), might mean playing name games with elementary
students but involve setting up a photo booth for middle school students.
Tip #8, Integrate Positive Classroom Rituals, may sound like its all
about elementary learners, but look for suggestions to make the morning
meeting an important part of the day for teens and tweens too.
During my first year in the classroom, a seasoned teacher told me, You
are as much an ethics teachers as you are an English teacher. What she
meant was that literature brings along life lessons and themes, so its
inevitable that you end up deeply discussing morals, what is right and
wrong, and wise choices versus poor decisions. Its no accident then that
the ten tips offered here also give a noticeable nod to social and emotional
learning, or SEL (http://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning),
an approach that teaches children how to handle challenging situations,
manage their emotions, and form positive relationships.
And finally, we all know there are more than ten tips for great classroom
management, so be sure to visit Edutopias Classroom Management
Group and share what you do: http://www.edutopia.org/groups/
classroom-management.

Rebecca Alber
Edutopia blogger, former high school teacher, and
online education teacher at Stanford University

visit edutopia.org

TIP LIST
1. Build Community
2. Design a Safe,
Friendly, and
Well-Managed
Classroom
Environment

3. Include Students

in Creating Rules,
Norms, Routines,
and Consequences

4. Create a Variety

of Communication
Channels

5. Always Be Calm,

Fair, and Consistent

6. Know the Students

You Teach

7. Address Conflict

Quickly and Wisely

8. Integrate Positive

Classroom Rituals

9. Keep It Real
Partner with Parents
10.
and Guardians

tip #1

Build Community
BUILDING CARING RELATIONSHIPS with students is
the cornerstone of good classroom management. Building these
relationshipsteacher-student, student-student, classroomcommunityand creating the time and space to do so in the
beginning of the year and throughout the following months can
make or break a classroom. Simply put, when there is care in the
air, there will be significantly fewer behavioral problems.
Greet your students at the door: This simple gesture creates
that moment when you and the student make eye contact, speak
directly to each other (good morning), and have a connection.
This may be the only one-on-one you have that day with
the student, but it has great value. When you model a respectful way to greet another human being, you are implicitly telling
each student that this is how we will communicate with each other.
Get to know one another: Teachers and students begin learning one
anothers names the first day of school and should be able to address one
another by name within two weeks. Use engaging, age-appropriate activities
(http://wilderdom.com/games/NameGames.html) for learning names
and for getting acquainted. As students learn more and more about one
another, connections will begin to happen. This inevitably leads to more
empathy and understanding and, ultimately, caring relationships with a lot
less classroom conflict.
Student photos will help you connect names and faces. In this article from
the NEAs website, retired middle school teacher Phil Nast recalls some
favorite photo tips, such as having students create their own passports as a
first-day-of-school activity: http://www.nea.org/tools/getting-to-knoweach-other.html.
With the right app, you can even set up a photo booth in a corner of your
classroomsomething that should appeal to tweens and teens. Heres an
example using the iPad: http://www.imore.com/tag/photo-booth.
Veteran educator Peter Pappas recommends using the first day of school
to encourage teens to multitask, to get students thinking at the same time
theyre getting acquainted. He explains on his Copy/Paste blog how an
engaging activity like solving a mystery can deliver multiple benefits: http://
www.peterpappas.com/2010/08/first-day-school-engage-problemsolve-how-to-get-students-thinking.html.
Definitely take the time and energy to continue growing community and
relationships in the classroom. The payoff is worth the effort.

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Related Resources:

Read How to Develop Positive

Classroom Management,
an Edutopia article on the
correlation between relationships
and classroom management:
http://www.edutopia.org/
classroom-managementrelationships-strategies-tips.

Edutopias Schools That Work

series spotlights Louisville,

Kentuckys Jefferson County
Public Schools to show how they
integrate social and emotional
learning into their curriculum.
Get suggestions for building
relationships with students:
http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/
stw/edutopia-stw-louisvillesel-how-to-build-relationships
-worksheet.pdf

Are you looking for more

examples of effective
classroom-management
techniques such as hand signals
to use with primary or older
students? Watch this Edutopia
video, Classroom-Management
Tips for Teachers: http://www.
edutopia.org/classroommanagement-teacher-tips-video.

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #2

Design a Safe,
Well-Managed,
and Friendly
Classroom
Environment
THE RIGHT PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT helps create a positive
learning community. When students walk into a classroom, they need to
feel ownership. Their writing assignments and projects should prevail on
the walls, and they should have easy access to supplies and handouts and
a place to turn in class assignments.
Ask students to be designers of their room: They choose where to
hang the dioramas on photosynthesis or the book reports, and they get to do
the hanging. Also, charts, directionsany permanent postersshould be
written by student hands. The more they see themselves in the environment,
the more they feel valued (and the fewer number of conflicts we teachers
will have with them).
Hows the lighting in your classroom? Try making small adjustments,
such as bringing in a few floor lamps and turning off some of the fluorescent
lights. This can create a calmer, less institutional vibe. Learn more about
lighting in this Edutopia primer, What They See Is What We Get: A Primer
on Light: http://www.edutopia.org/what-they-see-what-we-get.
Moving desks and trying different table configurations can also create
a more friendly setting thats better suited for collaboration. Social and
emotional learning emphasizes student-centered, cooperative learning.
This means you will cluster desks into groups or move students so they face
one another. This may make your classroom a bit louder, but it helps grow a
community of learners a lot more quickly than rows of desks facing the front
of the class. Take the plunge and just do it!
4

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Related Resources:

See how designers helped a

middle school teacher transform

his crowded classroom into a
space that fosters collaboration,
creativity, and active student
learning. http://www.edutopia.
org/ remake.

Check out How Can We

Improve School Discipline?

from Educational Researcher:
http://edr.sagepub.com/
content/39/1/48.abstract.

Get more tips for good classroom

design in this Edutopia article,
Give Your Space the Right
Design: http://www.edutopia.
org/classroom-space-designfeng-shui.

Download this list of effective

cooperative-learning activities
from the Jefferson County Public
Schools: http://www.edutopia.
org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stwlouisville-sel-collaborativecooperative-learning.pdf.

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #3

Include Students
in Creating Rules,
Norms, Routines,
and Consequences
RULES ARE DIFFERENT from routines and norms. Rules come
with consequences whereas routines and norms have reminders.
(Read Rebecca Albers Edutopia blog post for more on this: http://
www.edutopia.org/blog/rules-routines-school-year-startclassroom-management.)
Social Contracts: When establishing both rules and routines, its crucial
that students have a say in the matter. The teachers role is to facilitate and
guide students through the steps to develop social contracts. Whats the
result? Students have full ownership in what has been decided around class
norms, expectations, and consequences.
The start of a new school year is the ideal time to draw up a social contract.
Start by asking kids to brainstorm about all the things they see, feel, and
hear in a classroom that make them feel comfortable, safe, and happy. Use
this graphic organizer, http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopiastw-louisville-sel-Y-chart.pdf, to create a chart as a whole class and then
decide on rules, routines, and consequences together.
Developmental Discipline: How often do you notice the same student
arriving late to class, making unkind comments to peers, or repeating other
negative behaviors? Change the pattern with developmental discipline. This
is a philosophy that has the individual examine why something happened
and then consider what can be done to rectify the situation and prevent it
from happening again. Developmental discipline encourages teachers to
use community-building activities, along with appropriate consequences,
to lead students to think about how they behave and how they treat one
another. Instead of detention, a student may write a fix-it plan or apology
letter or come up with his or her own suitable and effective consequence.
Watch this Edutopia Schools That Work video that demonstrates what
developmental discipline looks like in the Jefferson County Public Schools in
Louisville, Kentucky: http://www.edutopia.org/louisville-sel-discipline
-behavior-video.
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, better
known as CASEL, shares links to video examples and case studies about SEL
schools: http://casel.org/in-schools/selecting-programs/programsin-action/.
5

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Related Resources:

Whether it is informal chatter

or academic conversations,
students need examples of how
to speak respectfully. Provide
discussion stems (http://kms.
sdcoe.net/getvocal/107.html)
to help scaffold this learning.
Also, to reinforce the types of
talking that are appropriate,
decide together on off-limit
words and phrases.

Learn more about the research

on teacher-student relationships
by reading Social and Emotional
Learning (SEL) and Student
Benefits from CASEL: http://casel.org/
wp-content/ uploads/EDC_CASELSEL
ResearchBrief.pdf.

The Developmental Studies

Center has a good primer on

developmental discipline: http://
www.devstu.org/page/buildingcommunity-in-school-the-childdevelopment-project.

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #4

Create a
Variety of
Communication
Channels
HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS do students have for
communicating with you? The more modes they have, the better.
Teacher-Student Communication: Having varied and
reliable options for students to talk with you will help keep
your class running smoothly. Here are a few ideas to try:

Encourage students to connect with you online. Provide
them with your school email account so they can send you
their questions, concerns, and suggestions, or use social-media tools to
connect with students who are old enough to have Facebook accounts. To
create a private back channel for real-time classroom discussions, check
out tools such as TodaysMeet (http://todaysmeet.com/) or Chatzy
(http://www.chatzy.com).

Offer a variety of times when you are available. This will make certain that
all students are able to come and sit down with you privately for a chat if
needed (before school, once a week at lunchtime, any day after school).

Place a suggestion box on your desk where students can leave anonymous
notes. You might be surprised to get messages like these: Please turn up
the heat in the morning, Richard is picking on Jessica after class, or
Please give more examples for writing a thesis statement.

Have students turn in weekly notebooks or project logs. Include one or two
assignments for which students can just freewrite anything, including a
letter to you if they wish.
Student-Student Communication: Students grow emotionally and
socially as they share their intellectual thoughts and ideas with one another.
As teachers, we must explicitly integrate as much time for this as possible.
We can do so through such activities as think-pair-share, talking-triads,
tea parties, and Socratic seminars. To learn more about various thinking
routines (and the research behind them), visit the Visible Thinking
website at Harvards Project Zero: http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/.
When it comes to student groups, be mindful to mix them up frequently to
prevent cliques from forming. If you keep groups and pairs in heavy rotation,
then in no time, all students will have spent some time with one another and
the connections will be visible.

Related Resources:

Lisa Nielsen shares a post on the

Innovative Educator blog about

a first-grade teacher who uses
Facebook to connect with
students and their families:
http://theinnovativeeducator.
blogspot.com/2010/07/8real-ways-facebook-enrichedms.html.

Check out the following chart for

examples of empowering teacher

language: http://www.edutopia.
org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stwlouisville-sel-empoweringteacher-language.pdf

Edutopia blogger Nicholas

Provenzano explains how he

keeps issues from escalating
in his high school classroom:
http://www.edutopia.org/
blog/effective-classroommanagement-nick-provenzano.

Edutopia blogger Gaetan

Pappalardo shares tips on

how he keeps his elementary
classroom humming:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/
classroom-managementstrategies-elementary-teacher.

Finally, when youre talking with the whole class, use phrases that are
empowering rather than defeating, accusatory, or negative. As teachers, we
must continually model the behaviorsand languagewe wish to see in the
children we teach.

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #5

Always
Be Calm,
Fair, and
Consistent

TRUST IS THE BEATING, healthy

heart of a functioning classroom. Without
it, classroom management is nearly
impossible, as is building relationships with
students. A calm, fair, and consistent teacher is a trusted one. (Edutopia
blogger Rebecca Alber shares more insights on this topic: http://www.
edutopia.org/trusting-relationships-teachers-students.)
Calm: Always keep a calm and steady demeanor, even if your head and heart
are telling you to act differently. (Dont ever match a childs rage, sarcasm,
or anger.) Use those acting skills we all acquire as teachers! And when you
feel the blood boiling, remember this: Kids do not trust reactive teachers, and
often they dont respect them. Fear should never be the great motivator in
our classrooms.
Staying calm means never raising your voice or speaking over the class.
If students are talking, wait. Wait longer. Wait until it becomes so uncomfortable that several students begin to shush the others. Then, even if you
are feeling beyond annoyed, use a calm, quiet voice so they will need to lean
in to listen. Now youve got them.
Fairness: Though you may not feel the same way about every student, they
should never know or see this. Being fair means all students are under the
same rulesand get the same exceptions to those rules.
To make sure you are being fair, remind yourself to do the following:

Avoid calling on or selecting the same students over and over.

Acknowledge to the class when there has been an exception (for a student,
another class period, or a group) and, if possible, share why.

Keep a solid line between rules and routines. Rules come with consequences
whereas routines come with reminders.
Consistency: If you are having an erratic day, stay the course and dont
change that days agenda or class structure. This helps children feel safe.

Related Resources:

How well do you support the

social and emotional growth

of your students? Take this
Edutopia emotional intelligence
quiz to find out: http://www.
edutopia.org/sel-quiz.

Tribes is a research-based

process for building positive,

respectful learning environments.
Watch these short videos to
learn more: http://tribes.com/
videos/.

Want some help managing a

specific classroom situation? Ask

the experts at the NEA, and you
can expect an online reply within
24 hours: http://public-groups.
nea.org/discussion/forum/
show/162197.

Edutopia blogger Ben Johnson

shares more common-sense

classroom-management tips in
his popular post The Barbed
Wire Model of Classroom
Management: http://www.
edutopia.org/classroommanagement-barbedwire-model. Join the discussion
by adding to the comments.

Modeling Positive Behavior: While you are teaching, you should be

demonstrating compassion, caring, patience, and self-control every chance
you get. Students eyes are on us at all times, even when we think they are
immersed in the task at hand. They watch, they listen, they learn, and then
they repeat the behaviors they see.
7

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #6

Know the
Students
You Teach
ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION,
How well do I know myself ? Thinking
about this question helps you to better know
and understand your students. By looking at
your own background (economics, culture,
education, and gender), you will be able to
acknowledge the lens through which you view your students. For example, if
you grew up middle class but teach students whose families live mainly below
the poverty line, you can take time to learn about their specific challenges.
The Education Alliance has produced an online guide to culturally responsive
teaching: http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crtprinciples.shtml.
Take a moment to reflect on where you are with all this. Consider the
following characteristics of a culturally responsive educator:

She challenges and confronts all stereotypes in the instructional curriculum
and environment.

She strives to know her students and seeks professional development and
reading materials to learn how to better serve all of them.

She helps her students gain hope and develop strategies for overcoming
academic and societal barriers.

She uses texts that are relevant and speak to the lives and experiences of
the students she teaches.
When we do our best to exhibit all of these qualities, we are including all
children, especially those we most struggle to understand.
How are you doing when it comes to creating a culturally responsive classroom? As a way to invite feedback, consider asking a colleague or mentor to
observe your classroom. The Coalition for Essential Schools has developed
an observation tool and debriefing guide to make this process productive.
Download the PDF: http://www.essentialschools.org/system/school_
benchmarks/4/observation_tools/original/Culturally_Responsive.
.
pdf.
8

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Related Resources:

Read more about culturally

responsive education in this

Edutopia blog post, Culturally
Responsive Education:
Cultural Education Through
Expeditionary Learning: http://
www.edutopia.org/culturallyresponsive-education.

For practical pointers on how

to become a more a culturally

responsive teacher, read this
article from the NEA website,
Sounds Great, But How Do I
Do It?: http://www.nea.org/
home/16711.htm.

Pedro Noguera, in a thought-

ful essay that draws on his own

family experiences as well as
academic insights, concludes,
Differences in race, gender, or
sexual orientation need not limit
a teachers ability to make a connection with a young person.
Download this PDF and consider
discussing it with colleagues: http://
steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter.olde/
resources/PDF/Joaquin's%
20Dilemma.pdf.

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #7

Address Conflict
Quickly and Wisely
DONT LET CONFLICT FESTER. That means you should be sure to
address an issue between you and a student or between two students as
quickly as possible. Bad feelingson your part or the studentscan so quickly
grow from molehills into mountains.
Now, for handling those conflicts wisely, you and the student should step
away from the other students, just in the doorway of the classroom perhaps.
Ask naive questions such as, How might I help you? Dont accuse the child
of anything. Act as if you do care, even if you have the opposite feeling at that
moment. The student will usually become disarmed because she is expecting
you to be angry and confrontational.
And always take a positive approach. Say, It looks like you have a question
rather than, Why are you off task and talking?
When students have conflicts with each other, remain neutral.
Use neutral language as you act as a mediator to help them resolve the
problem peacefully.
Educators for Social Responsibilities maintain an Online Teacher Center
with a variety of resources and classroom-ready materials (free registration
required) that focus on resolving conflict: http://www.esrnational.org/otc.
Not In Our School (http://www.niot.org/nios) showcases stories of
students and communities that stand up to bullying and prejudice. Online
resources include classroom discussion guides and lesson plans designed
to create safe schools, free from intolerance.
9

TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Related Resources:

Learning to resolve conflict

peacefully is a valuable life skill.

Watch this Edutopia video to
see how students have become
peace helpers: http://www.
edutopia.org/conflict-resolution-peace-helpers-video.

Watch a series of brief Edutopia

video clips that show positive

discipline strategies in action:
http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-management-video.

Watch an Edutopia video in

which students learn the skill of

conflict resolution: http://www.
edutopia.org/forum-conflictresolution-video.

What do researchers suggest for

addressing classroom behavior

issues? Explore the multimedia
resources on the Doing What
Works site: http://dww.ed.gov/
Reducing-Behavior-Problems/
topic/?T_ID=25.
EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #8

Integrate Positive
Classroom Rituals
ITS MORE COMMON in elementary grades that the day will begin with a
community-building activity. But getting off to a good start is important at
all ages. Here are some suggestions to make it happen.

Related Resources:

Watch this Edutopia video to see

what a morning meeting looks
like: http://www.edutopia.org/
louisville-sel-morningmeetings-video.

Morning meetings: This is a brief forum during which each individual in the
group is acknowledged. It creates a feeling of we are all in this together. Edutopia
blogger Suzie Boss describes morning meetings at a unique school in Colorado:
http://www.edutopia.org/building-school-community-eagle-rock.

Go to Edutopias Classroom

Good things: Ask for a few volunteers to share something good that has
happened to them (getting an A on a test or having a new baby in the family,
for instance). The student can also share an upcoming event that is positive
(such as a birthday or trip).

Watch an archived Edutopia

Whip around: Ask students to say one word that describes how they are
feeling today. Start with a volunteer and then whip around the room. Give
students the option to pass if they like.
10 TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Management Group and share

what you do: http://www.
edutopia.org/groups/
classroom-management.
webinar, Social and Emotional
Learning: Making a Case in an
NCLB World, to get more
practical tips for bringing social
and emotional learning to your
classroom: http://www.edutopia
.org/webinar-february.

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #9

Keep it Real
DISCOVER THE THINGS your students are interested
intrends, music, TV shows, and gamesand incorporate
those as you teach the skills, concepts, and knowledge
they need. You want to attach the learning to their lives
as often as possible.
Tap Into Prior Knowledge and Schema: The father
of critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire, rejected the notion that
children are empty vessels. Instead, he promoted the
belief that learners offer a wealth of knowledge conventional and unconventionalfor the teacher to build on.
Kids with bad behavior tend to get treated and
taught as if they need to be filled with information and
knowledge. This tactic, in fact, leads to more acting
out. With a constructivist approach, the teacher encourages the child to
actively construct new ideas or concepts based upon his current and prior
knowledge and beliefs.
Use Essential Questions: Big, overarching questions are a fantastic
way to launch a unit of study and to help connect learning with the lives of
your students. Essential questions do not have a right or wrong answer, nor
are they easy to respond to. They give meaning and relevance to what your
students are studying, and they are meant to grab the attention and thoughts
and sometimes the heartof a group of learners. They are not to be solved
but to be discussed and pondered.
Here are some examples of essential questions (but remember to use
them strategically and sparingly):

In what ways are animals human and in what ways are humans animals?
(science)

What is love? (English/poetry)

When is it acceptable to rebel? (history)

What would life be like if mathematics did not exist? (math)
Authentic Assessment: Authentic assessment (http://www.edutopia.
org/stw-assessment-school-of-the-future-introduction-video)
measures student learning with relevant, high-level Blooms Taxonomy tasks
the kind students might be required to do if they were actually working
in the field of study.
To do authentic assessment, you will need to backwards plan, starting with
what you want the kids to know and be able to do for the assessment. Grant
Wiggins, the acclaimed author of Understanding By Design, calls this starting
with the end in mind.
If the start and end of a unit feel real to your students, then they are more
likely to be engaged during the important journey in the middle. Edutopia
blogger Suzie Boss explains how to get projects off to a good start: http://
www.edutopia.org/blog/summer-pd-starting-projects-suzie-boss.
11 TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Related Resources:

Read this Edutopia article, Ten

Takeaway Tips for Using Authentic Assessment in Your School,

for more on authentic assessment: http://www.edutopia.
org/10-assessment-tips-forclass.

Download Edutopias guide to

assessing project-based learning: http://www.edutopia.

org/10-tips-assessment-project-based-learning-resourceguide.

What do other educators have

to say about classroom management? See how readers responded to a post by Edutopia blogger
Maurice Elias: http://www.
edutopia.org/blog/good-classroom-management-secretmaurice-elias.

Or you can weigh in on blogger

Elena Aguilars schoolroom peace

plan: http://www.edutopia.org/
classroom-management.

EDUTOPIA.ORG

tip #10

Partner with
Parents and
Guardians
THIS IS THE LAST TIP FOR A REASON.
Teachers know that partnering with parents
is neither easy nor completely in our control.
Returning a teachers call may not be the top
priority for a parent or guardian. They may be more concerned with paying
bills, putting food on the table, navigating the rough waters of managing a
single-parent home, and so much more beyond our imaginations.
Yet connecting home and school is worth the extra effort because of the
benefits for students. So here are some simple yet surefire ways to partner
and connect with parents and guardians.
Intel First: Have kids fill out an About Me index card the first week of
school. Ask them about their favorite books and school subjects and things
they are good at. Also ask for their parents or guardians cell phone numbers.
Go Digital: Consider setting up your own website, wiki, or page on your
schools website so parents can take a quick look and get up-to-speed with
topics of study and class and homework assignments. Edmodo (http://
www.edmodo.com) offers a free platform for creating a secure socialnetworking site for your students and their families.

Related Resources:

Set up a class wiki at Wikispaces:

http://www.wikispaces.com.

This Edutopia article, How to

Strengthen Parent Involvement

and Communication, offers
more ideas for increasing parent or guardian involvement:
http://www.edutopia.org/
how-to-strengthen-parentinvolvement.

Download Edutopias free

Home-to-School Connections Guide: http://www.

edutopia.org/home-to-schoolconnections-guide

Face to Face: Make sure on open house and back-to-school night (or
any other family night) that you have plenty of business cards or contactinformation cards that include your email, cell phone number (optional),
classroom room number, and the schools phone number. This may seem
basic, but that card not only makes it easy for parents to connect with you,
it shows them that that you want them to call.
Calling Home: Make good calls home as often as you can. There is nothing
more depressing than having to sit down after a day of teaching and call five
students homes with bad news. Calling home with something positive will
put a smile on your face and theirs, and it opens the door for a relationship.
When you do have to make that call with a concern, be sure to mention
something positive about the student before you say, One thing I am
concerned about . . . .
12 TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

EDUTOPIA.ORG

 Bonus: More Classroom

Management Resources
RESEARCH

BOOKS

WEBSITES

Social-Emotional Learning
Assessment Measures
for Middle School Youth

Teach Like a Champion,

Collaborative for Academic,

Social,and Emotional
Learning (CASEL)

+++++

This 2011 report from the Raikes

Foundation highlights ten useful
instruments for assessing the
social and emotional well-being
of middle school students. The
recommendations are based on
an extensive literature review as
well as an evaluation of 73 different
SEL assessment tools:
http://raikesfoundation.org/
Documents/SELTools.pdf.

Social and Emotional

Learning Study on the
Contribution of the Responsive
Classroom Approach

The article describes the Responsive

Classroom approach and the research
findings on the impact of the approach
on social development and academic
performance:
http://casel.org/publications/socialand-emotional-learning-studyon-the-effects-of-the-responsiveclassroom-approach/.

The Key to Classroom

Management

In their article for Educational

Leadership, Robert J. Marzano and
Jana S. Marzano review the research
on effective classroom management
and suggest strategies to improve
the quality of teacher-student
relationships:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/
educational-leadership/sept03/
vol61/num01/The-Key-to-ClassroomManagement.aspx.

+++++
by Doug Lemov
http://teachlikeachampion.wiley.com/

The Morning Meeting Book

+++++

http://casel.org

by Roxann Kriete
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/
product/morning-meeting-book

Daniel Golemans Website

The First Days of School

National School
Climate Center

by Harry K. Wong and

Rosemary T. Wong
http://www.effectiveteaching.com/
products.php?product=The-FirstDays-of-School

Positive Discipline
in the Classroom

by Jane Nelsen, Ed.D.,

Lynn Lott, M.A.,
H. Stephen Glenn, Ph.D.
http://www.randomhouse.com/
book/120582/positive-disciplinein-the-classroom-revised-3rdedition-by-jane-nelsen-edd-lynnlott-and-h-stephen-glenn

Teaching Children to Care

by Ruth Sidney Charney

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/
product/teaching-children-care

Reaching All by Creating

Tribes Learning Communities
(30th Anniversary Edition),
by Jeanne Gibbs
http://tribes.com/2009/04/reachingall-by-creating-tribes-learningcommunities/

13 TEN TIPS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

http://danielgoleman.info/topics/
social-emotional-learning/

http://www.schoolclimate.org

WINGS for Kids

http://www.wingsforkids.org

Committee for Children

http://www.cfchildren.org

Responsive Classroom

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/

National Education
Association
(Classroom Management)
http://www.nea.org/tools/
ClassroomManagement.html

Tools for Teaching:

The Fundamental Skills
of Classroom Management
http://www.fredjones.com

Edutopias Classroom
Management Group

http://www.edutopia.org/groups/
classroom-management

EDUTOPIA.ORG

Ten Tips for

Classroom
Management

How to improve student engagement and build

a positive climate for learning and discipline

++++++

ABOUT EDUTOPIA

Edutopia is where The George Lucas Educational Foundations

vision to highlight what works in education comes to life. We
are a nonprofit operating foundation dedicated to improving
K-12 learning by documenting, disseminating, and advocating
for innovative strategies that prepare students to thrive in their
future education, careers, and adult lives.
Through our award-winning website, videos, and growing
online community, Edutopia is supporting and empowering
education reform by shining a spotlight on real-world solutions
and providing proven strategies, tools, and resources that are
successfully changing how our children learn.
To find and share solutions, visit Edutopia.org.

SUPPORT EDUTOPIA!

WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION

Donate to Edutopia and join with others who care
about changing education. Your support will help us
continue to do the following:

Identify key attributes of

successful learning environments

Bridge the gap between those who are struggling

and those who have solutions

Improve online tools and resources for educators

to collaborate and share with one another

Highlight districts and schools that have impactful

and replicable solutions
Please join us in ushering in a new world of learning.
To make your tax-deductible donation, go to

edutopia.org/support.

visit us at edutopia.org

14
2011 The George Lucas Educational Foundation | All rights reserved.
2011 The George Lucas Educational Foundation | All rights reserved.