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Real Talk About Classroom Management
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Real Talk About Classroom Management
50 Best Practices That Work and Show You Believe in Your Students



February 2018 | 296 pages | Corwin

Learn From a teacher who’s been through it all! Real talk about thriving and learning in the classroom 

When most educators think of K-12 classroom management, we traditionally focus on ways to keep students quiet, well behaved, and on task. In order to better prepare them for the realities of today’s world, we should instead think of classroom management as preparing students to work collaboratively, form their own thoughts and opinions,  stay independently motivated, and listen to their classmates.  In the interconnected 21st century, classroom management is about building students up, not breaking them down. 

With those changes in mind, this handy guide offers 50 proven best practices for managing today’s classroom in a user-friendly format, complete with just-in-time tools and relatable teacher-to-teacher anecdotes and advice. Culled from years of real-world classroom experience, this book will give you the tips and tricks you need to succeed all school year long, including

  • Making the pivotal first weeks of school count 
  • Forming positive relationships with your students 
  • Inspiring creativity and maintaining discipline through curriculum and instruction 
  • Utilizing other adults (parents, teachers, and administrators) as resources 
  • Wowing your students with “spins” and making a lasting emotional impact
  • Keeping yourself sane, from maintaining work-life balance to managing professional relationships

This book delivers the mission-critical information every teacher needs to effectively manage the classroom, and prepare students with the social skills and communication tools they’ll need to succeed in today’s world.

 

 
Prelude
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
My First Year
 
Part 1. First Weeks of School
 
Best Practice #1: Make Day 1 About the Students
 
Best Practice #2: Get Respect—and Fast
 
Best Practice #3: Set Your Routine and Structures Early—and Keep Them!
 
Best Practice #4: Speak Student
 
Best Practice #5: Create Purposeful Seating Charts
 
Part 2. Forming Positive Relationships With Your Students
 
Best Practice #6: Use Your Power for Good, Not Evil
 
Best Practice #7: Let Students Make Mistakes Without Feeling Like Failures
 
Best Practice #8: Win Over the Tough Kids
 
Best Practice #9: Become a Teacher Detective
 
Best Practice #10: Spread Positivity With Your Words and Tone
 
Best Practice #11: Focus on the Positive and Create Positive Students
 
Best Practice #12: Understand the Student Known to Others as the “Bad Kid”
 
Best Practice #13: Reward Students
 
Best Practice #14: Learn the Power of Behavior Contracts
 
Part 3. Curriculum and Instruction
 
Best Practice #15: Get Your Students Engaged: Make Learning Fun and Make It Transferable
 
Best Practice #16: Research, Read, Use
 
Best Practice #17: Pick Up the Pace
 
Best Practice #18: Use Arm’s Length Voice
 
Best Practice #19: Be One or Two Steps Ahead of the Class
 
Best Practice #20: Keep Everything Contextualized and Do Projects!
 
Best Practice #21: Challenge and Support Students
 
Best Practice #22: Take Risks in Your Lessons
 
Best Practice #23: Know How to Prepare for When You Just Can’t Be There
 
Best Practice #24: Use Creative Discipline
 
Best Practice #25: Vary Levels of Noise in the Classroom
 
Best Practice #26: Make Groupwork Work
 
Best Practice #27: Let Their Creative Juices Flow
 
Best Practice #28: Teach to Every Different Type of Learner
 
Best Practice #29: Have NO Doubts, But Be Prepared to Have (Just a Few) Lessons Flop
 
Part 4. Other Adults as Resources
 
Best Practice #30: Learn How to Win Over Parents
 
Best Practice #31: Know How to Make Coteaching Work
 
Best Practice #32: Be a Sponge
 
Best Practice #33: Find a Mentor
 
Best Practice #34: Watch and Learn
 
Best Practice #35: Instead of Talking, Listen With Your Mind
 
Best Practice #36: Be Proactive: Get and Keep Administration on Your Side
 
Part 5. Spins That Will Wow Your Students
 
Best Practice #37: Get Guest Speakers Into Your Classroom
 
Best Practice #38: Give Students Power and a Voice
 
Best Practice #39: Show Your Students You Care
 
Best Practice #40: Laugh Together and You Will Learn Together
 
Best Practice #41: Give Gifts
 
Best Practice #42: Be the Teacher They Never Had
 
Best Practice #43: Know That Kids Notice the Small Things
 
Best Practice #44: Get Students to Behave When You’re Covering Classes
 
Best Practice #45: Surprise!
 
Part 6. Keeping Yourself Sane
 
Best Practice #46: Balance Your Life
 
Best Practice #47: Know How to Handle the Difficult Parent Meetings
 
Best Practice #48: Keep it Balanced: Give and Take Equally
 
Best Practice #49: Be Responsive and Prioritize
 
Best Practice #50: Be Mindful With Your Coworkers
 
Widening Our Lens: A Global Perspective on Classroom Management
 
Handy To-Go List of 50 Teaching Dos and Don’ts
 
The End—of the Beginning
 
Real Advice: Teacher to Teacher
 
Bibliography and References
 
Index

"This book offers real world problems and solutions. Many teachers, especially those who don’t make it to the 5-year mark, don’t understand why teaching is so difficult. They don’t know the right questions to ask or changes to make. This is a down-to-earth, well-written, enjoyable read that would be beneficial to all teachers."

Lyneille Meza, Director of Data & Assessment
Denton Independent School District, Denton, TX

"With unique, compassionate, and insightful resources like this, based on years of solid teaching experience, there is real hope for the future of education. Whereas many educators only want to showcase their successes, Pariser warmly shares both her successes and failures. In doing this, she cultivates a more comprehensive understanding of best practices while helping educators. A lovely bonus is that you'll also get to enjoy some hilarious classroom anecdotes that are relatable to any teacher. And since she bares herself for the benefit of the reader, you might also find yourself tearing up at the lengths Pariser went through to truly empower her students. 

Pariser helps educators cultivate strong student leaders via positive classroom communities. Her book is rich with entertaining action points for virtually every type of educational setting. With educational experience that ranges from teacher of the year, to university program instructor to teaching teachers in Botswana via her Fulbright Scholarship program, Pariser's book has something for everyone."

Andrew Rossillo, Content Writer, Editor, and Manager
Content Chameleon Services

“This is a “how to book” for teachers who have a growth mindset and want to become the best teacher possible. Serena Pariser shares her wisdom and experience in a helpful and reflective way to make us all better educators. This book will help you become the teacher every student deserves!”

Cindy Corlett, Middle School Administrator
Cimarron Middle School
Parker, CO

“This book gives lots of teacher tips and practical ideas for teachers and future teachers. I also enjoy that readers have an opportunity to reflect on what they read after each section. This would give my students the opportunity to practice 'reflection' and reflecting on readings.”

Natalie Young, Ed. D.
Professor at Northern Illinois University
Key features
  The subtitle says it all: 50 Strategies That Work--Even at 3p on Friday. In this book, teachers will find:
  • Relatable, humorous, real-life stories from an award winning teacher who knows what it's like to struggle with classroom management
  • Ideas to win over even the toughest kids in your class
  • Super practical tools such as:
    • Scripts for parent conferences
    • Scripts for disciplining with respect
    • Creative, rigorous and engaging Common Core aligned project ideas
    • Educational rewards and freebies for the classroom and school
    • Graphic organizers and cheat sheets for balancing your life
    • Coteaching checklist/cheat sheet
    • Guest speaker ideas and resources for the classroom
    • Finding your teaching strengths
    • Performance Barriers mini reference sheet to pinpoint why a student is not completing work and intervention strategy that corresponds
    • Groupwork guide
    • Replicable behavior contracts
    • Classroom routine and structure tips and guide

For instructors

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