This is a very simple classroom management strategy which I use at seminars and workshops to demonstrate the power of giving students responsibility for their own behaviour. Not only can this technique get a group of students quiet in as little as 10 seconds, it also strengthens staff/student relationships, injects a little humour into the session and gives challenging students the attention they ...

A student who has no interest in lessons (i.e. anything you say and do) can have a terrible impact on the rest of the class. What you must remember however is that this student probably wants to succeed – most do, at heart – but has virtually given up due to a succession of failures, discouragement and low self-image. It may take time to reach this student and help them see life (including your le...

Having an effective strategy for dealing with low-level disruptions is KEY to successful Classroom Management for any teacher. This sort of disruption can be like water torture to the teacher, that incessant symphony of pencil tapping, silly noises, poking, bogey-flicking, giggling, inappropriate flatulence, paper-passing, ruler-slapping, desk shoving, hair-pulling, and general fidgeting.

Kids wi...

Arguments and serious incidents are issues regularly faced by teachers, particularly in our most challenging classrooms. Having a range of reliable classroom management strategies to deal with these incidents is imperative to ensure minimal disruption, and safety.

Here are nine quick ways to de-escalate arguments and serious incidents.

Strategy 1: Avoid asking ‘Why?’. 

Here’s something you shou...

Here are my top ten classroom management strategies for dealing with angry, defiant students.

Strategy 1: Remain detached and calm.

Defiant behaviour is often a cry for help or an attempt to cover a fear of failure. Nobody wants to look stupid in front of others (except those in the audition stages of the X-Factor) and arguing against authority can be an effective distraction and a way of avoidi...

Whenever you have to issue a consequence to a student you will almost certainly provoke some eye rolling, muttering, complaining and other secondary behaviours. Don’t get drawn into these attempts to start an argument; it will escalate until either the student does something that will cause you more stress or you will explode and embarrass yourself. Either way you can’t win by arguing.

To prevent...