Thread: Teaching
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Old 09-24-2005, 09:12 AM
alphaxikt alphaxikt is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 165
Buy the book "How to Be an Effective Teacher: The First Days of School" by Harry Wong and Rosemary Wong. It's amazing - it was a required text for summer semester in my Masters in Teaching program, and several teachers at the middle school where I am student teaching swear by Harry. It's pretty much like the bible of classroom management, and it is definitely applicable to any age of students (although I think it is probably best for elementary/middle school ages). Plus, the book is very readable, clearly divided into sections, and fairly cheap (only ~$20 at Barnes and Noble or Borders).

Harry has a pretty wholistic style of classroom management strategies, and lots of ways to create a classroom environment that prevents a lot of "discipline" problems before they start. For example, instead of setting "rules" and punishing students who break them, teach students classroom procedures.

A related Harry-ism "A rule is a DARE to be broken whereas a procedure is not. A procedure is a DO, a step to be learned."

Good luck!
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