Classroom Management

Classroom management is one of the most important and most challenging aspects of being a teacher. These websites contain a wealth of information on how to effectively manage any classroom, from establishing classroom policies to dealing with discipline issues. Learning how to better manage a classroom will benefit teachers, school administrators, and students by creating a safer and more pleasant school environment and allowing teachers more time to focus on teaching.

ProTeacher Web Directory. Classroom Management. (1998-2009). [http://www.proteacher.com/030000.shtml]. (retrieved February 15, 2010).

This site is great because it contains a very comprehensive guide to classroom management and features over 30 active discussion boards for pre-K through 8^th grade teachers to discuss issues related to classroom management. The website includes tips for how to manage certain situations and establish good classroom procedures, and gives realistic solutions on how to handle different situations that arise in the classroom such as policies for pets in the classroom, establishing line behavior, and bathroom privileges. The site also provides results from a survey taken by hundreds of teachers across the country regarding their behavior management in the classroom. My favorite feature on this site is the variety of firsthand experiences written by seasoned elementary school teachers across the country regarding behavior management and what works for them and what does not work in their own classrooms. There are also great links to other sites related to classroom management.

The Master Teacher Inc., You Can Handle Them All: a Reference to Handling Over 117 Misbehaviors at School and at Home, (2002). [http://www.disciplinehelp.com/teacher/list.cfmcause=All] (retrieved February 14, 2010).

This website operates on the belief that before you can properly handle a behavior problem, you must identify the correct misbehavior. The site lists 117 different types of student behaviors from "The Agitator" to "The Whiner," but stresses that these are names for student behaviors and not the students themselves. The site goes on to give a comprehensive plan of action for each behavior, including effects of the behavior, primary and secondary student needs indicated by the behavior, actions to take, and mistakes to avoid in handling each situation. I like this site because it recognizes and emphasizes that all students are different both in their behavioral causes and needs and differ in how their misbehavior should be dealt with most effectively. It is a bit like the Win-Win model of discipline as the emphasis is on correctly identifying behavioral causes before acting to resolve them in a way that suits the particular student's needs. If one were to use the Win-Win Discipline model, this site would be useful in helping that teacher to more easily identify the correct behaviors being exhibited by a student. This site realizes that there is not one cure all method for handling everybody in the classroom and guides teachers in recognizing and handling each unique situation as it arises.

Pearson Education, Inc., Teacher Vision: Classroom Management, (2000-2010). [ http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-management/resource/5776.html] (retrieved February 14, 2010).

This is a great site for teachers because it offers many resources to support classroom management and many other aspects of classroom instruction. The site requires membership to experience the full benefits that it offers, including free printouts, but it can be initially navigated by anyone, offering a free trial and access to many tips and resources to members and non-members alike. The website addresses key aspects of classroom and behavior management, recognizing that one of the hardest aspects of teaching is effectively managing a classroom. To assist with this challenge, the website provides many behavior management resources such as printable forms, a great slide show of tips on behavior management strategies from experienced teachers, guidelines for positive behavior, parent involvement, and various printouts on lists of rules, consequences, awards, and certificates for assisting teachers with successful management of their own classrooms.

The Teacher's Guide: Classroom Management. [ http://www.theteachersguide.com/ClassManagement.htm]. (retrieved February 14, 2010).

The Classroom Management section of The Teacher's Guide website has many outstanding links to articles and websites on the subject of classroom management and discipline. This site is free to all and is a good one to go to if you are looking for a comprehensive and lengthy collection of links to useful information and resources on the topic of classroom management, however, I did discover that there are a few links on this site that are no longer valid. Otherwise, this website is very navigable and perfect for easy reference because it has all of the related sites and articles listed in one convenient place. It also has links to additional resources to aid with classroom management including lessons, discussion groups, printouts, and books on the topic.

Mandel, Scott. The Teachers Guide: Classroom Management, (1995). [http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/ClassroomManagement.html]. (retrieved February 14, 2010).

This site is colorful and easy to navigate. The graphics are rather simple, but the information on this site is valuable in regards to classroom management. There are many informative and useful articles on this website that have been written by teachers from all over the world in regards to classroom management. The articles are all very interesting to read and cover a broad range of topics like how to prevent and handle cheating, classroom setup, and many comprehensive guidelines for effective classroom management practices. This site is a great reference and contains valuable information and insight for new teachers.