Linda Kardamis, Author at Teach 4 the Heart

#1: What Kind of Classroom Management Does God Call Us To?

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Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Do you feel like you're continually frustrated by disruptions and student misbehavior? Don't worry, we totally get it.

Classroom management can sure be challenging, but if you've been feeling overwhelmed & confused, we're here to help!

In this series, we'll explore what the Bible has to say about our classroom management, common classroom management mistakes, the process you need to create a more smooth-running classroom, and much more!

By the end of this series, you'll be ready to implement a classroom management plan that works so you can stop being frustrated by student misbehavior and actually enjoy teaching again.

Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS SERIES:

table of contents

#4: True Teaching Tales: How a Classroom Management Plan Built Laura’s Confidence

#1: What Kind of Classroom Management Does God Call Us To?

from SERIES: Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers

You know, as Christian teachers it would be really helpful if there were a verse in the Bible about how classroom management should look…right?!

Ok, God might not have given us a specific chapter and verse about modern classroom management, but in His word He’s shared a ton of wisdom about how He wants us to serve Him in our classrooms.

1) Our Father’s desire is that our classrooms would be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

As a spirit-filled teacher, those fruits of the spirit should play a crucial (and increasing) role in how you manage your classroom… and when you pray for and rely on the Spirit’s strength, they will!

Think for a moment about which one or two of those areas God is seeking to grow you in, and pause to pray and ask for His strength.

2) Our students need to be more than their behaviors (or their brains, for that matter) to us. We are called to love all of God’s children and see them as He sees them.

God placed you in your students’ lives so that you can be a light that points to Him.

If your students think you only want them to be good because it makes your job easier, not only will your classroom management suffer, but more importantly, the eternal impact you have will be stifled.

To allow Christ’s light to shine in your classroom, you need to show that you desire to know your students as the precious children of God they are, and that you care for them as individuals.

3) As teachers, we are called to help shape our students’ brains AND their characters. Teaching students right and wrong, and holding them accountable for wrong, is part of our calling, and it ISN’T something you should shy away from in your classroom.

In our culture, this idea can be quite controversial, but it is so important for our students to know there is a standard of right and wrong and that there are consequences for their actions.

There’s so much more to this discussion, so be sure to listen to the full episode here.

You’ll also want to dive into some practical aspects of classroom management by signing up for Teach 4 the Heart’s FREE training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Free Webinar: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing

LOOKING FOR A HELPFUL JUMPSTART WITH CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT?

Check out our free training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing.

#1: What Kind of Classroom Management Does God Call Us To?

Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers
CHECK OUT THE FULL SERIES:

table of contents

#4: True Teaching Tales: How a Classroom Management Plan Built Laura’s Confidence

#2: 3 Common Mistakes in Classroom Management

from SERIES: Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers

Have you ever been told you're "too nice" of a teacher? Or have you worried that you have to be mean in order to get students to behave?

Sometimes we get caught in this conundrum, thinking we have to choose between being kind or being strict. But that's not true at all.

In reality, we need to be both kind AND strict.

We should be nice, personable, understanding, and fun to be around. But at the exact same time, we need to have high expectations, deal with issues, and not be pushovers.

When we hold students accountable - but do it with empathy and kindness - our students start to respect us and respond to our leadership.

And our classes become much more calm and focused.

Another way to look at this mindset shift is switching from the goal of getting your students to like you to responding in ways that will cause your students to respect you.

Respected teachers will not need to be mean, simply clear
about their expectations and firm about upholding them.

This is just the first of the three most common mistakes in Classroom Management. Do you want to learn about the other two mistakes so you can stop making them and starting moving towards a calmer & more focused classroom?

Listen to episode 2 of our podcast series called Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Free Webinar: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing

Classroom Management 101: Get Step-by-Step Help to Create Your Classroom Management Plan

LOOKING FOR A HELPFUL JUMPSTART WITH CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT?

Check out our free training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing.

#1: What Kind of Classroom Management Does God Call Us To?

Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers
CHECK OUT THE FULL SERIES:

table of contents

#4: True Teaching Tales: How a Classroom Management Plan Built Laura’s Confidence

#3: 4 Steps to a Well-Managed Classroom

from SERIES: Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers

If you are tempted to skip over classroom management this time of year, DON'T!

In episode 3 of our podcast series Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers, Linda walks you through 4 steps to create a smooth-running class.

It can be human nature to want to brush classroom management off until next year. After all, here are common thoughts teachers have:

1. My class is already settled in to their ways. They will not deal with these changes well.

2. I have a year-end review, testing, and reports to do that deserve my attention. I don't have time for this.

3. It's so much better to start next year with a clean slate and a fresh group of kids.

Here's the thing---all three of these ideas are true. But, none of these ideas are serving you or your classroom.

Here are 3 key reasons you MUST WORK ON CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT NOW, even if it feels like the timing is off.

1. Your current students deserve a well run classroom just as much as the ones who are coming next school year. You may not be able to solve all the issues in your class, but if you pick a few key ones to focus on, your students will have a classroom that will be running better than when they arrived!

2. You know all those things you have going on at the end of the year? The testing, reports, room closing, and more? If you have your students on board with some key procedures, they can actually HELP you instead of working against you! You don't have the time to skip over this!

3. This last point is my favorite---Even if you don't master classroom management by the end of this year, you will have improved!

Improvement leads to confidence.

That confidence is the secret sauce that makes everything run more smoothly - the intangible that students can sense and that makes them take you more seriously.

The first step? Listen to episode episode 3 where you'll discover the 4 steps you need to take to reduce disruption and create a classroom you actually enjoy teaching in!

NEED HELP CREATING A CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN?

In Classroom Management 101, you'll implement a classroom management plan that works so you can stop being frustrated by student misbehavior & actually enjoy teaching again!

Find out more about Classroom Management 101.

Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers
CHECK OUT THE FULL SERIES:

table of contents

#1: What Kind of Classroom Management Does God Call Us To?

#4: True Teaching Tales: How a Classroom Management Plan Built Laura’s Confidence

from SERIES: Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a classroom management plan that reduces your stress and boosts your confidence? What if other teachers were coming to YOU because your students were talking about how effective your methods were? That’s right, your STUDENTS were talking about your classroom management to other teachers!

Believe it or not, that’s what happened to science teacher Laura Lucas after she created a classroom management plan!

Laura teaches science to multiple grade levels and is a traveling teacher, so instead of having her own classroom, she travels to different teachers’ rooms. At first, Laura tried to run her class according to the classroom teachers’ rules, but it was difficult for Laura to keep track of how different teachers did things.

When Laura joined the All-New Classroom Management 101, she went through the process of creating a classroom management plan. Here is the advice she would give to other teachers:

1. Start right where you are- You don’t have to create a perfect plan right away. Your plan will be a living document and you can improve it as you go along. Creating a plan just gives you a place to start.

2. Evaluate what’s going RIGHT- What is currently working well? When you begin with this question in writing your classroom management plan, it will boost your confidence to see that you’re already doing a lot of things right.

3. Evaluate what you’re already doing- Start by defining what you’re already doing and ask yourself these questions:

Is it effective?
Is it sometimes effective? If so, when does it work and when does it not?
Do you need to change things up? Is there someone you need advice from?

4. It’s worth the time- Having a concrete manual to go back to each year reduces stress and gives you less to remember since it’s written down. It’s as important as your long-range teaching plan or your curriculum map. If things get off track, you can come back to it to see what’s working, what needs to be tweaked, and what areas you need to tighten up.

After Laura created her plan, she was able to collaborate with other teachers to help their classrooms run more efficiently. The noise level chart she created was so successful the students mentioned it to other teachers and the art teacher asked for a copy to use herself! To hear what else has changed for Laura since she implemented a classroom management plan, listen to the full episode above.

NEED HELP CREATING A CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN?

In Classroom Management 101, you'll implement a classroom management plan that works so you can stop being frustrated by student misbehavior & actually enjoy teaching again!

Find out more about Classroom Management 101.

Effective Classroom Management for Christian Teachers
CHECK OUT THE FULL SERIES:

table of contents

#1: What Kind of Classroom Management Does God Call Us To?

#4: True Teaching Tales: How a Classroom Management Plan Built Laura’s Confidence

Thanks to Our Sponsor: Gospel Adventures

This episode is brought to you in part by Gospel Adventures. Gospel Adventures is a free, five-day curriculum for Grade School and Middle School aged youth. Use the videos, music, and printable curriculum to walk kids through the experience of meeting kids just like them from another part of the world. Sing about God’s love and discuss the God sightings you see throughout the week.

Be sure to join us for this year’s trip to India! Gospel Adventures: Celebrate India is available now! Learn more or register for this free program at gospeladventures.org.

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Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

From behavior issues to unmotivated students, from unrealistic expectations to overflowing to-do lists, teaching challenges abound - especially now!

About the best advice the world's giving these days is, "believe you're enough" and "make time for self-care." #NotThatHelpful

But, praise God, He's given us the anchor our souls truly need. His Word is full of rich promises, wise guidance, and, most importantly - a right view of Him.

Join us in this series as we explore how we can respond to teaching challenges with faith and hope. We'll consider both how we should be thinking Biblically to have hope in these challenges as well practical day-to-day steps we can take to overcome them.

Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS SERIES:

table of contents

#1: How Do We Actually Trust God in Challenges?

from SERIES: Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope

When we’re facing real struggles in teaching (and in life), it’s so easy to worry and stress.

But this is NOT how God would have us live.

God would have us trust Him instead.

But sometimes that’s easier said than done, right?

How exactly do we trust God when we’re in the middle of something difficult?

1. Remember God is in control

Sometimes things feel out of control - but God is ALWAYS in control. That's more than a pat answer - it's absolute truth.

God is not unaware. God is not surprised. God is not worried. He can intervene at any moment (He likely already is).

The all-powerful Creator sees and knows, and He is in control. Yes, even of this. (Matthew 10:29-31)

2. Remember God's goodness

Often the situation we are facing does not seem good. It's awful.

We must remind ourselves that while our world is severely broken by the curse of sin, our God is good and works everything together for good for those who love God. (Rom. 8:28).

God looks beyond the now and sees not just our lives, but all of eternity. He knows that what we need most is more of Him - and He often works through difficult things to show us more of Himself and draw us closer to Him.

So we need to remind ourselves - we have a good Father. He is good and His heart is for our good - even when it doesn't feel like it.

3. Surrender to God's plan

When we remember that God is in control and that He is good and loving, we're on our way to peace - but one more step is vital.

As long as we're holding on so tightly to the outcome that we want, we will not have peace.

We have to surrender.

We have to take a look at the possible outcomes - the one we want, the one we don't want, and everything in-between. And then say, “God, this is outcome I want. I pray for it. But I choose your will above all, and if your plan is different than mine, may your will be done.”

This isn't easy. But it's so necessary. And so freeing.

And the God of hope fills our heart with His peace, giving us the strength we need day by day.

These are just a few thoughts explored in this week's episode. Be sure to listen to the full episode here.

Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope
CHECK OUT THE FULL SERIES:

table of contents

#2: Why Do We Face So Many Challenges & Trials?

from SERIES: Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope

What on earth are we supposed to think when we’re faced with something really hard?

From “big things” like a cancer diagnosis or school shooting, to day-to-day relationship struggles, or that 5th period class that feels like it will be the death of you – how are we as believers to understand the suffering & struggles we face?

As always, Scripture is incredibly helpful. Let’s consider its overarching storyline…

In the beginning, God created a perfect world. There was no suffering, work was joy, and relationships had no strain. It was paradise.

But sin has brought so much brokenness. God’s perfect world is horribly marred by suffering.

When we see this suffering and think, "This isn't right. This shouldn't be happening," our response is RIGHT. None of this is how God designed the world to be. This is not "good." It is part of the devastating consequence of sin, and we’re right to mourn.

But praise God, He has not left us alone.

He sent Jesus to join us in our brokenness. He experienced pain, hunger, betrayal, and loss. He was misunderstood and mistreated. He was abandoned and forsaken. He suffered even to the point of death.

Our God understands suffering.

But He does more than just understand. He uses our suffering to bring us closer to Him and make us more like Christ.

God is redeeming every tear, every trial.

Nothing is wasted.

And the best news is that this is not the end of the story. This world is temporary – the messy middle.

One day God will restore everything.

He will make a perfect world with no sin, no sorrow, no brokenness, no suffering, no sickness, no death.

God will wipe away every tear, and we will live together with Him in perfect harmony without sin and without its curse.

So how should we view suffering?

We recognize that God created a good world but that sin has massively marred it. We mourn when sin and its curse bring pain and sorrow, but we look with hope to Christ who suffered and died for us, who has redeemed our lives, who walks with us through each moment, and is working in our hearts for our good & for His glory. And we look forward to the day when there will be no more suffering and every wrong will be made right.

These are just a few thoughts explored in this week's episode. Be sure to listen to the full episode here.

Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS SERIES:

table of contents

#3: Finding Worth in the Right Places

from SERIES: Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope

Where we find our worth can make all the difference between loving teaching and despising it.

Let me explain...

When we find our worth and identity in anything other than Christ, our worth is shaky - dependent on our performance or people's perspective of us.

Consider what makes you feel like you have worth.

Is it knowing you're a good teacher? When others acknowledge or praise you? When students respect you or do well academically? When you can tell you make a difference? Is it based on how hard you work? Or whether you have a life outside of school?

These are such shaky foundations for our worth. When things are going well, we feel great!

But what happens when things aren't going well?

As Christians, we have a much more firm foundation for our worth.

In Christ, we are….
God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved (Col 3:12)
Members of God’s household (Ephesians 2:19)
Declared righteous (2 Cor. 5:21)
Citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20)
Accepted & brought near (Eph. 2:13)
God’s children (John 1:12)
Free from sin & servants of God (Romans 6:22)
His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20)

And all of these are unconditional. This is who we are regardless of what people think, how good of a job we're doing, or what's going on.

When we ground our worth in CHRIST, our worth is fixed, our confidence secure, and we are free to face challenges without the extra baggage.

Wondering how we stop finding our worth in our performance and be firm in our worth in Christ? Listen to the full podcast episode above.

Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS SERIES:

table of contents

#4: Speaking Truth to Our Souls

from SERIES: Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope

Teachers, did you know we're being lied to on a regular basis?

Who is lying to us?

Our greatest enemy, the father of lies himself - Satan.

Satan continually lies to us about who we are, who God is, and what God says about us.

He's a jerk who wants to steal our joy, steal our peace, and keep us from living the full life God has called us to.

He wants us confused, frustrated, and discouraged - barely hanging on with hardly anything left to give to the students God has placed in our care.

The lies come in all shapes and sizes - targeted perfectly at our biggest weaknesses.

But, Praise God, He has provided us a weapon against these lies - the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

God's Word is alive and powerful, able to correct our thinking and restore our hope in God, giving us light even in the darkest moments and enabling us to fulfill the calling He has given us.

We have to fight back these lies with the truth of Scripture, reminding ourselves on a regular basis of who God is, what He has promised us, and who we are in Him.

I love Ellie Holcomb's song Fighting Words. The lyrics are amazing. Here's the chorus:
I will fight the lies with the truth,
Keep my eyes fixed on You
I will sing the truth into the dark
I will use my fighting words.

On our podcast, Ellie Holcomb joins us to share how we can use Scripture to fight back Satan's lies and find hope in Christ, even when teaching is tough. Listen to this amazing conversation above.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Fighting Words by Ellie Holcomb

Sounding Joy by Ellie Holcomb

"Fighting Words" song

Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS SERIES:

table of contents

Free Training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing

#5: Does Trusting God Mean We Sit & Wait?

Do you ever struggle with the tension between trusting God & taking action?

Take a situation that you're worried about. You decide to trust God with it and ask God to help. Does that mean you should just sit back and not take any action, just waiting for Him to work?

Um, no.

Or at least, not usually.

Sometimes God DOES impress on our hearts to be still and wait on Him, but it's more rare than common for waiting on God to absolve us from taking any action at all.

The Bible offers many examples of believers who trusted God WHILE taking wise action. Consider Abraham climbing the mountain to offer Isaac, even as he trusted that God would intervene.

Or Esther who fasted and prayed and then put on her royal robes and went into the king, trusting her fate to God despite never having received any explicit direction from Him.

Both Abraham and Esther took the next step that was in front of them, looking to God in each moment, and trusting Him to reveal the next step in His time.

And that's what we should do, too.

Do you have a situation that is confusing or frustrating? Pray about it. Ask God to intervene. Ask Him for guidance.

And then consider - What next step should you take?

Often we feel confused or stressed because we can't see the complete path out of the problem. But we normally DO know at least one or two things we should do - or have someone we know we should talk to.

So take that next step, even if you don't know what comes after it, trusting that God will make your path clear as you walk it with Him.

We're so excited to be exploring what it looks like to rely on God AND take wise action in this week's podcast. Listen to the full episode here for more specific examples, questions we can ask when we don't know the next step, and the key mindset shift we need to keep us from worrying about what will happen.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Serenity Prayer

Responding to Teaching Challenges with Faith & Hope
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THIS SERIES:

table of contents

does your heart crave even more?

The next series will be coming soon!

Make sure you sign up for the Teach 4 the Heart Podcast so that you don't miss an episode! This free resource is one way you can receive Gospel pep talks and practical teaching tips that are guaranteed to be grounded in a Biblical worldview. Oh, and it's totally FREE!

You can also subscribe to the Teach 4 the Heart podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.

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LifePlus offers qualified educators competitive salary packages including paid housing. To learn more, go to LifePlus Worldwide .

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How to Motivate Students to Care about Learning

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 09:00:00 +0000

It's difficult to help students learn when they simply don't want to. But how do we motivate them to want to learn? In this special podcast episode, taken from the 2021 Rise Up Summit, Dave Stuart Jr. shares valuable insights on how we can motivate our students to care about learning.

Dave Stuart Jr. will be back again at the Rise Up Summit in 2022 with a follow-up to this session, focusing on the beliefs of Effort & Efficacy. Learn more about how you can access this video at www.riseupchristianeducators.com.

listen here:

Book- These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most

the highlights:

We encourage you to listen to the whole episode above. Here's how the episode breaks down:

Our students are more than their bodies; they have souls. (3:35)
We are teaching our students about the world and can teach them social-emotional learning along the way. (8:00)
The path to growing the mind is the heart. True change happens on a heart level. (8:26)
Credibility is very powerful in a classroom. Credibility is when a student thinks, “She is a really good teacher, she knows what she's talking about.” A teacher needs to be consistent to gain students’ trust. (14:47)
The three parts to credibility are care, competence, and passion. (18:15)
The base layer of getting students to care is being credible yourself. (21:00)
Value means “This work matters.” There are a lot of different motivations for students to value the material and we can approach it from all angles, not just one. (28:30)
We tend to overuse utility and relevance when we try to motivate students to learn material. (31:55)
Sermonizing is sharing how today’s lesson helps you make the world a better place. Students are motivated by making a difference. (39:05)
Authentically celebrate the work of your students. Make the content of your classroom, not the teacher, the center of your room. (41:21)
Growth mindset reminds your students they can grow, whether they're struggling in an area or already excelling in it. (45:14)
What are those things you wish your students did really well? What are a few key things that would help them be successful? Maybe it's taking notes or knowing how to study. Whatever your answer, you need to teach how to do that in a detailed manner. (47:55)
Sometimes students need the opportunity to excel at something that is a challenge and teachers can create that chance. (54:22)

more help motivating students!

Dave Stuart Jr. was back at the 2022 Rise Up Summit with a follow-up to this session, focusing on the beliefs of Effort & Efficacy. Access this recording when you buy a 2022 All-Access Pass.

In addition to Dave Stuart Jr., this year's speakers include David Platt, Sean McDowell, Ellie Holcomb, Jasmine Holmes, Linda Kardamis and over 20 more! Order your All-Access Pass with 25+ sessions today!

Want even more strategies?

Consider signing up for the Teach 4 the Heart Podcast. This free resource is one additional way you can receive Gospel encouragement and practical teaching tips grounded in a Biblical worldview. Oh, and it's totally FREE!

Make sure you never miss an episode: Click here to learn more.

resources mentioned:

5-Part Soul Model

Do Work with Care

Most Helpful Things I've Written Lately

Will to Learn Seminar & Beliefs Checklist

Encouraging Message from Dave

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Overcoming Anxiety as a Christian Teacher

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 09:00:00 +0000

As teachers, we can so easily be overwhelmed by anxiety and stress. Join us as Crystal Kershaw shares Scriptural principles and practical strategies to help us overcome anxiety and teach with a sense of God's presence and peace.

listen here:

Rise Up Christian Educators Summit

Highlights:

We encourage you to listen to the whole episode above. Here's how the episode breaks down:

Anxiety is a normal part of life experience in the world we live in. (3:40)
Learning to deal with our anxiety is learning to be dependent on Christ.
- Turn to Christ
- Pray through the situation
- Go do what you can (4:20)
Try to understand exactly what you're feeling because it manifests in different ways for different people.
- What's going on in my body?
- What's going on in my mind?
- What's going on with my emotions? (5:25)
It's helpful to pray, "God, please show me the next step." Anxiety tries to trap us. (8:08)
Two lessons we can learn from the Israelites wandering the desert:
- God is with us.
- God is trustworthy. (12:03)
Practical applications:
- Place altar stones in your classroom to remind yourself how God has been faithful.
- Visualize yourself in your classroom the way that you want it to be. (13:43)
Lessons we can learn from Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane:
- Access your community (He asked the disciples to pray).
- Put into words what you're facing.
- Surrender to God. (16:45)
Identify if your anxiety has a sin root and if so, confess. (22:04)
An emotion wheel is a great thing to have in your classroom to help identify more specific emotions. (23:05)
Some other helpful techniques:
- Be transparent with others
- Box breathing
- Breathing with a prayer
- Visualize the most calming image of Jesus you have (25:50)

resources mentioned:

Emotions Word Wheel

Fieldstone Counseling

find more hope

This content comes from the 2021 Rise Up Summit. For more like this, you can catch the Rise Up Summit vision and see dates for the next Summit by visiting the Rise UP site. This free online weekend event hosts sessions designed to bring you real teaching solutions, Biblical encouragement and connection with fellow educators.

This is a free event but you must be registered to attend. Sign up today!

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Lesson Planning the Easy Way

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Does lesson planning take way too long and feel way too difficult? Or do you not even know where to start? Kelly Jackson of The Simply Organized Teacher joins us to unveil tips to create lesson plans easily and effectively.

listen here:

Student Paper Organization Guide

the highlights:

We encourage you to listen to the whole episode above. Here's how the episode breaks down:

The first lesson planning mistake is just planning day by day. (4:20)
It's not recommended for one person to plan a subject and another to plan a different subject and then swap. You're not as well-prepared to teach if you're using another teacher's lesson plan. (4:50)
Instead, plan the big picture unit together and share resources. Individual teachers calendar their lessons. (8:00)
A year-at-a-glance is the bird's eye view of what you're covering week by week. This will help you make sure you're covering all the standards in a year. (9:41)
The next lesson planning tool is a unit planning document that has the standard, the vocabulary, the activities you'll do, and how you'll assess. (10:55)
The last step is to calendar out your lesson plan- what you'll do day-by-day. (11:58)
Digital versus physical lesson planning is just a matter of preference. (12:40)
Use sticky notes as you lesson plan to write down to-dos that pop up as you lesson plan (make copies, create anchor charts, etc.). You could lesson plan on a Thursday, complete the to-dos on a Friday and be ready to go on Monday. (14:22)
The two biggest lesson planning organization rules are: (16:46)
- Everything needs a home
- Never leave Friday without next week's lesson plans and materials ready (or at least have Monday's done!)
Plan just one week ahead of time because things change. (18:50)
You can lesson plan 4 days instead of 5 if your classroom has a lot of interruptions and/or you have a lot of specials groups. (28:05)
Write your lesson plans in pencil for flexibility. (31:46)
Have a plan for all your lesson plan materials. Some options are: hanging folders, files, plastic rolling drawers, etc. (32:38)
Have a plan for the paper flow in your classroom. How will it get to the students? How will it get back to the teacher? How will it get back to the students after its graded? (34:10)

resources mentioned:

The Simply Organized Classroom Ebook

Write Lesson Plans Quickly and Effectively with this Workflow: Classroom Organization Tips

The Easiest Way to Organize Lesson Plan Materials

Organize Lesson Plans

How to Organize Student Papers

Curriculum Map Video

The content in this article and podcast come from Kelly's session at the 2021 Rise Up Christian Educator Summit.

Find hope so you can start the school year strong!

RSVP for the upcoming Rise Up Summit. This free online weekend event hosts sessions designed to bring you real teaching solutions, Biblical encouragement and connection with fellow educators.

This year's speakers include David Platt, Sean McDowell, Ellie Holcomb, Jasmine Holmes, Linda Kardamis and over 20 more! This is a free event but you must be registered to attend. Sign up today!

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If Back-to-School Has You Stressed

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 08:34:00 +0000

I don't have to tell you how stressful back-to-school can be. But we don't have to stay in a state of perpetual stress. In this episode, we'll explore how we should address both our thinking and actions to reduce stress and get ourselves ready for a great school year.

listen here:

How to Reduce Disruptions Without Yelling, Begging or Bribing

The 3 steps to ending the back-to-school stress

If you're feeling stressed right now about back to school, it's super common, but that doesn't mean we have to stay there. There are some things we can do to handle the stress.

1. Analyze why you are feeling stressed

Often when I'm stressed, I'm not even completely sure why. Especially if I'm stressed because there's so much going on, I don't have a specific answer. It just feels like so much sometimes.

Even if it's not to-do list related, even if it's related to anxiety over what's going to happen, it feels like a lot. You might not be able to pinpoint exactly why, but that's when it's really valuable to stop and ask that question, "What exactly is making me feel so stressed?" Just recognizing and naming the issue will immediately be helpful. Even if you don't do anything else, that will be helpful because you'll have some clarity.

2. examine your stress through the lens of the gospel

Once you've identified some of the reasons why you're stressed, it’s time to ask yourself, “How am I thinking about this situation? Am I thinking about it correctly? Are my thoughts in line with what is true, with what God has said to be true? And are there places where I need to realign them?”

This takes some thought and prayer, but when we can identify that we aren’t quite thinking the right way about certain things, then we can identify the truth, choose to believe it, and realign our thoughts with God's thoughts. That makes a huge difference.

3. consider practical implications

You can ask, “What should I do about this?”, but it’s even better to first ask, “Is there something I should do about this?” Sometimes the answer is no, I just need to trust God. But often there is something that we can and should do.

So we can ask ourselves, “Are there any practical steps God would have me take that would help alleviate this problem or the stress around it?" When we pray that question, a lot of times things do come to our mind. We might not know everything we should do, but there are normally at least a couple things that will help that we can move forward with.

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Four examples of the process in action

There are a couple common stressors at this time of year for teachers. These may or may not be ones that you are experiencing, but I want to go through them as examples of how you can apply this framework to whatever you're facing. So if you recognize one of these stresses, great. If not, you can still use these examples and this framework to think through whatever it is you're stressing about.

1. I'm worried about what people think of me

So remember the first step was, “Why am I stressed?” For the first example, you realize, “I'm worried about what people will think of me. I'm worried about what my administrator will think. I'm worried about what my students will think. I'm really worried about whether or not people are going to like me as a teacher.” So if that's the issue, how would you work through this?

The next step is to look at the stress through the lens of the Gospel. Sticking with the example, the reality is that I work for God, not man. My worth is not in whether or not people think I'm a good teacher or whether they like me the most. I need to have the realization that my worth is in Christ. I can be firm and confident in him. In that way I can show up for work, ready to pour into my students and colleagues, rather than needing their validation and getting stressed when I'm not getting it.

The final step is about the practical. Are there any areas I've struggled with in the past that I do need to improve in? In the past, I’ve worried about whether or not my students think I'm a good teacher.

So I might ask myself, “Okay, are there any specific areas where I honestly do need to improve a little bit?” If I can think of one, then I can seek out solutions or training, like our Teach4theHeart+ program, where we help teachers with a variety of struggles like classroom management, balance, engagement, and so much more. So there's an example if you're worried about what people think.

2. i'm worried about student behaviors

Let's go through this with another example. At step one, analyze why you're stressed. Let’s say the answer is, "I'm actually really worried about student behaviors. I don't know if my students are going to listen to me. I don't know if they are going to behave. I don't know if they're going to do the work."

So now let’s go through the spiritual piece. Am I thinking correctly about this? I might think about it and say, “I am worried about this because I really want to do a good job and I want my students to behave, but I think I'm actually tying my value as a person and as a teacher to how the students behave. And that shouldn't be. My identity is not in whether or not my students behave.”

Once again, as with the other example, my identity and worth is in Christ. I'm here to serve him by serving my students in helping them succeed. I do want to see my students behave for their sakes so that they can learn, and for the sake of our classroom environment, but I need to be careful about feeling like my students' behavior is somehow tied to my worth.

Then let's move on to practical. Thinking practically, I did struggle with this a lot last year, so I think I actually need to make some changes. Let me sit down and think through what I want to do differently, so I can set up a situation that's good for my students. If I’m focused on what's good for my students and not having my worth tied up in that, that frees me to look for solutions with less stress attached to it.

Once again, I can go seek out specific solutions. I can ask a colleague, I can talk to my administrator, I can go online. If this is your situation, we have a free training called How to Reduce Disruptions Without Yelling, Begging or Bribing. You can get it here.

3. I'm stressed because there's too much on my to-do list

If I analyze why am I stressed, it might be because there is so much to do and I don't feel like I have time for it. Maybe there’s another layer, like I didn't get enough rest.

Now let’s think through the spiritual. I'm so stressed about this, but the reality is that God has given me this work to do. He has called me to do my best in each moment, but he has not called me to overwork. He hasn't called me to anxiety, so if I'm this stressed about my work, something's off. I might ask myself the question, “Am I placing too much of my value in whether or not I finish my to-do list? Am I putting my to-do list in too high of a place? Do I need to do all the things on my to-do list, or are some of these here to impress other people that I don't really need to impress?”

This thinking through, it's going to look different for everybody, but maybe your conclusion is, “I need to trust God that it either doesn't need to get done or there will be time to do it another time.”

Now it’s time for the practical. Okay, if I feel like I have more to do than I have time to do it, I need to get clarity and make sure I'm spending my time on the things that really matter. So when I'm feeling like this, what I like to do is a brain dump, which means write down on paper everything that is in my mind that I feel like I have to do. Then organize it by putting a star by things that are most important.

Now do you need to do everything on this list? If the answer is “no,” choose to cross them out now because you know you don’t have time for them. We call that trash in the 4T system.

Now are there things that I can trim because my time is limited? For example, for decorating my classroom, I was going to make these elaborate bulletin boards, but can I just put up some posters and have the kids create something with this bulletin board later? That can cut down on a lot of work. So there are things that we can trim and make a lot simpler, do less of them, or do a quicker version.

Finally, make a to-do list for the day and focus on one thing at a time. This helps you not waste time feeling stressed and allows you to get right to work.

By the way, if you are looking to save even more time, check out our FREE webinar: 5 Time-Saving Practices to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed. Or, get the all-in-one solution with the course: Reclaim Your Time 101. In just a few short weeks, you'll cut 5-10 hours off your workweek, dramatically reduce your stress, & unbury yourself from overwhelm!

4. I'm stressed because of controversial issues

The last example is a common one. I'm worried about controversial issues in my school, or social or political differences. There are a lot of hot button issues right now.

This is a tricky one and I know it's on a lot of your minds. To be honest, I don't think any of these things are going away anytime soon. So let's think about them. Why are you stressed? Is there a specific situation that you're worried about that actually exists, or are you stressing about hypothetical situations?

That is a helpful differentiator in your mind because if you're stressed about a specific actual situation that is happening, then you can address that specific situation. If you're stressed about a hypothetical situation, you can still address it, but you need to be careful about allowing yourself to stress out so much about something that's only hypothetical. So that's a helpful differentiator.

Now let's think about the mindset or spiritual piece of this. Here are some good questions that you might ask, “Am I placing too much value in being comfortable in this world? Or do I understand that God's kingdom and his work involve trial and difficulty?"

For a while, we as Christians, particularly in America, have been pretty comfortable. But more and more, the beliefs of the Bible do not match what society is saying. Is that stressing me out because I'm placing too much value in my comfort? Am I really worried about the kingdom of God? Or am I just worried because I want to be comfortable? That's a hard question, but honestly I think a lot of our stress in these areas comes from, "I don't want to have to deal with this."

And that's normal, but that's not what we see in Scripture. In Scripture, we see God has called us. We are aliens and strangers. It's not going to be easy. The fact that it's been so easy for so long, that's the anomaly. We are now entering more of a reality of what is normal for the church and what is happening all over the world. And we're not even there yet.

Now I have another question. Am I resting in God's sovereignty? In other words, do I truly believe and act on the belief that God is in control, that he knows what's going on and he's allowing big and small situations for a reason? Do I rest in that? Or am I somehow worried what's happening is almost like we're losing the battle? Remember, God has already won. I don't have to worry about God's purposes and plans being messed up because of the craziness going on in our society. God is not threatened by any of that.

Another question is, “Am I trusting that God will guide me if and when I face these tough situations? And if it does happen, can I trust that God will guide me through that?”

As for the practical, especially if you have a specific situation or you are anticipating a specific situation, seek advice. Seek advice from a pastor, trusted friends, and the church community about the specific situations you're concerned about. Real life relationships are the best place to explore tough questions like this, especially within the church where God has placed you. Reach out to people, open up a little bit, and seek advice about specific situations.

Real life relationships are definitely the best place to explore tough questions like this, but we do also have a Facebook group. That does not replace real life, but sometimes it's helpful to ask in that format as well. There are a lot of like-minded people there. So if you're not part of our Facebook group, you can join here.

Another wonderful resource if these are the types of things you're concerned about is Christian Educators. They are a wonderful organization that specializes in helping teachers with a variety of situations like this. You can find out more about Christian Educators here.

I believe this is going to be a great year for you. That doesn’t mean everything's going to be easy and there won’t be trials. But God is good and he loves you, so whatever he brings into this school year, good or bad, hard or easy it will be exactly what you need and he's going to use you. Let's trust in him, and walk in the steps that he has put before us.

resources mentioned:

(The mentorship program has been replaced by the updated) Teach4theHeart+

4 Powerful Ways to Tame Your To-Do List

5 Time-Saving Practices to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

Reclaim Your Time 101

Teach 4 the Heart Facebook Group

Christian Educators Association International

Help for those stressed about student behaviors

Teach 4 the Heart's FREE training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing can bring some relief.

This 50-minute training will cover:

3 mistakes that cause classroom chaos - and how to avoid them
How to get students to listen without being mean
Why students aren't following your procedures - and how to get them to start!
The system I used to drastically reduce chatter, blurting & other disruption
And much more!

Get solutions in the free training now!

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Teachers – How to Stop Being Buried by Busyness

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 09:00:00 +0000

As teachers, there's hardly a time when we're not busy. Even in the summer, it can be hard to relax and stop feeling so hurried. Join us as we discuss why always being busy is such a problem and how to put habits in place NOW that can help us be (and feel) less busy during the school year.

listen here:

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What is hurry sickness?

According to John Mark Comer's book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, hurry sickness is "a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness" or "a continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events using less and less time." Doesn't that sound like our field of education? Doing more and more with less and less time?

Comer goes on to say that hurry is a form of violence against our souls. We were not created to go and go without a break. Teacher souls need to be cared for so we can do the best job God has called us to do for our students.

The Symptoms of hurry sickness

Restlessness- It's been hard to just stop and sit because it feels like there's always more work.
Irritability- You feel upset or frustrated about "little" things that normally you could or should overlook.
Non-stop activity- You have many days when you just have not had a moment to breathe- and you feel desperate for rest.
Out-of-order priorities- You feel like the life you are living is not anywhere close to being reflective of your heart.
Lack of care for your body- You've been skipping exercise, cooking healthy meals, and sleeping less than 8 hours a night.
Hypersensitivity- You're easily upset and offended by things.
Emotional numbness- It's hard to be in your emotions.
Escapist behaviors- It's easier to play Candy Crush or another mindless game on your phone than do anything else.
The slipping of spiritual disciplines- You're not reading your Bible or praying as much. Maybe you're also missing church.

It's a tough list to look at, but as educators we must take a brave look at ourselves, because we impact the next generation. When we are constantly hurrying, we miss moments of connection, love, and ministry. We miss conversations, meals shared with family and friends, and we are at risk of missing precious moments to impact our students.

Ideas to combat hurry sickness

There are 4 key principles to counteracting busyness.

Silence and Solitude- There's a lack of quiet in our minds when we're always listening to podcasts, music, etc. and never being comfortable with our own thoughts. There's something powerful about silence and solitude.
Sabbath- Adding a true Sabbath- a day completely set aside to rest, delight in life, and connect with God- is revolutionary. Stopping for one entire day may feel foreign, or even impossible, but I promise with creative planning, it's completely possible.
Simplicity- Use minimalism to simplify your life. Find joy in the simple things.
Slowing- Specifically make decisions that help us not to hurry, like driving the speed limit or getting in a longer checkout line. These little things signal to our bodies we don't need to go so fast.

The idea of these is hard when we feel so stressed, but this is how we teach ourselves the opposite of what we've normally been doing. It's a way to push back counterculturally. Hurrying shouldn't be the default setting.

At the end of the day, there's always more to do. You have to choose your pace of life now; you can't wait until your to-do list is empty.

The idea of margin

Margin is the white space on the edge of a paper. It helps us to be able to see more clearly when reading. Just like paper margins, our lives need white space- wiggle room.

Margin starts when you leave 10 minutes earlier than you "need" to.

Margin is giving yourself 2 weeks for a big project, working a little each day, instead of doing it all in 2 days.

Margin is praying every morning---then taking time to sit and listen to God as well.

Simply put, margin is intentionally slowing your life down. And often it is where the beauty of life, the best moments for teaching, and unexpected ministry show up!

bonus tools to help

Another resource that can help is Pray & Plan. This planner continually points back to Christ.

There are moments of prayer and stillness woven into the design.
Even the coloring pages are begging teachers to slow down.

Pray & Plan helps with blocking off Sabbath time, setting hours when you are intentionally not working, and making notes to connect with people and God.

If you are craving the slow down (Who isn't these days?), I encourage you to take a thoughtful look at Pray & Plan for a resource to live life a little more abundantly.

Another tool that can help you simplify and build margin is the Reclaim Your Time 101 course. In just a few short weeks you'll cut 5-10 hours off your workweek, dramatically reduce your stress, & unbury yourself from overwhelm. You CAN break the stress cycle and finally enjoy teaching again.

When student disruptions are the reason..

Sometimes the reason we fall behind is because our students find a way to get us off track with their disruptions. Spending even 15 minutes a day correcting student behavior leads to lost instructional minutes you can - and should - get back.

If you need help finding ways to keep students on track, get help in our FREE training: How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing.

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

resources mentioned:

Reclaim Your Time 101

How to Un-Hurry Workbook

Pray and Plan

Simplify Your Teacher Life with a Minimalist Approach

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How to Create a Classroom Management Plan that Works

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 09 May 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Has classroom management been a struggle? Listen to discover how you can create an effective classroom management plan that will actually work!

listen here:

Find out more about the All-New Classroom Management 101 here.

why you need a written classroom management plan

We often have chaos in our classroom because we as teachers don't really have a plan for how we're going to handle issues. We deal with it really inconsistently, or we don't deal with it at all because we just don't know what to do. A plan is really important and a written plan is even more valuable, because when a plan is in our head, it's actually a lot fuzzier than we realize. There's a lot of wiggle room for us to not really know what we're going to do even if we think we do.

Let’s think about this question: “How am I going to handle talking?” What thoughts come to your head? Maybe you’re thinking, "Well, I know what to do” or "Well, I'll just tell them to stop." Those are really fuzzy plans! When you have to write down what you’re going to do, it forces you to actually see whether or not you have a plan and it requires you to decide ahead of time how you're going to handle various situations, and that is so valuable.

This written classroom management plan gives you confidence and helps you be consistent. Confidence and consistency are huge in classroom management. They're intangible. Students can notice consistency outright, but confidence is something that they notice without realizing it. They don't say, "Oh, my teacher is confident," but they can sense it. When you're confident and consistent, it sends huge signals to your students that they need to get on board, they need to take you seriously, and they need to follow the instructions and procedures that you've set out for your class.

On the other hand, when you're not confident and you're not consistent, that sends huge signals to students that they can get away with inappropriate behavior, they can take advantage of you, and it doesn't really matter whether they do what they're supposed to do. So, when you're confident and you're consistent, it's intangible - but it's also the difference between being the teacher students respect and listen to and being the teacher whose students walk all over them.

You might be thinking, “Well, not all teachers have a written plan.” If you are a veteran that knows what you're doing and you are really confident in your classroom management, you probably don't need a written plan anymore, just like a master chef doesn't need a recipe. But a beginning cook who has hardly ever cooked a meal definitely needs to have a recipe that they're following. So that's what we're doing. We're creating the written recipe. If what you're doing isn't working, I highly recommend putting together a written plan.

Here's how to do it....

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Step 1: clarify your expectations

So many issues arise in our classrooms because we haven't actually thought through what we expect of our students. Sometimes we assume students know what they should do without defining what exactly that looks like. So it's very important that we think through every area of our classroom and actually spend time deciding what behavior is and isn't appropriate.

Here are some examples of the types of questions we want to ask ourselves: How should students enter the classroom? Do they go straight to their desk? Are they allowed to visit with friends? What are the expectations there? How should students sit at their desks? When is talking permitted and when is it not, and what level is appropriate? Are students allowed to blurt out answers without raising their hand? If so, when and when not? For what reasons are students allowed to get out of their seats? Will students be held responsible if they fail to bring certain supplies, or will you provide extras? What do you expect from students regarding participation and effort? When are students allowed to use the restroom? What does it look like for students to treat others with respect and what does it look like when they're not respectful?

Okay. These types of questions are getting at clarity, because if you're not clear in your own mind what is an issue in your classroom and what you want it to look like instead, you can never communicate that with your students. You also won't have confidence in your mind about knowing what to address and what not to. So getting clear on your expectations is really key, and writing that down can be immensely helpful as well. So that's step one, clarify your expectations.

step 2: determine your procedures

Expectations and procedures are sometimes lumped together, but I think it's helpful to think of them separately. Here, we are talking about expectations in terms of behavior. What type of behavior am I expecting in all these various situations? Procedures are about what is actually happening in the class. One example of a procedure is: students turn in papers by passing their paper to the person on the left and the last person in the row puts it in the turn-in box. Another procedure is: when we use the restroom, we line up here and 3 students go in at a time.

Now, expectations and procedures do meld together. For example, my procedure for the restroom break would also include expectations for how students will behave. I need both expectations and procedures for restroom break time or for the start of class or for homework. But when you're thinking about procedures, you're thinking specifically about the tactical piece of it. Tactically, what are we going to do? How is this going to work in all these different areas of the classroom?

There are so many areas to think through, such as, start of class, restroom breaks, passing in papers, grading papers, signing out hall passes, getting tissues, lining up, passing back papers, regaining attention, emergency drills, homework, late work, absent students, and so many more.

When you think through every area of your class, think through, “How do we do this?” and “What would help this run smoothly and efficiently?” If you are a new teacher and you've never taught before, you have to think through literally every area. If you've taught in the past, you can take a little bit of a shortcut and just ask yourself, “Which areas were really chaotic? Which things did not go smoothly? In what areas did things get a little crazy?” Ask, “What would make this run more smoothly?” Rethink those procedures and once again, write them down because it forces you to get really clear on exactly what you want it to look like.

step 3: plan positive reinforcement

We definitely don't want negative attention to be the main way students get attention from us. Both natural consequences and positive benefits occur every day in real life, so it's great when our classrooms reflect that reality. We should definitely plan ways to positively reinforce good behavior, good actions, and all the things that our students are doing that we want to encourage.

It's good to plan this so that it doesn't fall through the cracks. Once again, you can say, "Oh yeah, I'm always encouraging. I'll do that for sure." But if you don't plan it, it may or may not happen as much as you want. So it's good to spend a little time in your classroom management plan thinking about how you are going to have positive reinforcement.

There are a couple different ways this can look. You could have a structured reward or encouragement system, like class dojo, class economy points, sticker charts, etc. You can have a structured program or just do it as it makes sense, but you want to think through and plan that. Even if you decide not to use an official system, you still want to think ahead of time, “Okay, what are some things I want to look for? What are some things I want to acknowledge and encourage?”

Once again, if you're a new teacher, you definitely want to think that through. If you're a veteran, you can be more reflective and think about whether or not what you did before worked and if not, consider how you want to be more intentional with positive reinforcement this year. If you need some reward ideas that are free or inexpensive, head to 60+ Classroom Reward Ideas.

step 4: Plan logical consequences

We want to plan some consequences that we can use in our classroom as they're needed. If you're not sure if consequences should be part of your classroom, check out Why Classrooms Need Consequences.

We are going to talk about how to actually plan this. The first thing you want to do with consequences is make sure you understand your school's discipline system, know what consequences are available to you there, and what types of offenses are supposed to result in certain consequences in your school-wide system. It's important to start there, make sure you understand that and have that incorporated into your classroom first.

Depending on how your school is structured, that might cover most things or that might cover hardly anything. So once you make sure you understand your school's discipline system, then you want to consider what misbehavior or issues are not covered there and find some consequences to fill in those holes. For example, when I was teaching, our school had detentions. So that was part of the school-wide discipline system and they were appropriate for certain offenses.

But detention was a very big deal at the school that I taught at. It was two hours long and it cost $20. So it was not designed for really small infractions like talking in class. Instead, a lot of the teachers came up with smaller consequences that they could use for smaller offenses and saved the detentions for bigger or repetitive issues. If you're not sure what ideas to use, we do have a consequence ideas list at 30 Logical Classroom Consequence Ideas.

step 5: plan out how to respond

What you want to do is plan what you're actually going to say or do when various behaviors occur. This is where the rubber meets the road and where you really get your confidence and can be consistent.

Start with your positive reinforcement. Look back at what you've planned for positive reinforcement and actually think about, “What am I going to say when I'm encouraging students for their behavior?” Maybe even practice it. Write it down so that you're ready to go.

Then think through misbehavior. You want to plan exactly what you'll say and how you'll respond to all kinds of common classroom issues. If a student is talking without permission, what are you going to say? Write it down. If they're blurting answers, if they're disrupting class, if they're disrespectful, if they're rude to classmates, if they get out of their seat, if they're not completing their work - think through all these areas. Think, “What am I going to do when students do these things? How am I going to respond?” That involves both thinking about what you’re going to do and exactly how you’re going to say it. Write out exactly what you're going to say. That is so helpful. If you've been struggling, that level of detail in your plan will give you so much confidence and help.

some practical ideas

Here are a few quick ideas on addressing misbehavior:

Re-do: One option is to have students re-do it the right way. For example, if a student runs into class, you can say, "You need to go back out and come in correctly." That could be a response that you planned.
Re-direct: A re-direct is when you divert students’ attention back to refocus them on what they should be doing. That can be an appropriate way to deal with certain issues.
Quick correct: Certain things just need a quick correction. For example, if a student has their head on the desk, they probably don't need a consequence. You can just say, "George, please sit up."
A Warning System: A warning system can be really helpful. If you've been following Teach4theHeart for some time, you’ve heard about warning systems, but a warning system is basically where you give students official warnings with a yellow card, or class dojo, or writing names on the board, etc. This works really well for something like talking where you would give one or two official warnings and possibly not give a consequence until the third offense in the given class period.
Pocket Phrases: A pocket phrase is a saying you pull out of your pocket that you have ready to go, and you use it repeatedly. Love & Logic has a lot of these, but an example is something like, “I care about you too much to argue with you.” So that's a phrase you can pull out whenever a student is arguing.
A "Catch-All" Phrase: I definitely recommend that you have a catch-all phrase that you can use whenever there is a situation where you don’t know what to do. As much as you plan, there's always going to be something that throws you off. That is just a teacher's life. So you want to have a catch-all phrase ready that you can pull out and use if you don't know what to do. One example is, “See me after class.” That shows the whole class that you’re going to deal with it, but you have some time to think about it first. Another one that you can use, and this one comes from Love & Logic, is, “I'm going to have to do something about that.” Similar idea, right?

I hope that walking through this is really helpful for you and that you're starting to see how valuable this can be. Imagine starting the school year with this type of plan. You will come in confident and you'll know how to handle issues. When you handle issues consistently starting the first day of school, something magical happens: students really respond to that.

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resources mentioned:

60+ Classroom Reward Ideas

Why Classrooms Need Consequences

30 Logical Classroom Consequence Ideas

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