My book has now been listed on the Goodreads giveaways and after only a few hours of being live, 45 people have already entered!
This just shows how desperately good, common-sense books on classroom management and teaching practice are needed by teachers. Unfortunately, the profession is filled with confusing ideologies, most of which are based on observations of over-prepared, ‘showcase’ lessons which often do not represent the everyday dynamic that teachers all over the world have to deal with.
My book approaches classroom management from a realistic, achievable perspective and is guaranteed to help all teachers with every aspect of their teaching practice.
My hope and dream is that as many teachers as possible will benefit from my book, and will share what they’ve learned with their colleagues.
From November 11th – 18th my book will be hosted on Goodreads in their prize giveaway. Anyone can enter for their chance to win one of five copies of my debut book; The Quick Guide to Classroom Management, 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know.
Enter for your chance to one of five copies of my book.The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High Teachers Need to Know
Loads of hard work went into this book. A whole year of intense, full-time research, editing and enhancing has resulting in a 5 star rated book on Amazon that is guaranteed to improve the effectiveness of your teaching. Also, a nice thing about this book is that it was illustrated by two of my former students.
This book will teach you, through the hard-earned experience of the author and the contributors, the secrets of:
1. Working effectively with parents: your key customers
2. Enjoying productive relationships with your co-workers
3. Building and maintaining rapport with your students
4. Actively engaging your students in the learning process
5. Engaging your advanced learners (such as your ‘A’ – Level, SAT and IBDP students)
6. Managing student behaviour in a way that is non-confrontational
7. Using ICT to effectively enhance the learning process
8. Teaching overseas, and the special challenges this involves
Fully illustrated with infographics, images, diagrams and charts (and with extensive citations throughout) this book offers a ‘breath of fresh air’ for the pedagogical literature scene and provides a high-quality, accessible and essential guide for every high school teacher.
The follwing extract is taken from chapter 1 of my book: The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know (available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016ZG1IX0)
I wanted a front cover showing happy, stimulated students.
Secret number 1: Take a genuine interest in the life of your students
Youth is a time when so many things are happening: both positive and negative. Young people at high school are involved in a range of human-relationship dynamics which involve family, school, friends and the people associated with their hobbies or interests. Humans are full of energy at this time, and the interconnections between the life of a student both inside and outside of the classroom create opportunities for us to channel this energy positively and:
Build trust
Use humour within lessons
Create a sense of importance and empowerment in our students
Offer guidance and support to students with difficulties
Create an environment of cooperation and compliance
Encourage our students to formulate their own learning goals
Personalise our lessons
Becky was an experienced and well-liked teacher of secondary science. She got on very well with her students, and parents would often mention that they appreciated her ‘special attention’ to their children. She was liked by her colleagues, and she enjoyed her work. One day, her physics student came to school with a broken arm in a plaster cast. Josh, a keen gymnast, mentioned that he had fallen very hard in a training session two days ago. Becky immediately knew that this was golden information for her lesson planning.
In Josh’s next physics lesson, Becky was teaching the class about forces and motion. As Josh entered the class, she presented him with a starter activity revolving around the forces that act upon a gymnast when taking off and landing on a springboard. She also asked Josh how he was doing (and she was sincere in asking). He said he was healing well, and Ms Becky mentioned that “We can use your experience to help the class today, would that be okay?”. Josh said “sure”. After completing and peer assessing the starter worksheet, Ms Becky asked for Josh to tell the class what had happened to his arm. He gladly told his story, and Ms Becky asked for everyone to clap after he had finished. Using humour and good teaching practice, she said “So using Josh’s story to help you, what do you think one of today’s objectives could be”? One student mentioned a funny comment about how you should always land on your feet and not on your arm like Josh did, which Ms Becky responded to with a smile and a giggle. After this, and with some prompting from their teacher, some students spoke about the importance of gravity in determining the force upon impact, and the speed of free fall. At the end of a very interesting and varied lesson, Becky allowed her students the opportunity to sign Josh’s plaster cast, if they hadn’t done so already.
This example demonstrates the power that taking an interest in your students can have on the quality of a lesson. Let’s examine what Becky did that made this lesson (and her rapport, or relationship with her students, so special):
Becky used the hobby of her student to generate a lesson activity (the starter worksheet)
Becky shows a sincere care and concern for her student
Becky was genuinely interested in the life of her student outside of the classroom (as she was with all of her students)
Becky uses student experiences and ‘expertise’ to enhance the lesson content (she asks Josh to talk to the class about what had happened)
Becky is tasteful in her humour, and she makes sure that Josh is happy to share his story before she asks him to do so.
Becky rewarded the class for their good work by allowing them a few minutes at the end to sign Josh’s plaster cast. Not only did this subtly reveal her caring and ‘human’ nature, but it also bonded the class together as a whole.
