Amazing Veteran Teacher Shares Her Best Secret for Classroom Management, and You Can Execute it TODAY

Dear Teachers,

This is Amy, CEO and founder of friEdTech, and I have a story for you that you will not want to miss. I wish I could call every one of you and tell you individually, but since that’s not practical, I’ll tell it here on this blog. It started when I read a post on Facebook that bowled me over. It was written by a teacher named Donna. 

Unwanted student behaviors are the “thing” I hear more about from teachers than any other issue currently in education (where there are a LOT of issues). The fact is if a teacher can’t get classroom management under control, literally nothing productive can happen in a classroom. And also, the teacher will be miserable and feel profoundly unsuccessful. You can only take that feeling for so long before you have to move on, no matter how much you might’ve previously thought you wanted to be a teacher. Problems with classroom management are usually multifaceted and complex, but all unwanted behaviors have pretty simple root causes. Donna’s method bypasses quite a few unwanted behaviors with a clever hack, playing on kids’ needs to fit in. 

Donna, hats off to you. I’m impressed and amazed! Teachers, I hope you’re still reading and not thinking this is one of those recipes where you wish they’d tell you the ingredients!

We’re getting there. 

I do have to tell you ONE more thing before I tell you how Donna starts her year off right with one powerful statement, and that is this: If classroom management is an oxymoron in your classroom, there is help available, and you don’t have to convince your whole school to make a change, you can do it yourself, and you can start today, any time day or night.

You see, we have a course called Rock the Classroom: Classroom Management & Behavior Strategies for Today’s Classroom that teaches the fundamentals of behavior and the simple reasons each of us exhibits the behaviors we do.

Rock the Classroom: Classroom Management & Behavior Strategies for Today’s Classroom is filled with practical, actionable things the teacher can do not only to feel but actually be running the classroom in the way that every teacher wants. In fact, I’m SO excited for you to try it; here’s a link to get the course at a hugely *discounted price. I would say that I hope you enjoy it, but if classroom management is a problem you’re trying to solve, I know you will. Get started today; there’s no time to waste.

Let’s get back to Donna and her story now.

How do you get your classroom under control?
“I have asked this one single question every year for the past 28 years.”

When she was asked how to get a classroom under control, this experienced and highly successful teacher told us how she gives one speech early every school year that she believes makes all the difference in student behavior.

Here are her words of wisdom, published with her permission:

“I ask my kiddos on day one in class how many of them have been in a class with a student who constantly disrupts, argues with the teacher, talks loudly, and gets in trouble – almost all of them raise their hands. Then I tell them that I don’t ever get mad at those kids because it’s impossible for me to get mad at someone who is so pitiful, so desperate for acceptance and attention. I tell them that I know sometimes they laugh because the kid or the moment seems funny, but really, we should all be crying and feeling sorry for that kid because it’s heartbreaking to see someone with so little confidence who is so desperate to fit in.

Then I tell them that I will always work to help that kind of kid learn to feel better about themselves – to build their confidence and self-respect enough that they never have to act like that again.

This has worked every year for 28 years for me for two reasons:

1. All the kids know, deep down inside, that what I’m saying is the truth.

2. None of the kids want to be THAT kid – the one everyone in the class will now pity and see as lacking confidence instead of as cool or funny.”

A bit of further advice and insight that might help you make this work in your classroom, I can tell you that when Donna delivers this there is ZERO sarcasm in her voice because she really means it from her heart. She truly would give “that kid” more attention and take care of their social needs that were not being met appropriately. Still, her strategy allows the 95% of students who are in control of themselves and do not actually need to stop the class from getting all eyes on them to maintain a sense that their teacher truly cares about them and will give them the attention they need. She also follows up on that; Donna is one of those teachers students LOVE and keeps in touch with for life. None of this is for show, and her students know it. She thinks these words are the secret, and I do hope they can work for others, too, but the real secret is never anything that could be faked; it’s always the real emotion you bring to the situation.

If you think Donna is as brilliant as I do, please share this blog post and help spread her loving message!

Thanks so much for reading and for being a friEdFan! Sign up for our newsletter here https://friedtechnology.com/subscribe for more stories from real teachers like Donna and real solutions from friEdTech!

-Your friEnd in Education,

Amy Mayer, CEO & Founder of friEdTech

P.S. If you would like more information about our online interactive course, Rock the Classroom, or other professional development related to classroom management for your school, please reach out to hello@fried.tech for discounted pricing for departments, schools, or entire districts.