A firm, consistent discipline plan is the foundation to efficient teaching and learning. Implementing that plan begins long before students enter the classroom on the first day of school.
Furthermore, it's important to that a teacher's behavior management program (consisting of rules, rewards, and consequences) be communicated with students and parents in a deliberate and organized way.
What's your best discipline-related advice for new teachers just starting out?
Comments
The best classroom management program is a good instructional program. Using the resource that you listed, Harry Wong’s First Day of School, teachers are taught to CONTROL students and not TEACH/LEAD them. He advocates putting desks in rows for ease of turning papers in to the teacher…not for creating the best learning environment. There are much better resources out there for new teachers than this resource (it really hasn’t been updated since 1992 – no mentions of the standards movement). Following his examples/procedures, no wonder that 50% of teachers leave the profession in their first five years. They are too busy fighting/controlling kids instead of having a good instructional program.
I disagree with the above comment- I follow Wongs ruels to a “T” and I have received accolades from various administrators as the “discipline” teacher. Students that no other teacher can control, I am able to work with because expectations, rules, procedures, and CONTROL is established from day one. It is clear that we are a team, but as a team we will either be rewarded, or we will suffer a consequence. There is also an individual rewards/consequences system as well that is crystal clear and posted.