"Teacher, he won't play with me."
"Teacher, she cut in line."
"Teacher, he took my book."Such classroom conflicts are familiar in elementary school life. For years, resolving such conflicts for children filled my days. I lost valuable teaching time, and the children learned nothing about resolving their own conflicts—or preventing conflicts from happening in the first place.
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NOV
01
2008
Gremlins
Miguel hunched over a blank page in his notebook, scowling and biting his lip. I approached him and whispered, "I see you're having a hard time getting started. Is your writing gremlin…
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AUG
01
2008
Watching and Learning
Question: In The Power of Our Words and The First Six Weeks of School, you write about how important it is for teachers to get to know their students at the beginning…
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APR
01
2008
Recognizing Students’ Accomplishments All Year Long
Publicly recognizing children’s accomplishments can benefit their learning and the overall school climate. But how do you do it without setting up a competition among students? This is a question that many…
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FEB
01
2008
Getting Past “I Can’t”
When I taught fourth grade, I introduced two-digit multiplication around the middle of each year. This would always stump a number of students who had breezed through math up until that point.…
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NOV
01
2007
Re-energize Yourself When Fatigue Sets In
A: When I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the things I could do, should do, need to do, and want to do, I make a “Capture List”—a sheet of paper on which I…
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APR
01
2007
What Teaching Matthew Taught Me
"Matthew! Get away. You're not sitting with us!" Libby hissed the words, her voice oozing with contempt as she stuck her leg out to keep Matthew from joining the small group gathered…
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FEB
01
2007
Open-Ended Questions
Language is one of the most powerful tools available to teachers. We can use language to stretch children’s curiosity, reasoning ability, creativity, and independence. One effective way to do this is by…
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FEB
01
2007
Words That Encourage Positive Behavior
Question: What's one way you use language to encourage positive behavior?
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NOV
01
2006
Beyond Coping
When Corey joined my fourth grade class, he already had a history of school struggles and had spent part of third grade in a self-contained room for children with behavior problems. When…
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NOV
01
2004
Teacher-Child Problem-Solving Conferences
Derek was a fifth grader who was avoiding writing. Whenever we had writing time, he would ask to go to the bathroom, and there he would linger. After observing this for a…
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NOV
01
2004
Problem-Solving Conferences That Worked
Question: Think of an instance in which you used a teacher-child problem-solving conference. Why did you choose that strategy? A: Edward often clowned around during work times, keeping everyone from getting work…
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APR
01
2004
Building Empathy for a “Trouble-Maker”
Chris was a student who struggled socially. He was in Sarah Fiarman’s mixed-grade class for two years, first as a fifth grader and then as a sixth. Of all the points working…
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NOV
01
2003
The Power of Language
A teacher's language is a powerful teaching tool. Our language can build children up or tear them down. It can model respectful and caring social interactions or just the opposite. Effective language…
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NOV
01
2003
What Did You Say?
Joey, a second grader, returns from a doctor's appointment in the middle of a math lesson. "Welcome back, Joey," his teacher says with a smile. "We're working together to solve the problem…
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AUG
01
2002
Powerful Words
In 1993, after teaching for twenty years, I still loved my chosen profession, but I often felt frustrated. It seemed as though I spent an inordinate amount of time on classroom management…
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APR
01
2002
Teaching Children to Care
Editor’s note: Teaching Children to Care by Ruth Sidney Charney, first published in 1991, has transformed many teachers’ practices. This well-loved book has sold over 70,000 copies and is widely used as…
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MAR
31
2002
Refusing to Go to Time-Out
April 2002Question:I’ve had pretty good success using time-out with most children. I have children go to time-out to regain their self-control as they start to lose it. But what about the child…
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