69ý

Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

Q&A Collections: Classroom-Management Advice

By Larry Ferlazzo — July 14, 2021 7 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

During the summer, I will be sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 10 years. You can see all those collections from the first nine years here.

Here are the ones I’ve published so far:

The 11 Most Popular Classroom Q&A Posts of the Year

Race & Racism in 69ý

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Today’s theme is on classroom-management advice. You can see the list following this excerpt from one of them:

positivebeatsnegative

*Nine Strategies for Promoting Student Engagement

Five educators discuss how to maximize engagement, including the importance of understanding student motivation in and out of the classroom.

* Increasing Engagement With Student Choice

Four educators discuss ways to increase student engagement, including providing choice and building a sense of classroom community.

* Student ‘Compliance Does Not Equal Engagement’

Four educators share suggestions for how schools can maintain student engagement, especially during the teenage years.

Seven educators provide practical recommendations on how to apply restorative practices in the school setting. One tip: “Results won’t be immediate,” but “they will be long lasting.”

Educators share their practical experience implementing restorative practices in their schools, such as holding goal-setting conferences with students and teaching them “the power of an apology.”

Heather Wolpert-Gawron, Rita Platt, Gabriella Corales, Leticia Skae-Jackson, and Madeline Whitaker Good offer their best classroom-management “tips.”

*

Sheldon L. Eakins, Ph.D., Jenny Edwards, April Croy, Lori Jackson, Shauna Tominey, Megan McClelland, and Keisha Rembert share their ideas on classroom management.

Debbie Silver, PJ Caposey, Serena Pariser, Timothy Hilton, Beth Gotcher, Paula Mellom, Rebecca Hixon, and Jodi Weber offer their commentaries on how best to handle classroom management.

Cindy Garcia, Gianna Cassetta, Amanda Koonlaba, Ed.S., Chelonnda Seroyer, Dennis Griffin Jr., Janice Wyatt-Ross, Barry Saide, and Vance Austin contribute their classroom-management suggestions.

Debbie Silver, Amanda Koonlaba, Katie Biggs, Jennifer Lasater, Tina H. Boogren, and Diane Mora contribute their remembrances of classroom-management mistakes.

Theresa Staley, Judy Reinhartz, Lindsey Palmieri, and Louise Goldberg share their experiences with making classroom-management mistakes.

Anne Jenks, Peg Grafwallner, Kevin Parr, Rita Platt, Sarah Thomas, Thomas Kerman, and Paula Kondratko share their biggest classroom-management mistakes and what they should have done, instead.

Responses from Bobson Wong, Rita Platt, Kevin Parr, Theresa Staley, Valerie Ruckes, and Sarah Thomas kick off a three-part series on classroom management.

Mary Beth Nicklaus, Jeryl-Ann Asaro, Cindi Rigsbee, Lori Jackson, Steve Peck, Becky Corr, and Otis Kriegel share their responses to the question: How do you turn around a class that you’ve let get out of control?

This three-part series on classroom management is wrapped up by Julia Thompson, Rebecca Alber, Madeline Whitaker Good, Stuart Ablon, Alisha Pollastri, Allen Mendler, and Kelly Wickham Hurst. I’ve also included many responses from readers.

Signe Whitson, Donna Wilson, Marcus Conyers, Janice Case, Kristin Pierce, and Ralf de la Mare share their suggestions about intervening in student conflicts.

Vickie Gomez, Danny Woo, Kevin Parr, Jessica Torres, Rosalind Wiseman, and Bryan Harris contribute their ideas on how to manage conflicts between students.

In this post, Donna Wilson, Thomas Armstrong, Joe Hendershott, Jeffrey Benson, Mark Katz, and Jonathan Cassie contribute their thoughts on teaching students self-control.

Robert Ward, Sue Defreyne, Allen Mendler, Daniel Rechtschaffen, Carla Tantillo Philibert, and Christine Brandt provide answers on how to help our students develop self-control.

Thomas R. Hoerr, Libby Woodfin, Jenny Edwards, Dave Stuart Jr., Maurice J. Elias, and Matt Renwick share their suggestions on how we can help our students develop self-control.

This post considers how teachers can best help students strengthen self-control skills with suggestions from Bryan Harris, Jennifer Davis Bowman, Amanda Koonlaba, Nancy Steineke, Mike Anderson, and Jen Schwanke.

Lou Denti, Gini Cunningham, Cindi Rigsbee, PJ Caposey, and readers share ideas about classroom rules—what they should be, how they should be developed, and how to enforce them.

Kevin Parr, Gianna Cassetta, Allen Mendler, and Signe Whitson contribute their suggestions on how to respond to “difficult” or “challenging” students.

Annette Breaux, Cheryl Mizerny, Jeryl-Ann Asaro, and Stan Croft share their responses on working with “difficult” students.

Shane Safir, Jen Adkins, Timothy Hilton, Crystal T. Laura, and Mark Katz share their commentaries on applying restorative practices in schools.

Karen Baptiste, Gianna Cassetta, Harry Wong, Rosemary Wong, and Julia Thompson share their classroom-management recommendations.

Marcia Tate, Jenny Edwards, Patty O’Grady, and Ric Murry share their thoughts on classroom management.

Educators Bryan Harris, Marcia Imbeau, Pernille Ripp, Gianna Cassetta, Brook Sawyer, and Julia Thompson share their advice in this post.

Kelly Bergman, Patty O’Grady, ReLeah Lent, Barry Gilmore, and Bethany Bernasconi share their thoughts here.

*

Educators Debbie Silver, Richard L. Curwin, and Marcia L. Tate provide guest responses.

*

This post features two special contributions: one from well-known educator (and regular contributor to this column) Suzie Boss, who talks about the tricky subject of classroom management specifically during project-based-learning lessons, and the other from ASCD author Jane Bluestein. In addition, I include multiple comments from readers.

*

Assistant Principal Jim Peterson and author Jim Anderson share their suggestions. Jim’s downloadable instructions for conducting “walk-and-talks” with students seemed to particularly strike a chord with readers.

*

Marvin Marshall and I share practical positive—not punitive—classroom-management strategies.

*

My colleague and co-author () Katie Hull-Sypnieski and I share even more positive classroom-management ideas.

*

Nine experienced educators, including Nancy Gardner from the Teacher Leaders Network and David B. Cohen from Accomplished California Teachers, discuss the role of relationships and respect in the classroom.

*

Teachers Jane Ching Fung, Mathew Needleman, and Tom Hobson write about the particular classroom-management issues of very young students and how best to respond to them.

*

Author/educators Annette Breaux, Roxanna Elden, Harry Wong, and Gary Rubinstein contribute their thoughts in this column.

*

Professor and author Roy F. Baumeister discusses his research on self-contol as a resource that can be depleted—and then needs to be replenished. I share my experiences applying his research findings in the classroom.

*

Several of my friends and colleagues, including a California Teacher of the Year and an administrator who I consider my mentor in classroom management, contribute what they’ve learned through their experiences.

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Opinion 5 Urgent Classroom Issues for Teachers, According to Larry Ferlazzo
What educators and researchers need to know.
3 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Teaching Opinion Struggling to Discuss the Election in Class? These 5 Steps Can Help
For many teachers, political anxiety is the elephant in the classroom. The science of emotional intelligence can offer clarity.
Marc A. Brackett & Robin S. Stern
5 min read
The elephant in the classroom.
iStock/Getty Images
Teaching Spotlight Spotlight on Effective Classroom Instruction
This Spotlight explores strategies to foster an engaging classroom environment that promotes critical thinking and knowledge building.
Teaching Opinion Teachers Have to Endure Plenty of Short-Sighted Mandates. Here Are 3 of Them
There’s so much bad advice about teaching that it can be hard to choose the worst. These teachers tried anyway.

9 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty