Teacher Smart!: 125 Tested Techniques for Classroom Management & Control [Paperback]

George Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0876289103 | ISBN-13: 978-0876289105

Reinforcing the fun of teaching, this book offers new and experienced teachers practical problem-solving to deal with a range of classroom challenges. Includes forms.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This unique hands-on resource gives new and experienced teachers at all levels 125 proven management techniques and 64 reproducibles for meeting the day-to-day challenges encountered in the classroom and school environments.

For easy use, all of these tested materials are presented in a simple problem/solution format, printed in a big 8 ?" x 11" size ready for photocopying, and organized into seven sections focusing on seven different areas of concern.

BEHAVIOR CONTROL: Section 1 provides 40 techniques and reproducibles to help you deal with problems most teachers see daily. For example, Dueling Pens is a method to quickly stop a squabble in the classroom, and Bring in Mom is an effective way to deal with a disruptive child who resists all other efforts aimed at correcting his or her actions.
REINFORCEMENT & REWARD SYSTEMS: Section 2 offers 19 techniques and reproducibles using positive reinforcement to produce results. Percent Ticket, for example, is a no-cost way to help all students in grades 4-12 to improve and increase their daily class work.
ON TASK BEHAVIOR: In Section 3, you'll find 41 innovative techniques and reproducibles to help students stay on task. One of these, The Stick Jar, keeps students on their toes because they never know when their name will be drawn form the jar! Another, Vocabulary chains, is a novel way to heighten students' interest in learning the words and language of any subject.
NEAT & FUN THINGS TO DO IN SCHOOL: Section 4 provides 34 techniques and reproducible tools to inject some old-fashioned fun into the classroom. The Great Impromptu Speech, for example, require little if any preparation, lasts a whole period, and keeps even student with difficult behavior problems alert and learning.
COMMUNICATION & PROFESSIONAL IDEAS: Section 5 gives you 19 techniques and ready-to-copy forms to promote positive interaction with other staff, including a really neat teacher stress-reducer called The Colorful Generic Lesson Plan File.
SELF-ESTEEM: The 14 innovative techniques and reproducibles in Section 6 include meaningful ideals for promoting the emotional development of all students, such as The Excellent Student Recognition Award and The Progress Roll, a way to recognize the success of lower ability yet hard-working students.
TEACHER & STUDENT PROTECTION IDEAS: The last section feature 20 suggestions and reproducibles to help you protect yourself and your students. For example, Refusal Protection puts ownership for poor school performance directly where it belongs, on the student. Behavior Record sheet helps you keep a consistent record of a particular student's behavior with witnesses to back up your position.

And to help you quickly select appropriate ideas when you need them, you'll find all of the classroom management and control techniques in TEACHER SMART! Are numbered consecutively in the Contents and text and accompanied by the author's recommended grade levels for use!

About the Author

George Watson (B.A., University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada) has taught almost every subject in the elementary and junior high school curriculum during 24 years of teaching. He currently teaches grades 8 and 9 and special education at Alexander Junior High School in the North Battleford (Saskatchewan) Public School Division. He is also the author of Teacher Smart!, published by the Center in 1996.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (June 7, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876289103
• ISBN-13: 978-0876289105
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,792,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Geared toward younger levels, but helpful nonetheless, April 6, 2000

By 

TeacherAmy (Charlotte, NC Metro) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teacher Smart!: 125 Tested Techniques for Classroom Management & Control (Paperback)

As a beginning teacher of secondary grades, I'm on the hunt for good advice about classroom management. Unfortunately, most of what I read seems to directly conflict with the other materials! This book has a pick-what-works-for-your-own-style approach, rather than an entire management system. I found it helpful for finding specific strategies to incorporate into my own teaching and discipline style.

As many of these books are, this one is especially well suited toward the elementary end of the spectrum, but some of the concepts can be successfully adapted to secondary grades as well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Classroom Management Book- Not best for older grades, May 13, 2007

By 

K. Piper-Fangman (Yuma, Az) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teacher Smart!: 125 Tested Techniques for Classroom Management & Control (Paperback)

I bought this book on accident originally but have enjoyed it immensly. I went ahead and bought Watson's other book and it has been a life saver in my middle school classroom.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick and Useful, June 2, 2002

By 

Lisa Manske "natural mamma" (Wauwatosa, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teacher Smart!: 125 Tested Techniques for Classroom Management & Control (Paperback)

The nice thing about this book is that you can quickly find what you need and apply it. It is well ogranized and comes with reproducible pages, should you decide to apply a strategy straight out of the book. When you're searching for solutions but don't have time to read through chapters of philosophy on education (what teacher does!), this book is great. There are also some helpful lists of do's and don'ts, which are great for new teachers.