ebook Review
Lee McIntrye (2007) Classroom Management 101
I rather liked this ebook although it does read a little like a top tips for teachers ebook, it is worth reading and not only by trainee teachers either.
The chapter titles for this ebook are:
Chapter 1 Classroom Management and Why it's So Important to Your Success In The Classroom
Chapter 2 The First Steps Towards a Peaceful Classroom: Identifying Where You ARE Going Wrong With Your Classroom Management
Chapter 3 Proactive Classroom Management: A Teacher's Secret Weapon
Chapter 4 Positive Classroom Management: A Positive Teacher Means Positive Students
Chapter 5 Setting The Boundaries: Kids Can't Follow The Rules If They Don't Know What The Rules Are
Chapter 6 Reward The Good Behaviour Of Your Students: Reward Yourself With Less Stress. Hassle And More
Chapter 7 The Effectiveness of Powerful and Consistent Sanctions In Your Classroom
Chapter 8 Non Verbal Communication And How It Can Be Ultra Effective in the Classroom
Chapter 9 Improve Your Classroom Management With The Language of Choice
Chapter 10 Keeping Your Class Interested And Its Impact Upon Your Classroom Control
Chapter 11 Preparing For The Worst: Managing Confrontations in the Classroom
Chapter 12 You and Your Teaching Style: The Different Faces of Different Teachers
Chapter 13 Minor Disruptions Within The Classroom and How to Deal With Them
Chapter 14 What to Say and How to Say it
I have to say that these are the title you would expect aren’t they. Certainly, as a trainee teacher, there are many really good ideas that I would have liked to have had some guidance on. That’s not to say I was a disciplinary or classroom management nightmare but there are things here that would have helped me.
I am not sufficiently up to date with ebooks on this topic to say whether McIntyre has written an earth shattering ebook, but I do think it is a good companion for teachers who need to hone their classroom management skills.
I am just going to give a few examples of the things that McIntyre says: just a few because there is a severe copyright notice in the ebook.
It could have been me speaking:
When I have a good day at school I feel amazing. I swear it's the best feeling ever. Some days I just want to leap in the air and give someone the cheesiest high five!
My good days are when my class, or a particular pupil, has finally done something that I've been trying to teach them for days, or weeks, or all year. When a kid aces a test. Or just when I feel like I've really 'connected' with the class.
My bad days are when the class just won't do as they're told. The days when they're supposed to be working quietly and they just won't. When it’s snowed for the first time in years and they're so over excited that absolutely no work gets done.
That's the thing with teaching. The good days are amazing, but the bad days are horrific. Mind you. that's what I love about my job.
Page 6 of the file although there is no pagination in this ebook.
I have said exactly the same from time to time and I am sure many teachers have. Even people who aren’t school teachers but who teach or train from time to time, do get a good feeling from having helped their fellow man in this sort of way.
One of the first things I thought when reading the ebook was that it could have been written by someone who was talking about management in general and not just classroom management. This is not really an accident I suppose as management children and their learning environment is no different to managing employees and colleagues and their sales room, office, factory ...
In chapter 1 McIntyre talks about:
· Fighting fires
· Shouting
· Sarcasm
· Being prepared: here, for example, McIntyre says
If you're unprepared you won't be able to concentrate on managing your classroom or teaching your subject
Isn’t that absolutely true? Yet how many times have you experienced a classroom situation in which the teacher or trainer has lost their place more than once or twice? I once went to a conference at which the world’s biggest authority in my own subject area was speaking and he made a right mess of it: he kept losing his thread, he dropped his slides (yes, acetates!) and apologised for his mistakes. I was shocked at such unpreparedness by such a person at such an event. I wouldn’t have dared be anything other than on top form.
· Not following through: this is a key one and is one that many managers would do well to look at. How many parents, let alone teachers and managers, have said to their children something like, “If you do that again I’ll ...” but then fail to act on the threat? Read what McIntyre has to say both here and throughout the ebook. Read this ebook for his ideas here if nothing else. Sound, solid, good advice.
· Low expectations
· Playing favourites
The rest of the ebook is in similar vein: a lot of good, solid, down to earth ideas. Just look at the chapter headings and see whether those topics are those that you need guidance on. I’ll bet they are.
In terms of style, however, I do have a gripe or two. The style was rather flat and somewhat unconvincing. It is a short ebook and I appreciate the need for brevity but I wasn’t always convinced that McIntyre really was the teacher in the story. That’s not necessarily a problem and a criticism at all, though; just a matter of style.
Because I felt that about the style I wonder if others will and if they will be put off by it. I’m not looking for something as gritty as Kes but I want to be more convinced that the stories are first generation in a case like this.
I would also have liked to have heard about the times when McIntyre didn’t get it right. Now, he starts out this way by saying that he had a lot to learn, how he had problems admitting his shortcomings and so on and that’s good. However, it would be very useful to hear the stories of failure and how he learned from them.
I would also like to know where McIntyre got all of his ideas from. Now I am not accusing anyone of plagiarism or anything like it; but I am sure that McIntyre didn’t think of everything in this ebook by himself. I might be doing the man down and if so I am sorry; but if he didn’t think of everything then some ideas of his sources would have been excellent.
For example, you’ll read about raffle tickets: an excellent idea and I think for doubting Thomas, some idea of where the idea for them came from and so on might convince them of their merits. The idea of phoning pupils’ parents when they have done something good as opposed to phoning home only when they were bad. I have to say I have come across this with one of my children: where the teacher was much more than an anonymous member of your child’s world. The situation I am referring to was one where the teacher really would call us in the evening or over the weekend, along the lines McIntyre suggests. I have to say, though, that my experience was not in the UK and I should also say that none of the teachers of my other children phoned me at home except very rarely. All of my children went to good schools, too, I hasten to add.
Clapping as a classroom control mechanism: good idea and I can see how effective that might be. Read about it in this ebook. Using a musical instrument as a classroom control mechanism: ever thought of that? It’s here too.
One thing that has puzzled me but it’s not a major issue: I read the ebook quickly but am unsure whether McIntyre is British or American. Some language and spellings are American; but then he refers to the UK specifically once or twice.
On the whole, then, a good ebook to refer too for novice and experienced teacher alike.
Reviewed by Duncan Williamson
3rd January 2008
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