- The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher by Harry Wong: I was given a copy of this book my first year of teaching. I taught 5th grade math at a magnet school. This book is filled with concepts and ideas that will help any new teacher get started into their new profession. One of my most favorite concepts in this book is the "First Day of School Script." This concept allows the teacher to stay on topic throughout the first day of school. Also, this book allows the reader to go beyond the chapter found here. Also, I love how this book encourages teachers to greet students warmly at the door assigning each child a number where they may find their desk easily and begin the assignment. I am only scratching the surface, you really must check this book out!
- Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones: My second year of teaching, I moved to a tougher school due to budget cuts at my first school. Now I would be teaching 8th graders Pre-Algebra and this district adopted this book. My favorite concepts in this book includes what it looks like when you "mean business" and how to arrange your seats so you are only within a certain amount of steps from every child. Also, this book offers whole class incentives which I think is absolutely brilliant. In fact, Dr. Jones's PAT (Preferred Activity Time) saved my life and this was the only thing that allowed me any control over these 8th graders. Another item that I use constantly are what Dr. Jones called a VIP which is Visual Instructional Plan. Sometimes we refer to these as anchor chars. These show the lesson in pictures or one step at a time. This along with other strategies allow us to eliminate those "helpless hand raisers." Dr. Jones has many more awesome strategies in his book and is also a must for any teacher or principal's collection.
- The Everything New Teacher Book by Melissa Kelly: This book is very matter or fact and really breaks down what teachers need to know before beginning work as a teacher. This is the author that let me know that is okay to send a student to the office on the first day of school. Also, Ms. Kelly lets the readers know that student behaviors start small and if they go ignored then they will escalate. Now this might be common sense to some, but this statement was eye opening for me. One thing that I struggle with is being consistent. I am horrible at consistency. Ms. Kelly boldly states, " Students do not respect inconsistent teachers." These are just a few things that stuck with me from this reading, but this book explains high expectations better than any author I have read so far. Also, this book discusses maximizing instruction time, assessments and grading, high-stakes testing, just to name a few. The title does not lie.
- A First-Year Teacher's Guidebook: An Educational Recipe for Success by Bonnie Williamson: This book has fantastic ideas. Like I stated earlier, I am the most inconsistent person in the world. This book suggests having a procedure that starts the morning every single day. I know I followed this closely by having morning meetings. When I did not have a morning meeting one day, my students were lost. So I now stick to the morning procedure to allow my students to get off on the right foot each day. Another item that I struggled with as a new teacher is how to have an effective class meeting. This book has a whole chapter of how to achieve this task. This chapter guided me to teach my students how to handle issues in a civil manner. I also learned that students may help choose topics for a class meeting to go on the class meeting agenda. This book is full of tips and strategies.
- The Teacher's Survival Handbook by Martha Ainsworth: I saved my favorite book for last. This book is written by a Special Education teacher and has very practical strategies for managing difficult kids. Mrs. Ainsworth writes in a way that you feel you are sitting beside her and she is talking to you. All through this book she reflects and shares stories of her personal experiences as a teacher. This book really stresses that you are positive, kind, and respectful to your students. What really sets this book apart from the others is Mrs. Ainsworth does not just give theories on how to prevent student behavior, but she gives specific examples of how to handle scenarios that all teachers might find themselves. For example, what if you lose control of your whole class? She reflects on a time when she was required to test over one hundred students that were off task upon her entrance to this testing sight. I will say, she did get these children focused on what she wanted them to do. Or what to do if all the kids start dropping their books during instruction? She also includes fun activities that will keep students engaged while learning. I cannot say enough good things about The Teacher's Survival Handbook. Also, it is small enough to fit in your purse. This book inspired a freebie on how to follow directions. I used this idea to create flip cards of how to solve long division problems. You may find this free item here.
These are my top five favorite books on classroom management. One thing I noticed that every single book addressed was consistency and high expectations. I hope you found this helpful. Please, check out these books! They are spectacular! Do not forget to get your freebie! You may also get this at my teacherspayteacher store here.
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