Never Yell and Other Classroom Management Secrets of a Pro

Classroom management is a challenge for many teachers. Stacey Corrigan talks about how she manages her classroom. From transitions to handling disruptions, Stacey talks about the 20+ year classroom journey. She even shares the mistakes she has made and how she tries to help teachers not make those same mistakes. This is a refreshing way to start 2019 with perspective on the struggles all of us teachers face.

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Stacey Corrigan

Stacey is a picture book author and second-grade teacher with 20+ years of experience. Her debut picture book, THE PENCIL EATER, will be released by MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing in the next few months.

Stacey grew up in Elkton, MI and began writing as a columnist for a local newspaper in high school. She graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Elementary Education and Saginaw Valley State University with an MA in Early Childhood Education.

Stacey is a member of SCBWI, a 12 x 12 participant, and a Storystorm 2018 and 2019 participant.

Stacey lives in Michigan with her husband, two teenage sons, and an adorable beagle named Sadie.

A Note on Classroom Management

From show host, Vicki Davis.

Classroom management is a struggle for many of us. The books that have helped me the most are Fred Jones’ Tools for Teaching and Harry Wong’s The First Days of School.

I totally agree with the principle of not yelling. Yes, I messed up and yelled one time last semester. I regretted it afterwards. I can think of only one time when I yelled for emphasis about an overall class issue of integrity and a pursuit of excellence when it was a time I think that it fit the circumstances. (I’ve also yelled at many ballgames for kids but that’s an entirely different matter.)

It took me a good 3-4 years of learning the hard way to become a much better classroom manager, but I’ll admit — I’m still learning. My Daddy always taught me “never brag on your dogs or your children and say they’ll never do something!” I would add, “and never say __ won’t happen in my classroom.” With teaching comes a great humility at knowing that surprising (and disappointing) things can happen in anyone’s classroom. But we can effectively manage our classroom.

Don’t think classroom management means that you’re the dictator or that you have to do all the work — quite the opposite. When my classroom works, it just flows and it is a beautiful, harmonious place. I love my students and am so glad that I persisted through those first very tough years to a place of mutual respect where discipline problems are limited.

You can get there too. Persist. Improve. Learn. You can do it, teacher. Yes you can!

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