Are You Properly Trained?

The toughest part of a teachers job is...classroom management!  This is an editorial in the Baltimore Sun...very interesting!

“Too many new teachers aren’t properly trained in techniques to keep their kids engaged and under control” (Panitz, 2014).  Classroom teacher, Beth Panitz, wrote a commentary to the Baltimore Sun titled “Classroom Management Skills Matter as Much as Curriculum”.   She stated that good management skills are the toughest part of teaching.  Panitz (2014) shares that creating a positive learning environment is not something that comes automatically or easily to many teachers.  Teachers must work very hard for many years to develop those skills with many teachers never truly grasping what is needed.  Panitz (2014) also shares that there was a report done in 2013 by the National Council of Teacher Quality (NCTQ) that stated that there is rarely enough instruction time given during teacher preparation programs that are teaching these proven management strategies to new teachers.  The NCTQ report shares that a standardized management system should be taught using the five principles:  rules, routines, praise, misbehavior and engagement.  Many teachers struggle with classroom management, of how to wrap their head around it and get their students to buy into the management system.

  To read more of this newspaper article go to:

Panitz, B. (2014, Jan 08). Classroom management skills matter as much as curriculum. Baltimore Sun. Retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-classroom-management-20140108,0,7197606.story



This was a third grade project that took us forever!!  But it was well worth it!!  We started  by talking about the artist Aminah Robinson.  We did webs, quick sketches, more detailed sketches,  rough draft writing, final copy writing, and completed artworks.  All dealing with the students and something they do with their families just like Aminah Robinson did about her childhood.