Real Talk About Classroom Management

Serena Pariser is the best-selling author of several professional books for educators, including Real Talk About Classroom Management: 50 Best Practices That Work and Show You Believe in Your Students (Corwin, 2018) and Real Talk About Time Management: 35 Best Practices for Educators (Corwin, 2020). She is a coauthor of Five to Thrive: Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Creating a Dynamic Classroom (Corwin, 2022) and It Starts in the Classroom: Character Education for a Better Tomorrow (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022).  Serena taught English language arts for many years, primarily in San Diego, California, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has experience working with most grades in a variety of school settings across the spectrum, from underresourced urban public schools to affluent private schools. Serena was honored as Teacher of the Year at Gompers Preparatory Academy, located in San Diego.  She served as assistant director of field experience at the University of San Diego, where she taught graduate and undergraduate classes for teachers in training. In addition, Serena was selected to be a national evaluator for Schools of Character. A Fulbright scholar, Serena coaches educators across the United States and around the globe, from California to Kathmandu. Her passions include progressive classroom management best practices, bringing curriculum to life, time management for teachers, and weaving character education into the curriculum.  In her spare time, Serena travels and loves to experience the world for weeks at a time with just a backpack strapped to her back and a smile on her face.  Serena’s website can be found at www.serenapariser.com, where she writes educational articles that are enjoyed by a large audience of teachers. She is most active on social media on X @SerenaPariser and maintains a blog at www.serenapariser.com, where she writes articles for educators. She can also be directly contacted at serena.pariser@gmail.com.

Prelude
Acknowledgments
About the Author
My First Year
Part 1. First Weeks of School
Best Practice #1: Make Day 1 About the Students
Best Practice #2: Get Respect—and Fast
Best Practice #3: Set Your Routine and Structures Early—and Keep Them!
Best Practice #4: Speak Student
Best Practice #5: Create Purposeful Seating Charts
Part 2. Forming Positive Relationships With Your Students
Best Practice #6: Use Your Power for Good, Not Evil
Best Practice #7: Let Students Make Mistakes Without Feeling Like Failures
Best Practice #8: Win Over the Tough Kids
Best Practice #9: Become a Teacher Detective
Best Practice #10: Spread Positivity With Your Words and Tone
Best Practice #11: Focus on the Positive and Create Positive Students
Best Practice #12: Understand the Student Known to Others as the “Bad Kid”
Best Practice #13: Reward Students
Best Practice #14: Learn the Power of Behavior Contracts
Part 3. Curriculum and Instruction
Best Practice #15: Get Your Students Engaged: Make Learning Fun and Make It Transferable
Best Practice #16: Research, Read, Use
Best Practice #17: Pick Up the Pace
Best Practice #18: Use Arm’s Length Voice
Best Practice #19: Be One or Two Steps Ahead of the Class
Best Practice #20: Keep Everything Contextualized and Do Projects!
Best Practice #21: Challenge and Support Students
Best Practice #22: Take Risks in Your Lessons
Best Practice #23: Know How to Prepare for When You Just Can’t Be There
Best Practice #24: Use Creative Discipline
Best Practice #25: Vary Levels of Noise in the Classroom
Best Practice #26: Make Groupwork Work
Best Practice #27: Let Their Creative Juices Flow
Best Practice #28: Teach to Every Different Type of Learner
Best Practice #29: Have NO Doubts, But Be Prepared to Have (Just a Few) Lessons Flop
Part 4. Other Adults as Resources
Best Practice #30: Learn How to Win Over Parents
Best Practice #31: Know How to Make Coteaching Work
Best Practice #32: Be a Sponge
Best Practice #33: Find a Mentor
Best Practice #34: Watch and Learn
Best Practice #35: Instead of Talking, Listen With Your Mind
Best Practice #36: Be Proactive: Get and Keep Administration on Your Side
Part 5. Spins That Will Wow Your Students
Best Practice #37: Get Guest Speakers Into Your Classroom
Best Practice #38: Give Students Power and a Voice
Best Practice #39: Show Your Students You Care
Best Practice #40: Laugh Together and You Will Learn Together
Best Practice #41: Give Gifts
Best Practice #42: Be the Teacher They Never Had
Best Practice #43: Know That Kids Notice the Small Things
Best Practice #44: Get Students to Behave When You’re Covering Classes
Best Practice #45: Surprise!
Part 6. Keeping Yourself Sane
Best Practice #46: Balance Your Life
Best Practice #47: Know How to Handle the Difficult Parent Meetings
Best Practice #48: Keep it Balanced: Give and Take Equally
Best Practice #49: Be Responsive and Prioritize
Best Practice #50: Be Mindful With Your Coworkers
Widening Our Lens: A Global Perspective on Classroom Management
Handy To-Go List of 50 Teaching Dos and Don’ts
The End—of the Beginning
Real Advice: Teacher to Teacher
Bibliography and References
Index