Most teachers know that a teacher is only as effective at teaching as she is good at managing her classroom. Even if a teacher is bright and has excellent lesson plans prepared every day, if she is ineffective at classroom management, her students will not be able to learn the material she has prepared. A teacher whose lesson plans are not as thorough or well thought out will still be a better teacher if she is able to manage her students’ behavior and on task learning more effectively.

Because of this, it is vital that we as teachers have strategies for handling the inevitable classroom disruptions that occur. The following are my best tried and true tips for responding to disruptions:

1. Prevent Disruptions:
   You know the old adage: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This is true in the classroom as well. If you have systems in place to prevent disruptions from occurring in the first place, you will have won more than half the battle. Several techniques are absolutely vital for preventing disruptions. Here are couple of the most important:
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Many students are quite bright, yet their performance on tests does not reflect their knowledge. For some students, teaching them simple test prep skills can bridge this performance gap. One very successful strategy for helping students perform better on tests is teaching them a simple acronym that helps them take the necessary steps to study well.

Assemble:

• Assemble all the relevant information from the unit: notes, handouts, textbook chapter(s), etc.
• Organize the information in a way that makes sense to you. Perhaps place it in a binder or folder so that it will stay together.

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Back-to-School is a daunting time for students, parents, and teachers alike. It is a time filled with promise and hope, yet uncertainty. We wonder what the next year holds and sometimes thinking of all the things that we need to accomplish before the year begins can get overwhelming. What can we do to make this time of anticipation and busyness easier? Here are six steps to ensuring a great school year:
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