I think every teacher has been in a situation where they wanted to run from their own classroom. Perhaps, if you are reading this, you want to currently bolt. Leave the keys on the desk. Grab your cold coffee and dreams of teacher inspiration and speed out of the parking lot. Tire tracks left behind you. This would be more than easy to do on many days throughout the school year.

But, the thing is you really, really care.

The fact that you care so much is the perfect starting point.

Teacher burnout is evident and almost inevitable, and sometimes we have particular classes that are more challenging than others. In my time in education, the repeated conversation of “what hour” was your rough hour or what grouping of students seemed to present the most challenges, both academically and behaviorally. This one class or grouping can be a contributing factor for teacher burnout but also presents a challenge because there is a mental block to tackle when working with a hard group day in and day out. This post has 5 steps you can take to reset any challenging class or group of students. It is meant to serve as a place of inspiration and hope because sometimes all we need to do is figure out some sort of a game plan to come back and try again tomorrow.

I was recently looking through Jill Jackson’s book “How to Coach Teachers to Teach (Almost) Anything: A Totally Practical Guide to Instructional Coaching” and I found myself nodding when she was talking about the difference between classroom management and behavior management. While some love talking about these topics, some stray away because of a variety of reasons: Fear of being wrong, feeling like “we are already doing everything,” or being downright frustrated with behaviors in the classroom. On the blog, I talk about all things reading and writing all the time, but the truth is, unless you have classroom management in place, the teaching of content cannot occur. This post provides a launching pad for brainstorming different areas of classroom management. The effort that goes into your routines and procedures really pays off, and then, you can focus on the skills that are attached to behavior management in your classroom.

My classroom is all set to begin the 2019-2020 school year. As per usual, I can make this space as cute and as functional as I want, but it really needs to the kids to make it complete. I have done some minor additions to the layout this year, but I wanted to include some of my important areas just in case anyone needed ideas for their own setup. If you want to check out last year’s setup to see any changes, feel free to head over to that tour. My mission this year was not to get sucked down the rabbit hole of classroom design, but I wanted to improve the small details of my room that I struggled with last year.

I always show my husband my classroom each year. I get the same feeling that I am sure Chip and Joanna Gaines on Fixer Upper from HGTV get when they ask, "____, do you want to see your fixer upper?" Except, I'm like...."Honey, do you want to see where all of that Target and Hobby Lobby shopping went?" So begins the classroom tour. I went a little brighter this year with a Rainbow Chalk theme. Students from last year have already stopped by and asked why I am so fancy this year. The short answer? Because I can be. Each part of the Writing Lab has a purpose. Even though the cliche exists that elementary school teachers make the best decorated classrooms, I am hoping to inspire some secondary educators as well to setup classrooms in way that these rooms are also colorful, inviting, and meaningful.