1. Love your Students
Love them -- and stand firmly against behavior that doesn't meet your expectations or reflect their inner greatness.
2. Assume the Best in Your Students
If a student chose not to meet one of my classroom expectations, they needed to know that I loved them but not their misbehavior.
3. Praise What and When You Can
Call attention to the things your students are doing that meet your expectations.
4. Do Sweat the Small Stuff
In those first few minutes, hours and days in the classroom, you are essentially creating a world. And you want a world in which students do things that will keep them or put them on a path to a life replete with meaningful opportunities.
5. Identify Yourself
Tell your students about who you are and why you're there. A classroom where each student deeply trusts the teacher has the potential to be a great environment for learning.
6. Forge a Class Identity
Begin the year by forging a positive, collective identity as a class. During the first few days, I often complimented my classes as a collective.
7. Have a Plan
Your lesson plans need to be crystal clear. You need to begin each day with clarity about what students should know and be able to do by the end of the class period, and every second of your day should be purposefully moving you toward that end.
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