The Secret Weapon for Teachers

When I first started teaching 20 years ago to say I struggled is an understatement.  

You may not believe this but there were many nights I went home crying because I felt I could do nothing right.  

I was a 30 year old man and those kids were making me cry.  I never cried in front of them but I had my moments where I almost did.  

Nobody was listening to me, nobody was working, students were being disruptive, and I had no idea how to gain control of my classroom.  

A few months into me teaching my principal came to me and said these haunting words, "I don't think this is working out".  

My heart sank.  I had a family to support and I was working my butt off but nothing seemed to make a difference.  

He then said this, "We are going to give it one more shot.  I am going to have you shadow Mr. B for a few weeks and then let us take it from there". 

When I meet Mr. B he did not seem like anything special.  He was an average guy, average built, and not very intimidating.  But when I watched him the classroom he was doing everything that I wanted to do.  

How was he doing it?

When we finally sat down to talk he gave me his philosophy of fair, firm, and consistent.  I still use that philosophy in my class 20 years later.  

I then asked him about his clipboard.  He always walked around in the classroom with the clipboard and I saw him constantly making marks on it.  

He then explained the power of the clipboard / seating chart and how it helps he not only track things but also how he uses it for classroom management. 

Now a 20 year veteran teacher, I too walk around my classroom with a clipboard / seating chart and I truly understand how it make all the difference in a classroom.  

To watch my latest video where I go into detail about my seating chart and how I use it please click on the image above.