Forty years and going strong (about me)

The commentaries on this site are listed below. They are about problems and issues students struggle with, and we as teachers struggle with. They are about what I think are better solutions to those problems and issues. The capitalized words are what you can click on at the top of the page to access the commentaries you'd like to read. Click "More" in the upper right corner to see the entire list. The number of views an article has had as of 4/18/18 is listed at the end of the title, i.e. (7600)

MINDSET IS KEY*

Mindset is key to dealing with troublesome students (8298)

“TOOL TIME"*

The "Tool Time" Approach for troubled and troublesome students (3857)

IRRATIONAL THOUGHT*

Four types of irrational thoughts that make teachers angry and stupid with students (2478)

HANDLING RATTLERS*

The late Steve Irwin could have taught us a lot about dealing with our angriest, most troublesome students (2266)

OVERREACTIONS*

An overreaction is an age regression - most teacher-student conflicts are just that (3986)

MISTAKEN GOALS*

Mistaken Goals - a way to understand why students and others behave in unhealthy, self-defeating ways (2275)

EMOTIONAL KARATE*

Mental and Emotional Karate - an inside out approach to bullying (1780)

STOP SHOULDING*

How to stop beating up on yourself (and teach students to not do it as well) (764)

WHY DISCIPLINE FAILS*

Why discipline fails, and what to do instead (1525)

THERMOSTAT MODEL*

A THINK-FEEL-DO thermostat model for teachers (and students) (1923)

ESP ARE THE CAUSES*

E.S.P. (Estrangement, Shame, Powerlessness) - The 3 Big Causes of Behavior Problems (1832)

KIDS DRIVE ME CRAZY*

"These kids drive me crazy" - Actually they don't, you do (1543)

WHY DROP OUTS*

Why students stop working, and eventually drop out (1109)

POWERLESSNESS*

Powerlessness - the role it plays, and how to help kids with it (1834)

BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT*

Behavioral Management is not the best answer to behavioral problems (1080)

PREVENT STRESS*

Improve your mental health immediately without a therapist (1299)

MINDFULNESS*

Mindfulness: Is this the way for schools to go? (870)

MIRACLE CURE*

The Miracle Cure for Chronic Troublesome Students (946)

SCHOOL TO PRISON*

School to Prison Pipeline - How teachers and schools may contribute to it (2129)

ANGER PREVENTION*

Preventing Anger and Teacher-Student Conflicts (How to keep your school from becoming the subject of the next cell phone video that goes viral and becomes national news) (1086)

TEACHING RULES*

Rules that helped me get through 33 years in the classroom, make less mistakes, and make the best of bad situations that did arise (1281)

POWER STRUGGLES*

Avoiding Power Struggles (939)

CONTROL STUDENTS*

The Truth About Controlling Students (966)

POSITIVE DISCIPLINE

The further into discipline we get, the more positive it should become (756)

WHY KIDS DO THAT

"Why do kids act like that?" (858)

ROLE OF EMOTION

The important role of emotion in students' lives (959)

THE ROOT CAUSE

Getting to the root cause of school problems (789)

BEST DEFENSE IS

"The best defense is a good offense" - That's how some troublesome students operate (764)

BEFORE YOU ACCUSE

"Before you accuse, criticize or abuse, walk a mile in my shoes" Joe South (791)

CHANGE BEHAVIOR

"Changing Problem Behavior in Schools" by Dr. Alex Molnar and Barbara Lindquist (752)

NOT PREPARING

We're still not preparing teachers the way we need to (897)

ANGER THE ENEMY

Anger - the #1 enemy of effectiveness for teachers (not to mention cause of health problems) (827)

TOOLS FOR TEACHERS

3 simple but important "tools" we can and should give all teachers, new and current (845)

HAVE A GOOD YEAR

Want to have a good year? (863)

MH FIRST RESPONDERS

Teachers should be mental health first responders (824)

A CRIME IN SCHOOLS

A crime of negligence in our schools

PLEASE + I MESSAGES

Put your (verbal) behavior where you want your attitude to be (874)

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Teaching students to apply the Scientific Method to their everyday life (1029)

TEACHABLE MOMENT

Standardized tests: a teachable moment for helping kids learn to deal with anxiety in general (832)

FOCUS ON KIDS

Too much focus on WHAT we teach, and HOW we do, and too little on KIDS (900)

TECHNOLOGY

Technology in education: Good news or bad news? (1544)

KIDS BRAINS

Teaching Kids (and Adults) About How Their Own Brains Work (844)

BAGS OF CONCRETE

How bags of concrete helped a student deal with his disability (819)

ABOUT ME

About my background in education