Creating Calm Classrooms: Teacher Behavior and Management Practices That Work

Creating Calm Classrooms presents easy-to-follow and guaranteed to succeed strategies, teacher behaviors and class management practices that the author successfully deployed to create oases of peace and tranquility in his classrooms in more than twenty years of teaching in urban schools. The methods contained in this book can enable any teacher, regardless of lack of experience, to create calm classroom environments in which teaching and learning flourish without the strenuous stresses of students' misbehavior. Unlike most books on classroom management, Creating Calm Classrooms is not espousing a narrow academic theory on classroom management arrived at through a narrowly focused study carried over a year or two. This book is a rich distillation of knowledge gathered, examined and refined in more than two decades of teaching. The teacher behaviors, management practices and students' reactions described here yielded classrooms for the author where he was always able to teach and the students were also always ready to learn. It is not an exaggeration that this is the kind of knowledge that every teacher in the USA should have before he or she steps into a classroom to teach.

About the Author :
Andrew Kulemeka, PhD, B.Ed with Distinction, was an English and Mentor teacher at Bowie High School in Prince George's County, Maryland where he gained a reputation as one of the best and most demanding English teachers. His passion in mentoring new and struggling teachers stems from his own unforgettable struggles when he first attempted to teach a class of 47 eighth grade students.

Review :
Classroom management is the core of successful teaching. Dr Kulemeka's book provides fundamental and critical elements that should enable any teacher who reads this book become adept at managing his or her class. Kulemeka's accurate insights into the practice of managing classes reveal the kind of wisdom one only gains from having been in the trenches of teaching for more than two decades. His book combines a non-slavish awareness of theories of teaching and the practice of working in the complex environment we call the classroom. This is a must read for all teachers desiring to create calm class rooms. Strategies and best practices discussed in this book certainly support ways one can become a highly successful classroom manager in today's world. --Joshua Jackson, Med, Assistant Principal, Former Social Studies and Practical Law teacher Dr. Kulemeka addresses the most critical issue facing educators today: classroom management. He does so by showing that teachers who are successful at managing their classes are also excellent teachers. In other words, teaching and managing student behavior go together. His approach to classroom management uniquely departs from the tradition of seeing classroom management as a skill separate from teaching. I taught with Dr. Kulemeka for over ten years. His classes were always known for having structure, order and rigor. Even to an experienced educator like myself, Dr. Kulemeka's book provides an opportunity to reflect upon my own educational practices. The insights the book gives would enable any teacher, regardless of years of teaching experience, to better manage his or her class. --Kathleen Ryan Jingwi, teacher, Prince George's County Public School System, Maryland Twenty-first century teachers are committed to fostering classroom environments that increase student engagement and meaningful lesson interaction. A poorly managed classroom will hinder achieving these student learning goals. This book promises to deliver a functional tool that sets the standard for effective classroom management in a way that has not previously been presented; educators across the globe will benefit from its wealth of honest observations and practical knowledge. --Evelyn Reynolds, English Teacher, Bowie High School, Prince George's County Public School