The ABCs of Classroom Management

No matter whether a first year teacher or a veteran of many years, teachers are always thinking about classroom management.

Many things contribute to making a class go smoothly and engaging students in their own learning. Many are within the teacher's control — planning, passion for subject matter, an appreciation for students' individual learning styles, and the development of strong relationships between teachers and students, and between students.

This special professional development edition of The ABCs highlights the efforts of classroom teachers who have succeeded in building classroom communities where diverse students are engaged in positive ways. These educators have built and strive to maintain democratic classrooms where students are valued, where students monitor their own behavior and where teacher-student relationships are authentic and based in mutual respect.

We invite you to join them.

Special thanks to teachers Melodi Patterson, Marcos Torres and John Gunderson for sharing their stories; to Erwin "Sino" Donato for expert videography; to the design and web production teams at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); and to Jennifer Holladay and Michelle Garcia, members of SPLC's Teaching Tolerance team, for their contributions to this edition of The ABCs.