Crowd Control: Classroom Management and Effective ... (ISBN 1578866111)

Short and Sweet:
I stumbled to the end of my first year of teaching in June, and like the author (and every first year teacher I've ever heard of), I needed to address my classroom management before coming back to the classroom. I was dissappointed the book didn't come out until later in the summer, but it's short enough that it's taken me only a few days to go through it: a pleasant change from the old college textbooks I've been mining. The book is written very informally, which was off-putting at first. I've come to expect the tone of "Here's what to do". This book is more like having an experienced colleague handing you her beginning of the year material and prepping you for your classes. Rather than saying "It's important that your discipline system is fair," Haugland says, "Here's my discipline system and why I think it works." Most books of this type are hesitant to give you a method, and would rather give you theories and refer you to your mentor teacher or college professors. Refreshingly, this book gives you a method, as well as valuable appendices, such as the check system that she uses in class, and a copy of her chorus handbook (which I'm using right now as a reminder of what I've left out of mine). Haugland is very clear that hers is not the only or necessarily best way for every situation, but having just finished my first year, I know that just having a management plan that has been road tested is a key to getting past the management and into the teaching. Memorize this book before you interview for a single teaching job.

Educator:
Finally, an excellent resource for grammar school music teachers. Written as if in friendly converstation with someone who knows how it is for real in the classroom!

Contains a few good ideas...:
I actually expected this book to outline strategies to help with classroom management in any music class or performing ensemble. What I got was a book full of things I already knew (how to make assessments, seating charts, and rubrics) and contradictions. In the beginning of the book, she outlines her classroom management plan. I'm sure it works for her and probably some other teachers, but it wasn't useful to me. She stated that she takes 25 points from students grades if they receive 3 checks during the week and later states that you shouldn't grade based on behavior!? Our school forbids grading based on behavior, so clearly, that's not going to work for me. She did have some good ideas, like making sure you are organized and clear with your expectations. She also mentioned that you have to be really vigilant for catching and issuing consequences to all students that misbehave. Honestly, that stuff is not worth buying a book about.

A Great Text for Teacher Prep Programs:
Susan Haugland is a true scholar, yet writes Crowd Control from the perspective of a master teacher. Ms. Haugland's no-nonsense advice is a perfect introduction for pre-service teachers to the many decisions that go into managing a music classroom. More than a discipline guide, Crowd Control offers proactive guidance to everything from classroom layout to assessment. Haugland's twenty-plus years in the trenches are evident as is her scholarly knowledge of pedagogy. I highly recommend Crowd Control if you are a beginning teacher or an experienced teacher looking for empathetic ideas. Particularly, if you are responsible for teaching the next generation of music teachers, crowd control is an excellent book to stimulate discussion with your students on the how, when, what, and why of managing a music classroom and program. Bill Fordice G.W. Carver Elementary K-5 General Music Teacher Clarke College Instructor in Music Education

great!:
This book came in great condition (just like the seller said) and came very quickly. I would buy from this seller again. There were no hassles and everything went smoothly.