Governing the Classroom Gracefully

“A teacher can never put in a method what he does not have in himself.” -Emerson White

This is part 2 of this pair of talks from Jonas Sauder on orienting teachers to their work. Jonas speaks from a deep and passionate vision for education that has sustained and guided him over the past decades. It’s inspiring to hear him cast vision for teaching from a place of fullness and freshness.

In the first episode, Jonas laid out some basic concepts for teachers in forming healthy expectations for their work and their place in the community. In this episode, he delves into the need for and fundamentals of classroom management. Jonas is keen to emphasize that you don’t manage a classroom primarily by how you plan but through who you are. Especially for new teachers, that may feel daunting. Maybe even like a bit of a dead end. I hope you’ll find some language for how to communicate about both the more concrete and abstract components of effective classroom management.

Infused in this talk is a core understanding of children as persons, not pawns. Classroom management is about creating an orderly, nourishing environment for little humans not designing and maintaining some kind of machine.

Jonas closes with a few cautionary ideas on how to lose control of your classroom.

As you press into this new school year, may God give you grace to lead your team with clarity and joy.

 

 

Links

• This recording was first published on The Dock as "Teacher Orientation: Managing the Classroom:" https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/teacher-orientation-managing-the-classroom-jonas-sauder/ 
• More recordings from Teacher’s Week 2008: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/teachers-week-2008/ 
• The First Days of School (book): https://christianlearning.org/product/first-days-school/