I had a huge a-ha today while I was working on a new conference presentation: I was using the terms “classroom management” and “behavior management” interchangeably. I think I knew they were slightly different, but it dawned on me today that they are VERY different.
Here’s a graphic from my presentation, detailing the differences between Classroom Management and Behavior Management…I’m practically saying, “DUH!” to myself as I type this!
So what was the big a-ha? For me it was these three things:
- Behavior management is for some kids while classroom management is for all kids.
- Classroom management has to do with management of the instruction, while behavior management might have nothing to do with instruction, per se.
- My biggest a-ha is that both classroom management and behavior management are preventive: they are preventing different things, but when they are carried out well they are preventing things from happening, nonetheless!
Was this ONLY a new concept for me? What do you think?
Totally agree. So many educators use these terms interchangeably. They are completely different!
This is great for my rookie teachers and some who may need a distinction!
This was revolutionary for me! I had wanted to facilitate the daily five with a teacher in my building , and I was told by admin that I needed to only work on behavior management with this teacher. This concept of differentiating between the two helped me to see she needed the classroom management to be put in place in order to distinguish which children then truly needed behavior management. She was only dealing with behavior management.
I love it!!!! 🙂