This document summarizes key points from the first 6 chapters of the book "Teach a Book: Classroom Management for Middle and High School Teachers" by Edmund T. Emmer and Carolyn M. Evertson. The chapters discuss organizing the classroom, establishing rules and procedures, managing student work, getting off to a good start at the beginning of the year, and planning instruction. The document outlines specific suggestions for arranging furniture, displaying student work, developing rules and routines, grading policies, engaging first day activities, and structuring lesson plans to maximize student participation and behavior management.

1. Teach a Book: Classroom Management for
Middle and High School Teachers
Edmund T. Emmer
Carolyn M. Evertson

2. Chapter 1:
Organizing Your Classroom and Materials
• Room arrangement:
‣ Consistent with instructional goals and activities
- Teacher-led vs small groups
- Mix of both?
‣ High-traffic areas free of congestion
‣ Students easily seen by teacher
‣ Frequently used materials/supplies easily accessible
‣ Students easily see board

3. Chapter 1:
Organizing Your Classroom and Materials
• Suggestions for arranging your
classroom:
‣ Bulletin boards/walls
- Daily assignments on decorative display (colored paper or
borders)
- 9th grade and below post rules of classroom
- Reward “class of the month”
‣ Floor space - starting point: where is whole-class
instruction?
‣ Student desks - avoid students w/backs to instructional area
‣ Teacher’s desk and other equipment
‣ Storage space and supplies

4. Chapter 1:
Organizing Your Classroom and Materials
• If you have to float:
‣ Familiarize yourself with the room
‣ Try to arrange a projector for daily use
- Prepare transparencies for lessons/hw assignments, and notices
‣ A regular space on the board for assignments
‣ Storage space for materials that cannot be carried with you
everyday
‣ Try to get a cart
‣ Assign early arriving students the task of preparing the room
- Erase boards, set up projector, arrange chairs

5. Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures
• Why rules and procedures are needed
‣ Rules identify general expectations or standards - best when positively
stated (You may talk when given permission)
‣ Procedures communicate expectations for behavior - apply to a specific
activity
• Planning classroom rules and procedures
(consequences?)
‣ Identify school rules and procedures
‣ Around 5 sufficient to cover most behavior (student participation?)
- Bring all needed materials to class
- Be in your seat and ready to work when the bell rings
- Respect and be polite to all people
- Respect other people’s property
- Obey all school rules

6. • General Procedures
‣ Beginning of period
- Attendance: use seating chart, keep track of missing work
- Absences: write name and date on handouts and keep in absentee folder;
daily assignments on calendar; student volunteers to assist returning
students
- Tardy students: be consistent; sign in sheet
- Expected behavior: Warm up questions at beginning of period, copy outline of
class activities
- Leaving the room: emergencies only; keeping a record; reduced credit for
work not brought to class
‣ Use of materials and equipment: teachers and student materials
‣ End of period: clean up of materials and reminders of upcoming work
Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures

7. • Procedures during seatwork and instruction
‣ Student attention during presentations: respect and note-taking
‣ Participation: raise hands, student call?
‣ Seatwork
- Talk among students (no student talk vs quiet talk)
- Raised hands for help
- Out-of-seat procedures: sharpen pencil, get paper; one-at-a-time
- When work is completed (enrichment activities folder, work on hw)
Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures

8. • Procedures for group work
‣ Distribution of material stations/helpers
‣ Assigning students to groups: well-balanced, separate clashing
personalities, save time, efficient
‣ Outline goals and participation roles (recorder, reader, etc.)
‣ Cooperative learning
• Miscellaneous
‣ Signals: obtain student attention, transitions (turn off lights, bell)
‣ Announcements, special equipment, fire drills, and split lunch periods
(what to do with work and personal belongings)
Chapter 2:
Choosing Rules and Procedures

9. Chapter 3:
Managing Student Work
• Your grading system and record keeping
‣ Achievement, effort, hw, improvement, participation, and percentages
‣ Accurate assessment: frequent evaluation
‣ Record all student info in grade book rather than separate lists
• Feedback and monitoring procedures
‣ Students check own work (different ink and model how to check)
‣ Students keep own record of grades
‣ Long-term/group projects: divide into smaller goals and deadlines
‣ Peer review (must teach)
‣ Guided beginning for group seatwork then work the room
‣ Long-range monitoring - keep track of missing assignments

10. Chapter 3:
Managing Student Work
• Communicating assignments and work
requirements
‣ Instructions for assignments
- Oral explanation of requirements/rubric as well as visual aid on board
- Routine of copying down assignment
‣ Standards for form, neatness, and due dates
‣ Procedures for absent students
- Post weekly assignments or keep absentee folder
- Length for make-up
- Place for late work turn in and graded pick up
- Missed group work - assist groups in inclusion of absent members

11. Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start
• Perspectives on the beginning of the year
‣ Resolve student uncertainties: expectations, procedures, and rules -
opportunity for students to learn appropriate behavior
‣ Plan uncomplicated lessons to ensure student success
‣ Keep whole-class focus (group work should maintain this); prepare
extra credit or enrichment assignments; later introduce complex
activities
‣ Be available, visible, and in charge: work the room; praise, prompt,
leave
‣ Teacher authority: rights to set standards for behavior and performance
- Traditional, bureaucratic, expert/professional, charismatic
- Most teachers derive authority from several sources
- Authoritarian (control through threats and punishment) vs authoritative (provide
basis for actions/discipline, give students independence for maturity, and

12. Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start
• Planning for a good beginning
‣ Checking books out to students (wait until lockers have been assigned):
record book numbers, name stamp, cover
‣ Paperwork (hall pass, emergency forms, etc): all forms on hand and
separated in folders
‣ Rosters organized by period, noting accommodations for
seating/medication, 3x5: name, book #, attendance, grades until class
stabilized - useful for calling on students
‣ Seating assignments: learn names/attendance faster, class
management
‣ First-week bell schedule, tardiness leniency for first few days,
administrative tasks, rules
‣ Course requirements: tests, quizzes, hw contributions - parents sign?
‣ Beginning routine and alternative activities (wkst, puzzles, logic

13. Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start
• The first day of class
‣ Stand near door (sign w/name outside), make eye contact and smile,
correct any students that enter with unacceptable behavior, and make
sure students are in the correct room
‣ Administrative tasks (forms on hand), check attendance by raised
hands (not call-outs), teacher/student/course introductions
‣ Discussion of class rules and rationale/penalties, emphasizing benefits
to all, and presentation of course requirements
‣ Interesting initial content activity: should require little or no assistance,
which allows time for teaching procedures
- Explain what students are expected to do, list steps on board if complex,
demonstrate when possible, give corrective feedback
‣ Avoid pre-tests, small groups, projects, and individualized instruction
‣ Establish end-of-period routine

14. • The second day of classes
‣ If 1st day was short, review class procedures and follow 1st day
plan
‣ Identify new students and get them seated, re-state beginning-of-
class routine, review major rules and procedures
‣ Present content activity
‣ Close period with procedure introduced on day 1
• After the second day
‣ Continue using procedures, adding new ones as needed
‣ Monitor student behavior and give students feedback when their
behavior does not meet expectations
‣ Should start giving regular assignments for in-class and at home and
check work promptly using grading procedures
Chapter 4:
Getting Off to a Good Start

15. Chapter 5:
Planning and Conducting Instruction
• Planning classroom activities: types
‣ Openers to transition into the classroom (Do Now’s) and Closers
‣ Checking work: must teach appropriate procedures (different ink color)
‣ Recitation: oral check of student understanding, distribute questions to all members
of class, watch for too slow or too rapid pacing
‣ Content development: intro/extension of material, concepts, or skills; teacher
questions/collect work for understanding
‣ Discussion: encourage evaluation, awareness of other points of view, sharing of
opinions; requires planning prompting questions and management of activity
‣ Seatwork on previously presented material, start as class then independent work
‣ Test administration (plan work for early finishers)
‣ Student presentations and demos - give guidelines in advance, audience behavior
‣ Small-group work: lab work, promote greater comprehension, cooperative learning,
reciprocal teaching
‣ Tests and presentations/demonstrations

16. • Organizing activities - depends on number of
different topics covered in class; focus on see-
say-do
• Kounin: managing group instruction - activity flow
‣ Preventing misbehavior
- withitness and overlapping
‣ Managing lesson movement
- momentum (pacing) and smoothness (continuity; ex. dangle, thrust)
‣ Maintaining group focus
- group alerting (tell students they might be called on next)
- encouraging accountability (performance observed and evaluated)
- higher participation formats: write answers, read along during instruction
Chapter 5:
Planning and Conducting Instruction

17. • Transition management (see problems/solutions)
• Instructional management
‣ Planning
‣ anticipate problems (new terms and examples, demos)
‣ do homework to find difficulties - build hints in lesson
‣ infuse enthusiasm into lesson
‣ Presenting new content clearly: Learning objectives at beginning and
provide an outline for a complex lesson or video
‣ Checking for understanding: formative and summative assessments
- ask review questions
- discuss and solve problems as a group; recitation
- indicators (multiple choice question, “hands” to indicate response
Chapter 5:
Planning and Conducting Instruction

18. Chapter 6:
Managing Cooperative Learning Groups
• Research on cooperative learning
- Equal or greater learning than individualistic or competitive teaching
methods with effective cooperative groups due to increased
engagement with content; NEED feedback/instruction on how to
collaborate
• Strategies and routines that support cooperative
learning
- Room arrangement - line up desks to marks on floor for quick
transitions
- Talk and movement procedures: 6-inch voices, materials manager,
state timed movement expectation w/verbal reminders
- Group attention signals: MS raised hands, HS turn on projector and ask
for eyes at the front; avoid interruptions/present info ahead of time
- Promoting interdependence within groups: individual tasks (vary skills,
research different topic for report), group grades
- Individual accountability - id contributions, peer evaluation, individual

19. • Monitoring student work and behavior
‣ Work the room w/clipboard to write notes about all students about
satisfactory group functioning - note degree of explanation/demonstration
and use for feedback
‣ group and individual performance -self-monitor to identify difficulties
• Interventions
‣ Non/verbal redirect, time out/work alone, conference w/individual students,
conference w/entire group
• Effective group work skills:
‣ Social skills: teach active listening/sharing/support before group work
‣ Explaining skills: Rotate summarizer role, explain something to partner
and explain back, work as group to answer a question and present to
class
‣ Leadership skills: assign presenter/discussion leader roles to build skills
Chapter 6:
Managing Cooperative Learning Groups

20. • Beginning the use of cooperative learning groups
‣ Room arrangement, procedures, and routines
‣ Forming groups: star with pairs, working up to larger groups that have a
range of achievement levels, match extremes w/middle to motivate lower
achiever
‣ Initial group tasks to build skills: turn to your partner and explain/compare
answers, drill partner, reading buddy, checking, reviewers
‣ Teaching group skills: listening, explaining, asking for help, encouraging,
and sharing - introduce one/week and give feedback; assign and rotate
roles (keep on index cards w/behaviors) so everyone gains experience
‣ Using group and individual rewards to practice/improve skills - tickets for
good behavior for toy raffle/points for fun activities
Chapter 6:
Managing Cooperative Learning Groups

21. Chapter 7:
Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior
• Monitoring student behavior
‣ Student involvement in learning activities: “active eyes,” work the
room and don’t spend more than 1-2 min/student, start whole-group
activity
‣ Student compliance with classroom rules and procedures: clear
expectations that have been communicated to the class
• Consistency
‣ Inconsistency from unreasonable/inappropriate rules, no detection
of inappropriate behavior, not willing to enforce every time
‣ What to do if you are inconsistent
- Re-teach procedure (discuss problem) and enforce it
- Modify and reintroduce it
- Or, abandon it and substitute another in its place

22. • Prompt management of inappropriate behavior
‣ Eye contact/move closer and prompt appropriate behavior
‣ Reminder of procedure by stating correct one or note students who
are doing what is expected
‣ Redirect attention to task and monitor shortly thereafter
‣ Ask/tell student to stop inappropriate behavior
‣ Make it private: call to desk, whisper, nonverbal cues
‣ Briefly talk to student/assess penalties
‣ Time out at desk or another room
Chapter 7:
Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior

23. • Building a positive climate
‣ Communicate positive expectations to students: convey confidence
in students’ ability to do well, can do attitude, maintain high
expectations
‣ Appropriate teacher praise (public vs private): both informative
feedback and genuine teacher approval that focuses on
accomplishment, not effort
• Improving class climate through incentives or
rewards
‣ Grades (tie as many facets of work as possible) and recognition
(display work, certificate, verbal, stickers, improvement/conduct)
‣ Activities (PAT) and material incentives (food, games, books): relate
to behaviors most important to you (attendance, hw), everyone can
achieve it
‣ Caution of effect of rewards: enhance or hurt? - imperfect conditions
Chapter 7:
Maintaining Appropriate Student Behavior

24. Chapter 8:
Communication Skills for Teaching
• Constructive assertiveness
‣ Clear statement of problem or concern and describing effects - reduces
student defensiveness, avoids labeling students/behavior, use
statements
‣ Unambiguous body language: eye contact, posture, facial expression
matches tone of statements
‣ Obtaining appropriate behavior and resolving the problem: student
needs to accept responsibility for behavior, dramatic emphasis for
evasive students
• Empathic responding
‣ Keeps lines of communication open between you and the student and
aids problem solving process
‣ Two components: listening skills and processing skills

25. • Problem solving
‣ Identify the problem: state purpose of meeting, get students point of
view/describe problem, ask students reaction; evaluate: help/hurt?
‣ Identify and select the solution: student suggestion, multiple teacher
alternatives; positive focus with plan for improvement
‣ Obtain a commitment: student acceptance for period of time followed by
evaluation (sometimes in a contract) with consequences if not followed
• Talking with parents
‣ Constructive assertiveness, empathetic responding, problem solving
‣ Express appreciation for parents’ efforts to meet,work w/them as a team
‣ Focus on choices student is making and how to encourage better
decisions
‣ Document concerns: student work and notes of behaviors
Chapter 8:
Communication Skills for Teaching

26. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• What is problem behavior?
‣ Nonproblem: brief inattention, transition talk
‣ Minor problem: students calling out, leaving seats, talk during group
work
‣ Major problem, but limited in scope/effects: chronically off-task, failure
to pass in hw assignments, vandalism, cheating
‣ Escalating or spreading problem: unabated social talking, back talk
• Goals for managing problem behavior
‣ Judge short-term (bad behaviors cease) and long-term effects
(prevention) of any management strategy chosen
‣ Optimal: Maintain/restore order w/out adversely affecting learning
environment; should prevent repetition of problem

27. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• Management strategies
‣ Minor interventions
- Nonverbal cues: finger to lips, head shake, hand signal, light touch to arm
- Get activity moving: quick transitions, all materials ready
- Proximity: zones of proximity, combine w/nonverbal cues
- Group focus: group alerting, accountability, higher participation format
- Redirect behavior: state what should be done, “everybody should be writing
answers to the practice problems”
- Provide needed instruction: check student work, whole-class instruction
- Brief desist: direct eye contact and assertiveness, combine w/redirection
- Give student a choice: behave appropriately or continue behavior
w/consequence, “choose to clean up now or say after class until area is clean”
- I-message: “it’s distracting to me and the class when you get out of your seat,”
learn awareness of effects of behavior on others

28. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• Management strategies
‣ Moderate interventions
- Withhold privilege and earn back w/appropriate behavior (sit near friends, work
together on project)
- Isolate/remove problem students: desk at back of room, time out, switch if
rewarding to student, time out or walk to principal’s office, labels student as
excludable
- Fine or penalty: extra work, but defined as punishment - quick to administer, but
content negatively affected, non-content (look up and copy 10 definitions)
- Detention best for behaviors that involve time (tardiness, time-wasting behavior)
or repeated rule violations; adv: disliked, administered away from classroom;
disadv: takes teacher time, student skipping, additional records
- Referral to office for fighting, vandalism, rudeness and disrespect; adv: effective
limit, short-circuit escalating situation; disadv: depends on others for
effectiveness, potential for discrimination; use sparingly

29. Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors
• Management strategies
‣ More extensive interventions
- Design individual contract with student - problem solving
- Conference w/parent: describe situation and appreciate support that parent gives
to help understand and resolve problem, have grade book handy - require time
and energy
- Check (name on board)/demerit (record that student signs to accept
responsibility) system; adv: set/maintain limits, consequences are clear; disadv:
catch bad behaviors, hard to detect behaviors
- Problem solving
- “Think time” strategy - remove student to another teacher’s classroom, debriefing
form: what was behavior? what behavior do you need to display upon return?
- Reality therapy: establish caring relationship, focus on behavior, accept
responsibility, evaluate behavior, make plan, commitment to follow plan, following
up
- Peer mediation: students trained to listen/clarify issues, help negotiate, write

30. • Special problems
‣ Chronic avoidance of work: good records a must
- Ability: break assignment into parts/modify assignment
- Parent phone call, reach out to coaches, no grade leniency
‣ Fighting: injury if intervene? disperse crowd, get help
‣ Other aggressive behavior: all behavior, even if playful, is
unacceptable; respect others; one warning; separate students;
conference w/student
‣ Bullying: bullying prevention programs, monitor student behavior, talk
with class about behavior and effects, bully and victim problem solving,
involve school counselor, incorporate social skills training in class
‣ Disrespect/hostility towards teacher: don’t go brainstem
- Best to defuse: keep it private and individual conference with student
- Depersonalize: “This is taking time away from class. I will discuss it with you in
Chapter 9:
Managing Problem Behaviors

31. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Teaching heterogeneous classes
‣ Assessing entering achievement: previous tests, pre-tests, monitor
initial classwork (class notes, summary from book)
‣ Modifying whole group instruction: participation (pacing), procedures for
managing student work, thoughtful seating arrangement, assignments:
EC and enrichment, peer tutoring (expectations and management
skills)
‣ Cooperative work groups
‣ Small (homogeneous) group instruction: location of group/seating,
materials/storage/accessibility, student movement/transitions, out-of-
group procedures and expectations
‣ Mastery learning: re-take tests until proficient by providing increased
feedback
- Labor intensive: managerial skills, alt. forms of tests, extra grading, scheduling,
enrichment activities, recordkeeping
- Develop/introduce incrementally, due dates, specified days for test re-takes

32. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Teaching remedial classes
‣ Learner characteristics: high absence/tardies, arbitrary grades, frequent
failure, poor study skills, low attention span
‣ Establishing your management system: continually reinforce
procedures and routines, question class, practice, feedback
‣ Monitoring behavior and prompt responses
‣ Managing student work of daily/weekly grades for frequent feedback,
grade for effort/performance, incorporate participation (involvement,
learning, attendance)
‣ Planning and presenting instruction
- Short activity segments w/frequent assessment of understanding (see, say, do)
- Extra attention to presenting directions and instruction clearly
- Build teaching of study skills in lesson (note taking, identifying main ideas)

33. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Students with special needs
‣ Content mastery classroom: provide extra help, extra time for tests, staffed
w/special education teachers who can provide suggestions for adapting
teaching/management
‣ Inclusion - special education students in general education classrooms: IEPs,
regular planned meetings for progress and support, assignment modifications
‣ Emotional/behavioral problems
- communication with all, overlook minor inappropriate behavior, reinforce
acceptable behavior, identify/reduce/prevent stressors, temporary lowered
expectation on bad days, offer structured choices, allow leaving classroom
- remember you are convenient target, but not cause of anger
‣ Serious social deficits (ASD)
- odd social skills with poor communication skills, extreme anxiety to
change/unmet expectations, acute sensitivity to sounds, poor motor skills,
stereotyped movement
- use visual prompts, brief instructions (write down), social stories, strengths and

34. Chapter 10:
Managing Special Groups
• Students with special needs
‣ ADHD:
- distractible, impulsive, disorganized
- predictability and structure, ask others what works best for them, make sure you
have their attention when giving clear/brief instructions, observe as they work,
remind/reinforce effort and accuracy over speed, finger card/marker for reading
‣ Deaf/hard-of-hearing: auditory devices, center of room seat, projector not
chalkboard, repeat/rephrase info, restate responses, close monitoring, note takers
‣ Bind/visually-impaired: board work - read aloud, tape recorders, hands-on work,
change in activity to prevent tiring, seat w/back to window, move as needed
‣ Extreme poverty: increased communication and relationship building, presentation
of non-weak image/insolence, extra materials/supplies, bracket anxieties, peer
buddy, provide underlying assumptions for behavior, + self-talk, help another
student
‣ Limited English proficiency: understanding of English, learn key words in native
lanuage, body language/gestures, visual aids, long receptive period before
confident in classroom, consult counselor if language barrier prevents benefit from