Amazon Early Grade Classroom Management Category:  Education/Training Publisher: Vested Publishing ISBN-10:  0975269909 Pages: 174 Copyright: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780975269909 Get confidence quickly to teach the early grades successfully. Brand New Teacher uses acting skills and scripts to get you up to speed quickly and with confidence. The scripts, that can be used any time of the year, contain a full week of lessons and how to teach them. These scripts can be augmented within hour own lessons or substituted completely. Why acting? It is the quickest way to master confidence and gain respect from students, peers and parents. This book is not only for new teachers. It is a complete reference book that takes you from classsroom management to behavior control. We hear from many Teachers with years of experience who applaud this book for what they learn from it. There is no other book in the world that uses these methods to teach the early grades. Excerpt From Chapter 13 Stubborn Sam... Sam walks into the classroom with the other children, but his body language suggests that he is not a happy camper. His feet are planted firmly where he is standing and he is looking at you with an angry scowl. You invite him to sit but he refuses and you are starting to feel intimidated. Some of the children noticed Sam and some of them seem intimidated, too. Now, they are looking at you. There is an uneasy feeling in the air. A crisis is looming. You must change the scene, but how? Before you begin to change he scene, you must get into character ...

Front Street Reviews
Thirty-three years of teaching experience has given Carol Keeney a bit of insight into classroom management. In BRAND NEW TEACHER: HOW TO GUIDE AND TEACH THE EARLY GRADES USING SCRIPTS, Keeney outlines an approach using scripts, as an actor would. Directed toward new teachers just entering the school system, Keeney provides a plan for capturing the class's attention from day one and maintaining it throughout the year. It is essentially a handbook for first-year teachers who tend to be left to their own devices and with no guidance are expected to instantly take control of a class of young children. The advice Keeney provides has been accumulated through her own trial and error process, in hopes that new teachers can manage to avoid some of the pitfalls that inevitably come before discovering a niche in the education world.

Part One is composed of two chapters that introduce the teacher to the value of scripts and emphasize how children seek approval in the expressions and mannerisms of the adults around them. Part Two is an organizational tool, four chapters providing lists of materials that may be needed, strategies for classroom layout and tips for creating effective bulletin boards. In this section, the teacher is building an engaging "set" for their "audience." Part Three contains some basic projects and games that can be adapted for different themes and subjects. What I found most helpful was that Keeney lists the instructions for the projects, then relates the benefits of each activity and the specific skills the children will learn. Each section begins with a list of comprehension questions to reinforce the information taught in the activity. The teacher can use these to get an idea of how well the lesson was received by the children and what is actually being retained.

Part Four brings us to the scripts. After creating an objective, setting the stage, and choosing some activities, the teacher must decide how they will execute the assignments in the most effective way. Keeney provides scripts for some essential lessons for early grades. The teacher can use the scripts exactly as they are provided to become familiar with the method, then use them as an outline for creating their own need-specific scripts. Keeney provides a full week's worth of scripts as a primer for teachers to begin building their own. Just as a script for a play or movie provides the actors with specific lines and motions, Keeney's classroom scripts provide the teacher with the same careful instruction. Keeney follows up with a chapter on challenges that might disrupt the script and ways to handle them.

Because the majority of Keeney's experience has been in early elementary grades, specifically first grade, all of the lessons and activities are created specifically for that age group and skill level. This makes it more difficult for teachers of higher grades to adapt the exercises to the abilities of their own students, but grasping the concept of scripts is a tool that can be used by instructors of all ages. It is no secret that children learn best when they are interested in the subject matter. Scripts allow the teacher to grab the students attention and build interest in the curriculum for optimum retention.

As a home schooling mother, I can personally attest to the value of scripts. When my own enthusiasm begins to falter, so does my children's. Even with a class of two students whose full attention should not be difficult to gain, boredom and distraction can set in. Scripts can rejuvenate the appetite for learning and serve as a blueprint for both teacher and student.


School Director
This is a delightful book for first year teachers. It is extremely helpful for that new teacher ( or even seasoned teacher). "Brand New Teacher" is filled with confidence building ideas presented in a unique way that keeps you smiling. This is a great gift idea for the new graduate or something for a new teacher to think of purchasing to help with the first year teaching jitters!

A Very Useful Book
This book is visually appealing and filled with ideas to help the new teacher feel comfortable and confident in the classroom. The way the text and graphics are placed on each page, makes the reader want to continue reading the book. Any page you turn to in the book has another idea that could be very helpful, especially when the teacher is first starting out. I, a seasoned teacher, have found ideas in this guide that I would use in my class!