Becoming more Assertive

Q. I need to be more assertive in the classroom. Do you have a book that would cover that?

A. I've had a think, and probably my book Sue Cowley's Teaching Clinic would be the most useful to help you develop more assertiveness. It takes various different issues (the class from hell, the balanced relationship, etc.) and then I look at alternative ways of solving them.

Is there a specific situation where you feel you're not being assertive enough? Bear in mind that assertive doesn't have to mean pushy or aggressive. The best tip I was ever given about this was 'be reasonable, but don't reason with them'. Make up your mind what you want, and then just don't allow any discussion about it. As the teacher you have to believe that you're entitled to ask for what you want, and that your students have to comply with that. (Of course it's getting them to comply that's the hard bit, but if you believe in yourself and your expectations it should happen eventually).

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