9 Best Books on Classroom Management
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Struggling with classroom management? First of all – know that you’re not alone. Classroom management is one of the most important, and challenging aspects of being a teacher today, and takes quite a bit of skill and time to master.
Books on classroom management can:
- teach you things that were not focused on during a teaching degree
- can be life changing for an educator -whether you’re the regular teacher, or a substitute.
Even if you’re skeptical about how much of a difference reading a classroom management book can really make (as I was), they can change your perspective and offer some solutions you may not have considered.
I worked as a rotary teacher for years, where I taught in six different elementary-level classrooms a day. While I believe that my management style was consistent in each class, I was respected in some classes but struggled in others.
However, I am really glad that I eventually decided to read books on classroom management. While there are limitations to what they can fix or achieve, these books helped me get the very best out of each class – which is what our job is, as educators.
The best books on classroom management for you likely depend on what grade you teach, what your specific area of struggle is.
On the list of best classroom management books below, I’ve included ratings, best age group, what you can expect and my personal (honest) opinion on each one – so take a browse and I hope you can find the one that best suits your needs and teaching role.
9 Best Books on Classroom Management
1. With All Due Respect: Keys for Building Effective School Discipline
By: Ron Morrish
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.9)
Best for: Elementary
With All Due Respect was the first classroom management book I ever read, and was, therefore, the first book to help me look at classroom management in a new way. Good behaviour is like a muscle that needs to be exercised. This book showed me how to implement routines that would allow my classes to constantly improve.
It is slightly outdated (written long before smartphones entered the classroom) – but don’t let that deter you – its an oldie, but a goodie. Its one of the highest rated of all the classroom management books on this list, and having read it, I can see why. With All Due Respect validated my experiences as a teacher, while giving me useful tips and insight on whole-class management.
Pro Tip: I wouldn’t say that this book is the best for dealing with extreme behaviours (there are some books that specialize on that below.) It is best for whole-class management, and truly helped me re-new my practice of managing large groups.
2. The Classroom Management Book
By: Harry K. and Rosemary Wong
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7)
Best for: Elementary
If you haven’t heard of the Wongs, they are award-winning teachers and authors who have written several books on classroom management. THE Classroom Management Book (2nd Edition) is currently the most popular of all their books. It has dozens of specific procedures that you can apply to your class. Not every procedure is best for
each class – but that’s what’s great about it. You won’t use them all, but you’ll become very familiar with different techniques and how to know when to use them. It has a lot of detail and could be overwhelming for new teachers. Just remember, the goal isn’t to implement everything at once.
Pro Tip: There is a lot of good advice in THE Classroom Management Book, but even the newer edition has a slightly old-fashioned take. In today’s world with lack of support from administration, it may be hard to apply some of the techniques that are discussed. I still believe it is worth the read.
3. The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students
By: Jessica Minahan
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7)
Best for: Kindergarden through Grade 6
Unlike the first two recommendations which were written by teachers, The Behaviour Code is written by a behavioural analyst with a background in special education. It’s a good book for if you’re encountering some more severe behaviours from a few struggling students.
The FAIR plan that you are taught in this book helps you with step by step on how to build relationships and expectations with students with challenging behaviour issues.
There’s a whole section on teaching students with anxiety, which is very common in today’s world. I also enjoyed reading the student profiles – they sounded so familiar.
Pro Tip: This book mainly focuses on extreme behaviours, such as defiance, and also anxiety and depression. If you’re looking for whole-class management, or help with more passive-aggressive behaviours (not finishing work), then it might not be the best book for you.
4. The Power of Our Words (2nd edition)
By: Paula Denton
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7)
Best for: Elementary
The Power of Our Words (2nd edition) is about teacher language, and how we communicate with our students. It sounds like it might be a no-brainer, but there’s some very valuable information and pointers in here. If you ever find that what you’re saying isn’t resonating with your students – then you will really enjoy this book, because it teaches us how to resonate better with students.
Language is an important tool when it comes to effective teaching and leading, and it takes a lot of skill and practice to use language effectively in a way that resonates with your learners.
There is also a whole chapter on effective listening, which I think is often left out of the teaching equation when we’re more focused on whether the students are listening to us, what we have to cover, etc. Denton gives you concrete knowledge on what to say and what not to say in different situations, which I found very helpful as an educator.
5. Lost and Found: Helping Behaviorally Challenging Students (and, While You’re At It, All the Others)
By: Ross W. Greene
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.6)
Best for: All grades
Lost and Found: Helping Behaviorally Challenging Students is perfect for when you want to reach the behavioural student but meet the needs of the rest of your class too. It helps you build relationships with your students (whether they’re kids, teenagers or adults) that don’t involve any reward or punishment programs. This book is a ‘address the root cause, not treat the symptoms’ approach.
It’s not about ‘quick fix’ solutions; it can take a while to get the results you want, but it is a useful investment in your time in the long run.
It’s more theory than case study, and there are accompanying exercises (worksheets). Another thing I liked is that there is a Q&A at the end of each chapter, that predicts what kinds of issues will come up as you’re trying to implement these strategies with your students.
6. Discipline Without Stress Punishments or Rewards : How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning
By: Marvin Marshall
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.6)
Best for: Elementary
While rewards can be fun, they have also become extremely common in today’s classroom as a motivator, as well as at home. This book shows you how you can motivate students without external motivators and teach them to be intrinsically motivated. The author, Dr. Marshall, is more or less seems opposed to rewards and punishments, but the content is solid
Discipline Without Stress Punishments or Rewards challenges the adult (in this case the teacher, but can be helpful to parents too) become more thoughtful, mature leaders for the children in their lives.
7. Teacher Resilience Managing Stress and Anxiety to Thrive in the Classroom
*may only be available in Canada
By: Jamie Thom
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.8)
Best for: All grades.
If you find that the behaviour troubles of the modern classroom cause you stress and anxiety, then you may want to check out Teacher Resilience Managing Stress and Anxiety to Thrive in the Classroom.
Sometimes teacher mental health and wellbeing is left out of the equation when we talk about helping disregulated children. If we’re overwhelmed and dysregulated, then how can we possibly began to manage a chaotic situation in the classroom?
This book will make you feel heard, prevent burnout, and give you tips on the first step in feeling your best so that you can manage the class effectively.
8. Teaching with Love and Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom
By: Jim Fay and David Funk
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7)
Best for: Elementary
Teaching with Love and Logic is full of classroom management strategies that, like other books, give you strategies on staying away from rewards and punishments.
It helps you with a change in wording to avoid power struggles, and phrasing things differently in order to get a different result from your students. There are sample dialogues, and suggested questions or phrases to use in different situations.
Not only does it help you with how to manage challenging behavioural students, there’s a section on how to deal with difficult parents too! It empowers teachers, but it also teaches you how to empower students, by teaching them to problem solve and think for themselves.
9. Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom
By: Kristin Souers and Pete Hall
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7)
Best for: All grades
Fostering Resilient Learners is useful for teachers, or anyone else who works with children – including social workers, coaches and more. The two authors have a combined background of mental health and education and have combined the two to help the reader build a supportive environment.
What I like about this book is that it validates what you’re already doing, but has question prompts for you to assess whether your learning environment is truly the safe and consistent one that students experiencing trauma thrive in.
10. The Way to Inclusion: How Leaders Create Schools Where Every Student Belongs
By: Julie Causton, Kate MacLeod, and Kristi Pretti-Frontczak
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.9)
Best for: Elementary
Unlike the other books on this list which are targeted at teachers, The Way to Inclusion is actually aimed at those in school leadership positions – principals, however its useful for anyone who works with students with special needs. The goal for this book is to help create schedules, structures and protocols that will foster a classroom that is supportive to students with learning needs.
Inclusion has been the method of approach for several years now, but this book gives you concrete steps on how to implement and improve it. It has downloadable printables for administrators and teachers.
A Note on Classroom Management
I was skeptical about classroom management books, at first. Let’s be honest – any teacher who is teaching post-pandemic knows that there are a lot of challenges in the public school system today.
I want to add that I’m not against rewards (especially not whole class rewards), but I do feel like we’re teaching in a system that has left students overly reliant on them.
While there is no classroom management book that will make a magical difference overnight, I felt stronger, more competent and more comfortable in my abilities as a teacher by giving myself the extra training from reading one of these books.
Final Thoughts on Classroom Management Books
Teaching is an art, and as the educator in the room, you assess the situation to determine what kinds of strategies may work with your students. From my experience, we get caught up in motivating by rewards, but this is only reinforcing external motivations. Most of the books above help you build relationships and teach kids to be intrinsically motivated – an important life skill.
Teachers are up against many struggles in today’s society. The worsening student behaviour is indeed a downside to the job, and makes it much more challenging.
I don’t need to tell you that classroom management is one of the most challenging, but also the most important aspects of teaching in today’s climate. While some classes seem next to impossible, our job as teachers is to get the best out of them that we can.
