Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant! ... And It Works!
Review: After my first year of teaching, it was clear to me that I needed some help with classroom management. I read this book during the summer and applied most of the strategies (they were easy and logical) to my classroom the following year. It made the world of difference. My classes not only improved discipline-wise, I began looking forward to my classes all year. There was also a significant imporovement in the realtionships between student and student, but more dramatically between student and teacher. This should be maditory teacher reading.
Rating:
Summary: This book is excellent!
Review: All I can say is, "Where in the world was this book in my teacher education courses?" This book gives effective, practical methods for managing the classroom. It finally helped me recognize what I was doing wrong in my approach to discipline. I put the suggestions to use in my classroom and saw real, positive changes. Sudents' behavior actually improved as we approached the end of the school-year rather than deteriorated. It's as if someone finally let me in on the secret of a well-managed classroom. I highly recommend this book. It should be required reading for all teachers.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as helpful as other books
Review: I am an assistant principal who oversees discipline. I first ordered this book for a teacher who was having problems with dicipline in her classroom. After reading this book I realized that I could apply it as well. The method taught in this book works wonderful. I even started using it on my children ages 5, 6, 10, and 13. After reading it you will wonder why you didn't think of this.
Rating:
Summary: Simplify Classroom Management
Review: I couldn't put this book down. New and experienced teachers should read this book! All teachers will get tips (or personal affirmation) for dealing with student behaviors that distract everyone from the "job" of learning. I appreciated the way MacKenzie broke down typical misbehaviors into parts, thus showing how they escalate. He then gives practical advice on ways to "nip them in the bud." The chapters on ADD and homework hassles were helpful too. This book is not theory, but REAL LIFE!
Rating:
Summary: This book summed up the course I just took
Review: I just took a class in classroom management. The teacher assigned texts in adolescent psychology and development, but relied on the lectures to give us the management portion. This book describes a very similar style of classroom management, giving me a much better tool than the notes I took in class.
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I especially like the scenarios in the book. In class, we got a lot of information on what was legal, and on extreme situations. This book gives much more detail on how to defuse a developing situation. In addition, the chapters on how to set the classroom management system up at the beginning of the year covered material that our teacher mostly omitted.
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I will be using this book! I read it through during my winter vacation, when I thought I would be sick of education materials. It was so interesting I found myself reading "just one more chapter" before going to sleep.
Rating:
Summary: This book summed up the course I just took
Review: I just took a class in classroom management. The teacher assigned texts in adolescent psychology and development, but relied on the lectures to give us the management portion. This book describes a very similar style of classroom management, giving me a much better tool than the notes I took in class.
.
I especially like the scenarios in the book. In class, we got a lot of information on what was legal, and on extreme situations. This book gives much more detail on how to defuse a developing situation. In addition, the chapters on how to set the classroom management system up at the beginning of the year covered material that our teacher mostly omitted.
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I will be using this book! I read it through during my winter vacation, when I thought I would be sick of education materials. It was so interesting I found myself reading "just one more chapter" before going to sleep.
Rating:
Summary: Discipline that makes sense
Review: I read this book this past summer and I am re-reading several chapters. This book puts classroom discipline in perspective. It's about helping children make the right choices and establishing clear and firm boundries in the classroom. It is easy to read, and it is easy to implement. The author gives lots of scenarios (to which we can really relate) that demonstrate his techniques in practice. In the first few chapters, Dr. Mackenzie helps us analyze why we have problems in the classroom and he helps identify patterns in our teaching that might be contributing to the problem. Once we recognize the pattern, then it's just a matter of implementing the "fix." The second half of the book provides specific strategies for implementing an effective discipline system that keeps kids, parents, administrators, and teachers happy. He also includes chapters on dealing with ADD/ADHD students and a simple and effective plan to get kids to do their homework. The book is not biased toward any grade level. His examples cover pre-school through 12th grade. So far, the best classroom management book I have read.
Rating:
Summary: Discipline that makes sense
Review: I read this book this past summer and I am re-reading several chapters. This book puts classroom discipline in perspective. It's about helping children make the right choices and establishing clear and firm boundries in the classroom. It is easy to read, and it is easy to implement. The author gives lots of scenarios (to which we can really relate) that demonstrate his techniques in practice. In the first few chapters, Dr. Mackenzie helps us analyze why we have problems in the classroom and he helps identify patterns in our teaching that might be contributing to the problem. Once we recognize the pattern, then it's just a matter of implementing the "fix." The second half of the book provides specific strategies for implementing an effective discipline system that keeps kids, parents, administrators, and teachers happy. He also includes chapters on dealing with ADD/ADHD students and a simple and effective plan to get kids to do their homework. The book is not biased toward any grade level. His examples cover pre-school through 12th grade. So far, the best classroom management book I have read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Start, But Not A Comprehensive Guide
Review: In Setting Limits in the Classroom, MacKenzie does a good job of explaining the importance of setting clear rules with clear consequences. If you would like clarification of what it means to have clear rules and consequences, then this is an excellent book. However, it is important to note that this book barely addresses the needs of secondary teachers. The examples almost exclusively deal with elementary school teachers. For a better treatment of secondary school classroom management, I heavily recommend Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Problem-By-Problem Survival Guide by Randall Spirick.
Rating:
Summary: Every teacher should read this book!
Review: The main thing about this book is that, as I read it, I kept saying to myself "Yes, this is very common sense, yes, I agree, this is what I should have done in my classroom". The methods and principles described in this book are reasonable and by no means hard to apply. These principles and methods are valid for both elementary and secondary students. However, most of the examples given are for the elementary level. Which is not what I was looking for! I wish I had some warning about this. Other than this personal grievance, I fully recommend this book.
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