Educator Review: Moment to Moment
Moment to Moment
Written by Joey Mandel
Published by Pembroke Publishers
Category: Professional Development Resource
Reviewed by Rebecca Purcell, B.Ed., M.Ed.
P-12 Learning Centre Teacher, Halifax Regional School Board
As teachers or parents we’ve all been there: a child in the midst of a tantrum, crying and beyond consolable. As the title of this resource, Moment to Moment: A Positive Approach to Managing Classroom Behaviour suggests, it provides effective strategies for helping students struggling with the “hidden curriculum.” New teachers leave university with an understanding of how to address the academic curriculum and how to help students struggling with reading or math. Classroom management is often the reason for teacher distress as it is not the focus of post-secondary education.
Author Joey Mandel, has taken an honest and reflective look at behaviours in the classroom, helping teachers not only guide children in the moment, but actively develop their skills in order to reduce future behavioural outbursts. She believes that behaviours occur when the demand from the environment exceeds a child’s ability to cope and recognizes that children need to be taught how to use their coping skills for those times when stress is at a maximum. Mandel looks beyond the behaviours to support individual differences and help educators meet the varying needs of students.
Aimed at elementary school teachers, I believe learning centre and special education teachers from the elementary to high school level would find this resource useful. The content is current, accurate, and authentic, as well as very user-friendly. Mandel provides case study examples of students in this book, but focuses mainly on direct strategies for minimizing behaviours rather than just the theory behind them. Well organized and easy-to-read, this book provides meaningful whole-group, teacher-directed lessons focused on skill development through social engagement. It should be a staple in every elementary and learning centre teacher library.