The Teacher’s 30-Second Classroom Management Fix

First, a quick newsletter update.

For the past three years, I’ve been sending two newsletters per week—Wednesdays and Fridays. Haven’t missed a week yet.

Starting this week, I’m shifting to once weekly with The STRONG Teacher Newsletter on Wednesdays only.

This is me practicing the “O” in STRONG—Optimize. I’m reallocating that Friday time to building out The STRONG Teacher’s Lounge community and creating more podcast content. Same commitment to showing up consistently. Just changing the direction of some of my energy.

Thanks for being here. Let’s keep going.

Here’s a quote, a resource, a book, and an affirmation to help power you through the rest of the week.

Quote

“You don’t need a revolution. You need a Tuesday that’s 1% better than last Tuesday.” — Jeremy Jorgensen

Resource - The 30-Second Change That Saves You Hours

Is tough to change your entire classroom management system all at once. But you could make one transition 30 seconds more efficient.

Pick the one that burns the most time. Your passing period routine. The start of class. The shift from direct instruction to group work. The cleanup before dismissal.

Just one.

Now make it 30 seconds faster. Not perfect. Not solved. Just 30 seconds less chaotic.

Here’s the math that makes this matter:

30 seconds saved per transition × 5 class periods = 2.5 minutes per day
2.5 minutes per day × 5 days = 12.5 minutes per week
12.5 minutes per week × 36 weeks = 7.5 hours per year

From one 30-second improvement.

But it gets better—because that’s how Kaizen actually works. The Japanese practice of continuous small improvement isn’t about making one change and stopping. It’s about compounding.

If you improve by just 1% per day, you’re not 365% better at the end of the year. You’re 37 times better (Thank you, James Clear). That’s the power of compounding. The same principle that makes retirement accounts grow is the same principle that can transform your teaching practice without ever requiring a heroic effort.

So you make that one transition 30 seconds better. You do it for two weeks until it’s automatic. Then you pick another transition. Or you make the same one another 30 seconds better.

No overhaul. No weekend planning marathon. No crying in your car because you tried to fix everything at once and it collapsed after 48 hours.

Just one small change, followed by another, followed by another. This can be applied to any area of teaching and classroom management.

The reason most improvement fails for teachers isn’t lack of motivation. It’s that we treat everything like an urgent, all-or-nothing situation. New classroom management system over winter break. Complete curriculum redesign in a weekend. Revolutionary assessment philosophy by next semester.

That’s not improvement. That’s exhaustion with better branding.

Kaizen is different. It’s so small your brain doesn’t bother fighting it. And by the time the changes have accumulated into something significant, the new patterns are already habits.

Pick something this week. Make it just a little better. Not fixed. Not solved. Just slightly less terrible.

That’s Kaizen. And it might be the thing that saves your teaching career—one Tuesday at a time.

Read the full article: “Kaizen: The Japanese Practice That Can Save Your Teaching Career (Without Burning It Down First)”

Book - One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer

Robert Maurer, a clinical psychologist at UCLA, explains why small changes work when big ones don’t: large changes trigger your brain’s fear center, causing resistance and self-sabotage. Small changes fly under the radar—so minor your brain doesn’t bother mounting a defense. By the time the changes have accumulated into something significant, the new patterns are already habits. 👉 Get it on Amazon | Teacher Reset Book Recommendations

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AFFIRMATION

I don’t need to fix everything. I just need to make one thing 1% better.

P.S. Want to build a Kaizen practice with other teachers who are done with heroic overhauls? That’s what we’re doing in The STRONG Teacher’s Lounge. Join teachers making small, sustainable improvements that actually stick—one small step at a time.

With Gratitude,

Jeremy