A mini course

The High School Teacher's Playbook

Stop being the engine of the room. Let your students drive.

I'm in, $47

The 10 minutes you know too well

8:01Laptop in hand. Attendance. Waiting on stragglers.
8:04You finally start. A kid walks in from yesterday's absence.
8:06You welcome them. Then you get back to the warmup.
8:09The phone rings. You turn around to answer. Half the room is gone.

I promise, it's not you.

The room is built so that when you stop, everything stops.

my hot take

MOST Classroom management strategies are built for elementary

So much of what we learn in the credential program on how to manage the room was built by elementary educators, who have the same group of kids all day long.

High school is 30ish students every hour. Yes, they still need procedures and structure. But, more importantly, they need a system they can run themselves.

And they can. Students rise to the standard you set.

What it looks like

the bell rings

Students walk in and know exactly what they're supposed to be doing.

the absent kid

They're crystal clear on where they are in the unit (and where to get missing work) without having to ask you.

work time

Instead of you doing a song and dance for 55 minutes, there's a balance of instruction and student-led work.

and you?

You're actually able to work with small groups and take a breath and even a sip of water once in a while.

Inside the Playbook

Three procedures. One self-paced system.

What isn't working
Why the room stops when you stop. And why it isn't your fault.
The enter procedure
Warm-ups become a unit tracker built on a juicy question. Like "What is the real cost of choosing violence?" for World War II.
The working procedure
Every unit gets numbered steps. "We're on step four" ends the "what are we doing?" questions.
Self-sustaining systems
Short videos and a class tracker. Students move at their own pace. You check in, reteach, and pull small groups.
The exit procedure
Three minutes to end together. No unit talk. Just connection.
AI, if you want to
Totally optional. Everything in the Playbook works without it.

Get the Playbook

Did I mention the bonuses?

All classroom-tested.

bonus 1
Back from break activities
Screen-free games for the first day back.
bonus 2
Kraken's Curse review game
For when Jeopardy has lost its magic.
bonus 3
EQ evidence tracker
The exact template from the enter procedure.
bonus 4
Classroom organization
My must-haves for a high school room.
bonus 5
Self-sustaining forms
Test corrections and conference self-assessments.
bonus 6
Teacher grading hack
A ton of grading done in one class period.

Drea smiling in a denim jacket and glasses — Hey, I'm Drea

Who built this

I do have a Masters in Curriculum & Instruction and this is my 10th year working in education, but that's probably the least interesting thing about me.

All of these strategies come from my experience teaching at a credit recovery high school in South LA. Lots of English learners, foster care youth, and they taught me everything I know about managing a room

I taught 4-5 preps a term, from U.S. History to Psychology to Government. I tried a million things because I was on a hellbent mission to figure this thing (classroom management) out. I kept what worked.

It took me years to build this system. You shouldn't have to wait that long, so I put it together in this course.

Use the best, tweak it, leave the rest.

Okay but...

My school is different

Block schedule? Mandated curriculum? Five preps? Same. Every system bends to fit your context. Use the best, tweak it, leave the rest.

I don't have time for another training

Every video is under 15 minutes. The whole thing takes under 2 hours, bonuses included. Start with one procedure and add the rest when you're ready.

My students can't handle this

I'm not going to sugarcoat it... there's a learning curve when you first get started. But if you have already have a good relationship with your students, I promise they will catch on much faster than you think.

I've tried strategies that never stick

Most of them were built for elementary. This is a classroom model built for 30ish teenagers every hour. No marbles. No weekly prizes.

This is for you if...

You plan solid units, but you're still the engine of every period.
You want students to own their learning and you need the how.
You've tried management tricks that cost more energy than they saved.