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Icebreakers and games for the first day to help you get to know your class. This article also talks about the importance of letting your class get to know you. Idea number 2 is great about creating a web showing unity within the classroom.

After yesterday's class I was unsure of how to incorporate restorative justice into my own classroom. This was the reason why I decided to do the remainder of my posts for this class on the theme of restorative justice. I was able to find 3 different lesson plans and one article that a teacher might use in his/her classroom in order to build a community focused on restorative justice. I hope that these links are as much interest to you as they are to me. This first lesson plan comes from two educators in Alberta. The lesson is called the community web. In the community web students learn about different roles in the community and how each of these roles aid in the process of restorative justice. Students each take different roles (eg. teacher, principal, victim, offender etc.). Then, using a ball of yarn the students create a web of strings by passing the yarn around the circle to other participants. Students soon see how interconnected all participants are in the process. This lesson is a great way to show students that there are more people involved in the justice process than simply the victim and offender.

Here is a really cheesy song about five main classroom rules that I'm sure a lot of teacher would want in their classes. Although made with the best intensions I'm sure, it is (for lack of a better term) quite lame. When will teachers realize that kids can see right through this stuff? Instead of trying to water down our classroom rules, shouldn't we be making these rules explicit? While no one likes a stickler, students need to learn that certain rules are in place for certain reasons - not to hold people back, but to maintain mutual respect and to create a positive space. By throwing a lame video like this at them, you are settig yourself up to seem like the overseer intent on ruining everyone's childhood. Nevertheless the comments in the YouTube forum suggest many teachers are wanting to buy this song in MP3 format. I know if one of my teachers ever showed my class this, they'd be in for a long year...

This article looks at four areas of classroom management: -establishing classroom climate -conducting class efficiently -reaching all students -establishing discipline

The blogger posts concerns that she is the reason why she consistantly has unruley classes. Peers in the profession make comments and suggestions.

Why stay inside? Taking your students outside can actually improve classroom management and reduce behavioural problems by getting students interested and moving! This article lists reasons to take your class outside, tips for teaching a lesson outside and supplies you may want to take along with you! Happy exploring!

Faced with a difficult situation? Difficult student? This is an archive of how to deal with common difficult situations (i.e., cheating, low participation, "homework stragglers", teasing, vandalism, behaviour during assemblies, etc.) as well as handling difficult students (i.e., the aggressive student, the arguer, the backtalker, the class clown, the complainer, the talker, the perfectionist, the shy student, etc.). Just click on what you're interested in or what you need tips on. There is also a section entitled "The ABC's of Bullying Prevention", where topics such as cyber bullying, understanding the bully, bully-proofing your class, and helping victims of bullying are discussed. Each section has an explanation of the issues at hand as well as a "what you can do" list of things for you to try in each situation.

A neat way to make a visual representation of desired class volume levels that can be placed somewhere where all students can see it and be reminded of what is expected of them in terms of their volume. Probably a good strategy for primary/junior level

Beth Lewis outlines her ideas around class meetings and community circles. Practical, useful and definitely applicable to multiple grade levels. Try it out if you want to work on character development or building community in your classroom.

The cofounder of this program claims that it is a "more advanced classroom management" system. For those interested in reform methods this seems like an interesting way to try and keep the class on task. When you need to gain student attention you say "Class" and the students say "Yes", however you are encouraged to mix it up and say it in different ways. The whole program is based on student engagement which I believe is one of the most important things when it comes to classroom management.

There are a number of classroom management ideas presented at this site which is geared towards substitute teachers and therefore are not about how you want to set up your perfect classroom but more about how to gain and maintain control over a class of students that have never seen you before. Some really good suggestions here.

Since many of us may be venturing in to the substitute teaching role at the beginning of our careers, I thought this was a great site that organized classroom management strategies based on grade levels for substitute teachers. There is everything from effective tips to strategies for gaining attention. There are also great links in the left hand column for books that kids love, curriculum activities and games, discipline techniques as well as interview tips and questions.

In my last practicum, I was in a grade 5 classroom and students got a good amount of time during class for independent quiet reading. I always questioned how productive that was since it seemed to me that many kids were not really reading. This resource gives good ideas as to how to manage that time so that it is productive and how to make kids accountable for the time that is given to them for this activity.

How will YOU get organized? Visit this link to read up on tips for organizing your teacher's desk, materials you'll need to get started, setting up your files, and organizing weekly materials, among other tips. There are some pictures so that you get an idea of how these ideas are implemented in the classroom. If you click on the "Weekly To Do List" and the "Personal To Do List", you'll open up PDF files with templates for you to print and use. All of these tips come from an actual teacher, so these are things that work and make a difference in how smoothly your class runs.

When you think you need to do more to try and manage the class, slow down, read this article, and do less. Its all laid out for you. Relax.

This is a good resource for new teachers to consult for typical behavior situations teachers face on a daily basis. It provides a small scenario with a few tips on how to best deal with the issues at hand. Each point offers a different method, given that all students have differing reactions to different classroom management techniques. All these ideas are authentic situations posted by teachers on how to manage some of the most common behavioral challenges in the classroom.

Great strategies for specific classroom management problems. Going into an associate teacher's classroom you do not get the chance to develop classroom culture. This site shows many tips for dealing with different behavioral problems in the classroom you may encounter as a student teacher in your final practicum. The one for a student constantly calling out came in really handy for me already! An important idea we have learned in class is represented here too : "Be sure the child understands that it is not he/she who is unacceptable, but rather the behavior."

This is a section of a website designed for teachers by teachers. It has been going for 15 years and has a section on classroom management. This article is posted by a teacher in Ireland and lists some organizational practices aimed at new teachers (some are common sense but good to review). There is another post further down on this site titled IDEAS FOR NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS GRADES: 6-9 in this one, I love the idea that classroom management involves personalization to be successful.

For any teacher anxious about going into their first classroom, this article gives a step-by-step checklist for a new teacher to review in order to make sure their class is prepared for an excellent classroom management start to the year. Categories examples would be room environment, what rules to set, initial supplies needed and Student prep (name tags and seating arrangements).

In Dr. K's class we talked about the recent EQAO cheating scandal in London. While this is not directly related to classroom management, I wonder about the teacher's role in this. Since they are the ones administering the test, one might assume (but not for sure) that they knew that something was going on. I wonder how this effects the teacher's reputation in the classroom. Will the trust built between the teacher and students be ruined? How would a teacher who tries to implement responsibility and accountability with her students recover from this? Obviously, these teachers were put into an impossible, difficult situation, so how can this be handled with the best interests of the students at heart?

This is a site that provides you with additional links for tips about effective classroom management. It talks about routines, procedures, rules, choice, planning, and class participation. In the additional links, there are lists of everything you would need a routine or procedure for (in case some things slip our minds). It also has a few activities that you could use with the students to help enforce these concepts, such as acting out the rules or the opposite of the rule. By doing this, it would really give the students concrete examples of what to do and what not to do.

This link provides great classroom management strategies, 10 ways to take charge of the class, creating positive classroom atmosphere, helpful resource books on classroom management, and a great teacher checklist (25 questions) for you to use to make sure your classroom is a happy learning experience. Happy Reading! :)

An article which outlines the history behind classroom management as well as giving an excellent definition of what classroom management stands for. Specific strategies are provided in this article with examples of what an optimal class looks like, and how to set expectations. Motivating students and developing relationships between teacher and student are heavily emphasized within this article. Last, the article states what to do in a certain troublesome situations and what positive outcomes may come as a result of certain actions.