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Sir Ken Robinson asks the good questions that aren't be asked in education. Our education model has become so systematic with little good reasoning behind it. We've created a box for thinking, can we get out of it? Even if you don't watch the whole 11:40 minutes, you'll still get something out of this clip. The good news is: some of these changes that are needed can be done in the classroom. It can start with us.

This article talks about some of the ways to hold students accountable for their own learning, as well as their behaviour in the classroom. I also found it helpful as it explains some of the factors that may lead to behavioural problems amongst students(i.e. overworking kids, too many outside of school responsibilities, etc...). Definitely an article worth checking out.

Some interesting ideas - some that I'd want to use all year round! Learning centres, co-operative learning, literature circles, outside learning, team challenges. Some great ideas to keep kids motivated with learning!

Offers an overview of what classroom management means as well as providing strategies and resources to help educators.

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.

This handy site proves that educational challenges are universal! It is run by UK teachers and has a number of articles on it from managing bathroom breaks to getting student's attention to detailed management techniques. There are lots of hands-on practical tips (and stuff to print out and use in the classroom too!). If you are short on time there are single sentence to single paragraph articles and for those with more time there is a 107 page article with greater detailed ideas. These have been submitted by teachers and they indicate the age range they are useful for at the begining of the articles.

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.

This lesson plan comes from two educators in Alberta. In the lesson students learn about the concept of justice circles through role play. This helps students to learn respect for others in the classroom. Justice circles are similar to the classroom meetings in the previous post, however, justice circles are more focused on allowing the victims and offenders to get a better sense of one another. The goal is to resolve conflict while remaining respectful to all involved. In this lesson plan students role play different situations in a justice circle. Additionally students also write about one participant and what his or her involvement was in the justice circle. They then have to reflect on the process and why it was or wasn't effective. This lesson will help students understand how restorative justice can provide a support system for both victim and offender and how that is different from retributive justice.

This article outlines some general ideas for implementing classroom meetings school wide or just within your class. It describes these meetings as "an opportunity to observe the practice of dignity, respect, and understanding" as well as one to combat bullying. Emphasizing the importance of meeting facilitator training, the article walks through both beneficial training steps and implementation strategies.

A fascinating experiment in which Sugata Mitra attempts to solve the conundrum that the best teachers and schools aren't present where they are needed most in the world. He installs a computer in highly impoverished areas and gives students unsupervised access to the web. What he found was that children the world over have an inherent desire to learn and will latch onto their interests and teach themselves with little to no need for supervision. Just goes to show that if students are engaged in the material, the teacher need not focus on discipline and can instead serve to stimulate students' inherent curiosity.

This is a link to a collection of informative, motivational, and humourous quotes. Take some time to scroll through them! Although they may not overtly relate to classroom management, they do make you think about the importance of teaching, and can help to develop one's teaching philosophy. Here is one that made me think: "In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less." Lee Iacocca

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!

A website that outlines potential lessons and resources that can be used in order to promote awareness about cyber bullying in the classroom.

The article begins by defining the characteristics of students with Asperger's, which is on the autism spectrum. Students with Asperger's specifically struggle with transitioning between activities because they struggle when their daily routine is disrupted. One strategy is to use picture charts for each part of the day. Another strategy for older students is to use verbal cues that a transition is occuring. Ultimitely, teachers who provide emotinal support will help these students transition smoothly.

This website has different categories for stages in a teaching career. There are links for beginning teachers, substitute teachers, mentor teachers and students. They have teaching tips, articles, and blogs and you can also join an email discussion list. I like that you can connect to different aspects of education from one location.

A few tips on how to deal with disruptive behavior caused by troubled students.

Emotional intelligence in my eyes is related to the restorative justice, but concentrates on the skills needed to use restorative justice. It is more of an awareness of their own emotions, their peers emotions and being able to manges emotions and not lash out at peers.

This article speaks to all of the components that we talk about in class: environment, expectations, motivational climate, and maintaining a learning environment. It gives great strategies on how to keep your classroom running smooth.

I wanted to find an article that gave a list of "best" strategies to use in managing students in the classroom. I came across this particular article by Kellie Hayden, a veteran teacher with 17 years of experience. She has taught subjects from mechanics to Shakespeare, middle to highschool, and students with ADHD to students with their own parole officers. Although this article represented one teachers view, she seems to have a great outlook and great classroom management. Here are her top 5: 5-keep the lesson moving 4-don't lecture for the whole period 3-talk to your students 2-stand near distruptive students 1-talk to extremely distruptive students in the hall (last resort is the office)