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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.

This website gives you a glimpse into a great resource that I learnt about this week. The book is called The first Days of School and the website belongs to the creator of the book. This book is so great that the Waterloo Board provides one for their new teachers.

This site provides a powerpoint presentation of the classroom rules found in Ron Clark's book "The Essential 55" (http://tinyurl.com/2fg7on8). Ron Clark is a famous American teacher who received the 2001 Disney Teacher of the Year Award, is the founder of the Ron Clark Academy (http://www.ronclarkacademy.com/about.aspx), and his life is featured in the film "The Ron Clark Story" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473389/). The rules here focus not only on developing and managing a classroom environment, but also encourage students to be courteous and contributing members of society. I highly recommend his book for the explanations of and the stories behind each rule. Pick and choose the ones you like!

This is an article that I think we all can relate to. I think we've probably all been on this 'boat' at some point since September. Although all of the theories, ideas, and strategies are useful, we have to remember that teaching starts with basic human relationships - this article made me remember this in a humorous way.

This is a resource which is currently being used within my PDS classroom. It provides strategies and solutions for developing the whole student, classroom community, etc. I really like how this resource focuses the development of the child (character, etc) with a specific emphasis classroom management. Check out the table of contents for highlights of the book and see if you're interested.

This page can be so conveniently added to your facebook account, and will pop up with updates on your news feed without you even needing to review the page for recent tips! Hooray! The page has further links to helpful sites for teachers regarding: classroom management, unit ideas, and free printables.

This site has a list of 41 links that are topics relating to classroom management. It is put together by The Teacher Development Network. The site is organized similar to our Diigo group but more concise. There are small descriptions of most of the links. Some examples of topics are: Classroom management plans; Bullying in school and what to do about it; Conflict Resolution; Managing classroom behaviour; Discipline techniques that backfire; Classroom leadership and Engaged learning. This would be a great site to check out for a wide range of classroom management ideas, as well as behaviour and discipline plans.

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! :)

This site outlines one teacher's perspective on classroom management from four different approaches. Backing many of his strategies with real-life (and often really amusing) examples from his own career, he shows how the occasional use of some 'non-traditional' strategies work really well. After all, "all is fair when controlling 30 or 40 recalcitrant teenagers."

This is a link to a Barbara Coloroso's "Winning at Teaching". Although it is not a source that you can read, it is a cd which you could buy. I have not listened to this extensively, however, from experience seeing her video "Kids are Worth It" this would be worth listening too. She takes on a humorous approach to all the topics she discusses. In this she will talk about the daily classroom challenges that many teachers face. Her video "Kids are Worth It" is a parenting video which could also apply in many cases.

This particular five minute audio clip added by a mental health counsillor focuses on the bully within the classroom, and talks about 3 common misconceptions about the bully. If you navigate using the "Previous" and "Next" buttons at the top, you will be able to listen to other audio clips within the "5 minute Classroom Management Fixes" series.

Although this video seems to be geared towards intermediate/senior teachers, it provides useful strategies that can be implemented at any grade level. I especially found strategies about teaching behaviour to improve academic success and consulting with colleagues about classroom management related issues very useful.

This particular site provides a number of links to articles containing useful Classroom Management tips to keep in mind, as well as some of the pitfalls of various CM strategies. The link provided leads to a list of 11 Techniques, however if you use the side bar there are plenty of other useful resources provided on the site!

Here is a great website that shares 11 techniques to help you with more strategies when following through with disciplinary issues in the classroom. When reading these strategies I saw a number of techniques that I have learned from my practicas to be very effective. For instance, non-verbal cues, direct instruction, environmental control and low profile intervention. Find out what you have used and learn new strategies that you can use in the future.

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 is a link to a restorative justice lesson plan. The lesson plan focuses on teaching students how to develop restorative consequences as a group. In order to do this, students participate in a classroom meeting/restorative justice circle. Students learn about coming to a consensus, how to come up with consequences for offenders, and why offenders commit crimes As a result of this lesson, students will learn how restorative justice can help offenders to stop their negative behaviours and how this can be incorporated into a classroom setting.

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...

Based on a literature review of publications on classroom management, 20 effective strategies were identified. These strategies were evaluated based on evidence based practices. A few strategies that seemed particularly helpful were 1. Maximize structure and predictability 2. Use a variety of ways to acknowledge appropriate behaviour 3. Use a variety of ways to acknowledge inappropriate behaviour

I have never seen a classroom like this, the teacher uses gestures to have students remember the concepts she teaches (this approach is used with the AIM French Program). Each idea has a concept- she is teaching Order of Operations so she has a rhyme to remember the order and then a specific gesture for each operation. Classroom Management Techniques include: -Teacher gains student's attention by saying: "Class" in various voices and volume Students respond by saying: "Yesssss" in a similar voice and volume as the teacher -Periodically throughout the lesson the teacher claps or snaps and says: "Teach" Students then turn to each other and repeat the concept that was just discussed using gestures

This video shows an example of restorative justice in action for a student in grade four. It outlines the benefits of implementing restorative justice techniques for students at the elementary school level because it will help them learn life skills. Feel with your heart, not your fist!

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.