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
The Friends program is used across Canada and the world to help children & youth (8-16 years of age) cope with feelings of fear, worry and sadness. I thought that this would be something that could be used in conjunction with a restorative justice approach. Clearly, the whole community needs to do something to deal with escalating bullying.
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!
This site has many different links to help you with your first classroom. Links include ideas for new teachers, how to create and introduce classroom rules, classroom management strategies for new teachers, how to create an interactive word wall, how to be prepared for student absences, and many more useful links.
Fundamental classroom management techniques etc. I really liked this resource because it forces teachers to take a closer look at themselves (teaching style and how it contributes to classroom management problems etc) Topics listed in index are endless and USEFUL! Updated in 2009 -PDF available online.
This site has a section (General) aimed at the student teacher (including a quiz on classroom management styles) as well as full timers. There are numerous sections detailing help for teachers in the social studies which include, besides the obvious sections on history and geographry, sections on critical thinking, student questioning, games et cetera. The subsections are quite good (under History for example there is an article: "A Relevant Approach to History (At Risk Leaners)" that outlines a lesson on time for students having a hard time grasping that concept.
All of the lesson plan ideas and articles as downloadable as MS Word docs for easy retrieval off of the site.
Whether or not you move on from Laurier to go teach in other countries it is important to keep in mind that the culture your students have come from may have an impact on the effectiveness of your chosen strategies. This article examines some of the techniques used in countries around the world.
This page outlines common mistakes of all teachers, as well as tips and ideas to avoid finding yourself in a bad situation. The first 3 pertain particularly to issues of classroom management.
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.
This site outlines eight points about what teachers can do to keep their students engaged and, therefore, quiet. While it doesn't target specific strategies, perse, it does hit upon some broader practices. There are also some great links such as "How do I Keep My Students Away from Me?" posted before the article's main text.
When you feel like you are loosing them, get them standing and doing a Brain Break. They take only a minute or two, need no real preparation or fancy supplies and they can contribute huge dividends to your classroom management by allowing students to re-engage after a mental shift. They can be done with students of any age, usually make you laugh and challenge your brain often by crossing your mid-line thus engaging both hemispheres. They have even been suggested for use during exams and standardized tests. They are backed up by some action research I found on http://abllab.com/ which even shows some cool brain scans illustrating the difference in mental activity when someone was active right before or not! Definite food for thought to do more than your DPA to keep them engage, learning and not creating mischief!
The following video includes very helpful suggestions on classroom management. These suggestions include: creating structure in the classroom, what to do if interrupted during a lesson, and the importance of promoting student independence and responsibility.
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)
As new teachers we spend lots of time worrying about practicing good classroom management strategies but if we focus more energy on teaching using what is important to students in this digital age we might not have as many classroom issues to deal with. This short video reminds us to be aware of how we are teaching our students not just what we are teaching them. If our first thought is always, "is this genuinely engaging for my students,or could I make it more relevant to them" I think we will all become better teachers.
This video is the other part of the story (part two of the video posted under engaging students of today) on using technology to engage our students when we teach. As teachers we need to be life long learners and implementing technology is part of that. Using technology in the classroom will engage our students and hopefully result in fewer classroom disruptions that require management strategies!
The following video provides three classroom management strategies for new teachers. These strategies include: planning ahead, classroom organization and being consistent. These strategies are helpful and can prevent classroom management issues.