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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.

Consistency, consistency, consistency! This article outlines some great tips on how to create a classroom environment that is under control, but also equally engaged. There is an emphasis on the need for consistency in terms of addressing behaviour, right from the start of the school year. "If other students see that you are serious about enforcing your rules, they will be less likely to test your limits. And test they will." Consistency in this case does not only refer to when you address negative behaviour, but also HOW. Students should feel that you're targeting the behaviour and not them. The article also provides some insight into how classroom set-up can affect behaviour (and how changing things around can better it), how using a variety of teaching strategies can help in managing your class, and how it is okay to ask for help in dealing with students with recurring problematic behaviours.

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!

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.

We have been discussing cyberbullying in a few of our classes and what to do when an incident occurs, but what about prevention? This website offers great ideas, complete lesson plans, and activity sheets categorized by grade. Each lesson/idea is developmentally appropriate and provides great ideas to get students thinking about proper use of the internet. The world is becomming increasingly technological and I think it's up to parents and teachers to take the time to teach children how to use the internet responsibly and safely.

You cannot ignore bad behaviour or it will just get worse. Here are some basic rules to dealing with bad behaviour: 1-bad behavior, not bad person 2-act but do not react 3-analyze, then respond 4-be consistent and fair The article continues to discuss other issues like inattention, side conversations, heckling, threatening and fighting. In the extreme case of students fighting one another, you should never put yourself between the fighters unless you are certain you can end it with little harm to anyone. The article is from changingminds.org and contains many other great articles.

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.

A lot of my looking around has resulted in seeing the book, "Reluctant Disciplinarian: Advice on Classroom Management from a Softy Who Became (Eventually) A Successful Teacher" by Gary Rubinstein. I have not had a chance to read the book, but this is a good review that highlights some key points. There don't seem to be any grounbreaking information, but I feel like it is nice to get classroom management advice from people that are currently teaching and going through what we will soon be. I really like the part on developing a teacher persona, as I think you need to have an identity that students understand and can know to expect.

Supply teachers can have many classroom management issues. This link would make it easier for a supply teacher.

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!

For those who did not sign up for the ELL elective, this video is a little introduction to some effective ways of teaching ESL students. The video identifies some struggles students have through testimonials from actual ESL students and then shows some strategies to use in the classroom. It shows clips from classrooms using these strategies. The following games are previewed in the video: grammar races, "What is it?", mock newscasts, misordered sentences, "What am I?", simulating real world conversations, and sing-a-longs (with hand gestures). The video is only 7 minutes long and worth the watch.