ClassMan2011

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.

Just because this is so great I'm putting it up here for all of you! Part 5 focuses on providing strong routines to help prevent classroom management issues.

A helpful article that links off to a number of useful topics such as classroom management, teaching tips and the like specifically oriented towards the new substitute teacher - useful for our immediate futures!

Have you been wondering what the best classroom layout will be, either for your third placement or next year? This site explains the different seating plans that you could use and some reasons why or why not to use them. This will help with your assignment for EU 499 as well as preparing for interviews!

For those considering moving up to high school at some point in time, here are six basic classroom management strategies that are still appropriate with older children. 1) Over plan each day 2) Start on time 3) Start the year or semester off strict 4) Let them know what to expect each day 5) Mix it up a little 6) Move to the noise Each of these is elaborated on by the author who says of himself, "I am by nature not a strong disciplinarian and like to be relaxed and fun with my class....I have however, over the years been able to find ways to combine my somewhat easygoing personality with some constant classroom rules and ideas to maintain a good learning atmosphere." Isn't that the balance so many of us need?

Another short set of high school classroom management techniques. This author outlines some elements affecting older students' lives that do not as often pertain to primary, junior and intermediate students. Building on these, the article emphasizes good connections with students, and positive environments, suggests use of humour in class, but recommends sticking to private praise and discipline.

How to get your students on board with how you want your classroom run. The checklist is a list of things that you should cover in the first day (e.g. washroom policy) and addition procedures, routines, and strategies.

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.

Behavior contracts, rules and good ol' affirmation are the key points in this page. A music classroom is a unique place in that it can get very noisy very quickly, and so an established classroom routine and set of rules are essential to the smooth running of a music classroom. Somewhat lengthy, but the ideas presented are applicable in virtually any classroom.

This is a game that any teacher can use to improve the behaviour of his/her students. It's a point system and the students compete against the students.

Beware of the honeymoon period! This article is a reminder about the importance of being proactive in the classroom. Instead of coming up with a bunch on incentive/reward programs, create a classroom packed with interesting instruction that will curb time to distraction. Keep them interested and they will not need to amuse themselves!

One teacher shares several accounts of dealing with difficult situations, sharing the effective and ineffective. There is a 'cheesy' video at the end - however, it is an interesting read and a good perspective from another teacher's experiences.

In a time where we are seeing such an increase in diagnosis and a highly integrated classroom, it is important for teachers to be prepared to manage ASD behaviours within the classroom. This article provides instructional management strategies, ideas on how to prepare the student, comprehension strategies and ideas on preparing the student for transitional periods. A must read in todays classroom environment.

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.

This article provides suggestions on classroom management techniques for children with ODD. It starts out with a description of the behaviour and best practice techniques. It also provides a variety of links to suggestion behaviour management techniques that are proven effective in the classroom. The article also provides links for having a proactive classroom and behaviour contracts.

This website is a little like a blog with teachers from all over the world sharing their strategies on dealing with behavior problems

This blog post contains a list of the 10 best of Smart Classroom Management links for 2010. These links were chosen based on feedback and retweets(popularity). A great place to find the best links for 2010 from this interesting blog!

This article lists why you should not yell when you get angry. He gets to the point quickly and clearly. Also, there are previous postings listed below that you can view - various topics that look very useful for us.

Here is a blog about classroom management. Teachers post questions they have, resources they have found. Check it out!

Here is a book website about a different way to deal with challenging children. It explains that there are 2 main reasons for children have challenging behaviour. These reasons are that the child has lagging skills in some area(s) and the have unsolved problems. The site has a link to a list of common lagging skills. If the website piques your interest, I recommend the book "Lost at School" by Dr. Ross Greene.

An article that uses coaching as a means of classroom management. It speaks about the importance of balancing offering support to students and challenging students.