ClassMan2011

Faced with a difficult situation? Difficult student? This is an archive of how to deal with common difficult situations (i.e., cheating, low participation, "homework stragglers", teasing, vandalism, behaviour during assemblies, etc.) as well as handling difficult students (i.e., the aggressive student, the arguer, the backtalker, the class clown, the complainer, the talker, the perfectionist, the shy student, etc.). Just click on what you're interested in or what you need tips on. There is also a section entitled "The ABC's of Bullying Prevention", where topics such as cyber bullying, understanding the bully, bully-proofing your class, and helping victims of bullying are discussed. Each section has an explanation of the issues at hand as well as a "what you can do" list of things for you to try in each situation.

Regain control AND keep everyone entertained! Perhaps not appropriate in every school or classroom, but this teacher seemed to have fun with it. And his students even got in on the action by supplying more powerful 'weapons'. Apparently, it's not only good for cats. Who knew?

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.

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.

Toronto krumping team Northbuck take their program "Kumping out Crime" into GTA area schools to give kids a creative outlet for their aggression. The program enrolls students in three-hour sessions after school that include tutoring, a free meal and krumping lessons. Northbuck also teach students about "leadership, co-operation, non-violent conflict resolution, and the difference between a positive lifestyle and drugs and alcohol." Principals who have invested in the program have noticed a marked improvement in their school's social environment including less prevalent behavioural issues and amalgamation of various racial and cultural groups.

Mutual Respect, The right to pass, No putdowns and attentive listening. All of these concepts are strategies for creating a positive classroom environment.

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.

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.

This site provides links to many articles and resources regarding restorative justice, and many of the principles can be applied in the classroom. This is a good site for those interested in adopting this philosophy in their classroom.

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...

This is an article written by Harriet Wall, a teacher, trainer, and consultant of behaviour management and restorative justice. The article, entitled "Restorative justice: behaviour and relationship management in schools" goes through what restorative justice is and how and why it can be effective in the classroom. The author offers some suggestions of how teachers can employ restorative justice and how they might already be doing so without knowing it.

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.

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.

Covered everything you needed to and finished a lesson a bit quicker than you thought? Got five minutes to kill? This site has tons of brief, fun activities that can be used to fill the time. Tailor them to fit your lesson plan and you're set.

This article, found on the OCT site, is about the importance of nonverbal communication in classroom management. I think it is something that is often overlooked, but the article provides strategies on how to match your verbal and nonverbal communication. The article mentions NCI, or Nonverbal Communication Intelligence, which "includes the systematic use of gesture, voice, breathing and other non-verbal signals to enhance communication."

This is a cute video showing a fun and interactive way to get students to remember the rules of the classroom. Its a great idea for classroom management and a great way to incorporate music! :) In case the rules are hard to hear...here they are: Chorus:The rules, the rules, the rules of the Classroom 1) follow, follow, follow direction 2) feet and hands, feet and hands, feet and hands to yourself 3) Small voices inside, tall voices at the playgroud 4) work together, don't fight, or else you'll get in trouble Add your own rules to the song!

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! :)