ClassMan2011

This handy tool helps you save time and energy by creating a classroom floor plan online. Be prepared to set up your classroom when you arrive by adding and moving around furniture on this web site and then printing off your floor plan and bringing it to school. Use what you have learned about classroom management to help set up your ideal classroom.

This short article lists things to consider when setting up your classroom and briefly describes some basic classroom layouts. Read this before using the classroom architect tool bookmarked below. Both of these tools are useful for our classroom management assignment and for our future classrooms!

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!

Emotional intelligence in my eyes is related to the restorative justice, but concentrates on the skills needed to use restorative justice. It is more of an awareness of their own emotions, their peers emotions and being able to manges emotions and not lash out at peers.

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 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 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.

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.

From clean up songs and VCR freeze, to homework buddies.This website has creative and easy classroom management ideas that are effective for teachers and students. It offers tips for a variety of grades from K-6.

This site offers a simple list of ideas that are grade specific. This ideas will be useful to enhance the learning and organization of your space.

Although this is a little bit old, it still applies. Harry and Rosemary Wong talk about the differences between classroom management and classroom discipline. They discuss the fact that many new teachers have difficulty distinguishing between the two, leaving them with the complications of trying to resolve behaviour problems and little time to structure a classroom management plan. The article talks about different procedures and routines, as well as misconceptions that new teachers may have.

This is a site that provides you with additional links for tips about effective classroom management. It talks about routines, procedures, rules, choice, planning, and class participation. In the additional links, there are lists of everything you would need a routine or procedure for (in case some things slip our minds). It also has a few activities that you could use with the students to help enforce these concepts, such as acting out the rules or the opposite of the rule. By doing this, it would really give the students concrete examples of what to do and what not to do.

This four page article discusses if Student Teachers are more obsessed with controlling their classroom than worrying about the goals they have set for their pupils. Very interesting read!

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 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 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."

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.

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.

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.

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 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.