What To Do When Parents Won’t Come On Board
Put these 7 strategies in place to reduce parental anxiety (and your own) in meetings with parents.
Cornerstone concepts
Engage Students Not Contain Students
Engagement is characterised by appropriate behaviour (behavioural engagement), positive feelings (emotional engagement), and, above all, student thinking (cognitive engagement).
The 5 Ultimate Behaviour Questions
Your guide to solving behaviour problems in the classroom
A Year 5 boy is in trouble again. He continually refuses to do his work, he wanders around the room annoying other students by touching their work and talking about random topics, he talks to the teacher in a disrespectful tone and uses some low level swearing in class. When the teacher approaches him, he moves away and threatens to leave the room.
Effective Teachers Are Self Reflective Teachers
The end of the year is fast approaching and if you are like any other teacher ever, you will be checking up on how much content you have taught this year, how much you didn’t get done and frantically trying to assess students for their learning so that you can write an accurate report for the end of the year.
10 Common Misconceptions About Students Who Don’t Care
When students don’t listen or follow directions, or they roll their eyes when you speak, or they talk while you are talking, it can seem as though they don’t care what you think of them.
This is a misconception.
Young people do care what adults e.g. parents and teachers think of them. They care very deeply even when they don’t show it. The more it seems they don’t care, the more they do care.
Reinventing Our Kids Education
When I first started teaching (many years ago!) I was struck by the cookie cutter approach of the education system, that seemed to knock any individualism, originality and enthusiasm right out of young students.
Any student who didn’t fit in was poked and prodded (figuratively) till they were made to fit.
8 Ways To Build Relationships With Your Students (that may surprise you)
ONE: Use their interests to make the learning relevant, meaningful and engaging. TWO: Give them choice in their learning indicating that you value their input and perspective. THREE: Give them opportunities to voice their concerns and their point of view about issues in the classroom and the school.
How To Prepare Students For Change
While we cannot eliminate all change from a student’s school day, we can put some strategies in place that help students to cope and hopefully prevent difficult behaviour or meltdowns that may result from their anxiety.
What About Student Voice?
Student voice and choice. Creating a classroom environment where students and teacher really listen to one another in an atmosphere of acceptance and understanding may be considered idealistic. But what are teachers if not idealists?
If students feel accepted and free to express themselves they are more likely to take risks with their learning. They will feel ok to say, “I don’t understand” or “I don’t get it” and to ask for help.
To develop a non-threatening classroom climate takes time, effort and effective, consistent practices.
What Is The Function Of The Student’s Behaviour
Have you ever had a student who displayed challenging behaviour that baffled you?
None of your usual behaviour tricks and tools seem to work.
The student responds positively to you one day, but the next won’t do anything for you. Or they love your reward system for a couple of days and then refuse to participate in it.