How do you feel today?

Working at a school this Friday, I came across a resource that I really liked but I could see that, with a few tweaks, it could be even more useful. So, I’ve made my own version of it.

Each ‘emoticon’ has beneath it a strip of five boxes that could indicate intensity or that could be [...]

20 Minutes for Change

Welcome to a recording that might change the way that you think about neglected and abused children. Press the grey play button to hear it (and make sure that volume isn’t muted). The recording lasts 20 minutes.

Doing Lit. with reluctant learners

One of the joys of my teaching life is to find ways to bring the learner to the learning no matter where they start from. This skill has been tested recently as I have been working with a group of highly reluctant (some might say ‘resistant’ or even ‘out and out hostile’) learners.
In my school [...]

Dealing with difficult behaviours

Sometimes we may forget that kids are just kids: they make mistakes. Yes, they can be rude, ungrateful, hostile and many other things that drive their educators nuts but they are also vulnerable and lack a broad range of ways of dealing with difficult situations.
Today for example, I taught classes about: writing CVs for media [...]

Starting right

A while ago, Ruth Price, behaviour consultant for Doncaster, and I were chatting about classroom management and she asked if she could film me at work. I agreed and she duly filmed a whole day’s teaching which we later edited down to twenty-four short clips.

The idea was to try to capture a teacher dealing with [...]

Star-shaped praise

While I was browsing through the files on my laptop, I came across this one. I made it some years ago now but it struck me that it might be useful to others. The idea is to use this image to praise a student or a group for demonstrating the four attributes linked to the [...]

Classroom management – X, Y and Z are for…

The posting that follows is part of a personal glossary of some of the skills that I use every day and what they mean to me.
X-ray vision, the illusion of
(See Scanning / Predicting / Being alert)
Y – because its your responsibility
Zabaglione – unpredictability ;o)
…

6 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup Marsala wine
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
ground [...]

Classroom management – W is for…

The posting that follows is part of a personal glossary of some of the skills that I use every day and what they mean to me.
Warning shots
This is an unspecified warning issued quietly towards the ceiling! The idea is to create the sense that a more specific warning will follow. No one table or individual [...]

Classroom management – V is for…

The posting that follows is part of a personal glossary of some of the skills that I use every day and what they mean to me.
Vocal control
Use the full range of expression in your voice and control how you use it. One simple technique is to gradually lower the volume of your voice to a [...]

Classroom management – U is for…

The posting that follows is part of a personal glossary of some of the skills that I use every day and what they mean to me.
Using a “positive discipline” system
Investigate this idea by speaking to teachers who have experience of it. Broadly speaking, positive discipline systems reward the positive behaviours shown by students and focuses [...]