If you're like me, you're teaching online, and breakout rooms are one of the few things that make my online classroom feel real and interactive. Here are 7 ways I'm using this tool and 9 recommendations for gradual release.
Classroom jobs were helpful, but not consistent, and honestly - it felt like more work. I felt desperate trying to get random things done and change their popsicle stick jobs every week. I realized, though, that kids love jobs. There’s always someone who wants to do it or will make it happen. So I changed my structure. Here are the keys I found to successful jobs.
No matter how great you are at classroom management, there will be times when you want to create individual behavior plans and when it’s necessary to the health of your classroom. Still, it should a later step in the classroom management process because it requires so much work. If you can, I encourage you to wait on an individual behavior plan until you have tried some of these ideas.
You've tried all your tricks. You're fed up with the behavior of a student. You need help. You need an individualized behavior plan. I think I can help.
Have you wondered why some kids just seem to follow the rules and some kids just...don’t? You know those kids that really avoid doing something, that even seem to spitefully disobey you. Don’t take it personally. It’s just their tendency, but you can work with it. Instead of getting frustrated with those kids that seem to do everything except please you, you can learn to harness their strengths.
The other day, I was talking on the phone to my roommate. "This kid just will not stop doing _______," I whine. I sigh, frustrated, that it should just stop. "They won't listen," I appeal to her empathy, hoping that she'll just hear me out and commiserate with me. Instead, without fail, she asks, "What... Continue Reading →
