Students are most motivated when they feel they are part of a community in which they feel accepted and in which individuality is encouraged. By definition a community is a group of people who work with one another building a sense of trust, care, and support – kind of like a family. This means that in our classrooms, part of our job is to provide opportunities and structures by which students can...

Here are some ways of improving praise so that it creates the kind of positive changes you want to see in your challenging students.

1. Make praise descriptive and specific

Real praise – the kind that actually makes a difference – comes from genuinely noticing when someone puts effort into something or has managed to complete something they wouldn’t normally manage to do and then describing...

Whenever you have to issue a consequence to a student you will almost certainly provoke some eye rolling, muttering, complaining and other secondary behaviours. Don’t get drawn into these attempts to start an argument; it will escalate until either the student does something that will cause you more stress or you will explode and embarrass yourself. Either way you can’t win by arguing.

To prevent...

1. Create a block of time during free periods and other non-teaching time to handle paperwork. Schedule this in your planner and stick to it. Chatting with colleagues is an effective way to let off steam and relax but it is more enjoyable doing so when you’ve first got some paperwork out of the way. Get some books marked first, then chat. Or, if you prefer, mark the books at home – I know which I’d
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Want a way to connect with your students? Then what better way than learning the names of your new students as quickly as possible. Here are 5 tips to help you achieve just that…

1. Name Chain

Ask each student in turn to share his/her name and the names of people who have already introduced themselves. E.g. Person 1 says their name, person 2 then gives the first person’s name as well as their ow...

A student who has no interest in lessons and anything you say and do, can have a terrible impact on the rest of the class. What you must remember however is that this student probably wants to succeed – most do, at heart – but has virtually given up due to a succession of failures, discouragement and low self-image. It may take time to reach this student and help him see life (including your lesso...

Here is a quick video which explains why praise is one of your most powerful classroom management strategies.  This video was filmed in 2010 but the strategies are evergreen.  If you enjoy it and would like to see more please leave a comment in the box below.

In this video you’ll learn how praise (when it is used correctly) connects with students on an emotional level and why it can change the...