Classroom Teacher

Activities for developing skills

This series of classroom activities will be useful for SENCOs, teachers, assistants and mentors. Each page focuses on a different skill set – from spatial awareness to visual discrimination to semantic knowledge

Developing Citizenship: about the project

Global citizenship and critical thinking were key elements of this three-year collaborative project

Focus on prevention

Are you constantly reacting to poor behaviour? Then it’s time to change your approach from tackling it to preventing it, says Dave Stott

Rewards: What really works?

How do you balance your use of rewards and sanctions, and are the rewards you’re using really having a positive effect on student behaviour? Dave Stott provides some practical tips

Effective sanctions: less is more

An overcomplicated system of sanctions will inevitably break down. Dave Stott gives some practical advice on how to make sanctions more effective by keeping them clear and simple

Differentiate your instructions

Pupils need not only to hear your instructions but also to process and understand what is required. Dave Stott looks at techniques for ensuring they understand and comply with what you are asking them to do

Learning about climate change: lesson ideas

Robert Sinclair offers some ideas on how to introduce climate change lessons into the primary classroom, as part of the KS2 geography curriculum

Giving students time to settle

Time constraints put pressure on teachers to start lessons as quickly as possible, but ensuing disruption may make this less effective than allowing a set amount of time for settling in. Dave Stott looks at how to establish a baseline to judge whether such techniques are worth employing and gives tips on how to make them work

Interpreting facial expressions

Non-verbal indicators, particularly facial expressions, can be a powerful motivator or a source of misunderstanding. Dave Stott gives advice on how to interpret them and how to use them to good effect

Putting a pupil ‘on report’

Is ‘on report’ a positive sanction intended to modify behaviour or simply a negatively phrased document used to record the number of occasions when a pupil’s behaviour is unacceptable?

Four ways to promote creativity in schools

We cannot be serious all the time: schools need to be exciting stimulating places where people can laugh, have ideas, clash and spark off each other, says David Leat

How to tackle identity-based bullying

Cover lessons: A three-step approach to alleviating stress

The behaviour of students can be adversely affected when their regular teacher is absent. How can you be best prepared for such problems and what are the management issues that need to be addressed before such a situation arises?

Building positive relationships outside the classroom

While behaviour problems should be addressed without delay, the classroom may not always be the best environment. Dave Stott explains how taking the time to connect with these pupils outside the teaching and learning environment can help to improve your relationships

Facilitating independent enquiry

A compelling project of personal significance for students can provide fertile ground for learning. Kayte Judge describes a project that took place across two different settings

Using individualised behaviour checklists

Identify the behaviour problems you need to deal with using checklists tailored to individual students

Motivating the middle to behave

Time spent on managing the behaviour of more challenging pupils can often be at the expense of those who cause you little trouble. How can you ensure that your approach motivates all students?

Learning styles and their effect on behaviour

Are you aware of the many, varied learning styles adopted by your students and how they affect behaviour? This week’s Behaviour Matters explores the benefits of differentiating within the classroom and your own presentation style to accommodate these differences

Asking questions

Asking questions is fundamental to helping students acquire knowledge. Ulrike Thomas looks at four key issues to consider when thinking about questioning

Engaging hard-to-reach parents

Recently retired from Firth Park Community Arts College, where she was headteacher from 1995, Mo Laycock explains how engaging with hard-to-reach parents via extended schools strategies contributed towards her school’s transformation

Working in partnership to support vulnerable teenagers

An innovative project brought together vulnerable young people with learners from mainstream schools and the University of East Anglia. Dugald Ferguson reports

Evaluate your behaviour management systems

As the end of the year approaches, use this guide from Behaviour Matters to evaluate how well your school’s behaviour management strategies are working and to plan for the year ahead

Making connections across the curriculum

Whose responsibility is it to join up the dots in a subject-based curriculum? asks David Leat

Keeping control when faced with challenging behaviour

It’s widely recognised that our thoughts, perceptions and emotions drive our behaviour. So how can we learn to stay in control when students are challenging our authority?

Delivering professional development on questioning techniques

Effective questioning helps secure pupil progress. Jo Smith outlines a session designed to develop teachers’ skill in this area

Peer mentoring enters the learning zone

At Noadswood School, peer mentoring goes beyond pastoral activities. Tim Ennion and Eddie Stephenson describe how they are putting learning-focused peer mentoring into action

Maintain involvement and reduce off-task behaviour using ‘positive leading’

Students can sometimes find it difficult to maintain their engagement in group activities, especially if their own self-image or confidence is poor. How can your questioning and positive verbal leading empower students to continue their involvement and reduce the likelihood of unacceptable behaviour?

Managing behaviour using non-verbal signals

Non-verbal instructions and signalled reminders can be highly effective in managing student behaviour, but are you sure that your messages are being interpreted accurately?

The potential of PLTS

David Leat looks at how schools can make the PLTS framework their own

Putting behaviour theory into practice

Much time is spent teaching and modelling appropriate behaviour to students. But how can we ensure that students utilise their social, emotional and behavioural skills, asks Dave Stott

Start the new school year with an effective communication system

September doesn’t just mark the beginning of a new school year: it also means the start of new working relationships, new environments and new challenges. Clear communication between colleagues and students can provide a strong basis for effective behaviour management and proactive teaching, explains Dave Stott

Sharing good teaching practice

Coaching is falling short of its potential but is at its best when it is a two-way process. Rachel Lofthouse and David Leat as they describe the findings of their research

New team at the Department for Education

The new Department for Education demonstrates the unfamiliar look of coalition politics with Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather taking on the role of Minister of State for Children and Families under the new Conservative Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove

Inclusion Development Programme

Deborah Michel investigates a new web-based staff-development resource to support children and young people with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties

Primary Assembly: Wonder Woman!

This assembly follows the inspiring story of Wanda Summers − her recovery from a serious accident, and her determination to complete an ultra-marathon across the Gobi desert

Relax, recharge and organise for next term

The beginning of the summer break can often mean one thing: forgetting all about school until September. But if you can learn to manage your own behaviour effectively during this time, you will be better prepared to manage students’ behaviour next term

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