SPACES Having specific areas of the classroom for specific tasks contributes to good organization habits and keeps students on task. Pictured from top to bottom are a puzzle centre and reading centre. This organization of space reinforces the concepts of time and place. In other words, a student knows that when they are in the reading centre they are reading, when they are in the writing centre, they are writing; there is no reason to do a different task in a specific centre.
Click HERE to see how I use the space in my classroom to differentiate instruction and accommodate diverse learners (p.4 + p.21). |
DECORUMTo call students' attention back to a whole group setting, auditory cues are highly effective. The best auditory cues require a response back from students. The example pictured to the left is a song which the students learn at the beginning of the year; the teacher sings every first line while the students sing every second line. Students enjoy singing along and will immediately cease any side conversation which they may have been having at the time.
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MATERIALSStudents, especially younger ones, must learn about sharing and possession. In order to prevent conflict, students' materials are labeled with their names so that everyone knows, for example, whose crayons are whose. At the same time, common materials such as pencils, erasers and scissors are not labeled to facilitate the understanding that anyone can use the materials belonging to the class. In other words, we share.
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