#KELTChat summary: Classroom Rules and Implementing Them (9th December 2012)

Teachers from Korea, Turkey, Ireland, Australia, and Indonesia (perhaps many more in the “lurk-esphere”) joined KELTchat to discuss classroom rules. Michael Griffin lead a smooth and insightful discussion where teachers discussed the following topics:

*Click on this Storify link to get the full chat. Please remember to click “read next page” to see what everyone had to say.

• Important classroom rules and a why to back it up
• Who makes the rules?
• Reasons for implementing rules: school policies, student behaviour or personal beliefs?
• Self-policing
• Framing rules
• Implementing and keeping the rules
• Focus on Korea

Related links:

• International Teachers Development institute (iTDi) – Rules We Follow and Breaking Rules
• Gordon West‘s Pecha Kucha – Don’t Be a Dictator at 2012 KOTESOL National Conference
• Anne Hendler’s post – Making some new rules
• Article by Michael Griffin and Manpal Sahota – Large Class Management
• Larry Ferlazzo’s post – How To Recover From A Classroom Train Wreck….
• Jim Scrivener’s book – Classroom Management Techniques
• Sarah-Jayne Blakemore: The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain
• Ali Carr-Chellman: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning
• Raising Boys: Why Boys Are Different – and How to Help Them Become Happy and Well-Balanced Men

#KELTChat Preview: 23rd December 2012

Hi team,

It’s almost Christmas, and for most of us the semester has already finished, or is just about to, and we will be jetting off to somewhere sunnier and beachier to escape the sub-zero temperatures (unless you’re me, and then you’ll be staying here to teach winter camp ㅠㅠ). At #KELTChat Towers, we thought we would do this Sunday’s #KELTChat and then take a break ourselves until the next semester. This means that Sunday will be the final #KELTChat until early March 2013.

For a final topic, we thought that giving people a chance to reflect on the year past, and look forward to the coming one, might be good fun. Therefore we’d ask you to bring some of your reflections on the good and bad from this year to share with us on Sunday. You might want to think about:

• Your best moments from this year (and why they happened).
• Your worst moments from this year (and why they happened, if you want to share this).
• The most important thing that you learned this year.
• Your funniest moment from this year.
• Your best professional development experience of the year.
• One thing that you want to try to do or change next year.
• One question you would like answered next year.

This will also be a good chance to say some goodbyes to people who you have met through #KELTChat this year. #KELTChat is a community whose sense of inquisitiveness, exploration and fun owes everything to its members, and for the team here it’s been an amazing experience getting to know you all over this year. If you’re around on Sunday, we will be able to tweet you our heartfelt thanks in (virtual) person. If you’re not, we wish you a happy holidays, and very much hope that you’ll join us in making #KELTChat even better in 2013!

Thanks,

Alex G (@breathyvowel), Alex W (@alexswalsh), Anne (@annehendler), John (@johnpfordresher), Josette (@JosetteLB), Mike (@michaelegriffin)

#KELTChat Preview 9th December 2012: Classroom Rules and Implementing Them

Hi team!

There was another clear winner in the poll this week, with Classroom Rules winning out over Ice-breakers and Job-seeking. Thus Classroom Rules is what we will be discussing tomorrow from 8pm on Twitter.

I would imagine that almost all of us face behaviour and discipline issues in our jobs at some stage, and classroom rules can help to combat this, and create a well-structured and positive environment for our learners.

Our experience of rule-making is going to be extremely important to the chat, so before we get started you might want to think about how the following questions relate to your experiences past and present, and how can they explain both successes and failures.

• Who makes the rules in your class, and why?
• What do you try to achieve through the rules?
• How do you make the rules?
• How are the rules communicated/displayed?
• How are the rules implemented?
• What are some effective strategies to deal with rule breakers?
• What are the roles of punishments and rewards?

These questions are intended to give people a head start during the chat, but are not the limits. Please feel free to come with questions, ideas and experiences of your own. I hope you can join us from 8pm on Sunday.

If you’re new to Twitter chatting and aren’t sure quite how it works, check out this handy guide. If you have no idea what #KELTChat is, have a look here or here. You can also contact us through Twitter (@breathyvowel, @JosetteLB, @michaelegriffin, @alexswalsh, @annehendler, @johnpfordresher) or on our Facebook page.

Cheers

Alex G (@breathyvowel)

 

#KELTchat Poll for 9 December, 2012

Greetings #KELTchatters and friends,

Last November’s chat on Task-based Learning provoked a lot of discussion – read Mr. Pfordresher’s summary here. This week we’re back on Sunday at 8pm and we would love your input on the topic! Click below to vote and help us select the topic democratically. Then keep an eye out for a preview before the chat begins. We look forward to hearing from you all.

Vote early and vote…. ahem… Please vote!