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This video touches on how the world has changed so much over the years which means the ways in which we learn have changed as well. Student-centered approaches make learning more personal and engaging for students and their want to learn.

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404 - Page Not Found - Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS)

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404 - Page Not Found - Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS)

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This quote is one that I thought went perfectly with how we should approach students. Instead of telling them what to do you should be involving them in almost everything throughout the classroom. Not only to make them feel involved, but also make the students feel heard and understood. Through this they will learn.

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Feb 1, 2017 - It’s the last week of #mentoringmonth, so we want to hear about your mentoring experiences in the comments! - - - - #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofig #teachersofinstagram #highschoolteacher #iteachk #iteachfirst #iteachsecond #iteach #teachinginspiration #teachingquotes #classroommanagement #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher #secondgradeteacher #iteachtoo #organizedteacher #teacherproblems  #teachersbelike #classroomorganization #teacher #teachers #myclassroom #StuVoice #PlearnChat

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This teacher in Chicago has developed a routine in order to have a better social-emotional relationship with her students. Creating a personal relationship with your student not only benefits your classroom environment but also allows your students to feel more comfortable and heard within the classroom.

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How Chicago teachers are using social-emotional learning in the classroom

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As schools nationwide try to guide students through the emotional weight of the past year, a Chicago school is finding success with social-emotional learning, which prioritizes the student-teacher relationship. NBC's Morgan Radford visits CICS - Bucktown in Chicago as TODAY launches a new series, Building Classroom Connections.

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Classroom rules tell students what they can and cannot do versus procedures, which tell them how to do something and communicate your expectations with them. Class signals, routines, passes, and organizational techniques are just some of the few procedures that you can incorporate into your class to have a strong classroom environment.

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Good classroom management hinges on having thought out classroom procedures that both you and your students know how to execute without thinking about them. Having classroom procedures that your students have internalized how to do makes your teaching so much easier and enjoyable.

What are Classroom Procedures?

Classroom procedures are the routines and actions in the classroom that you and your students do on a daily or weekly basis.

Explicitly outlining classroom procedures will help you communicate expectations with students and make your school year run smoothly!

Procedures Vs. Rules

You likely have classroom rules for students. Both rules and procedures make for effective classroom management.

Classroom rules tell students what they can or cannot do.

Procedures show them how to do something and communicate your expectations.

How to Figure out Your Own Classroom Procedures

The best way to figure out what classroom procedures you will need in your classroom is to brainstorm and list them out. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pencil.

Go through a typical day in your classroom and list all the things students do throughout the day. Broaden it to a week. List things that students do 1-2 times a week.

After ten minutes, take a break, go for a walk, or do something else. Come back to your list after a break and record anything else that you might have come to mind.

There's a list below to get you started!

When Should You Teach and Review Classroom Procedures?

At the beginning of the year, spend quite a bit of time on classroom procedures. Model them all. Model the wrong way to do them. Then model the right way to do them. Practice them over and over again. Praise the students you see completing the procedures accurately.

As the back-to-school season wanes, you will spend less and less time on classroom procedures because students will have internalized the systems you have put in place. You can now turn your attention to teaching content vs. processes.

However, you will need to review classroom procedures throughout the year. When might you need to review them? Well, when things aren't working the way you want them to work.

Students will likely need a review and reminder of classroom procedures after a long break. They may need reminders and quick reviews after a few days with a substitute teacher.

The other time of year that I tend to spend more time review procedures is the spring when students have become very comfortable in the classroom and test the boundaries. They're almost at the end of the school year, they're older, wiser, and familiar with your classroom. This is the time of year when things could get out of control, so taking time to reaffirm procedures is key to your end of the year classroom management.

19 Procedures You Need to have in Your Classroom

Here are 19 Classroom procedures that you should consider implementing in your classroom. These are standard elementary classroom procedures that students and teachers go through on a daily or weekly basis.
Quite Signal
A quite signal is one of the primary classroom routines and procedures to implement. How will you get students' attention both inside and outside the classroom?

Using a doorbell is popular these days. You can find a ton of different ones on Amazon (affiliate link). While I have used a tool, like a bell, as a quite signal, the most effective one has always been my voice.

Over the years I have used different ones voice signals. Sometimes I count down verbally while also counting on my fingers. Other times I'll use a Whole Brain Teaching routines.
How to Get the Teachers' Attention
How will students get your attention during whole group time, carpet time, when you're working with a small group when they're at recess and need something?
Line up to Leave the Classroom or After Recess
Where do students line up? How do they line up? Will you vary their line up?

In Kindergarten and even second grade, I think, I put colored duct tape on the floor. I alternated the colors and I numbered the pieces. The pieces were in a straight line from my door and I had one for each student.

Students didn't have assigned places, but I was able to tell students to line up on certain colors or on certain numbers. This allowed me to separate students and even make a game out of lining up, sometimes.
Hallway Routine
How do students need to walk through the hallway? Do they need to be silently walking in a line or in a group with whisper voices?
Entering the Classroom
What do you expect students to do when they enter the classroom? Put their stuff away, sit down, and work on something? Turn something in or get started in choosing their Daily 5 cards?

What about entering the classroom after recess or after lunch or after specials time?
When to Use the Bathroom
Can students use the bathroom anytime they want? Do you have a rule that they can only use it when you're not teaching? Or do they have to wait for certain times of the day? Do you have a bathroom sign-out procedure?
Leaving at the End of the Day
How do students pack up their things? Do you want students to tidy something up at the end of each day? Is a table group responsible for one area of the classroom? What about papers that need to go home or notes from the office?
Getting up from their desk while the teacher is talking
It always irks me when students get up out of their seats while I'm talking. Don't they know any better? Well . . . no, unless I teach them.

What if students need a tissue for their nose? Can they get one? Or what about the student who needs to throw something away? Do you want them to wait until you're done?
How will you answer the requests that interrupt your teaching?
Thinking through some of the interruptions will help you determine when you want students to get something that is not at their desk.

This post about blurting out may give you some ideas on procedures for interruptions.

When to get supplies
If there are classroom or small group supplies, when should students go and get them? When do they have access to these supplies?
When to get things from their desks or cubbies
Can students access their desks and supplies at any time or only during certain times of the day? How about when you're teaching?
What do students do when your teaching
You may or may not need to explicitly teach this, depending on your students. One thing students have done while I'm teaching is lean back in their chairs. It's an easy habit to break, but not something I want them to do when I'm teaching.
What to do if a student is absent
What is your expectation for absent students? Do they need to make up the work? If students are gone for an extended time, do you require them to take work with them? Parents will ask, so you need to be ready with a procedure!
What to do when there's a substitute
Ah - this is a big one! What do you need to do when there's a substitute, but also how do your students need to behave when there's a substitute. How can they help the guest teacher out? Are expectations slightly different? In what ways?

The following anchor chart aligns with my goal setting resources. It is one way I prepare students for a substitute and help them understand my expectations for a guest teacher.

After a day with a substitute, I will also spend some time with students reflecting on how the day went. I'll build an anchor chart, usually a plus and delta chart, which lists things that went well and things that might need to change the next time we have a substitute.

This blog post is about how to organize your emergency sub plans.

Where to put finished work
Where do you want students to put their finished work? Is this place different for work that you need to grade vs. work that can be immediately sent home?

We had mailboxes in our room. Each student had their own slot and after we finished an activity I had students file their paper in the mailbox. I only collected a small amount of the papers to record for actual grades.
Where to put unfinished work
What about unfinished work? Do you expect it all to be completed or only certain pieces of the work? Another thing I didn't put on this list is when do you expect students to complete their unfinished work?
What to do if you finish early
What is the expectation if students finish something early? How does this change if you're doing something whole-group vs. in a small group?
Small-Group Procedures
Think about all of the different times of the day you might want to teach in small groups. You may have a Daily 5 Routine for reading and Math Stations or Science Stations. How will students operate during those times of the day? How do they start the small group time? How do they transition to the next activity? How do they end the small group time?

In my classroom, we had Daily 5 time in the morning that had a specific routine for how students chose their actives. I also had clear expectations that we practiced extensively for how they acted at each station and how we transitioned between them.

We also had math centers which I ran differently than our Daily 5 time and I had science stations that were different from math centers and Daily 5 time. Some days we had three different times of small group rotations. Students knew just what to do within each one because I had set clear expectations and we had practiced the procedures.
Homework Procedure
This is one procedure you will want to communicate with parents. What are your expectations for homework? Is it nightly or weekly? Do you have specific homework or is it more interactive? Does it include work from class to finish? What is the parents' role in completing and returning homework?

You'll want to iron out this procedure, make sure it's in writing, and that students and parents know about it. It will save a ton of time and headaches in the future!

7 Procedures you might have in your classroom

The following procedures are ones that you might consider having in your classroom. Some are optional and others are dependent on your school requirements.
Attendance & Lunch Count
While I did have to take attendance and a lunch count, it wasn't something I had students do. I could easily see which students were absent and how many students had brought their lunch from home. However, some teachers add this into their morning routine.
Classroom Jobs
Do you want to have classroom jobs? I used them intermittently throughout the years to varying degrees of success. Generally, my use of classroom jobs petered out midway through the year.
Classroom Library Check Out
How will students check out books from your classroom library? Is there be a system or can they get any book at any time they want?

What to do when someone else enters the room
Do you have designated greeters when someone enters the classroom? How will students act? Do you need to tell them not to shout out, Mrs. So-and-so is here!
How to sit on the carpet
Do you have a carpet area or whole group area where students sit on the carpet? Do they have to sit in a certain place or anywhere on the carpet? How do they come to and get up from the carpet?
Community supplies
If you have community supplies in your classroom, do you have an expectation of how those supplies should be organized or kept?
How to Use the Bathroom
This one is really important for Kindergarten and (hopefully) less important in upper elementary grades. It's the basic how-to procedure of what to do in the bathroom.

Communicating Classroom Procedures with Other Teachers and Parents

One other suggestion is to type out your classroom procedures. Putting these procedures down on (electronic) paper will allow you to think through them and see holes that might need to be filled.

It will also allow you to communicate those procedures with other teachers, parent volunteers, and substitute teachers. Not only that, you will be able to save them for next year and easily make adjustments throughout the year as you change your routine.

You will not need to explain all classroom procedures to parents, however, a few key ones are important to communicate. Remember that list you made at the very beginning of this blog post? Go back to the list and highlight the procedures that need parent support.

What do you do if students don't follow classroom procedures?

If students are not following classroom procedures, first reflect on whether or not this is a consistent issue, an issue with the entire class or certain students. There are many different approaches and interventions that could be put in place for students who forget procedures.

An Issue with the Whole Class

If the entire class seems to be having difficulty, review the procedures as a whole class. See above for times of the year you might want review procedures as a whole group.

You may also consider revising and changing procedures as the year progresses. It may be that as students mature and become more independent, they need a different procedure than they did at the beginning of the year. Changing a procedure is okay, as long as it is a thought out process and communicated well with students.

An Issue with Only Certain Students

If it's one or a couple of students who are having difficulty with classroom procedures, review the procedures individually or as a small group.

If you have one or two students who are consistently not adhering to your procedures, consider using a behavior chart. You can read about how to use behavior charts in your classroom in this blog post.

One of the keys to using a behavior chart is to include a goal. Either choose a goal for students or let them chose from a set of goals that you have predetermined. While you choose the set of goals, you can allow students to choose the specific goal to work on each day, giving them some autonomy in the process.

This post explains how I use behavior charts in the classroom and includes a free download.

Are there other classroom procedures that are on your list that I didn't mention above? I'd love to hear about them in comments below.

More Ideas About Classroom Management

Here are some more blog posts about classroom management that will help you have a smoother school year.

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Teaching Classroom Procedures in Elementary School

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Good classroom management hinges on having thought out classroom procedures that both you and your students know how to execute without thinking about them. Having classroom procedures that your students have internalized how to do makes your teaching so much easier and enjoyable. What are Classroom Procedures?

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Having restorative practices within your classroom allow you and your students to develop a better way of thinking, talking, and responding to issues that arise within the classroom. This article shares just a few strategies and practices to include into your classroom environment.

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If your school district is increasing its investment in social-emotional learning (SEL) and a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) this academic year, you may be looking for ways to proactively build community, strengthen relationships, and create safe learning environments for students.

Restorative practices provide students and caring adults with an intentional, inclusive, and respectful way of thinking about, talking about, and responding to behavioral issues. When integrated in a school community, restorative practices help to build and repair relationships, prioritize student agency, and de-emphasize punitive discipline in favor of communication to resolve conflict.

In this article, we'll start by unpacking restorative justice versus restorative practices. Then we'll dive into two specific examples, including instructions for implementation.

Download our Restorative Practices Toolkit to access additional strategies (templates and instructions included!)

What is Restorative Justice in Schools?

Restorative justice is an alternative to using punishment-based approaches to school discipline and behavior management in K-12 classrooms. It focuses on repairing harm through inclusive processes that bring together students and educators.

The intention of restorative justice is to shift the focus of student discipline from punishment to reflecting learning. It emphasizes accountability, making amends, and facilitating dialogue between affected parties.

The concept of restorative justice is based on three pillars:

Harms and needs. Empathy and awareness is required to understand the harm that was done as well as the factors that might have contributed to the situation.

Obligation (to make things right). This entails a moderated process that helps stakeholders understand, discuss, and resolve the problem

Engagement. All parties-victim, offender, and the broader community- are involved in the dialogue and the healing process.

What are Restorative Practices in Schools?

Restorative practices in schools are strategies that use the underlying principles of restorative justice instead of traditional punishment measures. They represent a positive step forward in helping all students-from elementary school through middle school and high school-learn how to navigate conflict resolution, take ownership of their behavior, and practice empathy, perspective-taking, and forgiveness.

Popular examples of restorative processes include affective statements, community-building circles, small impromptu conferencing, and setting classroom agreements or norms. In the Restorative Justice community, it can take three to five years to implement restorative practices within a school site.

Restorative approaches are designed to empower students to learn from their mistakes, to understand the impact of their actions, and to grow personally in their ability to problem-solve and make responsible decisions. The goal of any restorative practice is to build a sense of community in the classroom by:

Providing pathways to repair harm

Bringing together individuals impacted by an issue in a dialogue

Achieving a common understanding

Coming to an agreement about resolving the conflict and moving forward

Strategies for Implementing Restorative Practices in Schools

Now that we've defined restorative practices, let's look at how to apply the principles of restorative justice to build community and improve school culture.

Below are two high-quality restorative practices that you can implement in your school district. Drawn from our district partners and other expert organizations, these strategies are meant to strengthen relationships and create safe, inclusive, and equitable learning spaces for students. They can also be adapted for virtual use.

How to Use These Restorative Practices:

If you are a team meetings to strengthen relationships in your school community, and consider partnering with organizations such as the district administrator, explore these strategies and start the conversation about the role of restorative practices in nurturing social-emotional learning and strengthening MTSS in your district.

For school leaders, bring these ideas to PLCs, staff meetings, or Student Support National Educators for Restorative Practices to facilitate training for your team on Tier 2 and Tier 3 practices.

For restorative practices facilitators, try these restorative practices (both in-person and virtually) to check in with students, strengthen relationships, improve classroom management policies, and create safe learning spaces for students to hone responsible decision-making and emotional skills.

Respect Agreements

Courtesy of Aldine Independent School District

Practice Overview:

This restorative practice engages all learners in the topic of respect. When implemented with fidelity, respect agreements can help each student feel comfortable as a member of the classroom community.

Implementation Instructions:

1. Distribute a piece of paper to each student. Ask them to fold their piece of paper in half twice so that it has four sections.

2. Instruct students to label each section as follows:

Student Respecting Student Student Respecting Teacher

Teacher Respecting Student Everyone Respects Facility & Equipment

3. Explain to students that they will each be reflecting on what these forms of respect mean to them and look like. Intentionally refrain from sharing any examples with students at this time; give them space to wrestle with it.

4. Ask students to work individually, taking a few minutes to reflect and then write down how each of these four sections might look in terms of behavior or actions. What would each look like or sound like? While students are doing this, complete your own sheet with examples.

5. After students have been given ample time to brainstorm and reflect, divide them into groups of four or five. Invite students to share what they listed on their individual papers with their peers.

6. Finally, come together as a group to review commonalities and create a combined class list!

Courtesy of NEDRP
Re-Entry Circles (or Community-Building Circles)

Practice Overview:

A Re-Entry Circle, or Restorative Welcome, is designed to support a student returning to campus from a suspension or disciplinary action. The purpose of a Re-Entry Circle is to welcome and assist students in re-entering the school in a healthy and positive way after being removed.

Implementation Instructions:

Convene the Re-Entry Circle on the student's home campus as soon as possible for the returning student, and if possible, one or two days prior to the student's return.

Participation in the Re-Entry Circle may include, but is not limited to:

The student and their caregivers

DAEP representative (or equivalent)

Student's teachers (on a voluntary basis)

Campus admin

Circle facilitator

Additional personnel identified by the student (maybe a peer, custodian, community member, counselor, etc.) who the student already has a relationship with and who can help assist with the transition plan.

The Re-Entry Circle should allow for the same structure as a relationship building circle with a talking piece, centerpiece, values, opening, and closing, with the addition of "Supports, Needs, and Responsibilities" rounds. These additional question rounds help identify the needs of everyone involved and help the support team to formulate a plan for how the student will be supported and by whom.

After supports, needs, and responsibilities are identified and assigned and an idea is agreed upon for how the plan will be kept "alive," close the circle. Set a date and time to meet again to review how the plan has been going, and to make any necessary changes.

Access more strategies in our Restorative Practices Toolkit!

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How to Implement Restorative Practices in Your School

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Discover how restorative practices can fit into your school, plus instructions for implementation from expert organizations.

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This article touches on some great ways to weave in better communication, student engagement, assessment, and empowering students' voices. It even gives some great insight on how to incorporate all of this through hybrid teaching, which is very relevant in our classrooms today.

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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1- Maintain good communication skills

A successful teacher is one that is able to build a rapport with his /her students, one that can easily connect with his learners and feel their needs as individuals. Open and clear communication is the key to develop a healthy friendly learning atmosphere inside your class.

2- Getting students engagement
There is nothing as challenging as getting students engaged. Today's students are multitasked and can hardly maintain a long concentration. They can easily get bored and therefore disconnected. There are many ways you can fight off this problem : Use interesting educational games and activities, use technology and multimedia resources and finally make your teaching student-centred and try your maximum to relate what you teach to students immediate environment.

3- Use Humour
Relevant doses of humour to spice up your teaching are highly recommended. Forget about the authoritative and coercive style of teaching , for experience proved that it only disheartens learners and kills their motivation. Use humour at appropriate times; this can lead to students engagement and build up their confidence.

4- Act don't react
Students are very smart and it is part of their juvenile nature to try to get you. Sometimes ignoring a disruptive behaviour is way better than reacting to it and in case it becomes repetitive or serious then make sure to talk it out with the student involved alone and not in front of the whole class.

5- Be clear and precise in your instructions
Remember you are teaching digitally focused students with short attention span. Several of the problems some teachers face are due to ambiguous and unclear instructions. Cut off on the clutter and be to the point. Show them the red lines and explain to them classroom ethics and what you can tolerate.

6- Give room to individualized learning
Not all students are equal in their comprehensive power. Students learn in different ways, some students are slow learners and others are quick, some kinaesthetic ( learn by experience or doing ) others are auditory or visual. Keep these considerations in your mind and do your best to tend to every kind of learner you might have in your class.

7- Positive feedback
" good job, excellent,..ect" are simple words that might not mean anything to you but they mean the whole world to students. Think back to the days when you were a student and how a positive feedback from your teacher would make both your and your parents whole day. Publicly praise positive behaviour and show your students that you are celebrating their achievements as well.

8- Involve students in decision making
Students tend to do great when they feel they are trusted and that they are real parts in the learning / teaching operation. Use voting and polling to investigate about a certain topic or classroom assignment. Try from time to time to give them the wheel and let them lead.

9- Use peer learning
Peer learning is a form of 'cooperative learning that enhances the value of student-student interaction and results in various advantageous learning outcomes'. Here are some of the strategies to help you facilitate successful peer learning as stated in this article :

"Buzz groups : This is a large group of students subdivided into smaller groups of 4-5 students to consider issues surrounding a problem.

Affinity groups : Groups of 4-5 students are each assigned particular tasks to work on outside of formal contact time

Solution and critic groups ; One sub-group is assigned a discussion topic for a tutorial and the other groups constitute critics who observe, offer comments and evaluate the sub-group presentation

Teach-Write-Discuss : At the end of a unit of instruction, students have to answer short question and justify their answers. After working on them individually they can then compare their answers with each others."

10- Love your subject/ job
The best way to get students interested in your subject is to love it so much that your passion for the field shows in your attitude. Students positively respond to authenticity. And as Abraham Lincoln once said " Love the job you do and you will never have to work a day ".

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10 Teaching Practices for The 21st Century Teacher

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1- Maintain good communication skills A successful teacher is one that is able to build a rapport with his /her students, one that can easily connect with his learners and feel their needs as individuals. Open and clear communication is the key to develop a healthy friendly learning atmosphere inside your class.

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Having a relationship with your students is one of the many ways to build trust within your classroom. Little conversations such as what did you do this weekend, how is your day, what sports or extracurriculars do, and other simple questions about them and their life outside of school is what builds a good relationship between teacher and student. By doing things as simple as this, it allows the student(s) to realize that you care and care about more than just school.

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The only difference that there should be between my instructor Jagoš and I is the number of y… | Teacher and student relationship, Teaching quotes, Education quotes

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Apr 27, 2019 - The only difference that there should be between my instructor Jagoš and I is the number of years of experience not state(the confidence of ability to be in control PIC or technique!) The only difference between my parents and I should be the years of experience... Once you solo a plane..you solo in life

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Education is something that everyone should have access to. It not only teaches you so much but it is the most amazing way to communicate, learn, discovery, and create peace. The communication that we use and learn in school is what sets us up for the beautiful world that we have ahead of us. Peace is education.

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Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defense... - Kofi Annan quotes at AZquotes.com

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This video focused on what it takes to create learners who are independent, responsible, and able to express themselves. I think that most lessons, as stated in the video, should be focused around the student rather than the teacher. By allowing students to work with each other and build upon one another's ideas, there is so much more than is learned. By showing off your students' work, whether that is by verbally recognizing it or hanging it up around the room, it allows the classroom as a whole to be more student centered.

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Student Centered Learning: Why, How, & What

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Building relationships with your students is one of the many important things to accomplish within your classroom. This article touched on 6 easy ways that you could do so! Spending 1-on-1 time, make comments on something that they are doing or have done, be interested in their interests, share stories that you have, have some humor, and attend their events.

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Discover the future of education with the WGU blog.

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Setting up a Peace Corner is something so easy and enjoyable for your students, no matter what age. It is a space where they can go to maybe when they are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or even just needing a little break. It could be filled with puzzles, stress balls, fun toys, or little things that you agree on as a class that would help them calm down!

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Changing the word rules to the word habit is such a simple thing but has such a big impact. When I think of rules I think of something harsh, something that has to be followed and is very serious. When I think of the word habit I think of ways that I can better myself and even possibly my peers. Habits are things that can be worked on/towards and make you a better person. These 7 Habits that I have found not only focus on who you should be and what you should be practicing, but they also relate back to your peers and classroom as a whole, which I love!

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I think that having a classroom schedule is one thing that is somewhat similar to a rule and that should be encouraged. Having a schedule that you students, over time, get used to is crucial for the way that they are going to behave in your classroom and how prepared they are for the day they have ahead of them. Having a class schedule also makes it so much easier for the students to transition between activities and prepares them for scheduling in the future.

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At my elementary school, we had something called the Peace Path. It was a way for anyone to have a conversation with someone who they may have gotten into an argument/disagreement with and literally step by step go over how each person was feeling. In my class each month we had a Peace Officer who would be there to kind of supervise and add in an outsider's opinion if needed. Each step had different phrases on them for you to start out how you were feeling and for the other person to listen, you would then switch roles so that way each person was being heard. Some of the steps say "I feel ____ when..." "I know you feel ___ when..." "What can I do to make it right?" "I need ___". This was a great way for students to have some what of a prompt on how to nicely communicate their feelings and it was something that wasn't as serious as getting the teacher involved!

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This site has 9 different conflict resolution activities/games that are easy to incorporate into the classroom! The activity that I thought would be the most beneficial was the Feelings Check In. It's a perfect way for students to express how they are feeling by writing one word down on an index card and then sharing with the class. From there any emotions that needed to be addressed would be in front of the whole class and it is a perfect way for every student to learn, no matter if they were involved or not.

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Here is a list of five to ten minute activities that are intended to promote positive community-building. In all activities, students should have the opportunity to pass if they so desire.

1. Anger Ball-Toss
Find a soft ball. Have the class stand in a circle. Begin by completing the sentence, "I feel angry when ..." Ask for a volunteer who is willing to restate what you just said. Toss that student the ball. That student restates what you said, then completes the sentence for herself. She then tosses the ball to someone else, who repeats what she said, then completes the sentence for himself, and so on.

2. Feelings Check-ln
Pass out markers and 5x8 index cards. Ask each student to write on the card in large letters oneword that describes how he or she is feeling right now. Then ask students to hold up their cardsand look at the variety of responses. Point out how rare it is for different people to bring the same feelings to an experience or situation. Invite students to share why they wrote down the words that they did.

3. "I Got What I Wanted ..."
Have students complete the following sentence: "A time I got something I wanted was when ..."
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4. I Represent Conflict
Place yourself in the middle of the room and say, "Imagine that I represent conflict. Think about how you usually react when you experience a conflict personally or witness a conflict happening nearby. Then place yourself, in relation to me, somewhere in the room in a way that indicates your first response to conflict or disagreement. Think about your body position, the direction that you're facing, and the distance from conflict."
Once students have found a position relative to you in the room, ask individuals to explain why they are standing where they are. You might also want to ask, "If this represents your first reaction, what might your second reaction be, after thinking about the conflict?"

5. "When I'm in a Conflict..."
Go around the group, asking each student to complete the sentence, "When I get into a conflict, I usually ..."

Excerpted from Conflict Resolution in the High School by Carol Miller Lieber with Linda Lantieri and Tom Roderick.

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Here is a list of five to ten minute activities that are intended to promote positive community-building. In all activities, students should have the opportunity to pass if they so desire. Anger Ball-Toss Find a soft ball. Have the class stand in a circle. Begin by completing the sentence, "I feel angry when ..."