Flushed Away is a fun animated movie about a pet rat who lives with a sophisticated family in London. One day, a dirty rat from the sewer makes his way into the sophisticated rats home. The dirty rat flushes the sophisticated rat (Roddy) down the toilet. Roddy has many adventures down in the sewer city with all of the other rat locals. In the meantime, he meets a girl rat and they try to get Roddy back to his home in London. The adventure is risky and fun. It turns out to be an exciting ride. I think you'll find this to be a great movie for kids and adults!
Did you see Flushed Away?
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CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE...need help?
3 Tips to Gaining Control of Your Class
#1 Don't be the student's friend.
You are not their friend, you are their teacher. If you pretend to be their friend, they will not respect you as a teacher.By doing this, you undermine your authority and show the kids that you can be easily pushed to change your mind and give in just to please the students (your friends). I'm not saying that you shouldn't be nice to your students, but you should maintain a respectable teacher position; the one who is in authority.
#2 Set up classroom rules and stick to them.
Contrary to some belief, kids actually thrive in an atmosphere that has control and boundaries. If kids know what they can and cannot do, they can stop wasting their energy trying to push your limits by seeing how far they can go. With boundaries, students can focus their energy on learning. One example of a rule in my elementary classroom is: If a student is talking while I'm talking, they get a warning and I put their name on the board with one "X." If they do it again, they have to stand facing the corner with their hands in the air for 10 minutes. After the punishment, I take them outside the room, go down to their level, eye to eye and ask them if they know why they were being punished. They always say yes, because they know the system. They then tell me sorry and I let them return and join the class. You see, they aren't mad at me. They understand that they did not follow the rules. Funny enough, during the first week of classes, I may have a few students that have to stand in the corner, but as the school year continues, I rarely ever have to send anyone to the corner. Here and there, one student will slip and get an "X" next to their name on the board, but that gets them focused. This one simple system has eliminated all unnecessary talking in my classroom. What a joy one simple "X" brings!
#3 Be consistent.
Once you set a rule, stick to it. The first time you bend or break a rule, you lose all authority. Never break or bend your rules. Never play favorites. Treat all students with the same rules. Be totally consistent and the kids will respect you and your rules.
I remember my first day of teaching. I honestly thought I was going to get fired. I had students standing on their desks, one was under my desk, they were shouting ...it was a real zoo!
After getting some advice from co-workers and implementing a discipline system, I couldn't believe how much more enjoyable my classes were. The kids respected me because I now had guidelines and set boundaries. They knew exactly what they were allowed to do, and what they will get in trouble for doing.
There is currently a discipline system by Craig Seganti that teaches you how to get total control of your class and to enjoy teaching again.
There's a free discipline video on this site. You gotta check this guy out. He's totally passionate about his classes and teaching. His advice is invaluable for those of us teachers who have ever struggled with a class or student.
He doesn't give you a bunch of discipline techniques to try out. He gives you a system that works for any class. After you start using Craig's system, you'll find out that you no longer have to waste your time on discipline, you can focus on teaching (what us teachers are supposed to be focusing on.)
If you like, you can check out Craig's video on classroom discipline here:
http://budurl.com/ClassroomDiscipline
