Chaos In The Classroom

This book combines cognitive learning theory, constructivist learning theory, brain-based learning theory with chaos theory to create an entirely new theory of learning. It shows how the four theories share mutual principles that explain many of the gaps in our understanding of the learning process. The authors take the reader through each of the theories and explain their overlapping principles. Using examples from actual classrooms from elementary school to graduate school, they show how an understanding of the new learning theory helps create the conditions necessary for critical thinking and deep understanding of content. The last chapter is a play-by-play set of instructions for creating chaos in your own classroom.

Packed with powerful, fast-acting behaviour management strategies for the classroom - including a novel routine to get any group quiet in 15 seconds or less - Take Control of the Noisy Class by Rob Plevin provides teachers with a highly effective, step-by-step plan for successfully managing challenging groups and students in today’s toughest schools. Drawing on his experience working in both mainstream and special education, teacher-trainer Rob Plevin presents hundreds of proven, practical ideas and interventions to help you connect and succeed with defiant or reluctant learners. Relevant to teachers of all age groups, you’ll find useable strategies for establishing classroom routines, gaining respect, making lessons engaging and creating a positive classroom environment as well as in-depth instruction on what Rob considers to be the ‘number one secret to effective behaviour management’. Take Control of the Noisy Class provides teachers with a proven system for dealing with disruptive, inappropriate behaviour in the classroom, enabling them to create calm, positive learning environments and trusting bonds with hard-to-reach students. Discover: effective behaviour management strategies, the power of routines, instructions and consequences, the importance of relationships, tips and tricks for tackling misbehaviour, proven techniques for getting a rowdy class’s attention, strategies for maintaining lesson flow and effective classroom management strategies which curb misbehaviour and prevent it from escalating to the stage of involving the senior leadership team and school behaviour policy. As well as a complete step-by-step lesson plan for succeeding with very challenging groups, Take Control of the Noisy Class also includes a comprehensive suite of downloadable teacher resources including video tutorials, classroom management tools and engaging lesson activities. Learn Rob's super-effective classroom management strategies for today’s toughest classrooms. Relevant to teachers of all subjects and age groups - across primary and secondary schools - the book is ideal for individual teachers and leaders or as the basis of whole-school INSET. If you’re worn out and fed up with students who ignore you, and have had enough of disruption and defiance, read Take Control of the Noisy Class and apply Rob’s easy-to-follow behaviour management methods. You’ll be able to take immediate control in your classroom, get the most from your students and enjoy stress-free teaching. Get your copy now.

When Abi walks into her dorm room on her first day at a new boarding school, she is immediately picked to be the school bully’s target for the year. Lucky for her, Flame has just transported himself to the human world and they become fast friends. Flame uses his magic spells to take on the school bully and help Abi make new friends along the way!

Fractals for the Classroom breaks new ground as it brings an exciting branch of mathematics into the classroom. The book is a collection of independent chapters on the major concepts related to the science and mathematics of fractals. Written at the mathematical level of an advanced secondary student, Fractals for the Classroom includes many fascinating insights for the classroom teacher and integrates illustrations from a wide variety of applications with an enjoyable text to help bring the concepts alive and make them understandable to the average reader. This book will have a tremendous impact upon teachers, students, and the mathematics education of the general public. With the forthcoming companion materials, including four books on strategic classroom activities and lessons with interactive computer software, this package will be unparalleled.

Responding to current debates on the place of play in schools, the authors have extensively revised their groundbreaking book. They explain how and why play is a critical part of children’s development, as well as the central role adults have to promote it. This classic textbook and popular practitioner resource offers systematic descriptions and analyses of the different roles a teacher adopts to support play, including those of stage manager, mediator, player, scribe, assessor, communicator, and planner. This new edition has been expanded to include significant developments in the broadening landscape of early learning and care, such as assessment, diversity and culture, intentional teaching, inquiry, and the construction of knowledge. New for the Second Edition of The Play’s the Thing! Additional theories on the relationship of teachers and children’s play, e.g., Vygotsky and the role of imaginary play and Reggio Emilia’s image of the competent child.Current issues from media content, consumer culture, and environmental concerns.Standards and testing in preschool and kindergarten.Bridging the cultural gap between home and school.Using digital technology to make children’s play visible.Recent brain development research.And much more! Elizabeth Jones is faculty emerita in human development at Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California. Gretchen Reynolds is on the faculty in the early childhood education program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada. Their other books on play include Master Players (Reynolds & Jones) and Playing to Get Smart (Jones & Cooper). “The Play’s the Thing provides an excellent summary of theories related to the importance of children's play and illustrates the six roles teachers can use to put these theories into practice.” —Harvard Educational Review “This book describes the knowledge that is required to foster play and to use it as a solid foundation on which to build learning.” —From the Foreword to the First Edition by Elizabeth Prescott, Faculty Emerita, Pacific Oaks College “Playful learning offers educators a plan for creating fun and engaging pedagogies that support rich curricula. . . . And this book offers magnificent descriptions and evidence-based examples of how teachers can pave this new road and create a climate for learning via play.” —From the Foreword to the Second Edition by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, University of Delaware

Running into the school to escape a hungry owl was easy. But with the door locked and an angry dog chasing him, how will Twitch the squirrel get back out? He'll need a hand, of course. . . . and maybe a paw, a fin, and a wing, too. Can the classroom pets—including Sweetie the library rat, a snake named Angel, and the first graders' Green Eggs and Hamster—help Twitch get back to his cozy home in the trees? Each chapter is told in the voice of a different animal as the squirrel works his way through the school, visiting each classroom and trying to stay one step ahead of the principal's menacing dog, Cuddles. The different perspectives make this a perfect introduction to narrative point-of-view—and an extra-funny read-aloud. Lively black and white illustrations add to the humor, depicting Twitch's mad dash through the school and the chaos created by a band of class pets on the loose. With short, funny chapters, young readers will race through this novel to find out what the pets do next. For more of Twitch's adventures, check out Squirrel in the House and Squirrel in the Museum.

As a field of mathematical study, chaos and complexity theory analyzes the state of dynamical systems by evaluating how they interact, evolve, and adapt. Though this theory impacts a variety of disciplines, it also has significant influence on educational systems and settings. Applied Chaos and Complexity Theory in Education examines the application of the theories of chaos and complexity in relation to educational systems and institutions. Featuring emergent research and perspectives on mathematical patterns in educational settings and instructional practices, this book is a comprehensive reference source for researchers, scholars, mathematicians, and graduate students.