Parents Angry over 'Walk with Hands Behind Back ' at Primary School. By

Is this measure to extreme to control students' behaviour? 

Parents have hit out at a "repressive" new school rule which demands that their children walk with their hands clasped behind their backs at all times.

Pupils at St George the Martyr Primary School in Holborn, central London, have been ordered to adopt the pose -- known as the "University Walk" -- when walking down corridors.

This follows an order from new executive headteacher Angela Abrahams who says the rules will strengthen pupil safety, raise their aspirations and maximise learning time.

However, it has emerged that parents are preparing a petition against the rule and education chiefs at the Town Hall are understood to have been alerted to unrest at the school gates.

Families are even reportedly choosing different schools because of the policy.

Parent Chantal Aster told the Camden New Journal: "I am personally quite against it, I think it's too dictatorial. It's from one extreme to another. My son is in reception and they walk in a conga line. I think it is a pretty poor way to increase their self-esteem."

She added: "I think just having hands by their sides would be more natural. I know it's only through the corridors but I think it's too restrictive and I find it very repressive."

Carly Taylor, who has three children at the school told the Camden New Journal: "The head is bringing over lots of strategies that are not in keeping with the nurturing and caring feel of our school. I think our identity needs to be protected". She added: "Hands behind the backs is associated with a loss of liberty and lack of trust".

Other parents have privately compared the measure to the way prisoners are kept under control when transported between jails.

Parents opposing the rule say their concerns have not been taken on board by the school's governors, and fear that its rules are being cloned from St Clement Danes School, where Ms Abrahams also serves as head.

Ofsted inspectors praised the school in Westminster after observing pupils walking with "heads held high and hands behind their backs". It was marked "outstanding" for pupil behaviour.

The school declined to comment when approached by the Daily Telegraph,

But Ms Abrahams told the Camden New Journal that the school has seen a 93 per cent reduction in the number of recorded incidents since the walk was introduced.

"It was introduced to strengthen pupil safety, further raise the aspirations of pupils and to maximise learning time. Staff report that they appreciate the impact it has had on learning time and pupils continue to be very happy and excited about learning."

Reverend Guy Pope, the school's chairman, told the New Journal: "I think parents are not looking out for the best interests of their children. It (the rule) is helping to make sure children arrive in class in the best possible frame of mind for learning, in a calm and ordered manner."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11977504/Parents-angry-over-walk-with-hands-behind-back--at-primary-school.html

We Are Too Quick To Label Children Who Aren't Perfect.

 ‘If everyone spent less time fretting about the many ways in which our children aren’t perfect and perceiving their natural variations as a defects, our jobs would be much easier.’ says Secret Teacher. Photograph: Alamy

“You don’t want to be in 4J, you’ll get dyslexia.”

This has been the standing joke in our staffroom for years, owing to the teacher’s over-zealous approach to diagnosing any child not brilliant at reading as “dyslexic”. She’s a great teacher who is passionate about children and who gets good results (which could be why she needs to find a reason for anyone not making the grade under her watchful eye). However she is a labeller – one of the many idealistic adults who can’t bear to believe a child is less than perfect unless it’s because there’s something wrong with him or her that’s nobody’s fault.

The range of options available to the discerning child-labeller is growing: social issue, learning difficulty, behavioural need, obsessive tendency, food intolerance or – my all time favourite – being “on the spectrum”. As a teacher I find this immensely frustrating for a number of reasons. First, the diagnosis is often performed by someone with no skills, qualifications or expertise – a well-meaning colleague, an over-concerned parent, a kindly friend. The only requisite is that they have access to the internet or have seen a TV programme about the condition in question. Second, it is upsetting and insulting to people who battle with genuine problems that others casually assign themselves and – most of all – because we as teachers are increasingly forced to pander to them.

Supporting students with dyslexia: tips, tricks and tech for teachers

 

Read more

I am an experienced class teacher and special educational needs co-ordinator (Senco). I have a real passion for helping children with additional needs. I don’t profess to know everything and I constantly worry something may go unnoticed and a child won’t get the help required. In that respect I certainly don’t object to parents or professionals who raise concerns, research conditions, investigate options or seek professional opinions. But it’s not fair to those who genuinely struggle for others to use the label to disguise other issues.

Dyslexia is another favourite. When Professor Julian Elliott challenged the “dyslexia myth” in 2005, there was uproar. Waves of dyslexia-believers took their stance against his blasphemy, and it became more fashionable than ever before. At parents’ evenings, if I mention that any child is struggling to read or spell I know dyslexia will crop up. I’ve heard all sorts of reasoning (usually unrelated to assessing the child’s abilities and needs): “It runs in the family”, “our neighbour had it and he said Harry’s definitely got it”, “I’ve always thought her father was dyslexic” and, of course, “I’ve looked it up online and it’s definitely what he’s got”. I want a conversation about specific areas of concern and ways we can help, not dyslexia. Of course it may be dyslexia – let’s not rule that out – but by jumping to conclusions we could overlook other possible causes and deprive the child of more holistic support.Last term a parent informed me that their child had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), reading a list from Google of the “symptoms”. It was difficult to persuade the parent to consider other possibilities. “Difficulty paying attention”, “hyperactive” and “impulsive” could at times describe most of the children in my school, yet I sincerely doubt they all have ADHD. But try to find a way to suggest a child is in need of attention, has a high-sugar diet or suffers from a lack of boundaries and you suddenly realise how much more appealing ADHD is. It can be nigh on impossible as a teacher to resolve these (often more obvious) issues until you've expended a great deal of time and effort ruling out the sought-after diagnosis. 

Food problems are another minefield and one that, as educators not medics, we have no sway in. I've experienced the agony of parents whose children have been hospitalised with near-fatal allergies or ravaged with cruel diseases like Crohn’sand coeliac. These experiences make it harder to swallow the fact that Jemima “can’t have bananas because they make her feel sick” or Alfie “can’t eat anything red unless it’s ketchup”. Last time I checked, it’s not possible to be allergic to a colour and yes, Alfie might be “on the spectrum” with his aversion to red foods, but I know Alfie, and I highly doubt it. Currently, our school kitchen caters for more than 30 “special diets” . Two of them are for religious reasons and five for medical, but the rest (in my unprofessional and totally controversial opinion) are dubious. Incidentally, I'm not convinced every child who gets short of breath after cross-country needs an inhaler, either, but we have a cupboard full just in case.

Secret teacher: I am all for inclusion in principle, but it doesn't always work

 

Read more

If everyone spent less time fretting about the many ways in which our children aren't perfect and perceiving their natural variations as a defect in need of special treatment, our jobs would be much easier. The more we pander to it, the worse it seems to get: my school’s list of children’s individual needs gets longer every term, and we now have a slot in the weekly staff meeting to help us keep abreast of them all. Of course we need to enable all children to succeed, but part of that is teaching them to embrace their differences and adapt to different situations. We should teach them that it’s normal to be different, not that every version of “different” needs a label and prescription. Adults must model this attitude, otherwise children make up their own allergies because they think it sounds cool and, before you know it, the whole class is allergic to something or other.

For now, though, we have no choice. Suspect as some labels may appear, it generally does less harm to play out the charade – however indulgent it may feel – and provide the special coloured paper, the stress-ball or the alternative school lunch on a coloured plate, than it is to challenge the assumption and be wrong.

Source:http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/jun/20/secret-teacher-too-quick-label-children-arent-perfect-adhd-dyslexia

Working with Other Adults in Your Classroom

Phil Beadle explains the roles of other adults that will work with you in your classroom from time to time

There will be a variety of different people who will sit in your classroom from time to time. Broadly, they will be there to provide you with support with kids who have specific difficulties accessing education, either because they have English as a second language, special educational needs or they are presenting behavioural issues. The people in your class will either be specialist teachers or teaching assistants, and their roles will roughly break down into the following:

EAL support teacher – to provide specialist support to children at an early stage of learning the English language.

Behaviour support teacher – to provide specialist support to children who exhibit behavioural issues.

Learning support teacher – to help kids who have specific difficulties in learning to access the curriculum.

Learning support/teaching assistant – either attached specifically to a child or to the class in general. There are also higher level teaching assistants, who are like the bosses of the normal teaching assistants (kind of).

Your teaching assistant is your best friend

All these people are potentially invaluable to you in your first year, and you must make it a matter of policy to make friends with the teaching assistants especially.

The first and most obvious reason that you should do this is that, despite their lack of professional status and in spite of the degrading, sweat shop salaries they command, every one of them is more experienced in a classroom than you are.

The older teaching assistants, those who have been at the school for years, will have seen it all – from breakfast all the way through to Christmas. They will be able to smell how good/bad/nervous you are, and if you are totally emotionally honest with them, they will help you.

But you must treat them with respect, perhaps even, at an early stage of your career, with deference; you are being paid graduate wages to do roughly the same hours they are working for a pittance. Ergo, they are more passionate about the kids’ education than you are. Most of them have taken the job because they have had children at the school, they will know most of the kids at the school and, as such, they will have mature, to the point of fruity, opinions as to how to deal with them.

Whilst they may indulge in the odd, quiet snicker to themselves whilst you are drowning (though I have always found teaching assistants to be the model of professional discretion), if you do find yourself in this position, then the teaching assistant is your lifebelt. Speak honestly with them about the difficulties you are having, ask politely for help and they will work with you, in the trenches, covering your back as you go over the top. Treat them as if you are in any way better than them (you are not – they have probably seen and dealt with things you couldn’t imagine) and your best friend and chief support will down tools.

One problem is that you and your teaching assistant never get any time together whatsoever to plan what you are going to do. Theoretically, you are supposed to do this, but there is no time allocated for you to do so. The best you will be able to manage is a quick two minutes in the staffroom before the staff briefing. If you do get such an opportunity, however small it is, take it. Your teaching assistant is the only other professional in the room on a regular basis. They will have the same degree of emotional engagement with your classes as you and if you want to discuss strategies, share how much you adore a pupil or just want to scream at how unjust it all is, your teaching assistant will listen.

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/news/working-other-adults-your-classroom/45963

Tips to help you deal with sarcasm in the classroom.

Sarcasm is, I am told, the last refuge of scoundrels. I'm not sure why this is. I rather imagine that scoundrels have a great many depths they can aspire (despire?) to that surpass the rascally vice of sarcasm. It is also a descendent of it's great-uncle irony, which at least has a more impressive pedigree, although it suffers from the Achilles Heel of being, for all intents, misunderstood by most who use it - up to and including the great Alannis Morisette, who really just meant 'annoying'.

Sarcasm is also the frequent first weapon of choice by your contemporary classroom urchin. Why is it so often unsheathed? Because its USP is its intrinsic ambiguity. If a kid says to you, 'Wow, Sir, you look realy GREAT today,' when you just know they're conveying their charmless scorn for your bold cardigan/ Ugg boot approach to smart/ casual. The cloak of the double entendre gives them, they assume, immunity from the clobbering hammer of your righteous wrath. Because all they have to do when you start to change colour and hop from foot to foot is say, 'What? I was just saying you looked NICE!.' *turns to rest of the class* 'You can't say anything in this class. GOD!!!' *storms out of room*.

In short sarcasm is the cuss you can't trust... Here's what to do:
 

Tactically ignore

Don't react to the sarcasm at first, at all. Get on with the lesson. Don't even register that it registered. This policy, similar to 'do not feed the troll' will often starve the situation of fuel.

Note, I said 'tactically ignore' Don't ignore it. Keep the little chap behind after the lesson, and explain to them, clearly and without anger, that you didn't like the tone of the comment, and that if there was a repetition of similar comments, you'd deal with it as if it were an open insult. If they huff and fuss, then at least they don't have an audience. Also, point out that communication is subtle, and context and tone also matter- and you didn't feel the tone was complimentary. That way you don't accuse them of lying, but they know that you're not happy with the comment and you won't tolerate it.

Don't use sarcasm yourself

I say this guardedly, because of course, you can use sarcasm if you're clever with it, and the relationship between the kids and you is one that can endure what is essentially cheek. I use it all the time, but then my kids know where I'm coming from. If I have a new kid whom I don't know, or a class where the relationship isn't strong enough to take a knock, I keep my language direct and unsubtle. If you're sarcastic, then the kids will often be sarcastic back, because they''ll model behaviour from you, or at least take their boundary cues from you.

Confront

This is for when you've made it clear that you don't want any comments beyond the standard classroom menu (eg appearance, criticisms of the lesson etc.) and kids still persist. Calmly (always calmly, losing the rag is rarely profitable) send the kid out, or set a detention, or have them removed, or whatever you do.

Sarcasm is, depending on the context, a direct challenge to you, and an attempt to mock you, the lesson and your dignity. If you're going to lead them into a brave new world of education, you can't be a laughing stock. That doesn't mean you can't laugh at yourself, but never at your expense, and never solely for their amusement.

Good luck *rolls eyes*

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/news/tips-help-you-deal-sarcasm-classroom/46079

Behaviour Managment - Lion Tamer or Horse Whisperer?

There are subtle, assertive ways to manage students’ behaviour successfully that do not involve aggression and confrontation

If you are not an advocate of the aggressive, sanction-based method of behaviour management, then some schools can be a very lonely place to work.

I met a teacher recently whose department head wanted her to manage behaviour as he did: confrontationally. Her method, which was proving very successful, was more subtle and nuanced than her colleague’s explosion of anger at unpredictable intervals. That her method was working was not enough for her manager, and she ended up moving schools so that she could manage behaviour in a way that worked for her.

Confidence vs. assertiveness

Unfortunately, there are many similar department heads out there who have bought into the lie that children are dangerous subversives. Not satisfied with being persistently hostile to the children in their own classes, they want the entire department to replicate their practice. They even produce books that tell everyone exactly how to teach each lesson, and new rules start to appear that are more stringent than is necessary.

Under the leaders who demand this iron-hand approach, more measured, assertive practice is being crushed. Even teachers who have excellent behaviour in their classes are being asked to give more detentions. And those who do not punish regularly, or who fail to adopt a more dictatorial stance, are told that they “lack confidence” in the classroom. This terminology begins to appear on observation forms, is whispered in middle- management meetings and is written into continuing professional development plans.

Confidence should not be confused with assertiveness. You can be wonderfully assertive with your students without being a confident character, and you can manage behaviour without resorting to ugly aggression or stupefying sanctions. In short, it is just as valid to be a horse whisperer as it is to be a lion tamer.

Being a horse whisperer is about adopting a sure-footed, assertive approach that is a daily drip-feed of consistency. Here, you use simple sentence stems that convey assertiveness: “I need you to… “; “You will be… “; “In two minutes I am going to come back and see… “; “I know that you… “.

Subtle ways to influence behaviour

It is also not about a teacher’s physical presence. Physical assertiveness is not dependent on something as obvious as size but on the nuances of movement, pace, personal space and appropriate distance. It is body language that is tailored to the needs of the individual child. The best teachers working with the toughest classes are often no match for their students physically. They have had to find more subtle ways to influence behaviour.

As well as sentence stems and tailored body language, you can also use assertive structures: closed choices; deal-making; encouraging students to take responsibility for reacting appropriately by saying things such as “We need to have an adult conversation to resolve this”; and lastly showing belief, even in the face of overwhelming odds - a statement such as “I can feel that this is going to be an excellent session/lesson” can make all the difference.

You also have a choice as to when you engage with bad behaviour - you do not have to meet it head-on. Rather than confronting it, you may choose to record it and address it at a more appropriate time, ignore it or walk away and consider your response. Assertiveness is knowing that you can control your own behaviour and make considered, appropriate choices in responding to students.

All the above tactics are just as assertive as the aggressive method of standing your ground, saying “no” and repeating your demand (the “broken record” technique) - if not more so. Yet they are being lost from the repertoire of behaviour management strategies in favour of the didactic, nice-nasty dichotomy insisted on by many “lion tamer” department heads.

There are certainly strong arguments for the role of lion tamers, but there is just as valid a set of arguments for those more quietly assertive horse whisperers. Calm, assertive certainty may not belong to the “shock and awe” tactics that excite dictatorial middle leaders, yet it will allow you to teach the children a personal discipline that does not rely on the lion tamer’s whip. And teachers should have the freedom to embrace that strategy for as long as they can prove it works.

In short

• Although department heads may demand an aggressive approach to behaviour management, more subtle techniques can be just as effective.
• You can use simple assertive sentence stems to show control, such as “I need you to… ” and “You will be… “.
• You do not have to be physically big to use body language well - the nuances of movement, pace, personal space and appropriate distance can be very powerful when tailored to a child’s needs.
• Assertive structures can also be adopted: closed choices, deal-making, positivity and treating students as adults.
• Choosing when to tackle bad behaviour is also important. You do not always have to meet it head-on at the moment it occurs.

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/behaviour-management-lion-tamer-or-horse-whisperer

Top 10 strategies for dealing with misbehaviour

Follow these tried and tested tips to help you clamp down on bad behaviour

Most teachers are faced with at least some misbehaviour in every lesson they teach. The key to preventing, or at least lessening, the stress this misbehaviour causes is to have a number of strategies for dealing with any problems. In addition to helping you cope with stress, these strategies will also make it less likely that the misbehaviour recurs in the future. When the child sees you dealing fairly and rationally with their action, they quickly come to realise that it’s not worth messing with you.

Use ‘I want’ statements

The effective teacher tells the child exactly what he or she wants. Rather than asking: ‘Would you mind stopping that chatter now?’ use the more assertive statement: ‘I want you to stop talking right now and listen to me please.’

Stay calm

However natural it is to get wound up by poor behaviour this will only add to your problems. A calm teacher will deal more effectively with the problem and will encourage the child to stay calm too.

Remove the audience

It can be tempting to address a child’s poor behaviour in front of the whole class. However this makes it far more likely that the situation will escalate into a confrontation. Instead take the child to one side, or even out of the room, before you have a chat.

Defuse, don’t escalate

It is an institutive reaction, when faced with rudeness or confrontation, to start a ‘tit for tat’ battle with the student concerned. However a relentlessly calm and polite approach will be far more likely to cool down the situation and it will also demonstrate appropriate behaviour to the child. Bring your vocal tone and volume right down, until you are speaking with an almost hypnotic calm.

Don’t rise to the bait

Much misbehaviour is designed to get a rise out of the teacher. If you refuse to rise to the bait of a child whose aim it is to wind you up, the tactic becomes meaningless and a waste of time.

Build a ‘wall’

A very good way to avoid rising to the bait is to build a metaphorical ‘wall’ between you and the behaviour. Imagine that a barrier stands between you and the child. However badly he or she misbehaves you are completely impervious to its effects. That way you are in a far better position to deal calmly and rationally with the situation.

Make them decide

When you do have to use sanctions, keep reminding your children that they have a choice at every stage. They can start to behave, accepting the current level of sanctions. Alternatively if they decide to repeat the misbehaviour they will earn a higher level of punishment.

Sanction the behaviour

If a child feels that the punishment is a personal attack, this is far more likely to create a confrontation. Make it clear that it’s the behaviour, and not the child, that is being sanctioned. Keep the whole situation as depersonalised as possible.

Follow it through

Every time you apply a sanction, you must follow it through. For example chasing the child to serve the detention. Otherwise the sanction is meaningless and not worth imposing in the first place.

Make the sanction count

If you set a detention spend time during that detention actually talking to the child about their misbehaviour. Often children don’t really understand why they are being punished, and they need things explained clearly. Hopefully, this discussion will prevent a recurrence of the behaviour that earned the sanction in the first place.

Source: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/top-10-strategies-dealing-misbehaviour

How long does it take to win over a class?

It's the $64,000 question - how long will it take before your pupils are on-side? Tom Bennett helps you set your expectations

Let me just get my ball of string out and measure a piece. There are too many variables here to give you anything the data junkies from the DfE would be satisfied with.

You can start off in one school and find that the kids are pretty much onside the day you walk in the class; this usually occurs when they have been pre-groomed by their feeder schools, the existing school behaviour expectations are tight and tightly enforced, or the parental demographic is highly supportive. There are many schools like this.

Or you might walk into the school from Hades, and be battling them metre by metre, minute by minute, as I was in my first placement.

Some rules of thumb

So how many and for how long? Here are some good rules of thumb, bearing in mind that they are as flexible as a sixth former’s idea of what constitutes a deadline:

Honeymoon period

If you go in hard with a new class, they will probably give you a honeymoon period, where they’re checking you out. For all they know, you might be the Arnold Schwarzenegger of teaching. They are cautious, and sniff you out to see if you carry out your threats. This is a dreadful period, where some teachers get lulled into an appalling sense of false security. A week or two, probably.

Set sanctions...

Then they show you what they’re really like. This is the start of the war of attrition. By now they should know what you expect. By now you should be setting sanctions consistently and fairly.

If you turn up for detentions, or call home when they don’t turn up, and you’re escalating sanctions up the ladder (one hour: hour and a half; Headteacher’s Detention, etc.) then you will enter the real heart of darkness.

...and keep applying them!

After about a term of this you should have seen the easy kids give in quickly as soon as they see you mean business. The tough nuts will remain tough nuts for a while. They’ve got more stomach for a fight. If you’ve started in September, by Christmas you might see this.

Once you come back from the Christmas break they will realize that you haven’t quit, and that they are going to have to put up with you. This will be your first benchmark. How are they behaving? Keep applying sanctions.

The toughest of nuts

By the end of term two you should only be seriously battling the major hard nuts, and having minor (although probably constant) skirmishes with the pests.

By the end of the year, you should be battling the toughest of the nuts.

I’ve said ‘should’ a lot. There is no ‘should’. You are neither a failure if it takes longer, nor a success if you walk into total compliance. It will vary on a lot of things: Are you fair? Are you consistent? Do you have a personality that gels with them? Do you scream at them? Do you tell them you hate them? Do you mark their homework? Are your lessons planned well? I emphasize: a well-planned lesson does not guarantee good behaviour, but a disorganized one can contribute to bad behaviour.

A work in progress

A year of teaching will be your real first hurdle. The process then continues. Kids resent change and at first, no matter how lovely you are, they will probably show you varying degrees of resentment because you’re not the ‘real’ teacher (by which they mean their old one, or some imagined Platonic ideal). Ignore them; this is entirely natural. You never really reach a destination with good behaviour; it can always improve. Even if they’re all sitting quietly and behaving, you will want them to get more proactive, more enthusiastic and more independent.

Behaviour management is a process, not a target. It is never achieved.

This is an excerpt from Tom Bennett’s book Not Quite a Teacher, published by Continuum. The book is a practical teacher training manual, interspersed with funny stories from Tom's own teacher training experiences.  

How to set class rules

Tom Bennett reveals his classroom rules and offers advice on how to make sure the rules are enforced

Keep your class rules short, simple and fairly general, while allowing yourself scope to expand. If they’re too vague, then they’re meaningless, ie ‘Everyone must respect everyone.’ That stinks like a rat in a drainpipe. Avoid being too specific either, or they will mercilessly throw your own rules at you, i.e. ‘No chewing gum’ suggests that they might be allowed to chew tobacco, or bones or something.

I go with the following class rules:

• Don’t talk over me
• Put your hand up to talk
• Wait for me to allow you to talk
• Treat everyone with manners.
• Be on time
• Bring equipment
• Do all work

That last one is useful because telling people to ‘respect’ everyone else is like telling someone to ‘reach for their dreams’ – it's meaningless, and also probably impossible. But everyone knows what manners are. You can add a few more rules, but keep it short and sweet.

I tend to have one main rule: ‘I’m in charge.’ It has a ring to it. These rules are hardly groundbreaking, but make them explicit. Then you can’t be accused of being too vague.

So far, so uncontroversial. It all sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Of course, it’s not. Here are some of the things that will upset this process:

1. Pupils will fail to turn up to detention

Then you need to follow up: this is when it starts getting tiresome. Call home and tell the parents what happened. Be direct, but supportive. Say you need their help for their child to learn. Don’t say their offspring are Satanic, even if they are.

2. Pupils will argue relentlessly with you

One more time: do not engage; repeat, do not engage. You look weak, and reduce yourself to their level if you argue with them. If they won’t settle down, then have them removed from the lesson or send them out to calm down. There is nothing more important than the education of the pupils in the classroom. Anyone who upsets that can spend some time in the cooler.

3. There will be so many students misbehaving, it will be hard to know what to do

Keep taking names, no matter how long it takes, so that you can follow up later. Or at the end of the lesson only let go the ones who definitely behaved. Avoid whole class detentions if it’s at all humanly possible, and even when it’s not. It’s a cowardly, counterproductive technique that will have them hating you, and devising new ways to send you to perdition.

4. You feel like giving up – and do

Soon, you start ignoring blatant misbehaviour in order to have a quiet life. Never give up, even when you really feel like it.

This is an excerpt from Tom Bennett’s book Not Quite a Teacher, published by Continuum. The book is a practical teacher training manual, interspersed with funny stories from Tom's own teacher training experiences.  

Source:http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/how-set-class-rules