I saw this wonderful idea in Pinterest. It caught my attention as a nice straightforward, stand alone solution to behavior management.

This is how I envisage myself implementing this in class

• I create a tub of cool down cubes as seen in the picture.
• When I see a child with known behavioral issues becoming stressed or agitated, I place this on their desk.
• The student then takes a cube and carries out the recommended action.
• Hopefully over time the student becomes familiar with all the suggestions on the cubes, and is able to calm themselves down without it.

Positives that I can see of this system include

• I can give the student the cubes without disrupting the overall flow of my lesson.
• The student independently can choose a solution to their problem.
• Over time the student learns the self-control techniques and would no longer require the cubes.
• It is non-confrontational.
• I can ask other teachers for ideas to write on the cubes.

• DINY Reusable Ice Cubes BPA Free 18-36 - 54 Count (18) $7.99 Amazon Choice
• Kikkerland Square Reusable Ice Cubes, Made of Plastic (Set of 30) $8.00
• Thornton's Reusable Plastic Ice Cubes, Assorted Colors (32 Cubes) $12.99 Amazon Choice

Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud (Author), David Messing (Illustrator)

If you watch one video in my blog please make it this. A truly delightful book. I read it on day one with my K3 students and refer back to it when ever there is any behavioural issues that arise in my class.

I picked mine up in Amazon. Also available in Japanese.

For the last month I have been teaching K2-Grade 1 students in Daily 5. Although I have observed many Daily 5 classes over the years I was at a loss as to how best to introduce it and encourage adoption by my students.

The Daily 5 - Fostering Literacy in the Elementary Grades (first edition) by Gail Bushy and Joan Moser is an awesome easy to access book that really supported me. You can read it from start to finish, or just drop into a particular skill you wish the students to acquire. I will be revisiting the book as a whole over the break, and I still refer to each section when planning. It is a highly recommended read.

Here is the book contents. There about 100 pages in all, and very accessible.

Part 1: Daily Five Basics

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: From management to principled habits: Foundations of the Daily Five
Chapter 3: What's the difference?: Key materials, concepts and routines for launching the Daily Five
Part 2: The Daily Five In Actions...

Introducing Numbers 1-10. To play requires simply a football.
1. Stand in a circle holding hands
2. Kick the softball to, not at, each other
3. Restart the count if the ball goes outside the circle
4. Encourage the students to count aloud with you
5. This activity can work equally well with counting by 2, by, or the alphabet.

Thousands of innovative, standards-aligned digital resources, compelling student experiences, and professional development opportunities.

A mighty useful free resource that had up until now escaped my attention. If you are a teacher of any grade looking for an easy to use professional resource site then just head over to the PBS Learning Media website and have a wander through it yourself.

Highlights for me include:

• Content by calendar - content by major holidays, observances, important dates, and themes
• Assign lesson and quizzes to students by generating a simple URL to share
• Browse by grade and subject
• Lessons complete with free media spanning multiple subjects for preschool through 12th grade.
• Cost-free K-12 interactive websites, videos, eBooks, images and sound files.
• Curious George videos.
• A digital storyboard that students can also use. I've not tried this as yet.

Subject areas:
• Science
• Social studies
• Math
• English language arts and literacy
• Health and physical education
• Preschool
• World languages

Teaching Standards: Common Core State standards and National Standards.

It all runs through the browser so no app required, although any flash based content will not, as per usual, display on an iPad.