Welcome to the Unconventional Strategies page! By unconventional we really mean creative. Here you will get weekly ideas and strategies that can really enhance your effectiveness with your most difficult students. Most difficult students do not care enough about traditional disciplinary techniques like rules and consequences so they are often unaffected by these. That does not mean we should abandon important strategies that provide structure, direction and predictability for all students.
However, it does mean that we need to have a number of unconventional strategies that you might not want to use with all students, but you will often need to use with those who are more challenging. There are always reasons NOT to use unconventional strategies because at first they might feel awkward to you. It takes guts and courage as well as commitment to do what is best for all of your students to try them anyway. Enjoy and good luck!
Play equals improved concentration
This strategy comes from an elementary teacher we met at a seminar who made a commitment to do what is best for her students. After researching that just 15 minutes of physical activity could produce up to 2 hours of concentration on core subjects, she decided to take her students out on the playground for 15 minutes first thing in the morning before teaching math and then reading. She noticed that her students were more focused and less fidgety and stayed on task. The results...more learning time and less class disruption. Eventually, her principal found out and she had to plead her case, but the results convinced her boss to allow this deviation of schedule.