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Articles

Maintaining a Climate of Inclusion and Equity With Morning Meeting and Responsive Advisory Meeting

February is the shortest month of the year, but for educators it can feel like the longest. There is a lot to get done in the second half of the year, and often students returning from winter break need to be retaught classroom rules, routines, and expectations. But there is…
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Feb 03 2023

Five Steps for Having Difficult Conversations With Parents

It’s midway through the school year and you notice one of your students has fallen into a pattern of missing work and struggling on tests and quizzes. You know it’s time to reach out to the student’s parents. It’s natural to feel anxious when calling home, especially to discuss an…
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Jan 27 2023

Five Steps for Responding to Midyear Misbehavior

It’s January, and you notice that over the break your students seem to have forgotten all the routines they had been practicing since the start of the school year. Students are acting disrespectfully toward each other. During discussions, classmates are calling out when others are talking. They are showing they…
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Jan 20 2023
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How To Use Positive Time-Out to Teach Students How to Calm Down and Regain Self-Control

How often have you either needed a break from a stressful moment or noticed your mind wandering and needed an opportunity to purposefully refocus yourself? What do you do in those moments? Now consider your students. What can they do in your classroom when they experience stress or need an…
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Jan 13 2023

Who Are Your Students Now? Revisiting Child Development in the Middle of the School Year

At the start of the school year, as new classroom communities are forming, teachers begin planning ways to connect and form relationships with new students. By the middle of the year, a lot has changed: students have established routines, friendships have formed, school assignments and projects are underway, and students…
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Jan 06 2023

Everything You Need to Know to Prepare Students for Winter Break

As winter break approaches, students tend to get distracted by the excitement of the holidays and the anticipation of vacation. As a result, they are often more restless, irritable, and exhausted than usual, and it can be difficult to keep them engaged and focused on learning. Returning from winter break…
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Dec 16 2022

How Logical Consequences Are Different From Punishment

A student doodles during class instead of completing their assignment. Classmates shove each other as they get in line for recess. Between periods, a group of students runs down the hall to get to class. A student talks over a teacher’s instructions. Do any, or perhaps all, of these situations…
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Dec 09 2022

Ways To Address Common Behavior Challenges That Pop Up Midyear

It’s a few months into the school year, and you may be noticing an increase in challenging student behaviors. Suddenly students are struggling to follow classroom rules that they learned at the beginning of the year. Some students are testing limits, both in their relationships with teachers as well as…
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Dec 02 2022

Improving Academic Outcomes Using the Responsive Classroom Approach

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (often referred to as The Nation’s Report Card) was recently released. The results made clear that today’s students are struggling with both reading and math, as there were noticeable declines in both subjects compared to previous report cards.  How Social and Emotional…
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Nov 30 2022

How to Use Active Teaching to Increase Social Engagement in a Digital Classroom

In recent years, many middle school classrooms have shifted from using physical resources like textbooks and workbooks to digital learning platforms that students access with laptops or tablets. A digital curriculum provides a fantastic opportunity for rich explorations of content with embedded scaffolds and additional resources for extending learning; however,…
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Nov 18 2022

Responsive Classroom in High-Tech Classrooms: Common Questions Answered

Let’s face it—technology is changing the way students learn. With the increase of screen time in classrooms, it is imperative that we continue to teach to the whole child, bolstering their social skills and ensuring they are engaged with the academics they are being taught. Luckily for educators, Responsive Classroom…
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Nov 11 2022

Deepen Student Connections With Interactive Learning Structures

Following the busy first weeks of school, teachers and students begin to settle into a familiar rhythm. Students have learned important routines and class expectations and are getting excited about new opportunities to explore academic content. With familiarity building among students, you may begin noticing social groups or cliques starting…
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Nov 09 2022

Use Interactive Learning Structures to Strengthen Listening and Speaking Skills

“Before you speak, listen.”  —William A. Ward   Listening With Purpose As I listen in on the student conversations occurring around the classroom, I notice that my students have a firm grasp on the basics of listening and speaking. They turn their attention toward the speaker and maintain a calm…
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Oct 28 2022

Training Minds One Question at a Time

Albert Einstein once said that the value of education “is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.” As educators, we strive to engage students, drawing on their knowledge and experiences so they can draw upon their…
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Oct 21 2022

Ensuring a Smooth End to the School Day

The end of the school day can be a challenging, hectic time. As the day’s final lesson or period concludes, students must pack up their belongings and often organize homework and other take-home materials. Students’ energy is often high, while teachers are running on fumes. While it can feel difficult…
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Oct 14 2022

Movement Activities That Help Learners of Every Age Refocus

An increase in wiggles and whispers or holes torn in papers from too much erasing can be important clues that your students are beginning to reach their individual or developmental limit for focus or endurance. Responsive Classroom teachers are always on the lookout for signs their students may be in…
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Oct 07 2022

How to Support a Guest Teacher During a Teacher’s Absence

Throughout the school year, there will be times when you will be absent. Whether your absence is planned or unexpected, prepare for these instances at the beginning of the school year by using the following structures. About the Term “Guest Teacher” Unlike the more common “substitute teacher,” this title conveys…
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Sep 30 2022

Six Strategies for Partnering With Families at the Start of the School Year

One of the most important predictors for students’ success in school, according to the nonprofit organization The Global Family Research Project, is family engagement (Weiss, Lopez, and Caspe 2018). So, while educators already know the importance of building positive relationships with students at the start of a new school year,…
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Sep 23 2022

How to Create Community with Classroom Rules

It’s that time of year again! You’re in a classroom with a whole new group of students. In all the excitement and commotion, you might be eager to create a sense of order by establishing classroom rules. But before you do, it’s essential that you ensure your procedures are in…
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Sep 16 2022

The Importance of Setting Purposeful Goals With Students

In the Responsive Classroom approach, we often say that we start the year exploring hopes and dreams, or learning goals, with our students, but this exploration can only occur after we have established an initial rapport, a feeling of safety, and a sense of joy among our new class members.…
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Sep 09 2022

Four Powerful Ways You Can Shift Your Teacher Language to Welcome Students

Starting the Year With Effective Teacher Language The skillful use of teacher language has the power to help create and maintain a positive, encouraging, and respectful classroom community, especially in those first weeks when there is so much to model, explain, and encourage! When we focus on using positive language,…
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Sep 02 2022

The Secret to Student Success: Interactive Modeling

The secret to strong classroom management lies in predictable routines and procedures. From entering and exiting the learning space to managing materials to moments of transition, well-established routines and procedures can provide a natural flow of calmness and order to every part of the day. Giving students clear expectations for…
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Aug 26 2022

Ten Ways to Set Up Your New Classroom for Success, Literally!

The physical space of the classroom plays a significant role in both the culture and community of your learning environment. In fact, I consider the space to be a third teacher, alongside the students and myself. Classroom space is most effective when it invites and encourages learning: bookshelves invite readers…
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Aug 19 2022

Everything You Need to Know to Use Morning Meeting at the Start of the School Year

Morning Meeting is an effective way to start any day throughout the school year, but it is especially impactful at the beginning of the year when you are looking to build a strong sense of community with a new class of students. Whether you are interested in trying Morning Meeting…
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Aug 12 2022

Everything You Need to Know to Use Responsive Advisory Meeting at the Start of the School Year

Responsive Advisory Meeting is a core component of the Responsive Classroom approach to middle school because it provides middle school students with the opportunity to explore new interests, practice new skills, and strengthen their social and emotional competencies, all while developing positive relationships with their peers and with a caring…
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Aug 12 2022

Five Things Every Teacher Should Do on the First Day of School

There is such a sense of potential that comes with the freshly sharpened pencils, organized supplies, and stacks of books waiting to be handed out at the start of a new school year. But the strongest feeling of possibility by far comes from your list of new students. The best…
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Aug 05 2022

The Presenter’s Point of View: What other Responsive Classroom resources would you recommend for educators?

Few people are as passionate about, or well versed in, Responsive Classroom books, tools, and other resources as our course presenters. In this month’s final installment of The Presenter’s Point of View, they recommend the Responsive Classroom resources that they most often turn to in their own teaching practices, as…
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Jul 29 2022

Categories

Classroom Management & Discipline
Positive Community
Whole School
Teacher Language
Morning Meeting
First Weeks of School
Engaging Academics
Energizers & Activities
Positive Language
Families
Special Times in the Year
SEL Skills
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