Redefining Student Success

October 22, 2021 Categories: Child Development / Hallways, Lunchrooms, and Other School Spaces / Interactive Modeling / Teacher Language
Traditions feel good. It is why we sing songs that we know well, why we go to the same store each week, and why we drive to work the same way even when we know there will be traffic. Similarly, there are many things we do in schools today because they have always been done Read More »
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MAY
07
2021

Looking Ahead: The Dilemma of Learning Loss

  Social distancing. Hybrid classrooms. Remote learning. These are among the many phrases that, in the past year, have become central to every educator’s vocabulary. But of the many terms that have…
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MAR
31
2021

Sustaining Safety, Joy, and Challenge for Students with Diverse Learning Needs

  All of us, students and teachers alike, approach the end of the school year with a wide variety of feelings. Just as teachers might be feeling burned out right now, it…
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SEP
09
2015

Adapting Morning Meeting: Speech and Anxiety Needs

Morning Meeting is a powerful way to start the day. It meets students’ needs for belonging, significance, and fun; provides students with an opportunity to practice social and emotional skills; and prepares…
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APR
29
2015

A Time of Change

Suddenly in the last few weeks, I can’t keep enough band aids stocked in my classroom. It seems like every time I look over, I see one of my students putting a…
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JAN
07
2014

Magnetic Friendships

As a kid, I was fascinated by magnets: the force they exert, the way they could push and pull through tables, windows, and papers . . . sometimes without even touching! Now…
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APR
16
2013

“We All Get Angry Sometimes”

Just as we teachers help children recognize letters and patterns, manage their belongings, and control their movements, we must also help them identify and manage their emotions. Such self-regulation preserves social relationships…
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FEB
14
2013

Why Do Children Act Silly or Show Off?

Sometimes, we forget that the children we teach are just that—children. Humor, silliness, playfulness, and showing off are hallmarks of childhood, and we should expect to experience some at every grade.
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APR
01
2011

The Terrific Tens

Double-digit kids, tens can take on almost anything and love almost every minute of it. It didn’t take me long as a teacher to latch onto the understanding that if you want…
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FEB
01
2011

The Notable Nine-Year-Old

Nine is not always an easy age, but it is an age of growing social awareness, of intellectual stretching, wondering, and clamoring. These are the “ing” kids: the kids who are doing,…
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JAN
05
2011

What’s Changed?

One of my favorite times of the school year is right after the winter holiday break. That first week back reminds me of the first days of school—many students come in wearing…
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NOV
01
2010

The Energized Eight-Year-Old

When eight-year-olds wake up in the morning, new plans for adventure are often percolating before their feet hit the floor. These plans usually involve a friend, or better yet, a group of…
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AUG
01
2010

The Seeing Seven-Year-Old

Sevens notice everything . . . in detail. Their drawing, writing, and play construction is characteristically small, reduced to the microcosm, miniaturized to an intricate and controllable world they're trying to make…
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APR
01
2010

The Sensational Six-Year-Old

No one is more industrious than a six-year-old. Sixes take on every activity with unbridled enthusiasm. Work is completed in no time at all, though quantity, not quality, is the measure that…
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FEB
19
2010

Do Your Students Seem Older?

Have you noticed an age shift in your class now that it's the middle of the year? It always seemed to me that when we'd come back from February vacation, my students…
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FEB
01
2010

The Feisty 5½ Year Old

There's a discernable turning point in children's fifth year where the focused, centered, rule-following kindergartener becomes the full-fledged explorer. The growth spurt that's beginning will last through the sixth year. "Stretching" is…
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FEB
01
2010

Erica’s Surprising Insight

In almost forty years of problem-solving with children, I learned how important it can be to stay open to surprises. Although I'd always try to figure out what was causing a problem…
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JAN
17
2010

The Phenomenal Fives

Oh, what fun to be five! Busy and loving every moment of it, each day is a brand-new adventure, and if the structure of life around them is strong, they’re good to…
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NOV
01
2007

On Turning Seven

One recent January, I noticed something odd each time my class of first graders settled into their writing workshop tasks: A handful of children had begun writing with tiny, tiny letters. "You…
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FEB
01
2004

Child Development

Question:What are your goals in sharing knowledge about child development with students’ families, and how do you go about it?
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