Articles

I recently had the opportunity to reconnect with educators I worked with at the school where I began my teaching career. Many of them came straight from productive days in their various current school assignments, and everyone had a lot to share. One teacher showed pictures from a science experiment…

This year tested us, our students, and their families as everyone worked to meet new and challenging expectations. Yet our students, when faced with seemingly impossible circumstances, were able to both learn academic skills and build social and emotional skills. As we close out a school year full of challenges,…

There is no other way to say it—this school year has been full of unique challenges and demanding questions. Whether you have been teaching remotely, in-person with social distancing, or a hybrid of the two, you probably found yourself grappling with questions ranging from How do I build community when…

  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 is normal for kids to be exhausted and disengaged in the final stretch. The end of the year…

Did the first half of the school year give you a “déjà vu” feeling from your first year of teaching? Everything feels new and unfamiliar. A lot of time is spent ironing out kinks in systems that you thought would be seamless, only to discover – that’s not going to work! A…

Walk with me as I share how my daily scheduled walks for self-care have served to ground and bring to life the Responsive Classroom core belief, guiding principles, and academic and social-emotional competencies in my work. The time and space that the daily walk offers enables me to purposefully reflect…

Teaching and learning has been transformed this year by various models of hybrid, virtual, and remote learning. Along with restructuring and modifying how they deliver education to students, the coronavirus pandemic has prompted educators at every grade level to rethink the role of discipline - the purpose, the structure, and…

This time last year, I published an article titled “Building a Positive Community Through Reflection.” The article began with excitement for the start of a new year and a new decade. Little did I know that the way we deliver education was about to change drastically just a few months…

Helping students create a habit of reflection is an essential step in teaching them how to establish and maintain self-control. But sometimes teachers with positive intentions inadvertently ask questions around reflection that add a layer of shame. For example:  “Think about your work today. What could you have done to…

Written by Sarah Scavone At this point in the school year, we have spent a great deal of time intentionally building our learning community. The strong relationships we build with our students, both student-to-teacher and student-to-student, are intended to provide them with a strong feeling of belonging and significance with…

Written by Kristen Vincent, Responsive Classroom Consulting Teacher Lesson design is about planning and structuring lessons in a way that engages students in learning, practicing, and applying academic content and skills. Well-designed, engaging lessons reduce misbehavior by keeping students focused on their learning. High-quality lessons communicate a purpose for learning,…

Written by Chris Carter, New York City Public Schools kindergarten teacher After multiple delays, New York City schools started this school year in late September with both hybrid and remote instruction. I began the school year with the same goal I have every year: to build relationships. My first opportunity…

Written by Margie Dorshorst As students continue to learn at home through various educational models, many parents have expressed concern about how to motivate their children to stay engaged and complete tasks both on-screen and off. Some parents have expressed the need to use threats or rewards to motivate their…

Last spring, when terms like global pandemic, virus, hybrid-, distance-, synchronous-, and asynchronous-learning first became a regular part of educators’ vernacular and most educators across the country were thrown into unfamiliar territory, I couldn't wait for the school year to be finished. Everything felt new, uncomfortable, and stressful, and trying to…

By Lindsey Lynch and Ramona McCullough No matter the outcome, the results of this year’s presidential election will be challenging for many students, families, and educators. During this time, you can help your student successfully navigate interactions with their teachers and peers, especially those they may not agree with, by…

As you make the transition to online teaching, here are some tips, activity ideas, and resources to support your virtual classroom: Communicate to parents the supplies their children will need for at-home learning. Set up your digital classroom rules or at-home learning rules: send students home with the rules for…

Over the weekend, a friend shared a video with me that you may have seen as well, as it has been widely shared on social media. The video was taken in a neighborhood in Naples, Italy, a country that is currently under national quarantine. Despite that restriction, the residents of…

Helping students get back on track when they are engaged in off-task or rule-breaking behavior is an important goal when responding to misbehavior. We want students to quickly get back to positively participating in the lesson or activity. Our ultimate goal is for students to recognize when they are off-task,…

Does this sound familiar? You teach your students classroom routines at the beginning of the year and watch as they integrate these new routines into their learning, but for some reason – either because they’ve forgotten it or never quite understood it in the first place -- a certain routine…

Every January 1st, we all receive a chance to start fresh. While many of us set a New Year’s resolution, often we only manage to stick with it for a week or two! What if there was an approach to starting fresh in the new year that actually produces results? SMART goals—goals…

There are days when, as educators, so many tasks are vying for our attention that our to-do lists feel endless. During these hectic days, reflection -- a key piece of teaching and learning – is often the first thing to go. Many of us find ourselves careening from one point…

According to stopbullying.gov, between one in four and one in three U.S. students say they have been bullied at school. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and this provides an opportunity for schools to focus on a serious, prevalent problem that affects the social and emotional well-being of students. Bullying…

The school year is in full swing: hopes and goals have been established, classroom and school expectations are in place, and learning is in high gear. Everything is off to a great start. So why are you noticing some students beginning to test limits and misbehave? And what can you…

With the changes in fall weather outside, the weather inside the classroom is likely changing too. As a result, teachers often find themselves responding to misbehavior more than they did earlier in the school year. If this sounds familiar, it’s time for a balance check and realignment! Do a Balance…

Below are some areas that can help create the conditions for students to feel comfortable and ready to start their work of learning and building a positive classroom community.  Assessing your classroom organization will help create the optimal learning environment, where all students feel invited to challenge themselves academically and…

We all can think of stores that felt inviting and organized, places that created the optimal shopping experience. Classrooms, like stores, can be places where we frequently want to spend our time, or they can be places that are unpleasant. We want our classrooms to communicate to students: “This room…