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Articles

Behavior Challenges in the Homestretch?

It's April. It's tempting to think that by now students understand our expectations and know how to behave, so we can all just coast to the end of the year. But, in most classrooms, that's probably not true. In this season, children are filled with spring fever, facing mixed emotions…
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Apr 01 2010

The Last Days of School

Endings can be difficult for both children and adults. As the last days of school approach, the children in my first grade classroom and I will be feeling a range of emotions, including sadness at saying goodbye to friends, anticipation of new adventures, and anxiety about the coming transitions. The…
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Apr 01 2010

Interactive Modeling: Walking in Line

A step-by-step example of how it might look and sound for a teacher of younger students to use Interactive Modeling. 1. Describe a positive behavior you will model "When we walk in line, it's important for us to get where we're going safely and quietly, so other people in our…
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Apr 01 2010

Interactive Modeling: Responding to a Signal

A step-by-step example of how it might look and sound for a teacher of older students to use interactive modeling. 1. Describe a positive behavior you will model "Sometimes when we're having conversations or working on something in the circle, I'll need you to stop, look, and listen to me…
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Apr 01 2010

Scenes from Sammy and His Behavior Problems

From Chapter 1: Getting to know Sammy It's the morning of the second day of school. My new third grade students sit in a circle on the floor, shining with that beginning-of-school look. I bring out a "magic shawl," beneath which is hidden the learning material I'm about to introduce.…
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Feb 01 2010

Reflecting on Classroom Routines

What routines do you use in your classroom? Which are going well? Which still need some work? Reinforcing and celebrating success For routines that are going well, think about how you can share or celebrate those positives in a meaningful way with students. You might make a list on a…
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Jan 08 2010
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Reaffirming Community after a Vacation

Students are often a bit out of the routine of the classroom after a vacation, making this a good time to do activities that reaffirm the group's sense of community. Plan post-vacation activities with three main goals in mind: Give children a chance to catch up and share. For instance,…
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Jan 05 2010

Handling the Holidays: Morning Meeting Message

Tips on using Morning Meeting Messages and the last part of Morning Meeting, reading the message together, to set a positive tone during the build-up to winter holidays and vacation. Winter themes. As with sharing, you might include timely questions/themes in your morning messages at this time of year. Just…
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Dec 17 2009

Handling Halloween High Spirits

Even if your school forgoes Halloween celebrations or costumes, I know from my own classroom experience that many children come to school on Halloween (and the days before Halloween) keyed up and counting down the minutes until they "trick or treat." With some careful planning, you and your class can…
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Oct 27 2009

Do You Have a Chatty Class?

I hear a lot from teachers who are feeling frustrated by students' "chattiness." They say things like "Mike, they're not bad kids, they just won't stop talking to each other. As soon as I stop talking, they start," and "The constant chatter is interfering with their learning. They're not paying…
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Oct 21 2009

Introducing Time-Out to Older Students

A few weeks ago, on the RC discussion board on Facebook, Aimee Casale asked for suggestions for introducing Take a Break (also called Positive Time-Out) to students in the upper elementary grades. I answered her there, and I wanted to share what I said to her with you, as well:…
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Sep 16 2009

A Focused Finish

Q: What's the most important thing to focus on during the last weeks of school? A: Showcasing students' learning and celebrating the community you've built together should be the focus at the end of the year.  It's a prime time for doing deeply engaging work, such as a culminating project,…
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Apr 01 2009
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Coaching Children in Handling Everyday Conflicts

"Teacher, he won't play with me." "Teacher, she cut in line." "Teacher, he took my book." Such classroom conflicts are familiar in elementary school life. For years, resolving such conflicts for children filled my days. I lost valuable teaching time, and the children learned nothing about resolving their own conflicts—or…
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Feb 01 2009

Learning Celebrations

As a new teacher years ago, I knew by instinct and training that students would learn more, and with more joy, if adults from their home lives shared in their school lives. I wanted to welcome families into our first grade classroom in ways that would engage them and allow…
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Feb 01 2009

How do you manage to have private conversations with students?

A: With kindergartners, I do a lot of quick check-ins during class time, but when a longer conversation is needed, I use the quiet corner in our classroom. It's a small space set up with soft, comforting things (bean bag chair, stuffed animals)—specifically meant for children who need to calm…
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Nov 01 2008

Solving the Space Crunch

What's something you've done to make better use of space in your classroom? A: I let go of my teacher desk. It was hard to do. Even though I rarely sat there, that piece of furniture signified that I was The Teacher. However, the desk took up a ton of space,…
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Aug 01 2008

“Look At This Lemon”

As each school year ends, I look for ways to highlight for my students all they’ve learned during our time together. Last year, I found a quick, fun way to do this during Morning Meeting, while also giving the children a bit more practice in observing and classifying—important skills in…
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Apr 01 2008

Teaching Transitions

In many classrooms, it's during transition times that things get a little chaotic, possibly resulting in behavior problems that frustrate in the moment and spill over into the rest of the day. Many teachers resign themselves to the chaos. For years I did that myself. Then one year, I decided…
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Nov 01 2007

The Last Six Weeks of School

The school year is drawing to a close. It’s been a year filled with many learning experiences for the children and for you. Though learning doesn’t end just because school does, it’s good to help children bring a sense of closure to the year of classroom learning. This article highlights…
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Apr 01 2007

Opening the Classroom Library

Week two of third grade has just begun. The children are sitting in a circle on the rug next to the taped-off bookshelves of the classroom library. Since school started a week ago, the library has been “closed,” and the children have been glancing longingly at the bins of books…
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Aug 01 2006

Ending the Year on a Positive Note

Question: What's something you do with students to end the year on a positive note? A: A few years ago I decided to make sure my class would have time for saying goodbye on the last day of school. To help them prepare, the night before I gave them “thinking…
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Apr 01 2006

Classroom Rules Q&A

In many classrooms, after the children and teacher create classroom rules during the first weeks of school, they revisit the rules at various points during the year. When do you do this with your students, and what's your purpose and process? A: In addition to calling attention to our rules…
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Feb 01 2005

What is Responsive Classroom Time-Out?

When used calmly, consistently, and respectfully, Responsive Classroom time-out can be a valuable strategy for helping students develop self-control while keeping the classroom calm, safe, and orderly. Santiago is at the interactive whiteboard, showing the class his solution to a math problem the teacher challenged them with. Everyone is paying…
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Feb 01 2004

Everyday Rules That Work!

Scholastic published this article on the Responsive Classroom approach to rules and logical consequences for the August 2003 issue of Instructor magazine. It was reprinted with permission on the Responsive Classroom website, September 2003. Kathryn Brady, Mary Beth Forton, Deborah Porter, and Chip Wood are the authors of Rules in…
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Jul 31 2003

Bringing Classroom Rules to Life

School rules. The mere mention of these words can elicit heavy sighs and moans from children and adults alike. Rules order us around. Rules constrict us. "No running, no hitting, no pushing, no cutting in line, don't interrupt . . ." As one young child put it, "You want to…
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Apr 01 2003

A Quiet Place for Rough Moments

Alison, a young five-year-old I taught recently, struggled with separation anxiety at the beginning of the year. She had a hard time saying goodbye to her dad when he dropped her off in the mornings. On one particularly difficult day, she went through all the usual routines—blowing a kiss, waving…
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Apr 01 2003

Displaying Student Work

A classroom filled with the work of children is a delight to be in and sends a message to students that their work and their learning are important. Although early in the school year, the teacher might do much of the display planning and caretaking, as the year progresses, students…
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Nov 01 2002

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