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Articles

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

Empowering Educators to Get to Know Their Students: A Conversation with Authors Andy Moral and Heather Young

  Early in the school year, all educators are faced with the same important task: getting to know their new students. To learn some effective strategies for making connections with students at the beginning of a new school year, Responsive Classroom sat down with Andy Moral and Heather Young. Andy…
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Sep 24 2021

A Successful Start to the Year – One School’s Story of Adults Making a Difference by Working Together

  In the first week of my teaching career, I had a colleague say to me, “You get only one chance to start the year off in a good place – if it starts off wrong, it will stay wrong.” As a new teacher, this statement really impacted me. I…
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Sep 10 2021

Responding to Learning Loss

In June 2020, the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company released “COVID-19 and Student Learning in the United States” a report that outlined the alarming potential impact of school closures on learning. The report’s results were based on statistical models for school reopening timelines given three different epidemiological scenarios. In…
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May 04 2021
Photo by Jeff Woodward.

Starting the Year Off with Joy

As materials come out of storage, your classroom space comes to life and you begin envisioning the excitement, engagement, and meaningful learning your students will experience in the upcoming school year. Below are three teaching practices that can help you make this vision a reality. Each of these practices promotes…
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Aug 17 2017
Photograph by Jeff Woodward

Self-Assessment and Goal Setting Go Hand in Hand

Fifth grade teacher Ms. Johnson begins class by naming the lesson goal: to write an essay that includes the fundamental elements of persuasion. She displays criteria for good work on the whiteboard and gives each student a checklist of grade-appropriate elements of persuasive writing. She then asks students to take…
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Oct 05 2016
Photography by Jeff Woodward.

Our Hopes and Dreams for School

“What are your hopes and dreams for the school year?” Many teachers ask this question in the first weeks of school to help students get excited about learning and make a personal connection to what they will learn in school. Inviting students to name learning goals (hopes and dreams) right…
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Jul 29 2015
Photograpgh by Jeff Woodward.

Looking Ahead to Next Year: The First Day of School

As the school year draws to a close, you’re probably thinking about ways to keep students engaged in their learning during the last weeks of school. But now is also a good time to reflect on the successes and challenges of the school year and consider how you’ll begin the…
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Apr 17 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

The First 12 Weeks of PE

Starting on the first day of school, students wait excitedly at the door for PE to begin. And as soon as they see me, they always pepper me with questions: "What are we doing today?" "Can we play Excuse Me, Tag?" "Can we go full speed now?" "When are we…
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Oct 31 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Pen Pals With a Twist

Not long ago, my second grade classes started pen pal projects. These weren't your usual pen pal ventures where children write to students in another state or country. These had a twist. In our Pen Pal Notebook project, the students write a letter every Friday to an adult at home:…
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Sep 18 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

8:00 a.m.: I’m at the Classroom Door

Where are you when students arrive in the morning? At your teacher desk looking at paperwork from the office? At the projector setting up a video you'll be showing later that morning? I like to station myself in my customary position at the door, ready to greet each student as…
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Aug 20 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Relationships: Always More to Learn

I teach a class of fourth graders with a span of academic skills, developmental characteristics, and cultural and economic backgrounds. If I had to describe what makes such a diverse class work and learn together productively, I’d start with one word: Relationships. The relationships we form with each other are…
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Jul 28 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

A Guide on the Side

It's still summer, but I'm thinking ahead to winter. I'm picturing writing workshop time mid-way through the year: Students are busy at the computers, working with an intensity that's balanced by smiles and the occasional excited whisper, "Did you see my comment yet?" Each student is fully engaged in writing…
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Jul 18 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Twelve Days

That's how long it took for school to start feeling normal to me this year. Up to then I was in full-on back-to-school mode, and so were my students. Kids' shoes were shiny, voices were either loud or silent, faces were sleepy, eyes were peeking into other rooms in hopes…
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Sep 06 2013

Memory Collections and Community Building

Like every teacher, I spend part of each summer imagining the students who will be in my care for the next 180 days and thinking about the best way to begin the new school year. Right away, I want to begin cultivating a classroom community based on trust, and I…
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Aug 01 2012

Back to School with Children’s Books

Reading aloud can be a powerful way to build community and shared understanding at the beginning of the school year. My classes and I used to laugh and talk all year about the picture book Table Manners by Chris Raschka and Vladimir Radunsky, and the first chapter book we read…
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Sep 01 2011

The First Six Weeks of School

The early weeks of each new school year offer teachers distinct opportunities and challenges. It is during this time—when expectations and routines are established, rules generated, and goals articulated—that the foundation is laid for a productive and cooperative year of learning. As teachers, we work hard to convey, from the…
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Jul 19 2011

Could This Be Your Classroom?

"... the first six weeks were rich with modeling, practicing and defining our class community and expectations.  Children rose to the challenges and pulled together to be their best. We proudly celebrated our accomplishments and dug into the academic endeavors.  But  slowly, tension started to build.  Friends are comfortable with…
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Oct 19 2010

Books for Back to School: Falling Down the Page

I love visiting bookstores, especially children’s bookstores, when I’m traveling. This summer, while I was on the road for work, I discovered lots of new books. (Truth be told, I also spent a little more than I should have on books for my toddler at home!) Over the coming weeks,…
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Aug 06 2010

Class Yellow Pages

Here's a beginning-of-the-year project that helps classmates get to know each other by "advertising" their strengths: Each student thinks of things they are good at in school and could help other students with. For example: "I am good at long division." "I can illustrate really well." "I am a good…
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Sep 24 2009

Knowing All Our Students: An Interview with Caltha Crowe

In your book Solving Thorny Behavior Problems, you write about teachers getting to know their students. Why is this so important, especially for children with behavior and learning challenges? Children vary enormously in their concerns and needs. We can help all students feel safe and be successful learners when we…
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Aug 01 2009

Learning Names At the Start of the Year

Caltha Crowe retired in June after 35 years of teaching. Most recently, she taught third graders at King’s Highway Elementary School in Westport, Connecticut. She is a certified Responsive Classroom consulting teacher. Answer: For the first few weeks of school, all children and adults wear name tags. During these early…
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Aug 01 2007

Looking Ahead to Next Year

For students, teachers, and parents alike, few events bring more hope and nervousness than the start of a new school year. As the summer winds down, many teachers begin to have conflicting feelings about the year ahead. We’re at once curious about our new students and daunted by the challenge…
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Apr 01 2005

Opening Soon!

An exciting way to introduce classroom materials and learning areas slowly, safely, and with a sense of ownership and fun As eager kindergarten students enter the classroom on the first day of school, they see chairs and tables, a paper towel machine, a row of hooks for backpacks, and shelves…
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Jul 31 2004

Building a Sense of Ownership

Question: In the book The First Six Weeks of School, co-authors Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete emphasize the importance of helping students feel a sense of comfort and ownership in the classroom from the very first days of school. How do teachers do this? We asked a few to share their…
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Mar 31 2000

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