A Guide on the Side

July 18, 2014 Categories: First Weeks of School / Interactive Modeling / Positive Language / Reminding, Redirecting, and Reinforcing Language / Rule Creation / Teacher Language / The First Weeks of School
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 comments that provide helpful feedback on their classmates' writing and I am just where I want to be at this time in the school year: being a guide on the side.
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MAR
11
2014

Waiting to Speak

Recently, more than a handful of my first graders were struggling with waiting to ask questions or make comments during direct instruction. I responded by using tried and true teacher practices: giving…
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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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JAN
03
2014

Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting

Adapted from the new 2nd edition of The Power of Our Words 
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DEC
04
2013

Sometimes Less Is More

The other day Ben returned to our classroom after a session with the occupational therapist, yelling "I'm here, guys!," which interrupted the lesson and caused a few students to giggle. I looked…
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NOV
26
2013

Noticing Positives

What’s going well in your classroom these days? At this time of year, especially, it’s common for teachers to focus more energy on challenges such as reteaching procedures that aren’t going smoothly,…
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APR
16
2013

Naming What Children Can Do

Mr. Park's fourth grade class was the most impulsive and squirmy group of children he'd ever taught. Children speaking out of turn, talking to neighbors, playing with small objects, or making odd…
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APR
16
2013

When Children Are Defiant

I once taught a second grader who sometimes subtly refused to go along with what we were doing. For instance, if we had to leave the classroom and John didn't want to…
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APR
12
2013

A Lesson Learned About Prizes

During my years of teaching, I have used individual written agreements coupled with a simple token system to give children with particularly challenging behavior the extra support they need to improve. Recently,…
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MAR
27
2013

How Reading About Sammy Healed Me

A few years ago, I had a student who broke me. During our very first Morning Meeting, as my brand new class met each other, he slapped another first grader. Hard. As…
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NOV
19
2012

The Value of Struggle

"When did your courage surprise you?" I was profoundly moved by this question when it was posed at a conference I attended years ago, and it came back to me recently when…
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AUG
01
2012

Close the Gateway to Bullying

An adapted excerpt from Chapter One of the award-winning book, How to Bullyproof Your Classroom
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JUN
20
2012

Read This Book! Opening Minds

How do you create classrooms in which children come to see themselves and their classmates as vital and powerful contributors to their own learning? In his new book, Opening Minds: Using Language…
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APR
10
2012

Want Positive Behavior? Use Positive Language

"Hello, Tasha! How's your new baby brother?" the principal says as she greets a student in the hallway during morning arrival. Just then a teacher comments to a student at his classroom…
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DEC
27
2011

Questioning Your Assumptions

Winter break can provide teachers a bit of time and space to reflect on how the school year has gone so far, and to decide what adjustments to make in January. This…
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DEC
15
2011

Encouraging Words

As a marathoner, I often think about the connections between my challenges as a runner and those of elementary school students. In both arenas, when the going gets tough—whether it's at that…
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SEP
29
2011

Invisible Children

Are there invisible children at your school? A recent series of comments on the Responsive Classroom Facebook page got me thinking again about how many children go through their school days feeling…
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JUN
21
2011

What Could Be

As teachers of young children, we do not always get to see our hopes for our students fulfilled. We have to trust that we and their future teachers will make a difference,…
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MAY
12
2011

Positive Reinforcement

Last week I took part in a panel discussion about the pros and cons of positive reinforcement on Rae Pica’s online radio show. Her producers asked me to join because they read…
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MAY
10
2011

Class Clown

Question: I am a parent of a very bright second grader. He reads at roughly a fourth-fifth grade level and has very strong math skills. The problem is he seems to have…
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APR
01
2011

What to Do About Tattling

"Jaime isn’t lining up in the right place." "Grayson said a bad word." "Olivia hit me!"I know from teaching young children myself how challenging it can be to face a seemingly endless…
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MAR
31
2011

Fruitful Mistakes

Recently I left my coat in a classroom in northern California, lost the cover for my Blackberry somewhere between California and Greenfield, Massachusetts, and made a pot of soup for dinner that…
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FEB
23
2011

Time-Out: Avoiding the Punishment Trap

May 2002Question:I have a dilemma about time-out. I tell my students that time-out is not a punishment, but I know it can feel like punishment when I send them to time-out for…
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FEB
01
2011

Rules Talk

After a busy morning, Mr. Hulsey’s third graders are ready for lunch, squirming as they stand in line at their classroom door. Mr. Hulsey raises his hand, the agreed-upon class signal for…
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FEB
01
2011

Genuine Apologies

Learning to give and receive apologies is a complex social skill. As a school counselor, I am often asked to give advice about having children apologize in school. Are there times when…
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DEC
01
2010

The Method of Grandmother

Chip Wood recently shared a link on the Yardsticks blog to TED talk by Sugata Mitra, an educational researcher who’s done some compelling research on child-driven education and technology. Midway through the…
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NOV
12
2010

Letting Go of “But”

Have you ever had a friend (or relative) who couldn't seem to give a full compliment? I have one (she shall go unnamed) who can't help but qualify every kind thing she…
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