Principal Dennis Copeland had one goal in mind when he decided to survey a group of 200 students in his school over a three-year period:
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MAR
20
2014
High-Morale Schools: Readying Students to Take on the World
Morale can be hard to define, but you know it when you see it. When you walk into a school and everything immediately feels calm, safe, respectful, rich with learning, you know…
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JAN
03
2014
Big Changes, Big Gains
When principal Susan Mele arrived four years ago at Stewartsville Elementary School, the discipline was in chaos. More time was being spent on discipline than instruction; teachers were exhausted from dealing with…
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DEC
13
2013
Q & A with Matt Miller
Last week, when the national news media picked up a story about a 2nd grader's idea for making recess work better at his school, Roundtown Elementary principal Matthew Miller contacted us right…
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JUL
29
2013
Teach Effectively
Ms. Simpson signals for attention and waits a few seconds, until all students are looking at her, before explaining that today they'll be learning a reading strategy called "visualizing." Using second-grade-friendly language,…
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JUL
29
2013
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
A strong community and a student-centered focus have long been the heart of Hyde-Addison Elementary, a well-regarded public school in Washington, DC. Since Hyde-Addison began using Responsive Classroom practices in 1999, staff…
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JUL
29
2013
A Principal’s Job Is Also to Teach
Early in my career as a school leader, I learned a great lesson: that as a principal, I needed to help children learn the skills that would enable the behavior their teachers…
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APR
16
2013
Kensington Avenue Magnet School
Teachers and administrators at Kensington Avenue Magnet School view the Responsive Classroom approach as a foundation upon which they can build. "We look at each new initiative through a Responsive Classroom lens,"…
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APR
16
2013
Strong Leadership Results in More Effective Teachers
Research has confirmed it: Principals play a crucial role in teachers’ use of Responsive Classroom practices. The study. A recently completed three-year study conducted by the University of Virginia’s Curry School of…
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FEB
06
2013
Chewing on Ideas
Like many educators these days, the teachers in my building have new initiatives added to our plates each year. We need (and want!) to collaborate as a faculty about them, but it's…
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DEC
14
2012
SOAR Schools
At SOAR, a network of public charter schools in Northeast Denver, Responsive Classroom practices are embedded in the daily life of schools, and the approach itself is integrated into the network's core…
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DEC
12
2012
Parent Outreach for Busy Leaders
Teachers are encouraged to reach out early and often to their students' parents and families, and with good reason. If children are to succeed at school, teachers need to get to know…
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OCT
15
2012
More Bullyproofing on the Bus
The school bus is a hot spot for bullying, one of the least supervised and least programmed parts of children's school day. With nothing to do and no one to stop them,…
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AUG
10
2012
Bullying at Camp
Summer camp was a big part of my childhood. When I think back to my experiences at sleep-away camp, I remember a clear line between the camp with an atmosphere of safety…
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AUG
01
2012
Dismissal Time
A few years ago, at dismissal time at Four Corners Elementary School in Greenfield, Massachusetts, 229 students in grades K through 5 would leave their classrooms simultaneously and head for the school's…
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JUL
19
2012
Bullyproofing the Playground
The playground is a hot spot for bullying in schools. Often lightly supervised, recess takes place outside the structures and expectations of the classroom. It's a time when children try out mean…
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JUL
12
2012
No Bullying on This Bus!
Bus rides are often the least supervised part of children's school days. They are also a part of the day without structured activities. That's a terrible combination. No wonder we hear about…
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JUL
03
2012
Bullying and the Bus Monitor
Have you watched that video that shows middle school students on a school bus, bullying their bus monitor? I watched it a few days ago. The video is painful, even disgusting, but…
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APR
10
2012
Garfield Elementary
Garfield Elementary, a K–6 public school, began its Responsive Classroom initiative seven years ago. Located in Fairfax County, the sixth-largest public school district in the U.S., Garfield is a Title I school…
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APR
10
2012
Lessons from Co-Teaching
In my kindergarten classroom, there are two teachers: Pat Douglass and myself. We combined our classes two years ago by opening up the wall between our classrooms and merging them into one.…
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JAN
24
2012
Building Community One Child at a Time
Grafton Elementary School has 750 students in grades 3 to 5. With over 200 children at each grade level, it's easy for children to feel invisible, especially in spaces beyond the classroom,…
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JAN
10
2012
Revisiting Rules
I have such great memories of my third grade students' enthusiasm during the gymnastics unit in physical education. After this special, they'd come back to our classroom full of excitement about what…
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OCT
24
2011
How We Want Our School to Be
Several years ago, teachers at Ironia Elementary, a suburban New Jersey school with 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, began working with their students each September to create classroom rules—simple but…
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OCT
17
2011
Coaching: Not Just for Athletes
Everyone knows that coaching is a key to top performance and excellence in athletics, so why don't we apply the same idea more widely to teaching? In "Personal Best," a recent article…
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JUL
21
2011
Learning on the Playground
Were you one of the kids who got picked last for kickball? I was, and I hated it, until I figured out how to beat the system. My Catholic school didn’t have…
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JUL
20
2011
Setting the Stage for Successful Assemblies
School assemblies, including those involving families, are an important part of building a strong school community. Whether it’s a science group presenting during the school day or a student band performing in…
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APR
04
2011
The Art of Rules
As an art teacher, I'm always looking for ways to adapt Responsive Classroom practices to specialist areas. Here's an idea I came up with for having students do the Hopes and Dreams…
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