Professional Development and Community

The excitement of a new school year generally greets me in a place of confident anticipation. Like the edge pieces of a newly begun jigsaw puzzle, cherished September routines provide a familiar boundary as I await the colorful scene that will take shape within. My knowledge and experience provide comfort…

In early 2018 I presented my first Responsive Classroom course at the American School of Bombay (ASB) in Mumbai, India. This independent day school follows a college preparatory curriculum that supports an American Diploma or an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma for grades K-12. During that time I met Casey Faulknall, middle school…

I once observed a classroom where a teacher attempted to gain the attention of a classroom actively and excitedly engaging in a science experiment by using her loudest voice possible to announce, “USE YOUR QUIET VOICES IN SCIENCE!” Her command blended in with the noise. I remember thinking to myself,…

Everybody reacts differently to stressful situations. With acute changes to normal routines, concern about the possibility of illness, and isolation from social distancing, this a uniquely stressful time, making self-care even more important. The best way you can care for yourself is to think about what you personally need to…

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…

Our beliefs drive our actions and the results of our actions reinforce our beliefs. When we endeavor to change our actions, often we focus on the relationship between our actions and their results, rather than reflecting on the power of our beliefs on our actions. When we consider our role…

This time of year, it can be easy to begin thinking that we’ve got students all figured out. We've had them in our classrooms for a couple of months, refreshed our knowledge of developmental strengths and needs, administered initial assessments, reviewed benchmark data, and have likely had one (or more)…

A guiding principle of Responsive Classroom is “How we work together as adults to create a safe, joyful, and inclusive school environment is as important as our individual contribution or competence.” In order to create meaningful and lasting change in schools, we must have good working relationships with our co-teachers…

It’s the middle of the summer, another school year is successfully in the books, and preparations for the new school year are not quite in full swing. Now -- while you’re hopefully finding time for some well-deserved relaxation -- is an ideal time to reflect and recalibrate on the type…

Responsive Classroom Consulting Teachers Joe Tilley, Luke Mason, Jenny Spero, and Ramona McCullough, and Professional Development Designer Michelle Gill weigh in on the importance of self-care.   You already know that social and emotional well-being are vital to student success, but with lesson planning, grading, and the day-to-day bustle of…

It’s been another great year at Center for Responsive Schools! We are grateful for the opportunity to continue sharing the Responsive Classroom approach to Social-Emotional Learning with educators around the world. Here are some fun facts that sum up how we did just that in 2018.   Responsive Classroom Around…

Students come to ACS Cobham International School in England from all over the world. Some stay for their entire pre-collegiate school experience and others make a home there for just a few years before the next stop on their globe-trotting journey. “There is a huge range of cultural expectations [among…

Michelle Gill is a professional development designer at the Center for Responsive Schools, and former educator at Garfield Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. During her time at Garfield, she was part of a transformative Responsive Classroom initiative that established a climate of growth, possibility, and high achievement. We asked…

I can remember my first days as a principal as if it were yesterday. The vividness of the memory is largely because my first days of being a principal were also the first days of the school’s existence, and all the staff members would be working together for the first…

A little over a year ago, I became the principal at a school where discipline referrals and staff stress were at all-time highs. Change was clearly needed, and soon. I’d spent the previous eight years leading another school into becoming a safe, joyful learning community, thanks mainly to our use…

I enjoy planning Morning Meetings for my students, and each year I see how beneficial these gatherings are in creating a positive classroom community. I’ve also found that sharing and being exposed to new Morning Meeting ideas is a great way to keep things fresh, deepen my practice, and learn…

With increasing demands to meet rigorous curriculum standards and improve the quality of instruction, efficient, productive professional development (PD) and staff meetings are more critical than ever. Too often, though, these sessions fall short of being fully engaging and productive—and opportunities for professional growth are lost. The familiar lecture-style meeting…

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, she defines the new term and then demonstrates it by thinking aloud about what she sees in her…

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 Education and funded by the U.S. Department of Education looked at whether the Responsive Classroom approach improves student…

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 difficult for us to find time to meet as a group. At my school we've found a solution…

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 elements and values. Schoolwide implementation of the Responsive Classroom approach was part of the plan from SOAR's inception.…

Garfield Elementary, a K–6 public school, began its Responsive Classroom initiative in 2005. Located in Fairfax County, the sixth-largest public school district in the U.S., Garfield is a Title I school with 360 students and 40 staff members. 53% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch and breakfast,…

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. Now we teach thirty-three students—the equivalent of two full classes—together, all day, every day. Co-teaching with another kindergarten…

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 about coaching in The New Yorker, Atul Gawande reflects on this question and others as he considers the…

We asked four Responsive Classroom consultants, "What's one great resource for teachers as they look ahead to the next school year?" Here are their responses: Mark Emmons said, "The Well-Balanced Teacher, by Mike Anderson, is a quick read and has many helpful tips for teachers. It shows teachers how to…

In the throes of a winter snow storm, progress reports, parent conferences, state testing and the flu season, imagine what might have inspired these comments: "This was totally worth giving up two weekends!" "This was fabulous . . . we lost two weekends in January and it well worth it!…