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Articles

Photo by Jeff Woodward.

Teachers, Specializing in… Everything!

You’re a master of flexibility, an expert gear-switcher, and you know and teach every student at your school. You’re a Special Area Teacher. And you’re amazing! Being a Special Area Teacher means that, on any given day, your lesson plans are meeting the needs of students in vastly different physical,…
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Sep 20 2017
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Setting a Positive Tone in Special Area Classrooms

An adapted excerpt from Responsive Classroom for Music, Art, PE, and Other Special Areas. Published in July 2016 by Center for Responsive Schools, the book is packed with easy-to-implement ideas for adapting core Responsive Classroom practices to specialists’ unique teaching situations. Learn more about the book. What happens in the…
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Aug 09 2016
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Music Class Rules

I’d been teaching for over 30 years and felt pretty comfortable with the way I managed my music classes. But a few years ago, I took a Responsive Classroom workshop, and it turned everything I knew right-side up! I now use many of the practices, such as Interactive Modeling, positive…
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Jul 01 2015

Special Area Rules

Special area teachers may come up with their area rules on their own, use or adapt classroom rules, or use schoolwide rules. No matter where your special area rules come from, the key point is having them in place—and helping students feel invested by relating the rules to their own…
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Jul 01 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

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 they'd practiced, asking me to come next time and see them using their new skills, and comparing what…
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Jan 10 2012

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 and classroom rule creation process while incorporating explorations in art. Early in the fall, we made a paper…
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Apr 04 2011

Using the Responsive Classroom Approach in Special Area Classrooms

Music teachers, art teachers, physical education teachers, librarians, and other specialists are an integral part of school and play a role, as all staff members do, in teaching children to be responsible, caring learners. But unlike self-contained classroom teachers, specialists see hundreds of students a week, often travel to more…
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Mar 17 2011

Technology in the Classroom

With new technologies arriving on the scene constantly, it can be hard for teachers to keep up. Which devices will improve the learning environment in your classroom? Which will gather dust? Here are some basic guidelines to help you decide on the role of technology in your elementary classroom: Use…
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Aug 02 2010

PE Kudos! Forging connections with families

At University School of Nashville, where I was an administrator and teacher for 23 years, the physical education teachers have recently been trying a new way of engaging students' parents in the day-to-day life of the school. They call it "PE Kudos." Here's how it works: Earlier this year, the…
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Mar 25 2010

Including All Staff in the Responsive Classroom Journey

When Bristol Elementary School, a public school in a small Vermont town, started its journey of Responsive Classroom implementation a few years ago, it took a two-pronged approach, focusing simultaneously on classroom practices and a few high-impact schoolwide initiatives. In both areas, the contributions of educational assistants and other support…
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Feb 01 2009

Working with “Specials” Teachers

Q: "Specials" teachers often see each child for only one hour a week. What's one way that you and a special area teacher have worked together to help him/her get to know your students better? A: At our school, we’ve found that fostering a culture of regular, two-way communication helps…
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Nov 01 2005

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