The end of the school year is always an exciting time—full of opportunities to celebrate and reflect. The students we met in August and September have grown in innumerable ways—they’ve Read More »
Continue Reading
MAY
13
2022
Pause, Ponder, and Reflect: Six Ways to Celebrate School Year Success
The countdown to summer can be bittersweet as fond memories of activities, moments, and achievements from the school year intermingle with the excitement of summer’s many possibilities. As our minds Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAY
06
2022
Five Ways to End the School Year With Joy!
The end of the school year is approaching, and with it comes a flood of thoughts and emotions, from relief to reflection to anticipation of summer’s promise of rest. One Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
APR
22
2022
Words Matter How to Reflect, Correct, and Project, by Jenni Lee Groegler Pierson
Words Matter: How to Reflect, Correct, and Project We’ve all been there: that dreaded moment when words come out of your mouth before you have a chance to think Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
APR
15
2022
Recover from Failure with a Dose of Self-Empathy, by Ramona McCullough
Recover from Failure with a Dose of Self-Empathy In my classroom, I encourage risk-taking and often reassure my students that making mistakes is an opportunity to learn. However, I do Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
APR
01
2022
Relationships
Dr. Thomas L. Benson, a high school principal with twenty-six years of experience as an educator, shares the simple routines that create positive relationships between everyone in the classroom. Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAR
25
2022
Valley of Voice
Teacher language can have a transformative effect not just on your students’ approach to learning, but on your relationship to teaching as well. In the poem below, Julie Kelly reflects Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAR
18
2022
What You Don’t Know
One of the most meaningful ways we as educators can engage with Responsive Classroom‘s fifth guiding principle (What we know and believe about our students—individually, culturally, developmentally—informs our expectations, reactions, Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAR
11
2022
What Kind of Teacher Are You? A Question Revisited
Nine years ago, I wrote a short article to explain to myself what it meant to be a Responsive Classroom teacher (which you can read in its entirety below). Here Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAR
04
2022
In Celebration of Teachers
Most people can recall at least one instance in which a teacher showed caring and kindness toward them at just the right moment in their lives. For me, it was Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
FEB
25
2022
Teaching Diversity Beyond Black History Month
Growing up, I always looked forward to Black History Month at my public school in New York City. My teachers taught lessons about Black people who made notable contributions to Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
FEB
18
2022
Valuing Differences – Ways to Bring Students’ Unique Backgrounds to the Forefront of Their Learning
Centering equity and justice in my teaching practice has taken time and even caused moments of intense self-doubt and feelings of failure. Sometimes these feelings of doubt come from the Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
FEB
11
2022
Beyond the Heritage Month: Teaching Black History All Year Long
Black History Month is a critical time to acknowledge the systemic oppression and racism that Black people have experienced in this country while also celebrating their incredible contributions to American Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
FEB
04
2022
Strategies for Helping Our Stakeholders Understand and Embrace an Inclusive Curriculum
For students to belong and feel significant, they need to feel seen for who they really are and get the sense that they can be their authentic selves. Crucially, seeing Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
JAN
28
2022
Independent Practice in the Middle School Classroom
Independent practice is a new Responsive Classroom strategy for introducing concepts and skills to middle school students by creating opportunities for them to interactively explore the content through hands-on learning. Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
JAN
21
2022
Three Activities That Bring Students’ Lives and Interests Into the Classroom
Students feel safe, included, and necessary if their voice is valued through patient and active listening. As we work toward cultivating a classroom community that validates students’ needs for belonging Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
JAN
14
2022
Three Ways to Cultivate Classrooms Where Student’s Voices Are Heard and Valued
Students’ voices and perspectives can only be amplified in our classrooms once students feel safe to express themselves. Displays describing classrooms as “safe spaces” are becoming more and more common, Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
JAN
07
2022
Five Ways You Can Use Responsive Advisory Meeting to Help Students Find their Voice in the Classroom
Responsive Advisory Meeting provides an effective and helpful structure for middle school teachers who are looking for opportunities to empower their students to be assertive and use their voices in Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
DEC
31
2021
Seven Tips for the Transition Back to School From Winter Break
For so many teachers and students, returning after winter break can feel like the first day of school all over again. The routines, rules, and procedures that were once so Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
DEC
17
2021
Use Responsive Advisory Meeting to Lend a Helping Hand
The holidays are a time everyone looks forward to. Some of us cannot wait to relax and binge watch our favorite TV shows; some are ready to eat delicious holiday Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
DEC
10
2021
Handle the Holidays With Morning Meeting
As the holiday season gets into full swing, maintaining a productive and pleasant classroom atmosphere can become a difficult task. During this time of year, students are frequently distracted by Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
DEC
03
2021
Inviting All Winter Holidays Into the Classroom
Q: The students in my classroom come from many different traditions and cultures. I know the winter holidays could be a great opportunity for students to learn about each other’s Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
NOV
26
2021
How Social Distancing Helped Me Up My Interactive Learning Structure Game
Six feet of distance. Masks indoors. Individual materials for all. All the new safety requirements felt overwhelming when my middle schoolers sauntered into B-5 after ten weeks of virtual learning. Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
NOV
12
2021
How Have We Reimagined Teaching, Leading, and Communicating in our Schools?
Recently there has been discussion in our education ranks about how students have not had an uninterrupted school year for over eighteen months. The disruption started at the end of Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
NOV
05
2021
Apps That Grew My Responsive Classroom Practices Despite the Hurdles COVID Created
The past two years have undoubtedly shaken up the way I approach teaching. Beginning the 2020–2021 school year virtually produced many daunting questions. How could I build community? How could Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
OCT
29
2021
How Do You Know It Is Happening? Six Clues That May Indicate Cyberbullying
Bullying is unwanted aggressive behavior between school-aged children. It is a way that a child with physical or social power abuses a less powerful child. Cyberbullying, according to the U.S. Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
OCT
29
2021
What Should I Do? Six Strategies to Use When You Notice Cyberbullying
You hear mean and unwelcome teasing as students do math activities on electronic devices. You see exclusion when a group of students are playing an online game. You suspect that Read More…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading