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Articles

The Presenter’s Point of View: What advice would you give a novice teacher? What about an experienced teacher?

One of the more powerful aspects of attending a Responsive Classroom course is getting practical, actionable advice from an expert presenter. They have the unique ability to take a strategy that might make sense only in theory and help it make sense not just in practice but in the specific…
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Jul 22 2022

The Presenter’s Point of View: What is the hardest part about infusing the Responsive Classroom approach into your own classroom?

It might be hard to believe, but our elementary and middle school course presenters were once themselves Responsive Classroom beginners. In this installment of The Presenter’s Point of View, they look back on their own experiences applying the Responsive Classroom approach for the first time and share valuable insights into…
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Jul 15 2022

The Presenter’s Point of View: What is your favorite part of a Responsive Classroom course?

This summer, educators across the globe are beginning their Responsive Classroom journey by attending one of our core courses for elementary or middle school. These transformative four-day courses would simply not be possible without the dedication and expertise of our presenters. This month we will be highlighting our presenters’ insights…
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Jul 08 2022

Strategies for Creating a School-Life Balance During the Summer

This month, we have been connecting with our newest consulting teachers to discuss ways educators can fully appreciate their time away from school (you can read previous entries here and here). However, while it is important to find ways to take a break from the rigorous pace of the school…
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Jun 24 2022

Tips for Finding the Right Place to Enjoy Your Summer

Last week, we sat down with our newest consulting teachers to discuss the activities that help them make the most out of their summers. But just as important as how you spend your time is where you spend it: finding a place where you can truly enjoy yourself is a…
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Jun 17 2022

Activities to Make the Most out of Your Summer

One of the main challenges educators face during the summer is how to take a step back from teaching to relax, recharge, and enjoy their vacation. From reflecting on the highs and lows of the previous school year to jumping headfirst into professional development to planning for the upcoming school…
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Jun 10 2022

Summer Is the Time for Teacher Self-Care

Ah, summer! I take this time to reflect, rejuvenate, and rest!  I reflect on the past school year and the professional goals I want to set for the upcoming school year. I rest by making sure I take real breaks throughout the summer when I don’t think about school. I…
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Jun 03 2022

Four Ways to Include Families at the End of the Year

As the year comes to a close, you have likely considered activities and ways to bring the year to a joyful end with students. The end of the school year also provides the opportunity to recognize the other important stakeholders in the year’s success: families. Here are a few ways…
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May 27 2022

Quick Ways to Recognize and Celebrate Every Student at the End of the Year

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 learned to master new reading strategies, perfect new spelling patterns, embrace new math skills, and develop new social skills. We…
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May 20 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 start to drift toward summer plans, it is important for both students and educators alike to look back and take…
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May 13 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 emotion that deserves to be honored is the satisfaction you and your students feel from having worked together to build…
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May 06 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 them through; you are hit with an immediate wave of regret, and you feel your face turn red or a…
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Apr 22 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 not always practice what I preach: like many adults, I work hard to avoid failure.   So how do we…
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Apr 15 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.   It’s the simple routines that create positive relationships between everyone in your classroom: Make that early morning greeting the most…
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Apr 01 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 on the remarkable places her own journey with teacher language has taken her.   As I look back to look…
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Mar 25 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, and attitudes about those students) is to put ourselves in our students’ shoes. In the poem below, Jenni Lee Groegler…
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Mar 18 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 are some thoughts I have now as I revisit these ideas through the lens of my experience teaching since then,…
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Mar 11 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 my third grade teacher, Ms. Reese. Third grade was an especially difficult year for me, and Ms. Reese was a…
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Mar 04 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 our country. We sang spirituals that my ancestors sang and recited works from great writers such as Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn…
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Feb 25 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 sense that the process of creating equity needs to be complex and deep. But over the years, I’ve found that…
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Feb 18 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 history and society. Heritage months were established to honor cultures that otherwise went ignored or underappreciated. However, observances like Black…
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Feb 11 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 students for who they are includes recognizing and valuing their cultural identity. Having their culture embraced by their community is…
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Feb 04 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. In independent practice, students work by themselves without guidance from their teacher. This kind of practice requires students to have…
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Jan 28 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 and significance, we must not only teach expectations and skills for listening and speaking, but we must also structure our…
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Jan 21 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, but, just as with teaching community guidelines and expectations, visual cues alone are not enough. For students to feel comfortable…
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Jan 14 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 the classroom and in their communities. To learn more about how Responsive Advisory Meeting can be used to support students…
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Jan 07 2022

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 familiar are now a distant memory, and it takes a conscious effort to get back into rhythm with them. For…
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Dec 31 2021

Categories

Classroom Management & Discipline
Positive Community
Whole School
Teacher Language
Morning Meeting
First Weeks of School
Engaging Academics
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Positive Language
Families
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