Recently a teacher contacted me, frustrated over her school's adoption of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS. Her biggest concern was that PBIS would replace the Responsive Classroom approach to teaching and learning at her school. The perspective I offered was that Responsive Classroom and PBIS are compatible in many ways: in fact, Responsive Classroom practices and strategies can provide structure and support for PBIS and other behavioral and academic initiatives.
Sarah was under the classroom work table again. "Sarah, now is the time for writing. You need to come out and start your work in your writing folder." I used my best teacher language, even though it hadn't worked with Sarah so far. She often shut down while the rest of her classmates transitioned to a new activity, and coaxing her to join the group rarely helped.
How much of the stuff that’s cluttering your classroom could be gone before school starts up again? Teachers keep all kinds of stuff we never use. Why do we keep these things? Lots of reasons: Scarcity of resources can turn us into hoarders. Or we engage in “someday” thinking, as in “Someday I’ll use those tissue squares for an art project.” Or people give us things (like a stack of egg cartons, or a pile of old magazines), and we feel bad about getting rid of them because they were gifts.
It's April. It's tempting to think that by now students understand our expectations and know how to behave, so we can all just coast to the end of the year. But, in most classrooms, that's probably not true. In this season, children are filled with spring fever, facing mixed emotions about the end of the school year, and they may be undergoing developmental changes as well. As a result, many students forget rules and expectations at this time of year, and "homestretch" behavior challenges are not uncommon.
Welcome to Room 327! Here, on a warm day in May, you'll find thirty third graders reading independently. The room is silent, save for the occasional chuckle or sound of disbelief you might expect from children fully immersed in their reading. Meanwhile, I'm conferencing with individual students, running guided reading groups, or holding book club meetings. This scene continues for over fifty minutes until I ring the chime, signaling the end of independent reading.
If so, you're not alone! I've been hearing from teachers who feel they could do more to make this part of Morning Meeting as purposeful, fun, and engaging as greeting, sharing and group activity.
A well-crafted message can do many things: inspire students to think about the day ahead, intrigue them with an interesting task or question, encourage them to think of themselves as a community, give them a chance to tackle academics in a safe but challenging way. . . . The list goes on and on!
Here is an example of a math-themed message I saw recently in a third grade classroom:
