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Articles

Breathing New Life into the Rules

Teachers and students alike return from a well-deserved winter break refreshed, looking toward new possibilities. The new year welcomes endless opportunities to reestablish goals, renew and revisit routines, and refresh well-known class rules. January is a fitting time to reevaluate the rules and try out strategies and practices to help…
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Jan 10 2020
Goal Setting: An Ongoing Method for Channeling New Energy

Goal Setting: An Ongoing Method for Channeling New Energy

Every January 1st, we all receive a chance to start fresh. While many of us set a New Year’s resolution, often we only manage to stick with it for a week or two! What if there was an approach to starting fresh in the new year that actually produces results? SMART goals—goals…
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Jan 01 2020
Testing Limits

What to Do When Students Start Testing Limits

The school year is in full swing: hopes and goals have been established, classroom and school expectations are in place, and learning is in high gear. Everything is off to a great start. So why are you noticing some students beginning to test limits and misbehave? And what can you…
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Oct 21 2019

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Re-establishing Balance in Your Classroom

With the changes in fall weather outside, the weather inside the classroom is likely changing too. As a result, teachers often find themselves responding to misbehavior more than they did earlier in the school year. If this sounds familiar, it’s time for a balance check and realignment! Do a Balance…
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Oct 20 2019
routines and procedures

Preparing Students to Become Independent Learners using Routines & Procedures

It’s the start of a new year! Day one is either right around the corner or has just recently taken place. The beginning of the year is filled with so many fresh faces watching your every move and listening eagerly for the next direction. With all this newness, it can…
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Sep 05 2019

Revisiting Classroom Rules

How often do you revisit classroom rules? Most teachers establish rules at the beginning of the year, and many devote time to modeling and practicing rules with students in the first weeks of school. After that, however, the amount of time spent thinking about what rules mean and how to…
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Jan 17 2017
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Responding to Defiance in the Moment

Why Do Children Defy Authority? At certain ages, children are more likely to defy us and take active steps to test limits. At other ages, children are tuned in to issues of fairness and may push back when they sense an adult is being unjust. Picture Amelia, a sixth grader.…
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Nov 07 2016
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Public Discipline Systems

Public discipline systems—like Class Dojo, stoplights, moving clothespins along a colored card, writing names on the board—can certainly be appealing. Some days can feel as if they’re spent just disciplining, and public discipline systems promise to turn that around by decreasing misbehavior and increasing motivation through the use of visual…
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Jul 13 2015
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.

Teaching Without Using Rewards

Children build on their strengths, and to do that building—to grow academically and socially—they need us to recognize and encourage their positive efforts. But what’s the best way to offer that recognition and encouragement? For some time, I used rewards—tickets that I gave out when students met expectations. But something…
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Apr 17 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Keeping Rules Front and Center During the Winter Slump

Recently I noticed my first graders having more trouble than usual sticking to our classroom rules. Several possible explanations came to mind as I began to reflect: “Am I not doing something I should be doing, such as giving reinforcing feedback when I see the children following procedures? Am I…
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Feb 05 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Time-Out & Teaching Self-Regulation

As a classroom teacher I looked forward every year to teaching students all kinds of academic concepts and skills that would enable them to be engaged and successful in their learning. Organizing book clubs to get them thinking about themes and character traits, guiding research on how animals adapt to…
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Jul 28 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Responsive Classroom and PBIS

"Are Responsive Classroom and PBIS compatible with each other? Can our school use both?" We at Responsive Classroom hear this a lot from educators. If you're hearing the same from colleagues, or if you're asking the question yourself, you'll want to read our new white paper, "Responsive Classroom and PBIS:…
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Jul 09 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Waiting to Speak

Recently, more than a handful of my first graders were struggling with waiting to ask questions or make comments during direct instruction. I responded by using tried and true teacher practices: giving a clear signal (shaking my head no) to let the child know this was not an appropriate time,…
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Mar 11 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Twelve Days

That's how long it took for school to start feeling normal to me this year. Up to then I was in full-on back-to-school mode, and so were my students. Kids' shoes were shiny, voices were either loud or silent, faces were sleepy, eyes were peeking into other rooms in hopes…
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Sep 06 2013
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Checking In: Helping Students “Catch Themselves”

Often students struggling with emotional behavioral disabilities are overwhelmed by and over-reactive to daily events that seem mundane to others. They become easily stressed and frustrated, can feel out of control, develop self-doubt, and feel unsure about handling future situations. Empowering them to monitor their own behavior—to check in with…
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May 24 2013
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

When Children Are Defiant

I once taught a second grader who sometimes subtly refused to go along with what we were doing. For instance, if we had to leave the classroom and John didn't want to go, he'd get in line—but then walk as slowly as possible. The more his classmates and I urged…
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Apr 16 2013
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Teaching Students How to Wait

If you've ever dined out with children under four years old, you probably brought along a toolkit with games, coloring books, "I Spy" activities, or apps on a mobile device to keep them busy until the food was finally served. As children get older, we assume they no longer need…
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Mar 13 2013

What’s in a Rule?

Rules reveal a lot about what is valued in classrooms and schools. Recently, when visiting classrooms in a large school district, I saw vivid examples of how the rules of each room influenced children's behavior, cooperation, creativity, independence, and passion for learning. I saw how the rules reflected the teachers'…
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Sep 05 2012

The First Days of School

What can you do, this school year, to bullyproof your classroom? Establishing a positive classroom climate where kindness prevails and everybody is included is a vital first step. On these first days of school, as we sit down with students to establish a climate of safety, an important way to…
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Sep 03 2012

When the Teacher Is Away

For years, I had wanted to travel with my father to India, his native country. Finally, I had the opportunity—but the trip meant I would miss five days of school right after winter break. I was so excited, but more than a little daunted by the challenge of preparing my…
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Aug 01 2012

Time to Change the Routine?

Which parts of your school day just don't seem to work as well as you'd like? Now's a great time to do some problem-solving, imagine new possibilities, and plan to make changes when school starts again. It's also a great time to brush up on Interactive Modeling, a key Responsive…
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Jul 26 2012

I Didn’t Do It!

What do you do when a student flat-out denies doing something you know (or are at least pretty sure) she did? Are consequences ever appropriate in this situation? Do you just give up and move on? Do you enlist parents’ help? It can be a hard call to make. I…
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May 14 2012

Bringing Rules to Life

Do you think that without looking, your students could name your classroom's rules? Most teachers establish classroom rules at the beginning of the year, and many devote time to modeling and practicing rules with students in the first weeks of school. After that, however, the amount of time spent thinking…
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Jan 27 2012

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

Try This: Y-Charts for Revisiting Rules

Are you looking for a strategy to help your students navigate particularly tricky times of day, such as transitions, recess, lunch, or dismissal time? Try making a "looks like/sounds like" chart (often called a T-chart) or a "looks like/sounds like/feels like" chart (aka a Y-chart) with them. This activity and…
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Jan 05 2012

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