One-day professional development workshops are open for registration!
SEL professional development for the whole school or entire district at one time in one place!
Responsive Classroom is a CASEL SELect Program!
  • Register
  • Login
  • Subscribe
0
Responsive Classroom logo
  • About
    • Who We Are
      • About RC
      • About SEL
      • Center for Responsive Schools
    • What We Do
      • Principles & Practices
      • Research
      • RC in Action
      • Build Connections
  • Professional Development
    • On-Site ServicesBring Responsive Classroom training to your school!
    • Four-Day CoursesEnroll in the core and advanced courses for educators.
    • One-Day WorkshopsLearn more about one-day workshops on a range of topics.
    • WebinarsRegister for an upcoming webinar and access our free recording library.
  • Resources
    • For Educators
      • Articles
      • Downloadables
      • Videos
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Teacher Beliefs
    • For Leaders
      • Schoolwide Responsive Classroom
      • Kaleidoscope Observation Tool
      • Consultant Observation & Feedback
      • Quick Coaching Guides
      • Professional Development
  • Articles
  • Shop
  • About
    • About RC
    • About SEL
    • Principles & Practices
    • Center for Responsive Schools
  • Professional Development
    • On-Site Services
    • Four-Day Courses
    • One-Day Workshops
    • Webinars
  • Resources
    • Articles
    • Downloadables
    • Videos
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Teacher Beliefs
    • Schoolwide Responsive Classroom
    • Kaleidoscope Observation Tool
    • Consultant Observation & Feedback
    • Quick Coaching Guides
    • Professional Development
  • Articles
  • Shop
Register Now
Already Registered? Login
facebook-yellow twitter-yellow instagram-yellow pinterest-yellow youtube-yellow

Articles

Revisiting Routines with Students

Does this sound familiar? You teach your students classroom routines at the beginning of the year and watch as they integrate these new routines into their learning, but for some reason – either because they’ve forgotten it or never quite understood it in the first place -- a certain routine…
Continue Reading
Jan 13 2020
Use Envisioning Language and Goal Setting to Promote Student Reflection

Use Envisioning Language and Goal Setting to Promote Student Reflection

Showing Students What Is Possible The language we use with students every day influences how they see themselves. Our words can shape students’ views of themselves years after our direct influence. Envisioning language gives children a vision of what is possible. Many of us can remember someone from our past…
Continue Reading
Dec 16 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…
Continue Reading
Sep 05 2019
Teaching Students to Speak Confidently

Teaching Students to Speak Confidently

“As their teachers, we hold in our hearts our own hopes and dreams for [our students]. We want them to engage in academic rigor and to be ideamongers who contribute to classroom learning—and we also want them to become the very best people they can be; to live the very…
Continue Reading
Feb 08 2018
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Reinforcing Language: Giving Middle Schoolers Supportive Feedback

An adapted excerpt from The Power of Our Words for Middle School: Teacher Language That Helps Students Learn. This compact guide offers middle school teachers many practical, easily do-able ideas for using reinforcing language and four other types of positive teacher language: envisioning, reminding, redirecting, and open-ended questions. Learn more…
Continue Reading
May 09 2016
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Taking Positive Language Schoolwide

Positive language is a powerful tool for building a calm, safe school climate. The words we use when we talk to students, the intention behind these words, and how we deliver them shape the way students see themselves and their school. When all school adults—not just classroom teachers—use positive language,…
Continue Reading
Oct 01 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

How’s Your Reinforcing Language?

Once June arrives, it’s tempting to focus on the more leisurely days ahead. That’s important to do—we all need rest and rejuvenation. But before you begin that well-earned downtime, pause for a moment to bring closure to your year of teaching—to consider what went well in your teaching and how…
Continue Reading
Jun 04 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…
Continue Reading
Apr 17 2015
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

What’s in a Name?

How do you refer to the students in your class when addressing them? At first glance, this may seem like a trivial issue; but consider how many times throughout the day we speak to students to get their attention. The patterns we establish for naming our class will be repeated…
Continue Reading
Sep 25 2014

Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting

Adapted from the new 2nd edition of The Power of Our Words  Language—our words, tone of voice, and pacing— is one of the most powerful tools available to teachers. It permeates every aspect of teaching and learning. We cannot engage children in learning, welcome a student into the room, or…
Continue Reading
Jan 03 2014

Asking Strategic Questions

Adapted from the new book The Language of Learning: Teaching Students Core Thinking, Listening, & Speaking Skills  Curiosity is at the heart of learning—and a healthy curiosity depends on questioning. Learning to ask questions moves children beyond themselves; they become able not only to consider what they know or think…
Continue Reading
Jan 03 2014
Photograph by Jeff Woodward

Sometimes Less Is More

The other day Ben returned to our classroom after a session with the occupational therapist, yelling "I'm here, guys!," which interrupted the lesson and caused a few students to giggle. I looked at Ben and said "Stop. Take a break," in a firm but neutral tone. Ben went to the…
Continue Reading
Dec 04 2013
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Noticing Positives

What's going well in your classroom these days? At this time of year, especially, it's common for teachers to focus more energy on challenges such as reteaching procedures that aren't going smoothly, having problem-solving conversations with students, parents and colleagues, and stopping misbehavior quickly and respectfully before it escalates. Doing…
Continue Reading
Nov 26 2013
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

Naming What Children Can Do

Mr. Park's fourth grade class was the most impulsive and squirmy group of children he'd ever taught. Children speaking out of turn, talking to neighbors, playing with small objects, or making odd noises continually interrupted class discussions. Despite much time spent devising and discussing rules for group meeting behavior, the…
Continue Reading
Apr 16 2013
Photograph by Jeff Woodward.

The Value of Struggle

"When did your courage surprise you?" I was profoundly moved by this question when it was posed at a conference I attended years ago, and it came back to me recently when I heard Alix Spiegel reporting about cultural perceptions of the role of intellectual struggle in learning on NPR's…
Continue Reading
Nov 19 2012

The Method of Grandmother

Chip Wood recently shared a link on the Yardsticks blog to TED talk by Sugata Mitra, an educational researcher who’s done some compelling research on child-driven education and technology. Midway through the video, Mitra describes what he calls “the method of grandmother,” a strategy that reminded me of what the…
Continue Reading
Dec 01 2010

Keeping Routines Crisp

(This is one of a series of posts about  reteaching everyday classroom routines, such as lining up or responding to the quiet signal.) Once you and your students have gotten classroom routines back under control, the key to keeping them crisp is paying attention! This is what makes the effort…
Continue Reading
Nov 29 2010

Letting Go of “But”

Have you ever had a friend (or relative) who couldn't seem to give a full compliment? I have one (she shall go unnamed) who can't help but qualify every kind thing she says to me. "Your hair looks great—but you really ought to learn how to use make-up," she'll say.…
Continue Reading
Nov 12 2010

Reflecting on Classroom Routines

What routines do you use in your classroom? Which are going well? Which still need some work? Reinforcing and celebrating success For routines that are going well, think about how you can share or celebrate those positives in a meaningful way with students. You might make a list on a…
Continue Reading
Jan 08 2010

Use Reinforcing Language to Keep the Learning Going

Often, when I talk with teachers who have started trying out Responsive Classroom practices such as interactive modeling, they reflect, “Interactive modeling worked great for a while. My students did really well with whatever I modeled and they practiced. Then, things slowly started to slide.” Of course, I’m not in…
Continue Reading
Nov 30 2009

What Students Hear

We all have funny stories about things children say as they try to make sense of what they're learning in school, such as this one a teacher shared with me recently: The teacher and one of her students were looking at a book about animals. The child pointed to a…
Continue Reading
Nov 06 2009

The Power of Teacher Language

As the children come back from lunch, they are slow to quiet down. Calmly, the teacher rings a chime, a well-rehearsed signal for attention. She waits a moment until the last child is settled, quiet, and looking at her, then says in a conversational voice, “I see that everyone is…
Continue Reading
Nov 01 2009

How I got over my “I notice . . .” blues

Years ago, as a beginning Responsive Classroom practitioner, I became determined to stop using the phrase, "I like the way . . ." to control children's behavior. For example, I'd been saying, "I like the way that Sam is listening quietly and raising his hand before he asks a question,"…
Continue Reading
Oct 02 2009

Watching and Learning

Question: In The Power of Our Words and The First Six Weeks of School, you write about how important it is for teachers to get to know their students at the beginning of the year. One technique you recommend is observation. Why is this so important? Paula: Observing children is…
Continue Reading
Aug 01 2008

The Power of Language

A teacher's language is a powerful teaching tool. Our language can build children up or tear them down. It can model respectful and caring social interactions or just the opposite. Effective language encourages and supports students in their learning, rather than criticizing them for their mistakes. As child psychologist Rudolf…
Continue Reading
Nov 01 2003

Categories

Classroom Management & Discipline
Positive Community
Whole School
Teacher Language
Morning Meeting
First Weeks of School
Engaging Academics
Energizers & Activities
Positive Language
Families
Special Times in the Year
SEL Skills

Registration is open for one-day workshops.

Learn More
footer logo
facebook-yellow twitter-yellow instagram-yellow pinterest-yellow youtube-yellow

© 2023 Responsive Classroom. All rights reserved.

Website by Gecko Designs
  • Contact Us
  • Download Catalog
  • Funding
  • Cancellation Policy
  • Work for CRS
  • Terms of Use
  • FAQ

Pin It on Pinterest

Analytics by Conversios