Insights of Dr. Temple Grandin
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Last month I had the privilege of attending Dr. Temple Grandin...
Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences - Before, During and After
CategoriesParent-teacher conferences can be a great opportunity for meaningful conversations about how students can reach their full potential in school. To help ensure meetings are positive and productive f...
Classroom Calendar Connections – October 2019
CategoriesNational Bullying Prevention Awareness, Fire Prevention Week, ADHD Awareness, Dyslexia Awareness, and so much more! October is a busy month, full of valuable learning opportunities for students and...
20 Ways Fellow Educators Manage their Stress
CategoriesThe trees are changing colors, pumpkin spice is back, sweater weather is here, and school has been in session for about a month already. How are you feeling? Hopefully you’ve hit your school...
Featured Teacher Steve Schank - September 2019
CategoriesI’ve been looking for someone with whom to discuss alternative teaching methods, and Jill Rockwell introduced me to the...
Classroom Calendar Connections – September 2019
CategoriesFor many educators and students, September is the first full month of the new school year. It’s a busy month as we transition from summer to fall and get acquainted with a new group of studen...
Tried and True First Day of School Activities in the Classroom
CategoriesGoogle the words ‘first day of school activities in the classroom’ and you will discover nearly two BILLION results. Thanks, but no thanks, Google - we don’t have time to weed thr...
Fair is not Equal: Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom
CategoriesFair is not Equal: Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom
Written by Jill Rockwell
5 Back-to-School Reminders for Educators
CategoriesAlthough August has a sneaky way of suddenly showing up, I’m sure you don’t need any reminders that it’s almost time to go back to school. However, hopefully these five friendly r...
7 Practical Tools to Enhance Executive Functioning in the Classroom
CategoriesAs defined by Understood, executive function is “The ability to organize cognitive processes. This includes the ability to plan ahe...
Journaling this Summer and Beyond
CategoriesMindfulness, emotional intelligence, achieving goals, communication, healing, creativity, the list goes on and on. There is a plethora of surprising benefits associated with journaling for people o...
Featured Teacher Karlee Hunt - July 2019
CategoriesKarlee Hunt has taught the third graders at Little Elementary in the Denver suburb of Arvada, CO for four years. The school is named for John R. Little, who neither of us know much about, but it&rs...
Developing and Maintaining a Growth Mindset
CategoriesAlmost 2 years ago, my family and I moved from a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota to a rural part of western Wisconsin. After some training, practice, and several mistakes, I learned how to use a snow...
4 Ways to Refocus and Recharge this Summer
CategoriesCongratulations! Another school year is almost in the books! It’s a well-known fact, however, that educators’ responsibilities don’t end when the final bell rings. Whether you&rsq...
Activities to Commemorate Memorial Day in the Classroom
CategoriesMemorial Day presents unique learning opportunities for students at all grade levels. Officially enacted by Congress in 1971, Memorial Day is a somber national holiday held on the last Monday of Ma...
Thank you, Educators – We Appreciate You!
CategoriesFor opening your classroom doors every day and unlocking students’ potential – we thank you.
For sharing your wisdom with students while they share their germs with you - we t...
Maintaining Student Engagement in the Spring
CategoriesThe birds are chirping as I type, the grass is turning green, the sunsets are even more spectacular than usual - spring is here! It’s a wonderful time of the year but maintaining students&rsq...
Trust, Safety, Challenge, and Joy: Fostering a Classroom Culture Ideal for Collaboration
CategoriesAs teachers we’re encouraged to work together and share expertise, energy, and inspiration with the common goal of increasing student engagement and success in our schools. Research supports...
Brain-Based Learning in the Classroom
CategoriesYour brain is 73% water. Even mild dehydration can affect attention, memory and other cognitive skills. (Drink plenty of water!)
The human brain doesn’t reach full maturity until ar...
Social and Emotional Learning Part 5 of 5: Responsible Decision-Making
CategoriesResponsible decision-making is the fifth of the five components of social and emotional learning (SEL). (Click on the links for teaching strategies designed to support your students with the other...
Social and Emotional Learning Part 4 of 5: 5 Strategies to Improve Relationship Skills in the Classroom
CategoriesMaintaining friendships, asking for help, working cooperatively, etc. - interpersonal skills are a critical component of the development of children. When students demonstrate strong relationship s...
Social and Emotional Learning Part 3 of 5: Social Awareness Strategies in the Classroom
CategoriesWelcome to part 3 of our social and emotional learning (SEL) series - today’s focus: social awareness! (Head over to our blog archives for parts 1 and 2 which address
Social and Emotional Learning - Part 2 of 5: Self-Awareness Strategies in the Classroom
CategoriesWelcome to part 2 of our social and emotional learning (SEL) series. Let’s begin with a brief review. SEL involves teaching five core competencies to students in grades K–12: self-aware...
Social and Emotional Learning- Part 1 of 5: Self-Management Strategies in the Classroom
CategoriesHappy 2019! Are you staying on track with your New Year’s resolutions? As I type, I have a large glass of water next to my mouse, and I am resisting the strong temptation of the remaining Chr...
5 Priceless Gifts for Students
CategoriesBillions of dollars were spent by shoppers in the United States over the Thanksgiving weekend. The packages that arrived on my front porch - practically before the pumpkin pie was served - was evid...
Putting Students at the Center of their Learning
CategoriesSixth grader, Tanner, runs a business with his classmates called LDInk. Inspired by patterns found on common, everyday objects such as manhole covers...
Bullying or Conflict?
CategoriesSeveral years ago, I found myself (a special education teacher) in a meeting involving the principal, the director of special education, the school psychologist, a second-grade teacher, two concern...
RTI 101: Think Progress
CategoriesSo often I would groan when the topic of Response to Intervention (RTI) was mentioned - mainly because I didn’t fully understand the process. It turns out it’s not so complicated when y...
Activities, Lessons, and Resources for National Bullying Prevention Month
CategoriesOctober is National Bullying Prevention Awareness month. We’re here to get you prepared with a list of valuable activities, l...
Activities to Celebrate Fall in Your Classroom
CategoriesYour local farmer’s market is bustling, pumpkin spice is featured on every menu, mums greet us at doorsteps…fall is here, and it’s time to celebrate with students!
As a...
Functional Behavior Assessment: The Plan for Positive Behavior
CategoriesSarah punched a student on the bus this morning. What’s the plan? Luke is disrupting the whole class. What’s the plan? Raul is refusing to take his algebra test. W...
Functional Behavior Assessment: The Whys of Problem Behaviors
CategoriesWhen my son became mobile, we installed a baby gate in our living room at the top of the staircase leading to the basement. Late that same night, our cat – Little Miss – woke my husband...
Promoting Positive Behaviors: There’s a Children’s Book for That
CategoriesWhen working with students on kindness, empathy, friendship, and other positive behaviors, sometimes the characters from children’s stories say it best:
“No act of kindness, n...
Addressing Back-to-School Anxiety: An Interview with a Veteran School Psychologist
CategoriesAs a teacher with summers “off”, August has always felt like a long Sunday. June is the excitement of a Friday with the whole weekend ahead. July is a Saturday with plenty of time to re...
Four Methods for Rethinking Discipline
Categories“That’s incorrect, Johnny. T-h-e-i-r is a possessive pronoun; T-h-e-r-e refers to a place; and T-h-e-y-’-r-e is a contraction. This is your final warnin...
Gold Medal Methods to Manage ADHD Symptoms
CategoriesHyper-active, never stops talking, has a ton of energy, inability to sit still, talks excessively, nudging other kids…these were words used to describe Michael Phelps’ behavior, an Oly...
Mindfulness: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Classroom
CategoriesImagine coming to your neighborhood middle school one morning to find three dead bodies dumped in the schoolyard. This is exactly what students experienced one morning when coming to Visitacion Val...