In an earlier post, I went over a list of memory review games that I am planning on using this year with my Foundations class. (CLICK HERE if you would like to read that post.) In this post, I am s…
Classroom management strategies for middle school are not the same as elementary strategies. Learn how to manage a middle school classroom.
The_Open_Road by Trey Ratcliff Tips for how to achieve your goals and dreams successfully If you want the best chance of successfully achieving your goals
19 free financial literacy games for high school students to add engagement and FUN to teaching personal finance. Financial literacy & budget simulations, too.
special education, behavior, behavior plans, BIPs, writing a behavior plan
Advanced SIBO Treatment- what is SIBO, SIBO Symptoms, Tests for SIBO, Comprehensive 3 Step program for treatment for SIBO. Get rid of SIBO permanently
As a whole, teachers aren’t great about taking care of themselves. But that can change, and these four steps can help make that happen.
An English teacher’s life is packed, and for the most part on top of that, we are doing more than just teaching English. For me, I’m the yearbook adviser, the graduation coordinator, senior class sponsor, member of the leadership committee, etc. I’m sure your situation is similar. So, when I can cut down on what […]
Simple, straightforward accommodations to address your child's ADHD-related challenges.
#3 in non-fiction. The first book is done at 200 parts and thanks to you it was pretty successful so I decided to go for another part to continue with the random tips, quotes and advices. hopefully, this will reach more and more writers and help many aspiring authors to improve their writing skills. ENJOY :)) **I DO NOT OWN THE COPYRIGHT TO THE MATERIALS PUBLISHED IN THIS BOOK. A big THANK YOU to @martaxSofia for making the pretty covers for the books. :)
There are many reasons kids misspell words, but here are five main reasons. Learn more about them to help guide your spelling instruction.
I share these stories because I suspect you have also had moments you’re not proud of, stories you’ve never told anyone; I want you to know you’re not alone.
Getting your classroom to manage itself, procedures, models and more. Visit us:
Worried about how to pay for college or how to graduate without a ton of student loans? Applying for scholarships is one way to save money on costs. To get you started, here’s a list of 100 college scholarships. Good luck!
FREEBIE Worksheet, Bell Work, Guided Notes, PowerPoint and Much More to Help you Teach Your Lesson on Simplifying Radicals.
Whether you call it morning work, bell work, or bell ringers, having a start-of-class activity can work wonders when it comes to helping class start smoothly. Not only does bell work keep kids calm and help them focus, but it also gives you time to take attendance, answer the same question for the 1
On A Peach for the Teach on Facebook, I invited people to ask their most challenging behavior questions. We got some great questions, each of which really tied together. Dona asked, I have a student that comes to me from second grade (I teach 1st) for my entire reading block, who likes to shout out talk back and just shuts down when you ask him to do something. He then treats his 2nd teacher with severe disrespect when he goes back to class. Rebecca asked, I have a class of 25 this year. 1 student is below K level (I teach 1st grade), 2 are identified as ADHD, we are working towards another student getting identified as ADHD, and I have 2 students who have really disrespectful attitudes. I have tried talking with parents, I have changed their seating, I have tried encouraging them and pointing out the positive......nothing seems to be working. Ideas? Lindsay asked, I need motivation tips for kids who can do the work but basically refuse to... These are such common issues that teachers face daily. I think they all tie together and have similar interventions, which led me to write this blog post-- How to Help Calling Out and "Class Clown" Behavior. "If you put a kid in the position of choosing between looking bad or looking dumb, he will choose to look bad." - Rick Lavoie, Motivation Breakthrough When a student is performing at a level lower than his peers, he is often aware of that. That could be part of the reason for the acting out. Maybe the child is embarrassed and would rather be seen as a class clown than struggling. It allows the child a sense of control over a situation where he would otherwise feel out of control. Try giving him some control in a positive way. To intervene, start with an informal play meeting. Meet with the student individually when he is calm, to play a preferred, non-academic game at the beginning or end of the day. He may be more likely to open up honestly in that type of setting through informal conversations (e.g., favorite TV shows, games, etc.). Casually ask what he likes and doesn't like about school, and "admit" to him that you always had a hard time with [insert his least preferred subject]. Try not to make it obvious that this is the whole point of your conversation. He might give you some insight into what's causing this. It's also great for establishing rapport, which will help you to get the student on your side. Give him some sort of task with which he can be successful, and give him positive attention for completing it. Avoid patronizing him or making it obviously at a level lower than the other students. Instead, try non-academic leadership positions, like a class helper, teacher's assistant, etc. Maybe give him the opportunity to call on students with questions. "Class, today we are going to try something new." Next, set limits. Start by telling the whole class that today we are going to try something new. Starting today, the teacher will no longer answer any calling out. Explain that we need to practice raising our hands and not calling out. Demonstrate, practice, and ask for volunteers to show you what hand raising looks like. Establish a non-verbal cue (e.g., a cue card with an image of a hand, or simply hold up your hand), and completely ignore calling out. Instruct the class to also ignore calling out. Have students practice calling out while you ignore it. Explain why you're doing this, so the student knows it's not just him being ignored. Ignore the behavior, not the child. You might want to give one verbal cue, such as, "I'd be happy to answer you when you raise your hand." This is your new procedure that will happen every single time a student calls out. You could still say it in a positive tone of voice, but it's all you will say. Give a Little, Get a Little Use positive language to elicit positive language. If a student is using disrespectful language, being threatening will teach the child to talk back with threatening language. Think about your reaction when somebody confronts you with doing something wrong. You initially feel a little attacked, so you want to react. Give the student the opportunity to save face. For example, instead of, "How dare you speak to me that way?" try a, "Whoops, that sounded disrespectful. I know you could ask me using nicer words," and only respond when he uses nicer words. If he doesn't, say, "I'll be over here when you're ready to use nice words to ask me." Dodge the Power Struggle To nip disrespect in the bud, we need to avoid power struggles-- even when a student questions what we're doing. That's the part that really tricks even the most skilled behavior interventionists. We want students to believe in, trust, and respect us. When they question what we're doing, we want to tell them. Please don't. You don't need to justify yourself in this moment. You may be skilled with planned ignoring, but when the child asks, "Why are you ignoring me?" it's too tempting to reply with an explanation, but resist the urge. If you planned and practiced this procedure previously, the child already knows why you're ignoring him. He may try to get you to give him anything other than the ignoring. Stick to the ignoring, and he will eventually try using nice words to get you to reply. It may also be helpful to teach a lesson on the words "disrespect" vs. "respect." Teach the meaning, and explain situations and words that are unacceptable. Teach this with empathy, and practice it. If the child uses negative language in class, prompt with a, "Please use your nice words if you need me to respond to you." Completely ignore anything else. I know that using a firm prompt followed by planned ignoring sometimes feels like you aren't doing anything to stop the behavior, but that's the best thing about it-- doing "nothing" stops the behavior. It completely eliminates the power struggle and argument. The child will be forced to use kind words to get any type of reaction out of you and to gain access to his wants/needs. This also works with whining. I told my little ones that my ears can no longer hear whining, and they all stopped whining. Now if only I could use planned ignoring on messes to make my kitchen clean itself! Words of Caution Sometimes when implementing planned ignoring, the child may initially test the limits and engage in more attention-seeking behavior. This is typical and should pass when he sees that he won't get a reaction. I got a comment on this post that really made me think and add another word of caution about this strategy-- exercise caution when using this for students with bonding and/or attachment needs. We certainly do not want to intensify feelings of abandonment, and we want to be sure that we are responding to their needs. It is vitally important to make sure that we are ignoring the behavior, not the child. Give the child plenty of positive attention for positive behavior. Make giving positive attention during appropriate behavior part of your behavior protocol for this child. When the negative behavior ends and the child begins acting positively, give positive attention. No need for a lecture at that moment. After the Procedure is Learned Once you are sure that the student understands how he will appropriately gain access to wants/needs, you can begin to address the calling out caused by impulsivity and habit. Make a T-chart, and write the positive behavior on the left and negative on the right (e.g., "Called Out" and "Raised My Hand"). Instruct the student to tally when he does each. This alone is often enough to curb the negative behavior. Other times with more severe behavior, it helps if tallies are tied to reinforcement. For example, the student can earn [something preferred] if he has more positive than negative tallies at the end of each block. You could also set goals based on baselines. For example, if the student reduces his calling out by ___% or does not exceed ___% incidents of calling out, he can earn [something preferred]. Class Dojo is another fun way to track this! The teacher can track the behaviors throughout the day, or the students can self-monitor behaviors on their T-Charts and plug them into the Dojo at the end of the day. Establish a procedure that students must earn more green (i.e., "positive") than red (i.e., "needs work"), or a certain percentage of green, in order to earn a reinforcer, positive note home, etc. Another helpful strategy is bonus free time. It's often harder for a student with ADHD and/or behavior needs to attend to instruction for a given length of time, so plan three breaks in the day. I call them "five minute free time" to play with something fun, and I end each of my subjects with it. It gives me five minutes to clean up or correct work, and it gives the students five minutes to regroup. If you're strapped for time, you could have students complete exit tickets, assessments, etc., and give the student with ADHD the special free time. It also gives him something to word toward, as he has to earn the free time. If a student engages in negative behavior or work refusal, I ask if he is earning his free time or if he is to make up his work during free time. Never underestimate the power of a question instead of a demand. A simple, "Are you earning your free time?" is often enough to set the behavior back on track. An additional motivational tool is a task chart where students rank their tasks by preference. They earn little reinforcement for easy/preferred tasks and high reinforcement for non-preferred tasks. You can download that chart for free here. What are some ideas you use in your classroom to help calling out and "class clown" behavior? Do you have any questions about behavior challenges? Please share in the comments below! A Peach for the Teach
10 ideas for planning engaging novel units: creative, engaging lesson ideas for your next whole-class novel unit
Learn how to document relaxed homeschooling to create an unschooling high school transcript that college admissions teams will love.
If you do fewer teacher-directed activities, that means the kids will naturally do more talking, doesn’t it? Not necessarily.
Use these sites with the Financial Literacy Unit to learn how to manage your money and avoid some common pitfalls. Page 1: A Reality Check Page 2: New York Fed Financial Awareness Video Competition Page 3 and 4: Debt Calculator or CNN Money Debt Calculator or Credit Karma Debt Calculator Page 5: Student Debt Data Debt Calculator Page 6: PayScale College Report Fast Facts Page 9: Check Writing Basics Balancing Checkbook Tips Page 11: Compounding Calculator Page 12: Compound Interest Calculator Additional Resources: Wells Fargo Hands on Banking
Collaboration between school and home is essential to creating an appropriate 504 plan; and just as important is implementing the plan as written consistently to provide the student with Dyslexia the support they need to be successful.
“The profile of the modern teacher... do you see yourself? #edchat #unionrxi”
Some texts are just hard for students to get into. The Mind's Eye strategy tackles that problem head on, grabbing students' attention before they read a word.
Since I started this blog, I've been trying to figure out something that I could do that hasn't been done a thousand times before. All the...
Inside: How to develop an effective classroom management plan in your Spanish classroom, from Angie Torre. Help! I Need a better classroom management plan! How can I teach when students won’t stop talking? How can I use the target language 90-100% of the time? I can’t even use it 50% of the time because students
Writing Worksheet – Solving a Mystery (PDF) You can use this worksheet to: Brainstorm solutions to a mystery that your story/character/life has graced you with. Work backwards from clues that interest you to develop a mystery. Draw up an overview of your mystery so that you can be sure that all your clues aren’t discovered…
Take a look at some resources we've found that can help you with free NCLEX practice tests and preparing for the real thing.
Check out all of these activities to help you plan unique and memorable events for your homeschool group or homeschool co-op.
Are any of these ineffective teaching methods still part of your practice? Time to reconsider.
This article reviews some of the essential functions of case managers. Case managers play an important role in the healthcare system.
I've written about Teaching Channel before, and I'll be writing from time to time about a particular great idea I've found there. If you haven't already joined, remember that it's FREE, and signing up takes less than a minute! One of the many great Tch video clips shows middle school teacher Meagan Berkowitz teaching a poetry lesson using the SIFT Method - Symbol, Imagery, Figurative Language, and Tone or Theme. It's less than 5 minutes long, and well worth watching to see her interaction with her students, and the focus they have on the poems they are reading while using bookmark cue cards. Close analytic reading is an important feature of the Common Core; here's a tool for you to try out to see if it fits your needs! Besides the bookmark, you are given the lesson plan, a copy of the two poems used, and a transcript of the lesson. If you're a language arts teacher, you're all set to try this lesson yourself, or to adapt it to your grade level! And don't forget to "pin" the lesson by clicking "Save this in my Lesson Planner." (A note: there is a typo on the SIFT bookmark that you'll want to change before printing - "attitude and author" should be "attitude an author." I changed it in the image above. Since it's an open Word document, it's no problem!)
Learn about diagramming sentences with this easy breakdown! Practice sentence diagramming easily with this free printable guide.
Learn how to describe places and characters and immerse your reader in an immersive, colorful world in this complete guide to description.
Be who you are and do what you're good at, and win scholarship money while doing so!
Many students are intimidated by poetry, so using music can help you ease them into poetry analysis as there's really no difference between looking at the lyrics of a song and the lines of a poem. Read on for 15 song and poem pairings that will liven up your poetry unit.
When you consistently enforce classroom management plan for every time a student breaks a rule, your bound to get an occasional complaint from a parent who just doesn't like the idea of their child being held accountable. Here's how to handle it.
If you think I have the answers here, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm far from having any answers.
Save time and energy by using Khan Academy to simplify your day - 7 ways to implement Khan Academy as a resource for students and math teachers.
Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner
Can you provide meaningful instruction without a grammar worksheet? You can, and here are ten alternatives to the grammar worksheet.
Whether you're fresh out of college or a veteran teaching who needs a change, it always feels good to be prepared for an upcoming interview. This list of 58 - and growing! - interview questions for special ed teachers will help you feel prepared and confident for your upcoming interview. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.
