In this episode, host Jennifer Russell explores challenging classroom behavior: how it can leave you exhausted, the causes behind it, and how to...
All Blog Posts
In this episode host Jennifer Russell and education specialist, and transition expert, Elizabeth Danner, discuss the importance of transition...
In this episode, host Jennifer Russell explores Evidence Based Practices, or EBPs, that can transform your classroom. Audio Transcript Download the...
In this episode, host Jennifer Russell and guest Darcy Schiller discuss teacher burnout: how to avoid it, and the importance of self-care for special...
In this episode host Jennifer Russell talks with Katie Adams, educational specialist in PPCD, and Elizabeth Danner, Transition Specialist, as they...
You might have heard the term “learning intentions” thrown around a lot on your campus. It’s one of those terms that’s used a lot but often not...
Strategic Instruction
Personal Accounts: The Need for Integrated Decoding and Phonics Skill-Building
In 2019 I’ll be celebrating thirty years as an educator with fourteen years of that time in a high school English classroom. Although perhaps...
Our days are jam-packed full of conversations. We talk about the weather, about sports, about album releases, politics, movies, TV shows we’ve...
Progress in the General Curriculum
Designing for All: Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers all students a variety of ways to engage with the content you’re teaching. Today’s students enter...
Literacy happens in more places than just our English classrooms. It’s important to practice literacy in all content areas. After all, students...
We asked our education specialist, Amy Fanetti to give us a little bit of insight on how to write great functional behavioral assessments and...
In their book 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning, John Hattie and Klaus Zierer provide a list of mindframes for educators that provide teacher...
Behavior, Progress in the General Curriculum, Special Education
4 Tips for Better Classroom Behavior
Does student misbehavior have you considering a different career or at least have you counting down the days until summer? Student misbehavior...
You’ve likely heard about LSSPs before, but maybe aren’t 100% what they are. LSSP stands for Licensed Specialists in School Psychology, and they’re...
We’re gonna be talking about strategies for self care because you are amazing and we don’t want you to burn out. Share stories about surviving those...
Project-based learning… STEM… Gifted and Talented. What’s the difference really in these ideas? Do you know? If you saw a student working...
Teamwork is important. We all do better work when we’ve got a great team supporting us. Positive Behavior Interventions and Support, or PBIS...
Good educators know that each and every day is a new experience for your students, and a new chance to build relationships. Just like in their...
We’ve written previously about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how it’s a framework that takes all of your diverse learners’ needs into...
You’ve heard the phrase “judged by a jury of your peers,” plenty of times in your life. It’s a fundamental part of our judicial...
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing your instruction based on principles that allow all of your students to have access...
Your school or campus might already use conferences to deal with behavior issues, but restorative conferences are a bit different. In restorative...
Cyberbullying is a huge problem our students face daily. With the rise of smartphones and social media your students are communicating 24/7 with each...
When I was a principal at a local elementary school, I found out about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) during my training as a...
Bullying is all around us. It’s easy to do. A bully approaches someone else and pressures them to do something they don’t want to do, or never wanted...
You’ve likely heard the term “restorative discipline” used on your campus before. It’s a philosophy that’s been getting a lot of attention lately in...
We use tons of different writing resources and aids when we teach writing in our classrooms. However, when it comes to the STAAR test not everything...
Supplemental aids are paper-based resources that assist a student in recalling information. Here are 6 supplemental aids your student can use on the...
1. Accessibility Features May be Provided to any Student Based on Their Need Did you know that accessibility features may be provided to any student...
Typing assistance is one of several accessibility features that your students can use during the 4th Grade Writing STAAR Test. Typing assistance...
We’ve previously written about supplemental aids in relationship to the STAAR test, but only generally. In this post, we’ll be offering...
We’ve already written about supplemental aids generally, however this time we’re being more specific by giving you four supplemental aids...
You likely already know about, and use, supplemental aids on your campus. They’re great tools that help make sure your students do their...
Stories and songs are one of the most powerful ways to put things in the brain and help students remember. Here are some simple storytelling...
Early Childhood, Special Education
Top 3 Strategies for Dealing with Challenging Behavior in a Preschool Classroom
1. Understand and Identify the Student’s Positive Reinforcers Every teacher knows that each and every student in their class is unique. Each...
As any teacher knows, there’s a whole slew of rules and regulations to remember on test dates. One critical policy of STAAR involves the use of...
You’ve heard the term “soft skill” before but might still be curious as what it means. Hard skills are the skills we gain through...
Early Childhood, School Ready
What is a Letter Wall and Why is it One of the Most Important Features of the Room?
Letter walls are really simple to create and are an important part of early childhood classrooms. To make a letter wall pick a wall, cork board, or...
Today our specialist, Monica Kurtz gives us her thoughts on trauma and the importance of teaching Social Emotional Learning in our schools. School...
Too often, we make instruction and classroom management separate issues. If you’ve worked in a classroom before, you know this isn’t the reality...
In “Teach Like a Pirate” Dave Burgess acknowledges two questions he uses during his seminars to get participants thinking about their lessons...
We’ve been thinking a lot about leadership types and collaboration. Personally, we’ve always been strong proponents of collaboration in leadership...
