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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XMH2D_-KbiH1zCAZRX6ZozsN-uuUW5PKcbrdo3owNGw/edit

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Ways to Differentiate Direct Instruction

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Ways to Differentiate Direct Instruction

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As a teacher, you are the deliverer of information. You have a curriculum, know the content, and are charged with the responsibility of getting that information into the minds of your students. Instruction "positions the teacher as a metaphorical 'bridge,' helping students connect the knowledge and skills they already know (or are currently learning) to the essential outcomes they need in order to continue developing as learners and human beings" (Tomlinson, C. A. and Imbeau, M., 2010, p.22). Being an educator means you have accepted the challenge of figuring out how to be that bridge. How you deliver your instruction matters and will determine whether or not that content is accessible to all of the diverse learners in your class.

In education, we talk a lot about differentiation. We realize that a "one size fits all" curriculum won't meet the needs of the wide range of unique learners in our classrooms and so we differentiate our instruction in order to meet their needs. In one of Carol Ann Tomlinson's books on differentiation, John Stroup says, "differentiated instruction recognizes that students are not the same and that access to equal education necessarily means that, given a certain goal, each student should be provided resources, instruction, and support to help them meet that objective."

While valuable learning happens in differentiated small group instruction and with collaborative group work, differentiated whole group instruction can also be really impactful in making learning accessible and more engaging. And it just takes a small shift in thinking and practice to make it happen. Here are some quick tips for making your direct instruction more accessible to all students.

Use a Variety of Modes of Communication

You can differentiate your whole group instruction by thinking about the ways you are delivering information. Using more than one mode of communication means that your students will have more than one opportunity to understand. If you know you plan on explaining a concept orally, targeting those auditory learners, put some of the key ideas and phrases on the board too with visuals so your visual learners and ELL students will have a greater chance of understanding.

Another option is to come up with a movement that can help students understand the concept, which will really appeal to your kinesthetic learners. For example, when teaching my fourth graders that water expands when it warms and contracts when it gets cold, I had students stand up and stretch out their legs and arms when I said, "The water is warming up!" They'd say back to me, "It's expanding!" I had students curl into a ball, wrapping their arms around themselves when I said "The water is cooling down!" They'd yell out, "It's contracting!"

Add More Time for Student Talk and Processing Time

When planning your direct instruction, try to keep lecturing and teacher talk to a minimum. Students benefit from having opportunities to share ideas with each other and process information throughout the direct instruction portion of the lesson. In this article about speaking and listening, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey said, "It matters who's talking in class because the amount of talk that students do is correlated with their achievement. In classes in which students have opportunities to talk about the content, the thinking falls on them." Project GLAD, an instructional model that supports and encourages language acquisition and English language development, suggests a model of 10 and 2, two minutes of student processing time for every ten minutes of teacher talk time. An easy way to get students talking and processing during instruction is to use a simple "Turn and Talk." Ask students to turn to a partner and discuss:

their response to a content-related question

a connection they're making to what is being taught

how they'd explain/reteach what's being explained in their own words

wows (interesting connections/thoughts) and wonderings (questions they have)

SHOW and Tell!

Not all students are auditory learners and many students, especially those who are learning English as a second language, benefit from seeing information and directions in addition to hearing them. Write key points and directions on the board. Bold, underline, or write in color the most important words that you really want students to see and remember. And remember that modeling is a powerful teaching tool too! We sometimes take it for granted, but modeling critical steps in a task can be an effective way to create a bridge of understanding for many students.

When in Doubt, Sketch it Out

Drawing is a powerful strategy that helps the brain make connections and you don't have to be a confident artist to make an impact! My classroom was always a visually rich environment, where pictures helped students make meaning. A quick sketch next to a new vocabulary word you're introducing can help students immediately start to build their understanding of the word. I often encourage students to sketch in their notes too in order to give them another path to understanding.

No matter what combination of instructional strategies you choose, you are giving your students more opportunities to build understand and make connections. Differentiation is the process of making information accessible and meaningful to all students and it starts with your direct instruction.

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Differentiate Direct Instruction: Accessible Content For All Students

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How you deliver your instruction matters and will determine whether or not that content is accessible to all of the diverse learners in your class.

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Created with Raphaël 2.1.2Created with Raphaël 2.1.2

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Vocabulary Building - Frontloading Score Card

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Vocabulary Building - Frontloading Score Card

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Ideas to help with Speech and Language Impairments

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Ideas to help with Speech and Language Impairments

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Evidence Based Practices - Instructional Stratgies

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Evidence Based Practices - Instructional Stratgies

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Ways to track Behavior for an Individual Student

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Ways to track Behavior for an Individual Student

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Five Ways To Improve Your Learning Environments

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HundrED is a global mission-driven organisation specialised in education innovation.

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Multi - Tiered Support & Positive Behavior Intervention & Support

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Multi - Tiered Support & Positive Behavior Intervention & Support

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40+ Bell Work Ideas for Every Class - Teach 4 the Heart

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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

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Quality bell ringers are crucial - quick activities to get students going at the beginning of class, when the bell has just rung.

For these first five or ten minutes of class (OK, probably more the five than the ten), we have our students' most attention. It's the most focused they'll likely be for us all day.

If we squander that time, the rest of our time with them suffers.

But if we seize the opportunity that it is, we can spark interest and hook students into a lesson.

One of the hooks from the book Teach Like a PIRATE that's most memorable to me is the Board Message Hook.

In a book about engaging students, the idea of meeting students with something that's eye-catching and thought-provoking - a statement or a picture or whatever - really resonated with me.

Put a photo of something seemingly random on the board that eventually ties into the lesson of the day.

Write a controversial or surprising statement on the board.

Display a QR code on the board and see if students scan it.

The idea here is to meet students in the first moments of class with something that intrigues them and makes them want to dive deeper into the day's work.

The traditional model for bell ringer activities - the first activities students do before starting into the substance of the class - is to do some basic, quick questions:

Simple problems in math

Verb conjugations in foreign language

Comprehension questions in English/language arts

Review questions from the previous day's history lesson

So, so forgettable. So easy to do without any real thinking.
Let's come up with some bell ringer activities that inspire students, that trigger thinking and discussion. When we pull some of the incredible digital tools available to us, we can kick these bell ringer activities up to another level.

10 digital bell ringer activities you can use tomorrow! FREE ebook

20 ideas for great digital bell ringer activities

Whether you have digital devices for your students or not, these should stimulate some new ideas for kicking off class in an engaging way:

1. Add speech bubbles to a historic photo.

Add a new twist to a lesson by letting students speak - or think - for the characters. My favorite way to do this is with Google Drawings (for creating individual images) or Google Slides (for having each student create a slide in a shared presentation). Do an image search for a historic photo and add that photo to the drawing or slide. Then add speech bubbles. (If using Drawings/Slides, it's in the shapes under the "callouts" category.) This is higher-order thinking! Students must know their facts and understand the people involved very well to be able to think for them. Kick the Depth of Knowledge level up even higher by having students justify their thinking and explain why they wrote what they did.

Example: Washington crossing the Delaware. Find the historic painting and add a thought bubble for Washington. (Then, add a thought bubble for a soldier too!)
Resource: Caption This! A fun, deep-thinking Google Drawings activity
2. Ask a character/historic figure a question.

What if students could ask someone they're studying a question? What would they ask, and how would that person likely respond? This is another that can be done quickly and easily in Google Slides or Drawings. Let students take a photo of themselves using Insert > Image > Take a snapshot. Then, use the image search to find a photo of the person to whom they'll ask the question. Add speech bubbles to ask questions. Students could ask one question with one answer from the character/historic figure, or they could do a back-and-forth with several photos.

Example: Asking Sir Isaac Newton a question about how he concluded that gravity was due to the pull from the earth.

3. Create a flowchart.

Sticking with the Google Slides/Drawings idea, have students express their understanding of a concept with a flowchart. This can easily be done with shapes and arrows (found under the line tool) in Slides and Drawings. A single line throughout a flowchart makes for more of a timeline and less of a flowchart, so any time it can branch off, the flowchart is made more interesting! (Pro tip: copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) the shapes and arrows to save time.)

Example: Go through the process of deciding what to have for lunch and all of the decisions made in that process.
Resource: Deeper thinking with timeline projects
4. Make comic strips out of webcam photos.

Those webcams don't have to be just for selfie-style photos (especially those with peace fingers and duck lips ...). Have students back away from the camera and pose to recreate scenes of what you're studying. Or, have them sit side by side and have a discussion. This makes the students the stars of their own comic strips!

Example: Recreating a scene from a story or having a discussion about something they're learning in class.
Resource: Crash! Bang! Boom! How to add Google Drawings comic strips to your class
5. Create a quick animation.

Google Slides (or PowerPoint or any presentation slide tool) can be turned into a simple stop-motion animation tool. Create the first slide in your animation, then duplicate it, then move something slightly in the second slide. Duplicate the second slide and move something slightly in the third. Continue duplicating and moving until your animation is complete. Once your students have the hang of this, they can make animations pretty quickly.

Example: Recreating historic battles with moving maps ( here's a brief, incomplete example of the Battle of Little Big Horn) or showing how a math problem is completed.
Resource: Learning in motion: EASY stop-motion animation with Google Slides Resource: 11 tips for creating stop motion in Google Slides
6. Create BookSnaps of what you're reading.

In BookSnaps, students find a passage from a book they're reading that resonates with them. They snap a picture of it and annotate on it, underlining and adding text reflections and including fun things like emojis and Bitmojis (optional). There are variations of these, like MathSnaps, ScienceSnaps and even GratitudeSnaps. Snapchat is one tool many teachers and students use to create these annotations. (If you use Snapchat to do them, you don't even have to follow each other or post it to Snapchat ... just use the app to create the image!) If you don't want to use Snapchat, a take a snapshot (Insert > Image > Take a snapshot) using Google Slides or Drawings and add the annotations. See more about BookSnaps on the Twitter hashtag (#BookSnaps).

Example: Reflect on a reading in a book with a BookSnap. Explain parts of a math problem with a MathSnap. Show what's happening in a science lab with a ScienceSnap.
Resource: #Booksnaps- How-To Videos
7. Shared slide presentations.

Google Slides doesn't have to be used just to do presentations in front of the class! Create a slide presentation with enough slides for each student in the class. Then share that slide presentation with the class using the blue "Share" button. (Be sure to use the "Get shareable link" button and choose "Anyone with the link can edit" or "Anyone from <your school district> can edit" from the dropdown menu.) Each student gets a slide where he/she can do his/her own work. But you're also creating a whole class file. Students love to see what each other has put on the other slides, and it's a great place to interact through comments. Here's a shared slide presentation I did in a workshop where participants wrote about their ideal vacation destination.

Example: Finding quick facts/photos online about a topic you'll discuss in class that day.
Resource: Student collaboration in shared Google Slides
8. Ask students "What if ..." using a Flipgrid video grid.

It's always fascinating to see what students imagine when their minds are allowed to wander. An educator from Australia, Bronwyn Joyce, has gotten in the habit of asking her students - and students around the world - "What if?". Her prompts have elicited more than 1,000 videos and have prompted interesting discussions about the world's problems. On a smaller scale (in the classroom with just your students), this can be an interesting way to kick off a class.

Example: Letting students speculate what would happen if history was different, or if a character did something differently in a story, or what they would do if ...
Resource: Catch the Flipgrid fever! 30+ ways to use Flipgrid in your class
9. Create Icon boards.

I created icon boards as a way to simplify the infographic process. Think of icon boards as "infographics LITE" or "infographics when you're in a hurry."

The "Great Big Icon Board." Click here for the template in Google Slides.

You can use Google Slides to create your own icon boards - or just use the templates included in this post to copy and distribute mine.

Icon boards include an open space for students to organize what they're learning visually, combining text and images. They include plenty of icons that students would likely use from sources like The Noun Project or Flat Icon.

The icons - as well as shapes, text boxes and other elements - are placed in the workspace around the board. They're not actually on the board until students move them there. Think of it like things sitting around your paper on a desk.

Whether you create your own icon boards or use my pre-created templates, there are a few simple steps to using them.

(If you're using one of my templates, you'll need to make a copy of your own using the links above first.)

1. Distribute the icon boards to students. The easiest way is creating an assignment in Google Classroom and attaching the file to the assignment (choose "Make a copy for each student"). Other options include using the blue "Share" button and getting a clickable link, then changing the word "edit" and anything after it to say "copy" in the URL ... OR ... creating a short URL students can type in with a service like TinyURL.com or bitly.com.

2. Students open their boards (through Google Classroom or the method you choose).

3. Students organize their ideas using the items you've placed in the space around the board.

4. Students add additional items, like icons, shapes, text boxes, etc. that they might need.

Resource: Google Slides icon boards for low-prep, visual thinking
10. Do a shared mind map brainstorm with AWWApp.

Students can interact in a shared whiteboard in AWWApp (awwapp.com). They can draw with their finger (or a mouse or a laptop/Chromebook touchpad). If you have a touchscreen available, this is a really easy, collaborative way for students to sketch out and share their ideas. Because the whiteboards are collaborative, they can share whiteboards with others - students in other classes or anyone around the world - so they can collaborate together.

Example: Jot down all of the words that best describe a character. Write out all of the questions they have about solving a certain kind of math problem.
Resource: 10 ways to collaborate digitally + visually in class
11. Tweet for someone.

What would happen if a character in a story you're reading tweeted about an event in the story? Or about an event in current events ... or in another story? What if a scientist or mathematician or notable character in history tweeted? Now, you can let students create those tweets as bell-ringer activities. Use this Google Slides template. (Make sure you make your own copy.) Create a slide for each student. Then share the slide presentation with your students (through Google Classroom, through a learning management system, with a link using the blue Share button). Make it "Anyone with the link can edit". Students jump on their own slides and add the following: a photo, the name of the person tweeting, the Twitter username (start it with @), and the tweet. Ninja tip: To turn the photo to a circle, click on the photo and use the dropdown button next to the crop tool to select a circle as the crop shape!
Resource: 10 social media-inspired learning activities: no accounts necessary
12. Draw with your finger (or a computer touchpad).

I doubt that the simplicity of a simple drawing will ever lose its relevance in a classroom. Images are powerful; they're how our brain thinks anyhow. Having students draw what's in their brains - or how they understand a concept - can be a quick and easy way to get them on track for the day. Formative (goformative.com) makes this easy AND digital with its "Show Your Work" questions. Create a new assignment in Formative and just add a "Show Your Work" drawing question with a prompt. Share the assignment with students. Then see what they come up with. Now, we don't want to go digital for the sake of going digital, right? The tech should elevate the activity. Here, all of those simple drawings can be displayed quickly and easily from the teacher's computer on a projector. Speed and simplicity.
Resource: Draw, choose, write or say: Fantastic formative assessments
13. Create a "What do you know about ..." Padlet.

Padlet (padlet.com) is like a digital bulletin board. Use it to tack digital notes to it with push pins. Those notes, though, can have links, files, images and other multimedia attached to them - much cooler than a regular bulletin board. Kick off class for the day by creating a collaborative "What do you know about ..." Padlet. Pose a question: "What do you know about dolphins?" and encourage students to add whatever they can - personal experiences, facts, images, videos, whatever. This is a great way to activate prior knowledge.
Resource: 20 useful ways to use Padlet in class now
14. Discuss an article digitally with Hypothes.is.

Popular culture, the news and blogs are great sources of relevant, up-to-date content we can connect to our classes. Hypothes.is ( hypothes.is) lets us share an article with students and start a digital discussion there. Imagine that the article is clipped out of a newspaper. (I know, old school stuff ...) Hypothes.is lets students digitally highlight and add sticky notes all over that article - but with enough room to have unlimited annotations. Discuss an article with your class - or even share the discussion with others outside of your classroom. (Example: The author of the article you're discussing!)
Resource:Try Edji, another text annotation tool. See how with 20 ways to analyze text, images with Edji.
15. Dig into fascinating writing prompts.

Need some new ideas to get students thinking - and then writing? Write About (writeabout.com) has a treasure trove of creative, thought-provoking writing prompts at www.writeabout.com/ideas. Choose one and then get the writing juices flowing, either on student blogs (Write About / blogger.com / kidblog.org) OR by giving students their own individual slides in a shared Google Slides presentation.

16. Record a short explainer video.

Sometimes, it's just easier to show someone what you're talking about than to write it. Students can fire up a screen recording video with Screencastify (screencastify.com) in moments using the tool's extension for the Google Chrome browser. Students can quickly record their screen, record with their webcam and/or record audio with their microphone to kick off class. It's easy for them to share those videos with others after uploading them to Google Drive - or to turn them in with Google Classroom or another learning management system.
Resource: 24 ways to create great classroom video with Screencastify
17. Play a quick Quizizz game.

Want to review some material? Go over content from a previous lesson? Even give students a fun way to look up new material? Play a quick Quizizz game to start class. (Ever played Kahoot!? Quizizz has many similarities.) When setting the game up, click the "homework" button instead of the "play live" button and set the completion time five or ten minutes into class. The game will display a join code and the Quizizz join site. Just display those to students and have them get started. They can start whenever they get in their seats ready to go, and it's not synchronous (i.e. their progress doesn't depend on the progress of other students).
Resource: Game show classroom: Comparing Kahoot!, Quizizz, Quizlet Live and Gimkit
18. Analyze books or articles with Flipgrid.

Flipgrid lets students talk about big world issues they'd like to tackle. Another way to use this platform is to let students talk about and analyze what they've just read. Give them a chapter from a novel, a short story or an article, a math problem they've solved - even something a fellow classmate has written! Flipgrid lets students record short videos (up to 90 seconds) about a topic. In this case, the topic can be what they've just read or worked on. When they're finished, they can view each other's videos. (The more interesting the prompt, the more likely they'll naturally want to look at each other's videos!)

19. Write emoji poetry or an emoji response.

Brevity is an important skill in writing. Instead of encouraging students to write to a minimum number of words, let's try constraining them to fewer words - and turn them into emojis! Have students summarize what they've been learning using emojis (maybe a maximum of 10?). The Google Chrome web browser has several emoji extensions (a favorite of mine is Emoji for Google Chrome). Mobile devices often have them built in. This encourages reflection on what they've learned and creativity in expressing themselves.

20. Write blackout poetry.

Have you ever seen those poems written by marking out all of the words in a news article or book page except a few with a black marker? This is blackout poetry. This can be a fun - and creativity-provoking - way to kick off class. Have students take a photo of a page of text (or a screenshot of an article online). Paste that image into Google Drawings or Slides (or a mobile app that lets them draw with their finger, like Paper by FiftyThree). In Google Drawings, they can use lines or shapes (long skinny rectangles work great) to black out words. (Do a web search for "blackout poetry" for examples.) Students could create them on their own individual slides of a shared Google Slides presentation (see No. 7). If each student has his/her own slide, the whole slide show becomes a big gallery of blackout poetry!

Are you looking for quality, meaningful professional learning that both equips and inspires teachers?

Matt provides in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops and breakout sessions that equip, inspire and encourage teachers to create change in their classrooms. Teachers leave with loads of resources. They participate. They laugh. They see tech use and teaching in a new light. Click the link below to contact us and learn how you can bring Matt to your school or district!

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20 digital bell ringer activities to kickstart class

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Quality bell ringers are crucial - quick activities to get students going at the beginning of class, when the bell has just rung.For these first five or

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1. Ask "What stuck with you today?"

Find out what made the most impact with one simple question. Sticky notes are fantastic for exit tickets; just have each student post theirs to the board on their way out the door.

2. Lunch questions

In elementary classrooms, there's no need to wait until the end of the day. Try using exit tickets before lunch or recess. Kids too young to write? Have them tell you their answer on their way out the door.

3. Have them "tweet" it

This cute "Twitter" board is sure to appeal to young social media fans. Laminate the cards so they can be reused each day.

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4. Gauge understanding with emojis

Here's another way to help today's kids connect and share their progress. Have them circle an emoji on this free printable and explain why it reflects their understanding.

5. Record a Flip video

Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a totally free online tool for schools, where kids record video answers to a question posted by their teacher. This is such a cool exit ticket idea for virtual classrooms, though it works in face-to-face classrooms too.

6. Collect exit tickets on a traffic light

Have students post their tickets on a traffic light to indicate whether they're doing fine or struggling a bit. That way, you can focus on those who need more help first.

7. Give them a prompt

Sometimes exit tickets are very specific, but other times you just want to know what students' general reaction was to the class that day. We like this simple option that offers a few prompts to get them started.

8. Use the "Post-It, Prove It" method of exit tickets

Here's an example of a more specific exit question. Try to ask questions that have more than one right answer, so students don't just copy each other's responses.

9. Let them teach others

Kids often surprise us by looking at things in entirely different ways but still getting the correct answers. Their thoughts on a subject may give you ideas for helping other students who need a bit more instruction.

10. Take a poll

Online polls make terrific exit tickets. Poll Everywhere is free to use, and kids can text their answers. Fun!

11. Encourage self-reflection

Valuable as they are to teachers, exit tickets are also important for helping students self-assess. This version lets them reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement.

12. Tell two facts and a fib

We love this interactive ticket idea! Kids write down two facts about today's subject and one fib. They trade with another student to see if they can guess the incorrect fact before turning them in.

13. Try them in any class

Oui, oui, les "billets de sortie" work in French class, or Chemistry, or Art History ... every teacher should try them.

14. Keep an exit ticket journal

Give exit tickets a bit more substance by having students keep them in a journal. This gives them a nice record of learning and can help when it comes time to review for tests or write a paper.

15. Post exit tickets on Padlet

Think of Padlet as an online bulletin board. Teachers post a question or topic, and kids add their answers. See our review of Padlet here, then give it a try.

16. Print exit tickets on sticky notes

Did you know you can easily print on sticky notes? This game changer means you can easily customize exit tickets for any topic.

17. Write a 3, 2, 1 list

The 3, 2, 1 method allows kids to self-assess, but it also lets them indicate a deeper level of interest in the topic at hand.

18. Make it a mini-assessment

You'll have to prep these in advance, but an assessment exit ticket is sort of like a no-stress quiz. Kids simply do their best, without worrying about grades, and you get a better feel for their progress.

19. Fill up a shopping cart

Here's a chance to really see what their takeaways were from a lesson. This will let you see if your learning objectives are coming through as they should.

20. Follow science lab with exit tickets

Hands-on science exploration should be followed up with written observations and conclusions. Use exit tickets to check for understanding.

21. Sum it up with one sentence

Help your students distill what the day's lesson was all about with a one-sentence summary. This requires students to prioritize the most important elements of the activity and reveals whether they are getting the "big picture."

22. Keep it simple

Sometimes you look out at your students and you see a lot of blank stares. When this happens, take a quick moment to use this exit slip. It will help you assess who's on board and who needs further instruction.

23. Change it up

If you always use the same exit tickets after a lesson, your students might go on autopilot. Change up your format by asking students how they're doing in a variety of ways.

24. Match your exit tickets with your teaching philosophy

These colorful prompts were developed to support the Habits of Mind framework. Choose from questions that encourage your students to observe, reflect, and explore what they're learning.

25. Collect answers on Google Forms

Teaching online or looking to save paper? Collect your tickets using Google Forms instead. This is especially useful if you're already using Google Classroom.

26. Take time to analyze exit tickets

Make sure your exit tickets are worth the effort. Spend a little time at the end of each class or day looking over student responses, and make notes about any needs they indicate.

Exit tickets are just one type of formative assessment. Check out our guide to formative assessment.

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26 Exit Ticket Ideas and Examples That Give Immediate Feedback

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Use exit tickets to check student understanding of what they learned and get immediate feedback on that day's lesson.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Writers using APA Style must strive to use language that is free of bias and avoid perpetuating prejudicial beliefs or demeaning attitudes in their writing. Topics covered: age, disability, gender, participation in research, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality.

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Positive Behavior Intervention & Support

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Positive Behavior Intervention & Support

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Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, social, emotional, and academic growth. It is a way to create positive, predictable, and safe learning environments where everyone is successful.

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How important is it to you for kids-students to like you.docx

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How would you encourage a student who refuses to do work or participate?

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How would you encourage a student who refuses to do work or participate?

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How would you encourage a student who refuses to do work or participate.docx

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As educators, we all know the importance of building positive relationships with and among our students. Good relationships can help students develop a growth mindset, encourage kindness in the classroom, increase students' learning, improve students' self-confidence, and make your classroom feel welcoming. We also know, however, that creating these relationships in our classrooms can be challenging, especially when we have limited time and resources. That's where these quick relationship building activities come in! In this post, I have created a list of 8 relationship building activities that can easily fit into your busy schedule, will help you connect with your kiddos, and will help your students bond with one another.

These relationship building activities are super quick, so they can fit into any short gaps you have during the day. Each one takes 5 minutes or less and requires no prep.

1. Non-Academic Turn & Talk

If you're a teacher, you have probably have heard of "turn and talk", a strategy where students turn to each other and answer a question or discuss a topic. Usually, "turn and talk" is used in an academic context. However, you can use it in a non-academic way to boost relationships in your classroom! To do so, you ask a non-academic question, such as "What is your favorite color?". Then, students can turn to a partner and answer! This is an easy way to get your kids sharing with each other and takes very little time.

2. Hug, High Five, or Handshake

For this activity, each student can choose to give you a hug, a high five, or a handshake. This is used most commonly as students are arriving for the day or leaving at the end of the day, but it could be used at any time. For example, as students are leaving for specials, at the beginning of recess, before students go into the cafeteria for lunch, at the beginning of each small group, or any other time you want a quick dose of connection with your kids.

3. End-of-the-Day Exit Slip

We all know that exit slips are given at the end of lessons to check for student understanding. End-of-the-day exit slips, however, are not about academic context. Instead, an end-of-the-day exit slip is a non-academic question that students must answer before they go home. They could answer in writing or in person (e.g. tell you their answer as they walk out for dismissal). Either way, an end-of-the-day exit slip is a great way to bond with your kids after a busy school day. Some questions you could ask are:

What was your favorite part of the day?

What was the best thing you learned today?

What is one kind thing you did for someone today?

What do you hope to learn about tomorrow?

What was the best thing you did during specials today?

These relationship building activities take slightly more time, but are still relatively quick. Use these whenever you need a boost to your student relationships, but only have a small chunk of time.

1. Just Like Me Game

If you want to spend some time helping your students learn about one another while having some fun, the Just Like Me game is perfect. Here's how you play:

1. Have your students stand in a circle.

2. One at a time, students step forward and say a fact about themselves (e.g. I have one sister.).

3. If that statement is true for other students, they come forward one step and say "just like me"!

4. The next student steps forward and says his or her fact. Continue until all students have had a chance to go (and you could keep going, if you have time).

2. Round Robin Share

For this activity, students also share something about themselves. Unlike the Just Like Me game, however, students can share a bit more during this activity. Here's what you do:

1. Have your students sit in a circle.

2. Ask a non-academic question. (e.g. What's your favorite season? Why?)

3. Go around the circle and give every student the opportunity to answer the question while the rest of the class listens.

4. Optional: If you want, you could give some other students a chance to make a comment or ask a question after each student shares.

These relationship building activities take a bit longer, usually about 30 minutes. If you feel your relationships with your students need a major dose of positivity, try these activities.

1. Mystery Student Lunch Bunch

This activity is super fun, and will improve behavior in your classroom! Here's what you do:

1. Each week, draw a student's name (or more than one, if you want). I recommend writing each student's name on a popsicle stick and putting the sticks in a cup/jar/etc (which you can also use to call on random students to answer questions during class). The chosen student is a mystery to the class - only you know who it is!

2. Throughout the week, you observe the mystery student's behavior.

3. If the mystery student had positive behavior the whole week, then he or she gets to have lunch bunch on Friday! You can also let the student (or students) choose friends to join them for lunch bunch, or you can make it a whole class lunch in the classroom. Also, if the mystery student does not earn lunch bunch, DO NOT reveal the student's name to the class. This will only make that student feel ashamed and may even lead to worse behavior.

Not only does this motivate students to behave during the week, but it also gives you a chance to bond with the students who earn lunch bunch. I call that a win-win situation!

2. Get To Know You Board Game

This activity gives students the opportunity to learn about one another and play a game at the same time! During this game, students take turns rolling a die and moving that many spaces. Then, they answer the question on the space they land on. The questions are all designed to help students learn about each other and create connections.
Click here to get the FREE game board!
3. All About Me Initials

These All About Me Initials are a great way to have students share more about themselves in a fun way. To do this activity, give each students a letter for each initial (so I would get a V and an S, because my name is Victoria Skinner). Then, students can write or draw about themselves in those letters. You can either give students specific things to write/draw (such as their favorites foods, their family, what they like to do, etc.) or leave it open-ended. After students complete their initials, you can hang them up in the classroom or the hallway!

All of these relationship building activities will help you build a positive classroom community. You can use them from the very first week of school until the very last day of the year. I hope you found something useful for you and your students to use! If you need some reminders, get this cheat sheet to help you out. Do you have any other great ways to build relationships in the classroom? If so, send me an email or leave a comment below!

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8 Quick Relationship Building Activities - The Inspired Educator

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Are you looking for quick and easy ways to develop positive connections in your classroom? If so, here are 15 great relationship building activities to use!

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Videos of How to Deal with Defiant Behaviors

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Videos of How to Deal with Defiant Behaviors

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Behavior Strategist & Trainer for Teachers. I share tips and strategies on how to manage your classroom and student behaviors. I also talk about teacher self-care. Burnout does not have to be in your future!

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NOW MARKED WAAAAY DOWN!! As we prepare the 2024 guide for release in January, we have given the 2023 guide a big discount - if you haven't gotten it yet, now's your chance to get it cheap!!

This handbook makes learning technology simple and FAST by grouping over 650 tech tools into over 50 categories, explaining them in clear, simple language, and giving you practical, inspiring ideas for using each tool in and out of the classroom.

This guide is an interactive PDF built with tons of navigation links and a clickable table of contents and index that make it super easy to jump back and forth between sections, so you can find what you need fast.

For a closer look, watch this Video Introduction. (Note: these instructions are for the 2020 guide but are still accurate for 2023.)
Key Features:
* Full-color screenshots of each tool in action, a direct link to each tool's website and a short video demonstrating each tool in use.

* A glossary of over 130 technology terms, with clear definitions in simple language.

* A clickable index of terminology, tools, and concepts that will take you directly to each page where the term is used.

* Compatible with Mac and Windows platforms, and is fully functional on smaller devices as well.

* Designed on 8.5 x 11" pages, so you can also print it out and create a paper binder for times when you don't have access to a computer or device.

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NEW IN 2023
* Over 120 new tools have been added to this edition. These are not all "new" to the world, but they were not featured in previous editions.

* Four new categories have been added: Artificial Intelligence, Drama & Theater Arts, Early Learners, and Literacy.

* Fully updated: For all the other tools and sections, the information has been updated to reflect currently availability, videos have been updated when possible, broken links have been replaced, and tools and sites that were becoming outdated or poorly maintained have been removed or replaced with others.

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BEFORE YOU BUY:
* Look carefully at the preview file. Not every tool in the world is covered in this guide; if you're looking for information on a specific tool, browse the table of contents and the index in the product preview before purchasing.

* This guide links to over 700 YouTube videos. If your school or district blocks YouTube, this feature will not work at school.

* Please note that this product does not come with free updates. It takes two full months out of every year to create the updated version for the following year, so we are unable to give these away for free. Keep in mind that while some information becomes outdated over time, most of what's in this guide will still be good a year from now. If you want to stay up to date but don't want to buy a new guide every year, you might consider getting a fresh copy every other year instead.

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WANT THE GUIDE FOR A WHOLE TEAM, SCHOOL OR DISTRICT?
I offer special pricing for large groups on my Teachable page. Click here to learn more.

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Attention Primary Teachers!
I have had several teachers from K-2 classrooms ask if this guide includes enough tools that would be relevant to their work. This year's guide features a brand-new section devoted entirely to tools for pre-K through grade 3.

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Common Core Standards Addressed by this Product:
W.K.6, W.1.6, W.2.6, W.3.6, W.4.6, W.5.6, W.6.6, W.7.6, W.8.6, W.9-10.6, W.11-12.6

W.4.8, W.5.8, W.6.8, W.7.8, W.8.8, W.9-10.8, W.11-12.8

Sl.2.5, SL.3.5, SL.4.5, SL.5.5, SL.6.5, SL.7.5, SL.8.5, SL.9-10.5, SL.11-12.5

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NOW MARKED WAAAAY DOWN!! As we prepare the 2024 guide for release in January, we have given the 2023 guide a big discount - if you haven't gotten it yet, now's your chance to get it cheap!!This handbook makes learning technology simple and FAST by grouping over 650 tech tools into over 50 categories...

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Want to add some humor to your math lessons? Whether you're a math teacher or a student, this comprehensive collection of math jokes will have you laughing and learning in no time.

This math joke collection features math jokes covering the topics of algebra, geometry, arithmetic, trigonometry, and more!

Math teachers might be especially interested in my free printable math joke of the week poster collection!

Algebra Jokes

Combining Like Terms Jokes

What is 2n plus 2n? I don't know. It sounds 4n to me.

Logarithm Jokes

Why do mathematicians like parks? Because of all the natural logs.

What do organic mathematicians throw into their fireplaces? Natural logs.

Polynomial Jokes

Why can't you trust a polynomial to stay the same? They have too many variables.

Quadratics Jokes

How does a ghost solve a quadratic equation? By Completing the Scare

What do baby parabolas drink? Quadratic formula

Radical Jokes

Why do plants hate math? It gives them square roots.

Conics Jokes

Why didn't the hyperbola feel sick? It was asymptote-matic.

Miscellaneous Algebra Jokes

What do you call friends who love math? Alge-bros

What is a bird's favorite type of math? Owl-gebra

Why does algebra make you a better dancer? Because you can use the algo-rhythm!

Do you know who invented algebra? An x-pert.

Number Jokes

Exponent Jokes

Why won't Goldilocks drink a glass of water with 8 pieces of ice in it? It's too cubed.

In the expression x³, what do you call 3? An x-ponent

Why did seven eat nine? Because you're supposed to eat 3 squared meals a day!

Fraction and Decimal Jokes

Why was the fraction worried about marrying the decimal? Because he would have to convert.

Which king loved fractions? Henry the 1/8.

How are a dollar and the moon similar? They both have four quarters.

How do we know the fractions, x/c, y/c, and z/c, are all in Europe? They're all over c's!

Why do numerators and denominators disagree? They've drawn a line.

Why should you never argue with a decimal? They always have a point.

Multiplication and Division Jokes

Why did the student do multiplication problems on the floor? The teacher told him not to use tables.

Why did the girl wear glasses during math class? It improved di-vision.

What's a swimmer's favorite kind of math? Dive-ision!

Where should you do your math homework? On a multiplication table.

Roman Numeral Jokes

What do you call a number that can't keep still? A Roamin' Numeral

Why didn't the Romans find algebra very challenging? X was always ten.

Even and Odd Jokes

How can you make seven even? Remove the "s"

Why do teenagers travel in groups of three? Because they can't even.

Do you know what's odd? Every other number.

Do you know what seems odd to me? Numbers that can't be divided by two.

What happens when you hire an odd-job helper to do 8 jobs? He only does 1, 3, 5, and 7.

Counting Jokes

What did the calculator say to the student? You can always count on me.

What are ten things you can always count on? Your fingers.

Why should you never mention the number 288? Because it's two gross.

Why did the student trust his abacus? He knew he could always count on it.

What do you call a hen who counts her own eggs? A mathema-chicken.

Miscellaneous Number Jokes

Did you hear about the mathematician who's afraid of negative numbers? He'll stop at nothing to avoid them.

What did the zero say to the eight? Nice belt!

Why did the two 4's skip lunch? They already 8!

How do you make one vanish? Add a "g" to the beginning.

What number can only go up? Your age.

Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9.

What number has its own day? Two's day

Why is it dangerous to do math in the jungle? Because if you add 4 and 4, you get 8.

Why couldn't the seven and the ten get married? They were under eighteen.

What did 2, 3, 5, and 7 have for dinner? Prime Rib.

Why is 69 so scared of 70? Because once they fought, and 71.

Statistics Jokes

Why did the student get upset when her teacher called her average? It was a "mean" thing to say!

Have you heard the one about the statistician? Probably.

Why is statistics never anyone's favorite subject? It's just average.

Did you hear about the statistician who drowned crossing a river? It was three feet deep on average.

Trigonometry Jokes

Why couldn't the angle get a loan? His parents wouldn't cosine.

What do you call a gentleman who spent all the summer at the beach? A tangent.

Why didn't sin and tan go to the party? Just cos.

How do deaf mathematicians communicate? Sine language

Why was math class so long? The teacher kept going off on a tangent.

Why did the math professor divide sin by tan? Just cos.

Calculus Jokes

What did the student say about the calculus equation she couldn't solve? "This is derive-ing me crazy!"

Why don't math majors throw house parties? Because it's dangerous to drink and derive.

What is the integral of one divided by a cabin? Log cabin? No, houseboat - you forgot the C.

Holiday Themed Math Jokes

Halloween Math Jokes

What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern by its diameter? Pumpkin Pi

How does a child ghost count? One, Boo, Three

Pi Day Jokes

Why should you never start a conversation with pi? It'll just go on forever.

Why did Pi get its driver's license revoked? Because it didn't know when to stop.

What's the official animal of Pi day? The Pi-thon!

What do you get when you take the sun and divide its circumference by its diameter? Pi in the sky

Why isn't pi on Twitter? Because 280 characters isn't enough to express itself.

What was Isaac Newton's favorite dessert? Apple pi.

What do you call a mathematician who doubles as a private investigator? Magnum Pi.

What's the math teacher's favorite dessert? Pi.

How many bakers does it take to bake a pi? 3.14.

Why shouldn't you eat too much pi? You'll end up with a large circumference.

What do you get when a bunch of sheep hang out in a circle? Shepherd's pi.

What did pi say in a fight with its brother? You're being irrational.

What's the best way to visualize infinity? Using a pi chart.

What did the mathematicians order at the restaurant on March 14th? Chicken pot pi.

What do mathematicians and the Air Force have in common? They both use pi-lots.

What's the best way to serve pi? A la mode. Anything else is mean.

Have another favorite math joke? Leave it in the comments!

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139 Best Math Jokes to Add Humor to Your Lessons

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Want to add some humor to your math lessons? Whether you're a math teacher or a student, this comprehensive collection of math jokes will have you laughing

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I have found that incorrect answers usually contain elements of truth within them. The last thing you want to do is to discourage a student who might have put up their hand for the first time. This is where building upon what a student has said first is incredibly important. I recommend that teachers say something along the lines of.

I think I know what you are talking about.

You're in the right area.

That's about 50% right.

You've got most/some of this right but there is something missing

5.) Cold calling
Cold calling is calling upon a student to answer a question who has not put up their hand. It is a great way of holding reluctant students accountable for their learning. It keeps them on their toes and encourages them to participate more often.

There are two situations where I cold call.

1. There are lots of hands up

2. There are no hands up after trying all these techniques

In the first instance you probably have a classroom of students who understand what you are talking about; however, there are always a couple of students who still don't want to put up their hand. In this instance the student has a good chance of knowing what you're talking about but doesn't want to share. In this situation cold calling works. You can also allow them an 'opt out' if they are really nervous by allowing them to 'phone a friend'. More about this technique later.

Secondly, if you've tried all these strategies and the students are still not putting up their hands, you might want to cold call to get the conversation started. Often the threat of a cold call to students is enough to get things started. You also might need to consider the possibility that you've not taught the content properly. If you cold call a student and they cannot answer your question and no one else can, then I recommend using a fist to five to check for understanding. More on this later as well.
5.) Phone a friend
If a student is genuinely stumped with a question and is unable to provide you with an answer, then giving them a 'way out' allows them to save face while still being held accountable for their learning. Make sure you allow the student time to think of an answer. After a suitable wait time, give the student an option to 'phone a friend' and nominate a person to answer their question on their behalf. I usually see a few more hands pop up to answer a friend's question instead of a teacher's question.
6.) Fist to five
A great nonverbal strategy to check for understanding is called fist to five. I suggest utilising this strategy if you suspect that your classroom does not understand what you've just taught. It also works well at the end of a lesson and with individual students.

So here is how it works. The student uses their hand to indicate how well they understood the concept you have just taught. A fist indicates that they have no clue about what you've just said. Five fingers indicates that they have perfectly understood the concept you have taught. The rest of the fingers indicate a continuum from limited understanding to near perfect understanding.
FOLLOW UP QUESTIONING 7.) Ask deep and meaningful follow up questions
After you have utilised the questioning techniques mentioned above, it's time to ask a range of meaningful follow up questions. Follow up questioning is essential for gauging how deeply your students understand the content you've taught. Student responses to these questions is a great way of determining which students are operating at a 'A' or 'B' level.

Here are a range of follow up questions I utilise.

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7 Effective Questioning Techniques for Teachers - Griffin Education Enterprises

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Looking to improve your questioning techniques? Then click here to learn about 7 effective questioning techniques to improve student participation and understanding.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the highlighted topic. For a full consultation, and personalized assessment plan, schedule an appointmentwith one of our specialists.

More about Variations Psychology

Variations Psychology is a group practice specializing in diagnostic testing to identify psychological conditions. Our primary focus is Educational Psychology, guiding families on beneficial pathways toward student success and training educators in effective strategies to maximize student potential.

Our comprehensive evaluations test for conditions that impact mental health and development such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, depression, anxiety, learning disorders, and developmental delays.

In addition to diagnostic services, we offer Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs) of K-12 students to assess needs for accommodations in school and determine their appropriate placements. IEEs provide an objective second opinion on existing IEP and 504 Plans.

For K-12 and post-secondary students, we offer evaluations to assess needs for accommodations on standardized tests, college entrance exams (e.g. - SAT, ACT, AP Exams), and graduate and professional licensing exams (e.g. - MCAT, LSAT, GRE, CBEST, NCLEX, GMAT, CA Cosmetology Exam, CA Contractors State Licensing Exam, CA Bar Exam). Schedule your free 15-minute consultationto learn how our diagnostic services can support you and your family.

Variations Psychology is located in Newport Beach, CA and provides psychological testing to residents throughout Orange County and its surrounding areas including Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Irvine, Shady Canyon, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Coto de Caza, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Yorba Linda, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Pelican Hill, Crystal Cove, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, Lake Forest, Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, and more.

References:

Shinn. M.M. (2018). 8 Tips to Create a Mentally Healthy Classroom. Psychologically Speaking. [Variations Psychology blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/8-tips-to-create-a-mentally-healthy-classroom

Shinn. M.M. (2019). The Teacher's TCIT School-Kit. Psychologically Speaking. [Variations Psychology blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/the-teachers-tcit-toolkit

Shinn, M. M., & UC Davis PCIT Training Center (2019) Course of Treatment Manual for PCIT-TC. Unpublished Manuscript. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5993624ea803bb955170130a/t/5c8e78b0c8302569d10fdb51/1552840881981/PRIDE+Skills+for+Teacher+-+Shinn%2C+2019%2C+Variations+Psychology+v.BW3.19.pdf

Timmer, S., Hawk, B., Lundquist, K., Forte, L., Aviv, R., Boys, D., & Urquiza, A. (2016) Coping and Relaxation Skills 1. PC-CARE: Course of Treatment Manual. Unpublished Manuscript. UC Davis Children's Hospital. Retrieved from https://pcit.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/47_Coping_LittleKids-Aubrey-edits-8.6.18.pdf

Timmer, S., Hawk, B., Lundquist, K., Forte, L., Aviv, R., Boys, D., & Urquiza, A. (2016) Coping and Relaxation Skills 2. PC-CARE: Course of Treatment Manual. Unpublished Manuscript. UC Davis Children's Hospital. Retrieved from https://pcit.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/48_Coping_BigKids_6-9yrs-Aubrey-edits.pdf

Timmer, S., Hawk, B., Lundquist, K., Forte, L., Aviv, R., Boys, D., & Urquiza, A. (2016) Coping and Relaxation Skills 3. PC-CARE: Course of Treatment Manual. Unpublished Manuscript. UC Davis Children's Hospital. Retrieved from https://pcit.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Coping_Older-Kids_9-13yrs.pdf

Urquiza, A., Zebell, N., Timmer, S., McGrath, J., & Whitten, L. (2011) BE DIRECT. Course of Treatment Manual for PCIT-TC. Unpublished Manuscript. Retrieved from https://pcit.ucdavis.edu/wp content/uploads/2012/08/48_BEDIRECTrevised.pdf

How to Cite This Blog Article:

Shinn. M.M. (2020). BE DIRECT! 8 Teacher Tips for Getting Students to Listen. Psychologically Speaking. [Variations Psychology blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/be-direct-8-teacher-tips-for-getting-students-to-listen

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Psychologically Speaking: 8 Teacher Tips for Getting Students to Listen - Variations

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BE DIRECT! 8 Teacher Tips for Getting Students to Listen Calling all teachers! Do you struggle to get students to listen to instructions? Check out this week's blog for our top tips on giving effective commands and building student compliance.

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Culturally Responsive Instruction for Holidays

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Culturally Responsive Instruction for Holidays

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This article shows teachers how to bring rich cultural content into their teaching in a way that expands students' knowledge, interest, and respect for the group being featured. The article offers suggestions that teachers can use throughout the school year, as well as when observing cultural and religious holidays and celebrations.

Note: This article was originally written for the American Federation of Teachers.
The first step in implementing more culturally responsive instruction is recognizing how our own cultural conditioning is reflected in our teaching: how we set up our classroom, establish relationships with students, even how we design and deliver our lessons. This article shows teachers how to bring rich cultural content into their teaching in a way that expands students' knowledge, interest, and respect for the group being featured. The article offers suggestions that teachers can use throughout the school year, as well as when observing cultural and religious holidays and celebrations.

Meaningful Multicultural Education in a Nation of Immigrants

Related video

See this interview with Dr. Cynthia Lundgren for more great tips on culturally responsive instruction!

Our nation is rich in many cultural and religious traditions, and celebrations focusing on specific groups have grown and become more popular in the last twenty years. Some of the most prominent are African-American History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Women's History Month. Growing in popularity are American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month and Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Along with these we also observe and recognize Martin Luther King Day, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Kwanzaa, Labor Day, the Jewish holidays, and many others.

While we are more explicit about our recognition of various groups and ethnic differences, we have always been a diverse nation. In the beginning, our nation was primarily the home of Native Americans and other indigenous groups representing more than 400 languages, Africans from a wide range of different regions, and Europeans of mostly British heritage. Take America at the turn of the 20th century - that's when our country experienced one of its major influxes of newcomers, and waves of immigrants made their way to our shores. Soon, many of the children enrolled in our public schools had come from such faraway places as Italy, Poland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and China.

Now turn the clock forward a hundred years. Our public schools are again being asked to meet the challenges that come with a rapidly growing and diverse population. With a global economy in place and our technology moving at a rate faster than we'd ever imagined, every teacher needs more help meeting the needs of and being culturally responsive to his/her students, many of whom now have roots in places like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Somalia, Croatia, and Jordan.

Our country has always been home to people of many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. But meaningful multicultural education must go beyond saying that we're a "melting pot," having an ethnic food celebration a couple of times a year, and acknowledging a few well-known historical figures. We currently live in a world where our knowledge about other cultures, languages, and traditions is extremely important to foster understanding and mutual respect, and we are now expecting teachers to be our first responders on the front line in this complex task.

Given that research, test data, and anecdotal evidence repeatedly confirm that culture plays a significant role in teaching and learning, student diversity challenges us to explore ways to bridge cultural differences and develop culturally sensitive teaching practices that recognize and accept these differences.

And teachers, like their students, behave in ways that reflect their culture. We recognize the obvious cultural differences such as foods, heroes, holidays, arts, and clothing - differences that, much like the tip of the iceberg, are clearly visible above the water. Less visible are the different ways in which our cultures influence our understanding of the world and how we interact with others. These more nuanced differences might include how we understand and define concepts like family, responsibility, education, and success. These hidden aspects of culture can cause misunderstandings and cross-group conflicts; they can impact teacher-student and student-student relationships, and create hard-to-identify barriers to academic content matter.

Culturally Responsive Instruction

So at the point we decide that we want to implement more culturally responsive instruction, where to do we start? The first step is recognizing how our own cultural conditioning is reflected in our teaching: how we set up our classroom, establish relationships with students, even how we design and deliver our lessons. When we acknowledge that our classrooms are natural extensions of our own culture, we can begin to make room for the cultures of others. This can be done in a few simple ways:

Look for ways to integrate cultural traditions of your ELL families throughout your school. Becoming familiar with and including the cultural traditions of your ELL families within the larger school community not only creates a welcoming and respectful school environment - it has practical considerations for scheduling, opportunities in the classroom, and improved communication and engagement with families. (See more tips on how to integrate ELLs' cultures effectively in this excerpt from our ELL Family Engagement guide.)

Add classroom visuals reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of the classroom. Look for images that come from various sources and steer clear of long-held harmful stereotypes (e.g., Latino people wearing large Mexican hats, Asian people working in rice fields, etc.). If you can not find any adequate images, hold an event inviting the various families to school and take photos of the children interacting together and with each other's families.

Incorporate books with multicultural themes and different perspectives into classroom readings. For recommended titles, consult our booklists on Colorín Colorado and Reading Rockets. Also, do not automatically discard books that reflect the mainstream culture. Discuss all these books (multicultural and mainstream) with students and ask them what they learned that they did not know before about the characters, situations, geographies, etc.

Explore themes that are common to all cultures. Discuss universal concepts like the importance of families, the search of a better life through migration, friendships, uses of music to express emotions and celebrate, and different kinds of work, etc.

Take interest in students' lives outside of school and asking questions about community events and traditions. When possible, call students at home to follow up on an assignment and introduce yourself to their parents (ask your school about an interpreter if needed). After this type of initial contact, try and visit students at home, visit their neighborhood and the places they shop, and participate in community events. Keep an open-door policy in your classroom for their families. Sometimes, families may be hesitant to interact with you due to language or perceived cultural barriers.

Ensure major assignments or exams do not fall on religious or cultural holidays. Plan this calendar far in advance. Students from a particular country may have more religious holidays than other groups and you also want to inform others in the school about this so that no misperceptions or misunderstandings arise.

Integrate ethnic art, music, and games into classroom activities. For information about ethnic art and games, consult Learning for Justice, and for international music selections and fun classroom activities, consult Putumayo. You can also visit special museum exhibits, conduct a field trip to a special performance, or invite artists and performers to your school.

Support English language learners and their families with materials in their first language. If your school does not have ESL or bilingual education teachers or specialists, see if the district can help. Do not make the children in your class who are becoming proficient in English be your primary mode of communication with other children of the same language background or with families. If an adult interpreter is not available, look into recruiting a volunteer from the community who is familiar with school issues. For more information on supporting ELLs and their families, visit Colorín Colorado's Educator Section.

Use current world events to teach students to read, think, and discuss from multiple perspectives. The internet and television broadcasts from other countries can provide international versions of world events. Responding to events from a variety of perspectives not only reinforces critical literacy skills, but establishes a forum for voicing disparate perspectives.

Celebrating Holidays

When it comes time to highlight specific cultural holidays, how do you pick the right culturally responsive materials? No matter what you choose to shed light on the subject (a lesson plan, ongoing unit study, field trip, cultural fair, special performance presentation, etc.), the goal is to expand your students' knowledge, interest, and respect for the group being featured. Here are some ideas to help you highlight multicultural and religious holidays appropriately, and select the right activities and materials:

Recognize various talents and accomplishments when focusing on people. Do not limit your commemoration to famous leaders and heroes. Go beyond Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, and Susan B. Anthony to find other little-known role models who are historical and contemporary.

Consult more than one internet or library source and do not expect a student to be your sole "ambassador" or resource for finding out about a whole culture or ethnic background. Multiple sources are always a good idea for formulating knowledge about a particular subject. More importantly, do not put a particular student on the spot without asking them beforehand if they are comfortable sharing information with the whole class. Each student is an individual and their experiences may or may not be similar to that of the group they represent.

Incorporate the information you select into existing lesson plans or special projects. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make this into an ongoing process for learning. One great source of information is children's books, which often have background information and activities, such as these titles about Ramadan, Chinese New Year, and Día de los muertos.

Make it more than just about food, music, or popular icons. As with the earlier tips on holiday celebrations, it is best to precede these type of events or approaches with meaningful and thoughtful pre-planned lessons, information, and learning. There is more to St. Patrick's Day than wearing green and pinning up images of leprechauns - turn the holiday into an opportunity to learn about the Irish people and their history.

Seek various representatives to show the diversity within a common group. Keep in mind that no one group is as homogenous as it might seem. To illustrate, Latinos may share the same language and have very similar customs but there are many cultural differences between countries - for example, only Mexicans celebrate Cinco de Mayo; Argentinians, on the other hand, will most likely have never heard of the celebration or know what it stands for, and will celebrate different holidays. "Chinese" New Year, on the other hand, is not only celebrated by the Chinese. Other Asian cultures refer to it as Lunar New Year.

Plan ahead of time. Don't wait until the day of the celebration or designated month to bring up the subject. If the topic at hand involves a heritage group represented in your classroom, consult with the student and their families about your plans, and find out if they are interested in and comfortable sharing stories, traditions, or family history. Ask them for suggestions and ideas.

Encourage other children who may not have "official" holidays representing them or whose families have lived in the U.S. for multiple generations to explore and share their own heritage and background. For children who come from the mainstream background, ask them where their ancestry is from. Students may not realize that people of European background do not share the same languages or traditions - for example, explore the differences between countries like Sweden and Portugal or Hungary and Scotland. While they may not relate to the language and customs of their ancestors anymore, it is important to point out their own immigrant roots and emphasize how rich we are as a nation because of our immigrant heritages.

Religious Holidays and Traditions

When it comes to religious holidays or traditions, what is their appropriate place in the curriculum? How do teachers approach such issues as textbook content, values education, controversial issues, and religious holidays? The general rule of thumb is to do this carefully. The First Amendment Center, in coalition with the AFT and a number of other organizations including the NEA, have issued a guide for educators on such issues called "Finding Common Ground." Some of the guidelines urge educators to:

Have an approach that is academic and not devotional.

Focus on the awareness of religions rather than acceptance of any one religion.

Sponsor study about religion, not the practice of religion.

Expose students to a diversity of religious views and do not impose any particular view.

Educate about all religions - do not promote or denigrate any religion.

Inform students about various beliefs, rather than conform students to any particular belief.

The complete guide and a more comprehensive list of recommendations is available at the First Amendment Center website.

All of these recommendations are in line with the standard that officially guides states and schools on this issue - the "Lemon Test," named after the 1971 court case of Lemon v. Kurtzman. The Supreme Court decided that schools could not receive public funding if they engaged in religious instruction. However, it does not prohibit students from worshipping on their own. This court decision has three important parts to it:

1. The government or public action in question* should only engage in secular or civil matters, leaving religion up to the individual.

2. The government or public action in question must not actively promote or prohibit religion.

3. The government or public action in question must not involve itself excessively with religion.

[*such as classroom instruction in a public school]

It's important to know what your purpose is in bringing up religion - most often, teachers intend to foster tolerance for other beliefs and faiths, and one of the best ways for teachers to do this is to plan ahead and to consult with informed sources, colleagues, parents, and the community. If students of a certain religion will be missing school days, it would be helpful to post these on a classroom calendar and let everyone in the class know ahead of time. Likewise, if students need to excuse themselves for prayer during the school day, it'd be best to plan a schedule and accommodate them in such a way that it does not interfere with their educational time in the classroom or with other students.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, all of these strategies for cultural responsiveness support our goals for student achievement in two ways. First, we build a democratic foundation for equal access to education. Secondly, we help students develop their own culturally sensitive skills to be successful in our diverse, multicultural, and global world, enriching not our classroom, but our nation as well.

Recommended Booklists

December holidays

More holidays

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For any reprint requests, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Culturally Responsive Instruction for Holiday and Religious Celebrations

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This article shows teachers how to bring rich cultural content into their teaching in a way that expands students' knowledge, interest, and respect for the group being featured. The article offers suggestions that teachers can use throughout the school year, as well as when observing cultural and religious holidays and celebrations.

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The last month of the year is often such a busy time for students and teachers alike. It can be difficult to keep your students on task and productive with the excitement of the looming holidays and when a much-needed winter break draws closer every day! While it can be tempting to rely on the Christmas spirit to get you through-taking a singular approach to celebrating the holidays in your classroom-these celebrations don't speak to the diverse needs of your individual students.

Taking a culturally responsive approach helps you meet the needs of all your students while keeping them engaged before the holiday break. Here are three practical tips to maintain an environment of culturally responsive teaching in your classroom during the holidays.

Use the holidays to build relationships with and between students.

The winter holiday season is a great time to learn about your class and what matters most to them. Get to know your students and create activities that inspire them to deepen their sense of self by exploring how they celebrate at home, if they do at all. Don't expect students to be the experts in their cultural traditions or assume they celebrate a holiday based on their ethnicity. To that end, encourage parents and families to come to the classroom as guests to share their holiday traditions during this season. These activities can be useful as you deepen your rapport with students as well as their understanding of the nuances of how each family may celebrate winter holidays differently.

As you strengthen your relationships with your students, be mindful of how their economic and cultural backgrounds impact the ways in which they experience the holidays. Try to be as inclusive as possible when designing classroom activities during this time of year to make students feel valued and welcomed as they share their traditions, too.

Create a safe space for students.

As you celebrate the winter holidays in your classroom, consider ways you can create a space of comfort and safety for all of your students. It's especially important to create learning environments that validate and reflect the diversity, identities, and experiences of all members of your classroom. Remind everyone to be respectful of each other at all times. Avoid the temptation to require everyone to participate in extra activities during this season, as some families may not be able to manage additional responsibilities or have extra funds to spend. Redirect conversations about presents students want to receive; instead, emphasize gratitude for what we already have.

You may also want to consider the neurodivergent student needs in your classroom and how you might reduce the extra holiday stimuli that can easily overwhelm adults and students alike. Consider paring down the lights, sounds, and smells of the holidays, or focusing on low-key traditions and practices that set a cozy mood instead.

Explore other cultural traditions to deepen curiosity and develop cognitive rigor.

The holiday season is yet another time to encourage your class to be curious and open-minded about the ways other people celebrate holidays. Start by sharing the ways you celebrate. What similarities are there to how holidays are celebrated in your home country, and what differences can students identify? Use this as a starting point for conversations with students to explore cultures and the world around them. This may be a good time to incorporate a virtual exchange activity with a special guest or classroom from your home country. Encourage students to analyze their findings and illustrate what they've learned.

Celebrate with a week of holiday traditions around the world: Each day, explore a new country and how it celebrates through resources like these, including videos and songs. Specific holidays can be celebrated in a myriad of ways depending on the cultural traditions that exist in a country, and exploring the world in this way is fun and engaging for your students!
Participate Learning is committed to making a positive impact on the world through equitable education opportunities that inspire future global leaders. Our Ambassador Teachers work tirelessly to provide the best learning experiences for their students, all while sharing their culture. For more information on our Ambassador Teachers, click here.

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Tips for a Culturally Responsive Holiday Celebration in Your Classroom - Participate Learning

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Here are three practical tips to maintain an environment of culturally responsive teaching in your classroom during the holidays.

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T4L Conference 2023 Nevada State College

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10 Ways to Build Stress Resilience Based on Science

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Here are 10 ways to bolster your fortitude for getting back into the groove and meeting the challenges of teaching throughout the year.

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As educators, we all know the importance of building positive relationships with and among our students. Good relationships can help students develop a growth mindset, encourage kindness in the classroom, increase students' learning, improve students' self-confidence, and make your classroom feel welcoming. We also know, however, that creating these relationships in our classrooms can be challenging, especially when we have limited time and resources. That's where these quick relationship building activities come in! In this post, I have created a list of 8 relationship building activities that can easily fit into your busy schedule, will help you connect with your kiddos, and will help your students bond with one another.

These relationship building activities are super quick, so they can fit into any short gaps you have during the day. Each one takes 5 minutes or less and requires no prep.

1. Non-Academic Turn & Talk

If you're a teacher, you have probably have heard of "turn and talk", a strategy where students turn to each other and answer a question or discuss a topic. Usually, "turn and talk" is used in an academic context. However, you can use it in a non-academic way to boost relationships in your classroom! To do so, you ask a non-academic question, such as "What is your favorite color?". Then, students can turn to a partner and answer! This is an easy way to get your kids sharing with each other and takes very little time.

2. Hug, High Five, or Handshake

For this activity, each student can choose to give you a hug, a high five, or a handshake. This is used most commonly as students are arriving for the day or leaving at the end of the day, but it could be used at any time. For example, as students are leaving for specials, at the beginning of recess, before students go into the cafeteria for lunch, at the beginning of each small group, or any other time you want a quick dose of connection with your kids.

3. End-of-the-Day Exit Slip

We all know that exit slips are given at the end of lessons to check for student understanding. End-of-the-day exit slips, however, are not about academic context. Instead, an end-of-the-day exit slip is a non-academic question that students must answer before they go home. They could answer in writing or in person (e.g. tell you their answer as they walk out for dismissal). Either way, an end-of-the-day exit slip is a great way to bond with your kids after a busy school day. Some questions you could ask are:

What was your favorite part of the day?

What was the best thing you learned today?

What is one kind thing you did for someone today?

What do you hope to learn about tomorrow?

What was the best thing you did during specials today?

These relationship building activities take slightly more time, but are still relatively quick. Use these whenever you need a boost to your student relationships, but only have a small chunk of time.

1. Just Like Me Game

If you want to spend some time helping your students learn about one another while having some fun, the Just Like Me game is perfect. Here's how you play:

1. Have your students stand in a circle.

2. One at a time, students step forward and say a fact about themselves (e.g. I have one sister.).

3. If that statement is true for other students, they come forward one step and say "just like me"!

4. The next student steps forward and says his or her fact. Continue until all students have had a chance to go (and you could keep going, if you have time).

2. Round Robin Share

For this activity, students also share something about themselves. Unlike the Just Like Me game, however, students can share a bit more during this activity. Here's what you do:

1. Have your students sit in a circle.

2. Ask a non-academic question. (e.g. What's your favorite season? Why?)

3. Go around the circle and give every student the opportunity to answer the question while the rest of the class listens.

4. Optional: If you want, you could give some other students a chance to make a comment or ask a question after each student shares.

These relationship building activities take a bit longer, usually about 30 minutes. If you feel your relationships with your students need a major dose of positivity, try these activities.

1. Mystery Student Lunch Bunch

This activity is super fun, and will improve behavior in your classroom! Here's what you do:

1. Each week, draw a student's name (or more than one, if you want). I recommend writing each student's name on a popsicle stick and putting the sticks in a cup/jar/etc (which you can also use to call on random students to answer questions during class). The chosen student is a mystery to the class - only you know who it is!

2. Throughout the week, you observe the mystery student's behavior.

3. If the mystery student had positive behavior the whole week, then he or she gets to have lunch bunch on Friday! You can also let the student (or students) choose friends to join them for lunch bunch, or you can make it a whole class lunch in the classroom. Also, if the mystery student does not earn lunch bunch, DO NOT reveal the student's name to the class. This will only make that student feel ashamed and may even lead to worse behavior.

Not only does this motivate students to behave during the week, but it also gives you a chance to bond with the students who earn lunch bunch. I call that a win-win situation!

2. Get To Know You Board Game

This activity gives students the opportunity to learn about one another and play a game at the same time! During this game, students take turns rolling a die and moving that many spaces. Then, they answer the question on the space they land on. The questions are all designed to help students learn about each other and create connections.
Click here to get the FREE game board!
3. All About Me Initials

These All About Me Initials are a great way to have students share more about themselves in a fun way. To do this activity, give each students a letter for each initial (so I would get a V and an S, because my name is Victoria Skinner). Then, students can write or draw about themselves in those letters. You can either give students specific things to write/draw (such as their favorites foods, their family, what they like to do, etc.) or leave it open-ended. After students complete their initials, you can hang them up in the classroom or the hallway!

All of these relationship building activities will help you build a positive classroom community. You can use them from the very first week of school until the very last day of the year. I hope you found something useful for you and your students to use! If you need some reminders, get this cheat sheet to help you out. Do you have any other great ways to build relationships in the classroom? If so, send me an email or leave a comment below!

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8 Quick Relationship Building Activities - The Inspired Educator

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Are you looking for quick and easy ways to develop positive connections in your classroom? If so, here are 15 great relationship building activities to use!

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As teacher stress and burnout levels remain high, and the pressures of the job continue to grow, educators say one thing can go a long way in making teaching a more sustainable profession: more time.

"We want the gift of time," said Anna Aguilar, an elementary teacher in the Twin Rivers Unified school district in Sacramento, Calif. "We don't need more [professional development]. We don't need to be told what to do. We have plenty to do, which is part of the problem. You keep adding stuff to our plates. I'm telling you I need time to do those things."

Yet school districts often don't seem to be listening, Aguilar and four other educators said in a roundtable discussion at the National Education Association's representative assembly here in early July. Many educators say that teaching has gotten harder since the pandemic, as student academic needs have gotten greater, behavioral challenges have increased, and substitute and other staffing shortages have continued to plague schools.

"We're always asking more of our educators and not less," said Robert Gould, a special education teacher and the president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. "We never take anything off their plates."

A recent RAND Corp. study found that teachers are nearly twice as likely as other working adults to report having difficulty coping with job-related stress, and 10 percentage points more likely to experience burnout. Frequent and long-term stress increases the risk of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression.

Yet a nationally representative survey of teachers, conducted by the EdWeek Research Center in January, found that districts' mental health programming for their employees is sparse, even as more than half of respondents said that the mental health and wellness of teachers in their school had declined over the course of the 2022-23 school year.

Some teachers are leaving the profession altogether because of the stresses of the job, while many others are pushing through-which experts say is bad for both their own mental health and that of their students.

"When you have burnout, you're coming to work with a very negative attitude and very negative energy," said Donna Christy, a school psychologist and the president of the Prince George's County Educators Association in Maryland. "And kids are so empathic that they feel your negative energy, and that spurs their negative energy, which causes more behavior problems and challenges.

"It just becomes this really vicious, horrible cycle of a really negative climate within our schools where the educators are dysregulated, and the students are dysregulated, and we're all feeding each other's dysregulation, and it's just a time bomb-and it erupts frequently."

What educators say could help improve employee mental health

The educators said they need time and space to do their jobs well. They want to teach-and spend less time doing administrative tasks and paperwork.

Christy called for an audit of the educator workload: "What's a must versus a want in terms of what you're asking educators to do?"

For example, she said, officials in her district want teachers to call home every time a child is absent, but a robocall system could take care of that. Teachers are also expected to pull reports on every student who is in danger of failing, but the central office has access to that data, too, she said.

"What's burying [teachers] is all this work that they shouldn't have to do-just let them teach," Christy said. "Let them plan their lessons, let them teach. And everybody outside of the classroom should be thinking, 'What can I do to support what's going on within those four walls of the classroom?'"

Her teachers' union in Prince George's County focused on reducing educator workload and protecting planning time during bargaining last year. Ultimately, the district agreed to build in more planning time in the contract. Middle and high school teachers, for instance, now have at least 45 minutes of planning time every day-and a full class period for two days each week.

Wayne Spangler, a 2nd grade teacher in Peterstown, W.Va., said his principal has made sure that all grade-level teachers have the same planning period. Sharing that time "helps our mental health," he said, since it allows them to go over what is working and what's not.

But the lack of substitutes in his district sometimes cuts into his planning time, he said. Administrators will ask teachers if they're willing to give up their planning period to cover this class, and offer a $25 incentive.

"It's hard to say, 'No, I don't want to do that,'" Spangler said, because he knows that if he doesn't step up, the students will either be missing out on instruction or will be spread across other teachers' classes-which brings class sizes to "almost an unmanageable point."

In general, large class sizes are also a major time-suck for teachers, said Gould, the Denver teachers' union president. With smaller class sizes, educators would have more time to implement the inclusive practices that they want to do and that support students, he said.

Other educators in the school building can also lessen teachers' loads, but staff shortages have made that harder as everyone in the building is stretched thin. For example, Christy said school counselors are often tapped to coordinate tests and facilitate special education meetings-reducing the amount of time available to lead social-emotional learning in the building or respond to students' mental health needs.

Nicolle Reyes, an education support professional in Harrisburg, Pa., said she wishes every classroom had an assigned paraprofessional. She is often sent into classrooms to help students with behavioral challenges, but she said her presence can make the entire classroom run more smoothly and alleviate the teacher's stress.

"I was sent into a classroom to support the kids, but truthfully, it turned into a support to the teacher," Reyes said. "She kept saying, 'Thank you for being here.' ... She would give me a group [of students], and we'd divide and conquer."

Mental health days are not necessarily the answer

A dozen states allow students to take a day off from school for mental health reasons, but the practice is less common for teachers. In the EdWeek Research Center survey, about half of teachers said their school or district permitting or encouraging mental health days would support their well-being.

But the educators at the roundtable weren't convinced-in part because that time off won't solve the root of the problem.

"Having a day off to take care of my mental health to recover from my job is not the answer," Christy said. "The problem is fixing the job so that it's not so stressful that you need to be taught how to cope with it."

In many districts, sick days can be used for mental health as well, but "teachers don't always feel like they can take that day," Gould said, pointing to the lack of substitutes and a general desire to want to be there for students.

Aguilar, the California elementary teacher, works with children with disabilities. She hesitates to take days off because she wants her students to have consistency. It can be stressful for them to have somebody new at the front of the class.

Also, she added, it's "stressful for you as a teacher to have to plan literally every second of the day as if you're there, to explain to [a substitute] in words how to do what you do."

Aguilar said her union did successfully bargain for bereavement time for pregnancy loss-part of a growing trend in certain districts to support educators who have a miscarriage or stillbirth but are unwilling or unable to take sick time. (Oftentimes, teachers are trying to save their sick time to take when a future baby is born, since many districts do not provide paid parental leave.)

"If we value mental health, it should come from the adults," Aguilar said. "Adults should put on our [oxygen] masks first, so we can help our children. If we're not OK, it's going to be very, very difficult to do that."

Removing barriers to mental health support

In a small town, teachers might be deterred from taking a mental health day or visiting a therapist for fear of word getting out, said Spangler, the West Virginia teacher.

And there's a generational divide, he said: He's noticed younger teachers being more open about struggling with their mental health and being proactive in seeking support.

But for veteran teachers like himself, "we don't do that. We power through," Spangler said.

School and district leaders have to create a culture where it's normalized to seek mental health care, the educators said. Part of that is reducing any barriers to access.

For example, Gould said the Denver Classroom Teachers Association has successfully negotiated with the district that starting this year, educators won't have to pay any co-pays for mental health support, relieving a big financial burden.

"That was a major reason why people didn't go-I want to have this relationship with somebody over time, but if I'm going to be shelling out a thousand dollars over time, it doesn't make much sense," he said.

Above all, the systemic issues that make teaching so hard must be addressed, the educators in the roundtable discussion said.

"People come into the education profession thinking it's one thing, and then the reality is something so completely different," Christy said. "That's why they leave. ... If we could make the job what people think it is, people would actually enjoy it and stay. They would not be burned out, and we would not have mental health crises."

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Here's What Teachers Say They Need Most to Manage Stress, Mental Health

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Topping their list: Time, including dedicated planning periods and fewer administrative duties.

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Invisible Math Posters – Middle School Math Classroom Decor

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May 31, 2021 - Are you looking for a way to scaffold math vocabulary and concepts and make math more visual? In this post are photos of math word walls for elementary, middle and high school math along with photos of math classroom word walls that teachers have sent to me of their math classroom set up. Included in this post are link…

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Procedures for Entering and Exiting the Classroom

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Procedures for Entering and Exiting the Classroom

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After so much time out of school, middle and high school students may need multiple refreshers on classroom procedures.

Although most students around the country have been back in physical classrooms for a few months now, there are still many middle and high school students who need support when it comes to entering and exiting the classroom properly. As students continue to get used to being back in school, there are a few quick things we as teachers can do to support them in creating routines that both help them adjust and maintain the sanctity of instructional time.

How Students Enter the Classroom

Over the past year, many students have had the ability to simply wake up and log on to a computer as their entering-the-classroom procedure. With the shift back to in-person learning, it's imperative that we teach students what we want to see as they enter our physical spaces.

Students should have a clear set of guidelines regarding the noise level at which they enter the classroom, the location in the room they should move to, and what they should be doing once they reach their seats. By teaching and practicing these procedures, teachers can ensure that they are able to begin class on time and that students will be set up for success in that class period. Additionally, these consistent structures help students understand what is expected of them and ensure that they are able to immediately focus on content rather than attempting to decipher how to behave as they enter the room.

What noise level is expected as students enter?

Will students have assigned seats?

Is there going to be a "Do Now" on the board? Is it going to be something students do silently or with a partner?

What materials should students have out on their desks by the time instruction begins?

What should a student do if they are missing materials-where are extra pencils, books, paper, etc.?

How long do students have to get settled before instruction begins?

Here are some questions to consider when introducing the procedure to students:

How Students Exit the Classroom

As with entering, students have not necessarily had to physically exit a classroom in over a year. By creating a procedure for students to exit the classroom, teachers can ensure that students are prepared to effectively, calmly, and safely enter their next class or dismiss from the building. Additionally, teachers can avoid unwanted behaviors by clearly outlining and explicitly teaching their expectations for how students exit.

As the class period comes to an end, it's important for teachers to have a plan of how they will wrap up the lesson, collect any materials, and prepare the space for the next group of students. Ideally, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning from the day's lesson through a written exit ticket, a verbal discussion, or another medium. This closing activity cues students to the fact that they are going to be transitioning out of the classroom shortly. Students should have a clear understanding of how they are to submit any completed class assignments, how they are expected to return any classroom materials, and how they are to collect their belongings and exit the room.

Clear procedures will support teachers in ensuring that each class period is given closure and that they are prepared for the start of the next class. Students will benefit from being given the time to recollect themselves and their belongings before moving into a new space. Additionally, students are more likely to avoid unwanted behaviors as they transition between classes when they understand and have practiced the procedures.

Will each student hand in their own work, or will it be collected?

Should students leave materials on their desks for the next class or return them to a specified location?

Should students leave the room when they hear the bell or wait for the teacher to dismiss them?

Do students all leave at once, or will they be dismissed by area in the room?

Some questions to consider when introducing the procedure to students:

We cannot yet know the extent to which virtual learning has impacted and will continue to impact our students. However, we do have the power to support them as they make the transition back to in-person learning by creating clear and consistent structures that help them navigate our physical classroom spaces. The traumas caused by Covid-19 cannot be undone by simply welcoming students back into the building; we as teachers must be prepared to provide wraparound support and structure throughout the day to help students once again feel safe and confident in these spaces. Simple procedures like entering and exiting the classroom are a meaningful starting point.

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Guiding Older Students to Enter and Exit the Classroom Smoothly

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After so much time out of school, middle and high school students may need multiple refreshers on classroom procedures.

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