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Nonpublic Virtual PD - Reinforcement (December 2024)

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Resolving Conflict - Nonpublic Virtual PD April

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Nonpublic PD - Student Engagement February

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The Behavior Helper Smore: A Guide to Disruptive and Attention Seeking Behaviors

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The Behavior Helper Smore: A Guide to Disruptive and Attention Seeking Behaviors

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A Guide to Disruptive and Attention Seeking Behaviors

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Nonpublic PD - Responding to Disruptive Behavior (January 2025)

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Nonpublic Virtual PD - Behavior Basics (September 2024)

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Nonpublic Virtual PD - Data Collection (October)

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Conflict Resolution: How to Settle Your Differences Fairly | BrainPOP

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The Behavior Helper Smore: Providing Choices

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The Behavior Helper Smore: Providing Choices

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The Behavior Helper Smore: A Guide to Disruptive and Attention Seeking Behaviors

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The Behavior Helper Smore: A Guide to Disruptive and Attention Seeking Behaviors

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A Guide to Disruptive and Attention Seeking Behaviors

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Behavior Coach Checklist (links embedded)

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Behavior Coach Checklist (links embedded)

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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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📖 🤝 A Little Spot Learns to Compromise By Diane Alber READ ALOUD

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Page 7: Choice Making

Choice making, sometimes referred to as instructional choice, is the process through which a teacher provides structured options to facilitate a student's ability to follow an instructional or behavioral request. Choice making can be used to proactively reduce challenging behavior, especially among students likely to engage in challenging behavior to avoid or escape from non-preferred tasks. Offering students choices for non-preferred tasks or tasks that they find challenging gives them more control over their own learning and fosters independence.

Research Shows

Incorporating instructional choice leads to improvements in student engagement.
(Ennis, Lane, & Flemming, 2021)

Choice making can be beneficial for students with or at risk for disabilities because it gives them the opportunity to take control of their own learning.
(Ramsey, Jolivette, Patterson, & Kennedy, 2010)

Using the Strategy

To help educators prevent or address challenging behavior, the table below describes the steps to implement choice making and provides an example.

Decide when to use choice making.

In situations in which a student does not consistently follow instructional or behavioral requests, consider allowing the student to make a choice.

A paraeducator notices that a few students frequently talk with each other during independent reading time in class. As such, she decides to use choice making during this time to facilitate students completing their reading activity.

Decide how to use choice making.

There are two common ways to provide students with choices:

1. Within activity. Offer students a choice of how to complete a task. This includes choosing materials (e.g., write in a journal or type on a computer), environments (e.g., sit on the carpet or at a desk), or the order of the tasks.

2. Between activities. Allow students to choose between two or three options (e.g., work on math or writing).

The paraeducator decides to use a within-activity choice. The students will choose from three classroom locations to complete their reading activity.

Provide opportunities for choice making.

To avoid overloading the student, limit the number of available choices (e.g., two or three).

Options for choice making can be provided in multiple means, such as:

Picture cues: Use pictures or illustrations to display the choices visually and have the student select one.

Written: List the choices on the dry-erase board, on top of an assignment, or in a student's notebook.

Verbal: State the choices orally.

The paraeducator says to the students, "During independent reading time, you may choose to complete your work at your desk, on a carpet square, or at the reading table."

Provide praise after the student makes a choice and again after the original instructional or behavioral request is completed.

The paraeducator says, "Thank you for choosing your work area quickly and quietly, Axel."

In addition to the four steps listed above, the three actions below can be helpful when implementing this practice.

For Your Information

It's easy to confuse choice making with offering a menu of activities. A menu of activities allows students to choose a task they would like to complete based on their preferences or interests, while choice making helps students get started or re-engage in a task they are resistant to.

Listen as Kathleen Lane explains choice making in more detail (time: 3:15).

Kathleen Lynne Lane, PhD, BCBA-D, CF-L1
Professor, Department of Special Education
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
University of Kansas
View Transcript
Transcript: Kathleen Lane, PhD

Oftentimes, I think, to some students in school, maybe even a lot of students in school, they feel like everything is just like lockstep. It's very a didactic experience. I come in and somebody with a really big desk is telling me what to do all day long. And a lot of students want to push back. Maybe I would have done that normally, but I don't want to do it because you just told me I had to kind of a thing. So offering choices is a way of gaining momentum to help students participate instructionally by allowing them to have an opportunity to choose. And this is actually really important to building their self-determined behavior and helping to motivate them. And when I talk about choice, choice is not like, "Hey, do you feel like working today?" Instead, it's something like, "There's three assignments that we've got to do today." And after you've checked for understanding to make sure they know what to do, then they get to choose which one to do first. Or it might be kids walk into a classroom, there's two journal prompts, they can pick one to write on. Or it might be there's a closing activity and you have five math problems on the board, and you tell students, "Pick any three that you'd like to do." And then you let that student choose and then whatever they choose, that is what they do. And sometimes I've seen students try to do a choice in the form of a group where the teacher says the class vote on the one you want to do. But that's not the same as instructional choice for all, cause the downside of trying it as a group is that some students are going to get access to what they want to do in the first place, and other students are going to have to go with whatever the majority rule was, so they didn't get their choice. So instead, you want to make sure that each student has the opportunity to pick whatever their first choice is. So we need to think carefully about how we present those choices. For example, some students may have huge test anxiety and they don't know what to do. And so you might offer them a choice when it comes time to take a test. "Would you like to do half this test on paper? Would you like to do the other half on the computer?" So we can even build in choices to assessment situations as well. Again, it's just a way to give students this feeling of autonomy and independence and let them know that the choices they're making influences their day. It can be as simple as, "Would you like to use crayons or would you like to use sparkly markers?"

In addition, you can oftentimes allow students to do more of what you need them to do if you give them an option on how to show what they know. You might offer choices by doing things like, "We're going to have a picture and we're going to have two sentences to describe that picture. Which would you like to do first? Draw the picture or write the words?"

So in brief, choice making is something that can be embedded all throughout the day. It can be done in starter activities during independent time. It can be a way for kids to show what they know. But the idea is that choices are presented. You have clarity on what those objectives are, what you're hoping to learn from each of those activities that might get selected. And then when the student makes their choice, they're given that opportunity to engage in what they themselves chose.

Tier 2 Support

Although choice making can be used as a Tier 1 strategy, it can also be used as a Tier 2 support for students with moderate levels of externalizing or internalizing behaviors. The steps are the same as when used as a Tier 1 support, but for Tier 2 the educator uses choice making with greater intensity (e.g., more frequently). To determine if the strategy is effective, the educator collects and analyzes the data using the following steps:

1. Identify the student behavior to be addressed (e.g., student engages in off-task behavior to avoid writing an essay) during an instructional period in which the behavior typically occurs (e.g., science, math).

2. Collect baseline data on the student behavior for a designated timeframe (e.g., first 20 minutes of class) during the identified instructional period. Collect this data across several days (e.g., 3 to 5 days) to see how often this behavior occurs or how long each episode lasts.

3. Implement or intensify choice making and continue to collect data (e.g., same instructional period, same length of time) for 3 to 5 days to determine whether the student's behavior changes.

4. Evaluate the effect of choice making. Compare the implementation data to the baseline data to evaluate whether the strategy has had the desired effect on the student's behavior.

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Choice making, sometimes referred to as instructional choice, is the process through which a teacher provides structured options to facilitate a student's ability to follow an instructional or behavioral request. Choice making can be used to proactively reduce challenging behavior, especially among students likely to engage in challenging behavior to avoid or escape from non-preferred tasks.

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Engaging techniques for effective teaching

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The Behavior Helper Smore: The Power of Praise

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The Behavior Helper Smore: The Power of Praise

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Share kind words with the world, let them flow so free,

Spread kindness like confetti, for all the world to see.

With a smile and a gentle touch, change the world for the better,

Our words make a difference, they bring hearts together.

Kindness is the key, to unlocking hearts and minds,

We cannot tell what others are going through, so be the difference we find.

Kind words are like honey, they sweeten up our days,

Our words can build others up or tear them down in many ways.

In a world filled with noise, let kindness be our song,

Speak with compassion, and help heal what's gone wrong.

When someone feels alone, lost in the shadows of despair,

A kind word can show them love, reminding them that we care.

Let's be the light, shining bright for all to see,

In our words and actions, an example we will be.

For kindness is contagious, it ripples through the day,

So let's embrace kindness, let it guide our every choice,

With compassion and empathy, let's give others a voice.

Together we can change the world, one kind word at a time,

For kindness is the language that makes our spirits shine.

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The Behavior Helper - Volume 1, Issue 2 by Amanda Hoban | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for educators, businesses and more

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Conversation Starters to Build Relationships

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Conversation Starters to Build Relationships

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Implementing Effective Practices: PCBS Plan

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Implementing Effective Practices: PCBS Plan

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Iris Center - Collecting and Analyzing Data for Data-Based Interventions

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Iris Center - Collecting and Analyzing Data for Data-Based Interventions

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CAEP standards for the accreditation of educators are designed to improve the quality and effectiveness not only of new instructional practitioners but also the evidence-base used to assess those qualities in the classroom.

Standard 1: Content and Pedagogical Knowledge

CEC standards encompass a wide range of ethics, standards, and practices created to help guide those who have taken on the crucial role of educating students with disabilities.

InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards are designed to help teachers of all grade levels and content areas to prepare their students either for college or for employment following graduation.

Standard 1: Learning Development

Standard 2: Learning Differences

Standard 7: Planning for Instruction

Standard 8: Instructional Strategies

NCATE standards are intended to serve as professional guidelines for educators. They also overview the "organizational structures, policies, and procedures" necessary to support them.

Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Professional Dispositions

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CAEP standards for the accreditation of educators are designed to improve the quality and effectiveness not only of new instructional practitioners but also the evidence-base used to assess those qualities in the classroom. Standard 1: Content and Pedagogical Knowledge CEC standards encompass a wide range of ethics, standards, and practices created to help guide those who have taken on the crucial role of educating students with disabilities.

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Managing Classroom Conflict | Center for Teaching Innovation

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Classroom incivility is “any action that interferes with a harmonious and cooperative learning atmosphere in the classroom” (Feldmann, 2001, p. 137). Classroom conflict is inevitable, and at times even necessary for effective learning to take place (Stone Norton, 2008). The techniques below are just a few strategies that instructors have used to create a safe classroom environment and to manage conflict as it arises.

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The Benefits of Student Choice - TeachHUB

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One idea that is being embraced more and more in education each day is student choice in the classroom. Learn more about the benefits of student choice.

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Need a fresh teaching resource that fits your class and teaching style? Create a customized pack of interactive and printable activities in just one minute.

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The Behavior Helper: Social Emotional Learning

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The Behavior Helper: Social Emotional Learning

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This has a great chart for tracking praise and a continuum of strategies in responding to inappropriate behaviors!

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Managing Classroom Conflict | Center for Teaching Innovation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Classroom incivility is “any action that interferes with a harmonious and cooperative learning atmosphere in the classroom” (Feldmann, 2001, p. 137). Classroom conflict is inevitable, and at times even necessary for effective learning to take place (Stone Norton, 2008). The techniques below are just a few strategies that instructors have used to create a safe classroom environment and to manage conflict as it arises.

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The Importance of Student Choice Across All Grade Levels

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The Importance of Student Choice Across All Grade Levels

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In any environment that requires attendance, there's a significant risk of disengagement. Remove choice and you breed passivity or, worse, defiance.

Compulsory, free public education is one of America's greatest innovations-perhaps its most egalitarian principle-and it isn't going anywhere. But in schools and classrooms across the country, there's a powerful argument to provide more student choice across every grade level: to shake up inflexible social and academic schedules, reduce one-way learning, and place more responsibility firmly in the hands of students.

To some extent, the system itself-with its bell schedules, prescribed curriculum, and testing regimens-creates the habits that are hard to break. But purpose and motivation go hand-in-hand with volition, and when there's too much emphasis on control and compliance, notes a report by the Education Trust, it puts students in a position where they must "relinquish all power and decision making" and compels teachers to rely on power "to control bodies and minds instead of using their autonomy to invite learning." Within the realm of literacy alone, the research on choice provides a powerful illustration: According to a 2012 study, young kids who completed mandatory reading logs turned into desultory readers compared with students who logged their progress voluntarily. And another study, this time of eighth graders, revealed that when students shifted from assigned reading to choice reading, there was "increased reading volume, a reduction in students failing the state test, and changes in peer relationships, self-regulation, and conceptions of self."

Offering students choices-making it a regular dynamic in the school day-isn't a recipe for chaos. It goes almost without saying: Rules and boundaries are a necessary element in schools and classrooms, essential in many ways for keeping kids and adults safe and productive throughout the school day. But by centering choice, educators signal openness to negotiating the middle ground and offer students scaffolded opportunities to practice decision-making, explore their academic identity, and connect their learning to interests and passions. It can be a relatively small but consequential mindset shift-rather than assigning students partners, for example, you might let them choose whether to work alone or with a partner-that, ultimately, acknowledges and respects their humanity and recognizes the fundamental importance of agency.

"Want to know how to engage students, enthuse them, and bring out their best effort?" asks middle school teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron in MindShift. "Give them a voice in their decisions. In a society that barely listens to each other, listen to your students. In a system that can be a flood of top down, let your classroom be one that allows voices to trickle up."

Here are eight ways to provide children with choices across the grade levels.

Choice in the Early Grades

Give a say via voting: Even at the preschool level, choice can be a powerful motivator. "At my school, we work to give students choices that hold some responsibility within the classroom," writes preschool teacher Oi Ling Hu, who introduces classroom voting early in the school year.

The process starts small-which book to pick for read-aloud, for example-before Hu moves on to bigger topics like which activities to do at the park or which route to take to walk there. The process imbues kids with "a sense of autonomy and responsibility," she says, which serves them well as they advance into upper grade levels. "We have seen that when children feel that they have a voice in how they learn... they do their best to practice self-control and self-regulation as they want to retain their ability to choose."

Prioritize choice time: In spite of competing curricular demands, kindergarten teacher Jessica Arrow follows the research by prioritizing a 30-minute choice time within her literacy block each morning and a 45-minute choice time to wrap up the day. During choice time, students visit thoughtfully designed centers-a math center, a book nook, a sensory table, for example-to play and learn in unstructured ways that are aligned with the curriculum. It's a favorite time of day for her kindergarten students, who get to exercise some degree of choice and independence in a day that's otherwise dominated by "teacher-directed activities and transitions," Arrow writes.

Build ownership with class jobs: When Justine Bruyère reflected on why her second-grade students felt little ownership over their assigned class jobs, she decided to try handing over some responsibility to them. "To foster autonomy, I could relinquish some control of the job chart-my students could identify needs in the classroom and take on roles of responsibility to address those needs," writes Bruyère. With Bruyère's guidance, the class brainstormed a new list of jobs and prioritized them, and then students applied to their favorites and Bruyère made the final matches. The process was hugely popular, garnered buy-in from kids, and gave them a better understanding of what it takes to run the classroom.

Choice in Middle and High School

Consider flexible seating: Middle school English teacher Laura Bradley was already experimenting with flexible seating when her district decided to invest in additional resources like chairs on wheels and wobble stools. Bradley soon discovered that choice was more crucial than new furniture: Some students worked perfectly well standing at bookshelves; others preferred carpet squares, kneeling or sitting at low tables, or folding into nooks created with bookshelves or tables pulled up to a wall.

What's important, she says-again, sounding a note about the balance between autonomy and authority-is to be clear about expectations with respect to how students set up, work, and clean up when they're done. "I can say that the benefits far outweigh any management issues that arise," Bradley writes. "Students respond positively to the freedom and responsibility they are given, and they work hard to keep those privileges."

Cocreate classroom norms: In Bobby Shaddox's seventh-grade social studies class, shared classroom norms-a set of about 10 attributes, like communicative, focused, and serene-is developed by the group at the beginning of the year to guide their behavior and learning.

"By having children themselves create the norms, you are creating a pathway toward belonging for every single child in that class, and they have a role in this learning community that they had a share in building," says Pamela Cantor, MD, founder and senior science adviser of Turnaround for Children, emphasizing the importance of academic identity. It's both a compelling civics lesson and a practice that can have a big impact on classroom management, says Shaddox: "The classes that go really well are the classes when I start off reflecting on the norms and using those norms to articulate how our class will run well."

Make academic choices meaningful: Education researcher and author Robert J. Marzano suggests narrowing academic choice down to focus on three key areas: choice in the tasks that students perform, choice in assessment, and choice in learning goals. "Choice in the classroom has been linked to increases in student effort, task performance, and subsequent learning," Marzano writes in his blog. "However, to reap these benefits, a teacher should create choices that are robust enough for students to feel that their decision has an impact on their learning."

For example, while an oral or written report is often the assigned format, students might instead have the option to use their mobile device to record video or audio reports. Or consider opening up assessment options to include different types of graded products-building models, drawing diagrams, or creating flowcharts-so that all kids, including those who are spatially gifted, have an opportunity to shine.

Upend assigned reading: After years of teaching a set list of novels with study guides, close readings, and a big test at the end, AP literature teacher Brian Sztabnik polled his students to examine what was working and where to improve. The results were eye-opening. "Many had not read a novel cover to cover in their three years of high school.... Many gave up on reading long ago," Sztabnik writes. "Often, when students have no agency over what they read, they stop enjoying it. And this ultimately kills their motivation." After examining the research, Sztabnik upended his approach and gave his students much more reading choice and responsibility. "My students' scores on standardized tests soared," he writes.

For all students, and students of color in particular, regular access to a rich, diverse selection of reading materials is particularly important, says Kimberly Parker, a former high school English teacher and cofounder of #DisruptTexts. "Often, black youth, especially those regarded as in need of remediation, have the least amount of choice in text selection," Parker writes for ASCD. "They are given regimented reading instruction, an abundance of standardized test preparation, and little, if any, time to read works that resonate with them. We know, however, that choice drives reading engagement, and black youth need to be able to choose what they want to read."

Offer recess, even in high school: Unstructured time for play is crucial at all ages. At Montpelier High School in Vermont, there's a daily 15-minute recess period during which everyone is expected to unplug from the school day and engage in a completely different and renewing activity of their choice. Students and faculty come up with the activities-options might include open gym, chess, free art, music jam, or rock climbing, for example-and everyone gets to pick what they'd like to do. "We really make a point to say, 'You have permission and you need to stop what you're doing and do something totally different, something that's mindful, challenging, something that creates community, something that creates generosity,'" says special educator Bill Laidlaw. "It's very powerful."

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The Importance of Student Choice Across All Grade Levels

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When students get to make decisions about their learning, it can be powerfully motivating.

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Continuum of Responses for Inappropriate Behavior

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Continuum of Responses for Inappropriate Behavior

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Establishing Classroom Expectations, Rules, & Routines

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Establishing Classroom Expectations, Rules, & Routines

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Universal Design for Learning Choice Boards

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Universal Design for Learning Choice Boards

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Welcome to Volume 2 of my three part Smore series all about emotional regulation. In this issue, we will talk about what it means for us…

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Edtomorrow- Supporting Today's Educators through Restorative Practices PD

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What Is The First Five? - Edtomorrow- Supporting Today's Educators through Restorative Practices PD

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Users pick 1 of the 9 activities from either the Primary or Secondary First Five.

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Helping Children Understand Routines and Classroom Schedules

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Helping Children Understand Routines and Classroom Schedules

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Conflict resolution resource provided by PaTTAN consultants

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Restorative Works! Podcast - IIRP Graduate School

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Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Michael Washington, Ph.D., and Doug Judge, Ph.D., to the Restorative Works! Podcast. Dr. Washington and Dr. Judge share thei…

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Welcome to Volume 3 of the Emotional Regulation Smore series. To review, we have covered an overview of regulation and regulation for us…

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Bouncy Balls – Manage classroom noise with bouncing balls!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A free classroom noise level meter, monitor and management tool. Perfect if your school kids are too noisy! Bouncing balls react to sounds from the microphone.

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This short video provides strategies to help minimize disruptive classroom behaviors.

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Step by step choices to help guide students through conflict

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Page 7: Choice Making

Choice making, sometimes referred to as instructional choice, is the process through which a teacher provides structured options to facilitate a student's ability to follow an instructional or behavioral request. Choice making can be used to proactively reduce challenging behavior, especially among students likely to engage in challenging behavior to avoid or escape from non-preferred tasks. Offering students choices for non-preferred tasks or tasks that they find challenging gives them more control over their own learning and fosters independence.

Research Shows

Incorporating instructional choice leads to improvements in student engagement.
(Ennis, Lane, & Flemming, 2021)

Choice making can be beneficial for students with or at risk for disabilities because it gives them the opportunity to take control of their own learning.
(Ramsey, Jolivette, Patterson, & Kennedy, 2010)

Using the Strategy

To help educators prevent or address challenging behavior, the table below describes the steps to implement choice making and provides an example.

Decide when to use choice making.

In situations in which a student does not consistently follow instructional or behavioral requests, consider allowing the student to make a choice.

A paraeducator notices that a few students frequently talk with each other during independent reading time in class. As such, she decides to use choice making during this time to facilitate students completing their reading activity.

Decide how to use choice making.

There are two common ways to provide students with choices:

1. Within activity. Offer students a choice of how to complete a task. This includes choosing materials (e.g., write in a journal or type on a computer), environments (e.g., sit on the carpet or at a desk), or the order of the tasks.

2. Between activities. Allow students to choose between two or three options (e.g., work on math or writing).

The paraeducator decides to use a within-activity choice. The students will choose from three classroom locations to complete their reading activity.

Provide opportunities for choice making.

To avoid overloading the student, limit the number of available choices (e.g., two or three).

Options for choice making can be provided in multiple means, such as:

Picture cues: Use pictures or illustrations to display the choices visually and have the student select one.

Written: List the choices on the dry-erase board, on top of an assignment, or in a student's notebook.

Verbal: State the choices orally.

The paraeducator says to the students, "During independent reading time, you may choose to complete your work at your desk, on a carpet square, or at the reading table."

Provide praise after the student makes a choice and again after the original instructional or behavioral request is completed.

The paraeducator says, "Thank you for choosing your work area quickly and quietly, Axel."

In addition to the four steps listed above, the three actions below can be helpful when implementing this practice.

For Your Information

It's easy to confuse choice making with offering a menu of activities. A menu of activities allows students to choose a task they would like to complete based on their preferences or interests, while choice making helps students get started or re-engage in a task they are resistant to.

Listen as Kathleen Lane explains choice making in more detail (time: 3:15).

Kathleen Lynne Lane, PhD, BCBA-D, CF-L1
Professor, Department of Special Education
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
University of Kansas
View Transcript
Transcript: Kathleen Lane, PhD

Oftentimes, I think, to some students in school, maybe even a lot of students in school, they feel like everything is just like lockstep. It's very a didactic experience. I come in and somebody with a really big desk is telling me what to do all day long. And a lot of students want to push back. Maybe I would have done that normally, but I don't want to do it because you just told me I had to kind of a thing. So offering choices is a way of gaining momentum to help students participate instructionally by allowing them to have an opportunity to choose. And this is actually really important to building their self-determined behavior and helping to motivate them. And when I talk about choice, choice is not like, "Hey, do you feel like working today?" Instead, it's something like, "There's three assignments that we've got to do today." And after you've checked for understanding to make sure they know what to do, then they get to choose which one to do first. Or it might be kids walk into a classroom, there's two journal prompts, they can pick one to write on. Or it might be there's a closing activity and you have five math problems on the board, and you tell students, "Pick any three that you'd like to do." And then you let that student choose and then whatever they choose, that is what they do. And sometimes I've seen students try to do a choice in the form of a group where the teacher says the class vote on the one you want to do. But that's not the same as instructional choice for all, cause the downside of trying it as a group is that some students are going to get access to what they want to do in the first place, and other students are going to have to go with whatever the majority rule was, so they didn't get their choice. So instead, you want to make sure that each student has the opportunity to pick whatever their first choice is. So we need to think carefully about how we present those choices. For example, some students may have huge test anxiety and they don't know what to do. And so you might offer them a choice when it comes time to take a test. "Would you like to do half this test on paper? Would you like to do the other half on the computer?" So we can even build in choices to assessment situations as well. Again, it's just a way to give students this feeling of autonomy and independence and let them know that the choices they're making influences their day. It can be as simple as, "Would you like to use crayons or would you like to use sparkly markers?"

In addition, you can oftentimes allow students to do more of what you need them to do if you give them an option on how to show what they know. You might offer choices by doing things like, "We're going to have a picture and we're going to have two sentences to describe that picture. Which would you like to do first? Draw the picture or write the words?"

So in brief, choice making is something that can be embedded all throughout the day. It can be done in starter activities during independent time. It can be a way for kids to show what they know. But the idea is that choices are presented. You have clarity on what those objectives are, what you're hoping to learn from each of those activities that might get selected. And then when the student makes their choice, they're given that opportunity to engage in what they themselves chose.

Tier 2 Support

Although choice making can be used as a Tier 1 strategy, it can also be used as a Tier 2 support for students with moderate levels of externalizing or internalizing behaviors. The steps are the same as when used as a Tier 1 support, but for Tier 2 the educator uses choice making with greater intensity (e.g., more frequently). To determine if the strategy is effective, the educator collects and analyzes the data using the following steps:

1. Identify the student behavior to be addressed (e.g., student engages in off-task behavior to avoid writing an essay) during an instructional period in which the behavior typically occurs (e.g., science, math).

2. Collect baseline data on the student behavior for a designated timeframe (e.g., first 20 minutes of class) during the identified instructional period. Collect this data across several days (e.g., 3 to 5 days) to see how often this behavior occurs or how long each episode lasts.

3. Implement or intensify choice making and continue to collect data (e.g., same instructional period, same length of time) for 3 to 5 days to determine whether the student's behavior changes.

4. Evaluate the effect of choice making. Compare the implementation data to the baseline data to evaluate whether the strategy has had the desired effect on the student's behavior.

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Choice making, sometimes referred to as instructional choice, is the process through which a teacher provides structured options to facilitate a student's ability to follow an instructional or behavioral request. Choice making can be used to proactively reduce challenging behavior, especially among students likely to engage in challenging behavior to avoid or escape from non-preferred tasks.

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PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero

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The Toolbox organizes the Thinking Routines into categories that describe the types of thinking the routines help to facilitate. Some routines appear in more than one category, and some routines have different versions that offer modifications for specific age groups or more specific conceptual challenges.

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Welcome to Volume 4 of the Emotional Regulation Smore series. To review, we have covered an overview of regulation, regulation for us as…

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Ways to Use Choice in the Classroom to Prevent Problem Behavior

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Topics for Educators
Student Engagement
How do we optimize instruction to maximize both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?

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The social work team at Midwestern Intermediate IV is excited to announce the monthly newsletters that will be distributed at each LEA…

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Creating Visuals to Support Young Children with Challenging Behavior

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Creating Visuals to Support Young Children with Challenging Behavior

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Building Strong Foundations with Classroom Routines

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Building Strong Foundations with Classroom Routines

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Building Strong Foundations With Classroom Routines

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This month's newsletter is focused on grief and loss. As educators, you encounter individuals coming into your school or classroom after every kind of experience-sometimes following a significant loss. Grief is a complex process; it's not a single feeling or experience. It's a mixture of many feelings, thoughts, and sensations swirling together in a way that's often confusing for individuals. The way we support our students and others experiencing loss can make an enormous difference.

The MIU IV Social Work team has put together a newsletter to provide you with resources, items, and support as you navigate through grief.

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Navigating Through Grief by Jennifer Guthrie | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for educators, businesses and more