Behavior Management

Practicing Coping Strategies (with a craft!)

January 13, 2017 by pathway2success 7 Comments

Having a “toolbox” of coping strategies is critical for a child or young adult to deal with challenging emotions. Sometimes the emotions are due to anxiety, depression, anger, stress or other strong feelings. Regardless of the reason, it’s important to teach, practice, and choose coping strategies that work for each individual child.

Using a Coping Strategies Fortune Teller can help with all of those things in a fun, interactive, and hands-on way.

It’s best to have an example fortune teller already made for students to view and play with. Show your students how it works and explain that coping strategies are listed inside.

Next, share the list of coping strategies with your students. Discuss the strategies in small groups or partners. Have students identify their top 8 coping strategies. Remind them to choose activities that they think will help them personally. It’s okay that everyone has different coping strategies!

Hand out the Coping Strategies Fortune Teller. Have students fill it in with colors and their top 8 coping strategies. It’s fun to color the entire fortune teller, too.

Students will cut out their fortune tellers and then use the directions to fold their craft together. Let students practice their coping strategies by playing with their fortune tellers in partners or groups. Encourage students to read each others’ coping strategies and even practice them, when appropriate. This can be a great activity in small groups to discuss strategies and identify what works best for each individual student.

Best of all, kids can keep their Coping Strategies Fortune Teller for times when they need extra support. They can use it to help them pick a coping strategy when they are feeling anxious, stressed, sad, or angry.

Get your Coping Strategies Fortune Teller Craft to make with your students or clients. You can decide whether you want kids to make their own with individualized strategies or you can use the template already provided. It’s fun, easy, and will have lasting effects for kids and young adults who need support with coping strategies.

Teaching Kids to Work Together

December 11, 2016 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Having kids and young adults working in groups (and partners) is just part of everyday life as as teacher. It can feel wonderful when you see a small group of kids collaborating effectively and learning together about a new topic. It’s true that many kids really learn best from each other when compared to learning from a teacher at the front of the classroom. On the flip side, though, sometimes setting up groupings in your classroom can be a nightmare. Whether or not the groups work well can have a huge impact on your classroom management, lesson, and the entire flow of the classroom.

Here are some simple tips that teachers can implement in their classrooms to support and facilitate cooperative partners and groups.

Tips for Teachers During Group Work
1. Choose the groups ahead of time. It might be tempting to let kids pick their own partners, especially since it is quicker and easier on the teacher. Most of the time, this doesn’t work out nearly as effectively as teacher-chosen groupings. Spend the extra time up front to pick your groups and it will pay off ten fold. Ahead of time, you can make a list of a few possible groupings that work. Keep this as your backup if you forget to make groups ahead of time.

2. Give directions in many different ways. Once it is time to get started in a group, there are always a few kids who didn’t hear the directions and aren’t sure what to do. This can really create mayhem in group situations. Set up a routine with having directions written on the board, written on paper, said aloud, and/or listed on your website. Give kids multiple opportunities to go back to those directions without needing you right there in order to promote independence.

3. Teach skills for working in groups. Don’t assume that all kids know and understand how to work cooperatively in groups. Many don’t. Spend time teaching how to work effectively with partners and in small groups. Giving some “group ground rules” can save the day (and year).

4. Identify the kids who need stronger supports. Some students will need extra attention during partner and group time, such as reminder cards, frequent check-ins, or a checklist to keep themselves on track.

5. Give choice and differentiation in your group work. Provide choice and supports so that all kids have the opportunity to find success. Perhaps a student who struggles with writing doesn’t write the paper but draws for the group. You may also choose to have different groups doing different things. Give a lower level reading passage to those who have similar reading skills, for example. As long as each group is working and making progress, it’s okay if they get to their learning goal in different ways.

6. Modify assignments for students with special needs. Assignments that are just too challenging for kids with disabilities are a recipe for disaster when it comes to group work. Again, make sure that every student has a way to find success. Modifying each assignment specific to student needs is a way to reach that goal. Consider learning more about how to modify for students with special needs.

Working With Others – Groups and Partners

If you need more support in helping kids learn how to work effectively in groups, consider this Working With Others Workbook. Using this workbook, a teacher or specialist can work with a small or large group of kids to develop those cooperative learning skills necessary for success. The workbook is set up to be completed in order, with skills that build on each other. For example, kids will first learn and understand why it’s important to work effectively with others, understand how to be a responsible partner, and then even identify problem behaviors they might exhibit when working in groups.

When it comes to learning to work together, lots of guided practice will make the difference. Not only is group work is often something that kids really love, but a time when lots of student to student learning occurs. It will be worth the effort in the end!

9 Tips for Motivating Unmotivated Kids

October 22, 2016 by pathway2success 1 Comment

Many kids and young adults struggle with motivation. These are the kids who are slow to start classwork, often don’t turn in homework, and may even refuse to attempt any assignment they view as a challenge. It can be extremely frustrating, especially because these students are often bright and capable in their own way. Here are some strategies you can use within your classrooms to help support their needs while still holding them accountable.

1. Keep your expectations high. Even when kids are struggling with finding motivation, you want to give the message that you expect greatness from them.

2. Give choices. Allowing a choice in an assignment or task gives kids power and helps them feel more in control of what they are accomplishing. Choice can mean choosing between two different worksheets, choosing their own lab group, or choosing whether to write or type an assignment. Consider finding a choice that fits a student’s individual strengths or interests. If a student isn’t motivated to write a research paper on a famous poet, allow them to present about their favorite musical artist. Instead of completing a lab report on cells, have your artistic student draw and label a diagram of a cell. It’s okay to think outside the box with this.

3. Allow accommodations when necessary. Simple accommodations, like a word bank, a calculator, or a word processor can help kids get in a better mindset for finishing a challenging task.

4. Talk to the student. Find out what is behind the lack of motivation to complete work in your class. Perhaps the student struggles with your content area, doesn’t understand the way you give directions, or is having some major issues at home. Talk privately and compassionately with the student and you can find out a lot.

5. Work out a plan. For students really struggling with getting tasks done in your class, try working out some incentives. Find out what the student would like to work towards – extra points on a quiz, a homework pass, or sitting in a special spot in your classroom. Then, make a plan so that your student can work towards earning that incentive. Maybe when he or she finishes homework for an entire week, they earn something special. Not only does this give the student something to work for, but it also helps build your relationship, too.

6. Work through motivation challenges together. Use this Motivation Workbook to teach about motivation, identify motivational challenges, and make a plan for success. Consider trying the Free Motivation Workbook Sampler which includes identifying what motivation is, understanding lack of motivation, strategies for improving motivation, and a motivation journal.

7. Talk to other adults who work with that student. Look for trends. Find out where the students does well and find out how you can replicate that in your class. For example, I worked with a student who did considerably better in his history class than his science class. With some investigating, I was able to notice that the science class lacked the same structure that his history class had. It was a simple thing to replicate once the teachers were made aware. Another important consideration is the time of day that the student is struggling. Is it in the morning when he or she didn’t get enough sleep? Or maybe around lunch time is challenging after being in a less structured social setting? These are just some examples of what you can consider.

8. Talk to parents. When you find yourself not making enough progress with your student, talk to his or her parents. Share what you have tried and see if there is anything at home the child can work for and if parents could talk to the child, too.

9. Keep your cool. It’s easy to get frustrated at kids who lack motivation but remember that they are just kids. There is often a reason why students won’t initiate tasks, even if we don’t know that reason at the moment. Take your time working with the student and show you are proud when you see progress – even just a little means baby steps in the right direction.

10 Ways to Promote a Growth Mindset

September 10, 2016 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Having a growth mindset means understanding that you can develop your own strengths and weaknesses through hard work, dedication, and grit. By teaching students to have a growth mindset, kids and young adults can better learn to work through challenges and overcome adversity in their lives.

The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset. With a fixed mindset, people believe that you are who you are, and that doesn’t change. It’s the difference between the student who says, “I’m just bad at math” (fixed mindset) and the student who says, “This is going to be challenging, but I’ll work through it and learn it as I go” (growth mindset). By promoting and encouraging a growth mindset, adults can help kids and young adults to step outside their comfort zones, push themselves to their limits, learn from difficulties, and ultimately find success.

Having a fixed mindset often leads to giving up on tasks, feeling poorly about oneself, and avoiding challenges. On the other hand, having a growth mindset encourages students to try new things, embrace challenges, and develop strong confidence.

Here are some ways you can promote a growth mindset with kids and young adults:

1. Teach the difference between a fixed and growth mindset. Give explicit instruction to kids about growth and fixed mindsets, explaining the positives associated with adopting a growth mindset. Focus on teaching how having a growth mindset can really help kids feel better, do better, and succeed.

2. Highlight examples of growth mindset in your classroom. Specifically praise kids when they do something with a growth mindset. You might say, “Last week I heard you say you were not a good artist, but you really worked hard on your collage and it came out very artistically”, or “I saw you sitting with your head down during morning work time for the first minute. I love that you pushed forward and finished your work even though it was challenging for you to get started.” Positive feedback goes a long way when it is specific.

Use these task cards to help kids and young adults learn about growth mindset.

3. Give time for kids to talk about having a growth mindset. Use practice examples, whether they are made up or real life examples from each student’s life. Use Growth Mindset Task Cards to practice a growth mindset in all areas of life: at home, school, during activities, with friends, and within our own belief systems.

4. Encourage risks and highlight that mistakes are learning experiences instead of failures. When a child or young adult does make a mistake, avoid making him or her feel bad about the mistake. Instead, encourage personal growth by asking them to identify what they’ve learned from the challenge.

5. Help kids set short term goals. Find out what goals kids want to accomplish in the next few months or within the year. Focus on one main area, whether it is academic, social, or personal. Help kids set a realistic SMART goal and help them come up with specific strategies for how they can accomplish that goal.

6. Conference with students about their goals and progress. Take time every two weeks to “check in” with kids and their goals. Make it a time to assess how much progress has been made and what the student has learned. You can look at what didn’t work but really focus on what DID work. Use that positive momentum to keep the progress going. Also, recognize that it’s okay if students tweak their goals as they go. Setting regular times to check in with goals really helps kids stay on track and learn that achieving that goal is possible.

7. Discuss people and celebrities who achieved success with a growth mindset. There truly are so many examples in all different areas of life. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team but his mother talked him into not giving up, so he continued to practice and get better. The Beatles were turned down by several record companies because some just didn’t like their sound. Oprah had a boss who told her she wasn’t fit for television. The list goes on and on! You could even use this as a research project in your classroom so that each student can report back about someone who overcame adversity and used a growth mindset to succeed.

8. Give challenging tasks. Brainteasers, riddles, and math problems are an excellent way to push kids to try challenging problems without giving up. When kids want to know the answer, don’t give it right away! Allow for plenty of time to go back and think about the problem. This encourages the idea that sometimes you don’t get all the answers, and you must work through challenges on your own to find out.

9. Use literature that shows examples of perseverance. You can use them within your language arts instruction or just as a read aloud for fun. From short children’s books to longer chapter books, you can find many different texts that promote a growth mindset. Some shorter books include: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires, and Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett. One longer selection is Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Biographies also work great to teach growth mindset, as they highlight people who have persevered through serious challenges.

10. Use the word “yet”. When someone says, “I don’t know how to do this”, just add the word “yet”. Constantly reminding this encourages the idea that most things are possible with hard work, persistence, and time.

Helping kids and young adults to develop a growth mindset takes time, but it’s worth it in the end. You can see kid’s perceptions about themselves slowly begin to change from, “I can’t do this” to “How CAN I do this?” and then eventually, “I know I can do this”.

Using Social Scripts for Autism

August 14, 2016 by pathway2success 2 Comments

Social scripts, also known as stories, are one of the most effective and simple ways to provide support to kids with autism. A social script is a short narrative written in first person that discusses one problem situation. So, they come in especially handy for really any situation that comes up. Sometimes a teacher might use a social script to prepare a child for a scenario or situation, such as: riding the bus, beginning morning work, washing hands after using the bathroom, or working with partners. They can also be implemented when a specific problem situation arises, such as a student who acts out when confused on work or a student who struggles to initiate playing with peers during recess.

Social scripts are an exceptional intervention for kids with autism because they provide structure and routine to situations that may seem scary and overwhelming for the child. They really play on the strengths for kids on the spectrum, while supporting their weaknesses. It should be noted, though, that these scripts can be used with any kids in need. I have used them with kids struggling with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), ADHD, and Intellectual Disabilities (ID).

You can either write your own social script for your student or find pre-made social script. One benefit to making your own social scripts is that you can individualize the script for your student. This can be quite time consuming for busy teachers, though, so pre-made scripts are also a plus.

Once you have at least one social script ready to use, here is how you can easily implement them in your class:

1. Make a special binder just for that child. Put the stories in sheet protectors and then place them in the binder.

2. Show the student his or her binder. Find a special place for it in the room. Then, allow the student to decorate the cover. The idea is that this binder is specially for the student. It’s important that he or she develops a connection with the binder (because it will be an important intervention in times of distress).

3. First introduce one social script at a time. Introduce that script by reading it with your student at a time when the child is calm. In other words, don’t introduce a “Feeling Angry” social script when your student is upset. Similarly, it won’t help to introduce a “Staying in My Seat” script when the student is getting out of his or her seat during a lesson. It should be first introduced long before at a time when the child isn’t in crisis or struggling. The intervention needs to be started before the child actually “needs” it, or it won’t have the same effect.

4. The following day, re-introduce the same social script and have the student read it aloud. Ask questions and discuss the social script. Use this as both an intervention and teaching time. Continue with this for a few days until the student becomes more comfortable with the script. Let the student know that you will ask him or her to read the script sometimes. Explain that it will help when he or she is having a difficult time.

5. Finally, when the student is in need (i.e. feeling angry, going on a field trip, etc.), direct him or her to their binder and have the student read the story again. You can follow up with questions such as, “What should you do?” or “What does the story tell you?”

6. Go ahead and implement other scripts this same way. Simple!

More Tips for Using Social Scripts

Give lots of praise and positive reinforcement after the student reads the story or script. Be specific, such as, “Great job reading your story when you were feeling angry! I bet that helped you figure out how to feel better.” This will build on the understanding that the social scripts are a positive way for the student to help him or herself. Some prompting, encouragement, and rewards may be necessary in the beginning. If the student refuses to read the story, you may need to incorporate incentives. Set up a plan that include, “When you read your story when told, you will get to ______” (their preferred activity, such as coloring or music).

The goal is that the child will read the story completely on his or her own when needed. Ultimately, you will be able to phase out any prompts and the student will use this intervention as a tool on their own.

If you want to try out this intervention right away, I have worked on creating specific scripts for kids with autism. The first S ocial Scripts for Autism – Emotions is focused solely on emotions, including feeling angry, confused, bored, nervous, and more. Other sets include social scripts for Friendships, School, and Life Skills.

If you love them all, consider buying the bundle. Keep in mind that while these scripts are an ideal intervention for kids with autism, any child with needs can benefit from them.

Give social scripts and try and see what they can do for the students in your classroom!

How to Support Challenging Kids

November 8, 2015 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Supporting Challenging Kids Not long after the “back to school” craze, students who struggle start to show their challenging behaviors. Behaviors such as being out of their seat, calling out, refusal to work, or arguing can really impact the flow and progress of the classroom. Other more serious behaviors, such as fighting, hitting others, biting, and running will also be significantly detrimental. As teachers, we have a LOT on our plates and can’t do everything all at once. These kids, though, are often calling for help in their own way. We owe it to them to work through the challenges, not only to improve our own classrooms but to help that student improve overall, too.

Here are some steps you can consider to support kids with challenging behaviors in the classroom:

1. Read the child’s file. This might seem obvious but sometimes it is a forgotten first step! This is a great way for teachers to do some initial research on a child, helping you to know what questions to ask the child and the family. Some things to look for within the file include: who the child lives with, if/how often the child has moved or changed schools, what types of behavioral challenges has the child had in the past, and what types of support services the child had in the past. Support services might include intervention supports, special education, or even just testing for special education.

Behavior Intervention Plans and FBAs

2. Talk to the child. Your approach for this will definitely vary depending on the student’s age. However, at any level, you will need to find time to meet with the student in a 1:1 setting and just talk. This should not be a punitive discussion, so I wouldn’t encourage doing this during a consequence or right when the student is caught doing something that would cause him/her to get in trouble. It’s best done in a supportive way. You can ask the child to have lunch with you, have the student stay after for extra help, or find time to meet with him/her during the day in another way. It’s important that the discussion time is one-on-one because many kids don’t open up about their challenges with peers or in bigger groups. This is probably especially true with middle and high school kids, but also for younger kids, too. During this meeting/discussion time, just ask questions to see what is going on with the child. You can start with, “I noticed that you’re having trouble with _____. What do you think is going on with that?” At first, kids will often say they don’t know. You have to keep talking and asking questions in a supportive way. If your student struggles with sitting still or focusing, another strategy is to do the discussion while doing something hands on such as drawing or playing with clay.

Behavior Management Toolkit

3. Talk to the child’s parents/guardians. When you initiate conversation with the child’s parents, it’s best to do it in a supportive way that invites collaboration and communication. The best way to do this is often the “sandwich” approach – something I LIVE by with all of my students! Before mentioning any concerns, mention something positive about the child to the parents. It could be that he/she worked really hard on a test, shared with peers, was a good friend to someone else, or anything at all positive. It just sets the tone for a positive conversation. What you don’t want is to offend or confront the parent and send them into attack mode. Once you mention a positive and start the conversation out right, then you can mention what the child has been struggling with. Pick one major thing to discuss, though, so that you do not overwhelm the parent. You can say something like, “I noticed that ____ is having trouble working with groups or partners. Have you been seeing anything like that at home with ____’s siblings?” Let it pave way for more discussion in a supportive way.

4. Problem-solve WITH the child. After getting feedback from the file, child, and parents, it’s time to make a plan. Meet with the child again and find out what strategies might help him or her. Again, the student might not know (or not know right away), but with further discussion and questioning, together you can come up with a plan. Offer ideas for accommodations on work if that is the problem. For example, if the child is not completing the math homework, would using a calculator make a difference? If the child struggles with group and partner work, would he or she prefer to choose a partner or maybe even work alone? Troubleshooting WITH the child is going to go a long way and make a difference.

5. Offer incentives. Some kids need to see light at the end of the tunnel and an incentive or reward is just that. Consider whether the child needs a daily reward or if he or she can wait for an end of the week reward. This will depend on the individual student. Talk to the student about what he or she would want to work for. Have a reward inventory, or list of possible rewards, written out for the child to choose from. Rather than only considering tangible “prize box” rewards, also offer activities: lunch with the teacher, helping in the office, telling the class a joke or story, extra gym time, and drawing/art time. Not only are these activities often big incentives, but they are a positive way to teach kids to spend their free time, too.

Classroom Coupons

6. Make a contract. Whatever plan you come up with together, put the plan in writing. Write it with the student present and include ideas directly from him or her. That will allow the child to feel invested in the contract/plan, since they are an essential component. List out what goals the child is working on for appropriate behavior, what accommodations the teacher will provide to help, and exactly how the child can earn his/her incentive. Once the plan is set, have the student sign the plan and send a copy home to the parents, too.

7. Ask for support in your building. Go talk to the school social worker, guidance counselor, and/or school psychologist. Reach out to teachers who worked with the student in the past. Ask for what has worked in the past for the student, what hasn’t worked, and what ideas other educators have for you to try and implement. No single person has all the answers, which is why it’s important to reach out for support across your building. Even just asking a colleague to come into your room and observe might be a helpful strategy that will give you insight into what is really going on.

8. Revisit the plan often. A plan for supporting kids with challenging behaviors shouldn’t be set in stone. It will most likely have to change pretty frequently, both to change rewards/incentives and encourage new positive behaviors along the way. Have weekly or bi-weekly meetings with the student to discuss his/her progress and how the plan might need to change for the future.

If you need additional support for behavior management and social skills within your classroom, consider checking out this Social Skills and Behavior Management Mega Bundle. It’s a huge bundle that includes 12 products that help to increase positive behaviors while reducing challenging ones in the classroom. Materials contain social skills lessons, social skill task cards, social scripts and narratives, behavior intervention plans, classroom reward coupons, lessons teaching kindness, and much more.

Why It’s Okay to Reduce Homework

September 11, 2015 by pathway2success 3 Comments

Why It's Okay to Reduce Homework As teachers, we all want our students to learn, practice skills, and thrive. Time is certainly limited in our classes. Even critical academic time gets interrupted with so much from assemblies, to guest speakers, and even standardized assessments themselves. So, homework often seems to be a great way to get kids to practice those skills we have taught. It’s a deceiving idea, though. There is substantial research that extra homework is NOT the answer to getting children and young adults to learning more. In fact, sometimes overdoing the homework can have a pretty negative result, overflowing to the home and school the next day. Here are some thought provoking reasons why it is okay to reduce the homework.

Not All Kids are Created Equal – For some students, doing homework might be fairly quick. I know several students who enjoy homework, even. It comes easy to them and they can finish with their assignments within an hour of getting home. For other students, though, that same homework is a significant and painful challenge. Students with reading disabilities and weaknesses may struggle with just reading the directions. Children without access to computers or technology may lack the ability to find information online or access websites. Kids with limited attention may sit for 30 minutes and only get one problem done. Since not all kids are created equal, it seems insane to assign homework that is a one-size-fits-all. Simply put, kids who struggle are going to need less.

Home Time is Important – Working families are so busy. Parents come home, do chores, and start dinner. Time is really so limited to spend with kids. Consider that single hour left before bed time. Do you really want the only family time being used struggled with homework? While this could serve as family time, in many families it is probably more important for children to sit with their parents and talk, watch the news, or play a board game together.

Kids are Busy, Too – Children and young adults are so busy with their own activities that homework is often quite a struggle to fit in. Some who disagree with this mentality might say that academics should come before sports. It’s true! That is why kids spend six or seven hours a day in a school learning. It’s extremely important to a child’s social, emotional, and academic well-being to be involved outside of school in all sorts of ways. This might include sports, music, drama, dance, and a variety of other extracurrricular activities. Of course we want our kids to be academically solid learners, but we also want them to be well-rounded individuals who can balance all aspects of their lives.

Homework is About Practice, Not Endurance – Imagine doing the same type of math problems over and over again thirty times. It gets old pretty quickly! At some point, it becomes only a race for endurance and no longer practicing the actual skill. So many kids burn out this way. Reducing homework to a minimum, though, is one simple way to get around this. You can still provide the practice and allow for independence while keeping the work to a reasonable level.

These points are not at all to say that some homework is not helpful- it is! Homework, in moderation, can help children and young adults practice skills, learn their weaknesses and strengths, build confidence, and come to class the following day prepared to ask questions and get necessary support. However, some points need to be remembered when you do in fact assign homework.

1. Give homework as practice, not a graded assessment. Homework should not be graded for accuracy. This is the time when kids should be practicing the skills. They should feel free to try new things and take risks. It’s perfectly find if students come to class with homework that is wrong, as long as they made a genuine effort. Homework should aid in the learning process and be a tool to help teachers guide instruction. It shouldn’t serve as an assessment.

2. Homework should be independent work. Some students have extremely supportive homes with parents available to sit with their children through the homework. Others simply do not, for a variety of reasons. The reasons really aren’t important. What is important is that homework shouldn’t need to be something a child does with their parent. The ultimate goal is that homework is done independently. If the homework is too challenging for a student to do on their own, consider changing that student’s assignment or the homework entirely.

3. Accommodate or modify for your struggling learners. The students needing specialized instruction or intervention support in specific subjects will need different and lower level assignments to help them through. As stated above, since not all kids are created equal, it’s impossible to think that a student reading two grades below grade level should be able to read and complete the same passage as someone reading on grade level or above. Consider your learners and allow differentiation. It’s also an important lesson for the kids to learn that sometimes what is fair doesn’t mean exactly the same.

4. Make homework meaningful. If you assign homework, you should definitely give time to go over problems, provide extended examples, and allow students to ask questions. Show students that the homework assignments are extensions of your learning during the day.

5. Be comfortable assigning just a few questions or problems. Sometimes teachers feel like they have to assign twenty or thirty questions for a homework assignment. If the goal is some practice to see if students really understand a skill or idea, just a few problems will often do.

6. If a student is struggling, ask them why. Recently, I had a student who was not completing any math assignments. When I talked to her about her lack of homework, she told me that the math was too challenging for her and she lost her calculator. What an easy fix! I immediately gave her what she deemed to be a “fancy” calculator. Within a week, her math work was caught up and her confidence zoomed through the roof. The lessons here is that if you have a student who is not turning in homework, talk to him or her personally. Find out why. It will give you so much insight to the student’s life and give you ideas for how you can help him or her along the way.

As the school year rolls on by, remember that homework is just one small part of the big equation. Students who are in our classrooms and schools are there for several hours each day. Homework should help reinforce skills, encourage independence, build confidence, and encourage questions for upcoming classes so that students are even more ready to learn. Always come back to these core principles with homework and you can’t go wrong.

If you are a parent struggling with homework completion at home, or a teacher who wants to help parents with this, consider the Parent Homework Helper to save you some time.

Surviving the Last Few Weeks (or Days) of School

June 8, 2015 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Most schools in the U.S. are on the verge of ending school sessions for the summer. It’s an exciting time for both teachers and students. Sometimes I think the teachers are more excited than the kids! With the excitement, though, comes a lot of craziness and uncertainty about what the end of the year will bring. It gets harder and harder to start full lesson plans, but the kids need to stay busy or a bit of chaos will begin.

Here are some ideas for activities teachers can try on the last few weeks or day of school:

End of the Year Classroom Awards

Have an end of the year awards ceremony for your students. You can assign the awards on your own or create ballots and have the students vote on the winners. Awards can be simple and standard, such as “Leadership Award” and “Most Improved”. Other awards can be silly and fun, like “Megaphone Award” for the loudest student and “Chef Award” for the student with the best snacks and lunches packed. It’s a fun time to come together as a class and celebrate everyone’s individuality and strengths.
Have your students write a letter to next year’s teacher. If you know who each student will have, this is a great time to let the students know. Even if you don’t, though, students can still write a letter to their future teacher introducing themselves, telling what their strengths are, and what they look forward to in the upcoming grade. It’s also a great way to practice writing skills on one of the last days of school.
Watch a movie that aligns with a book. Make it fun! Bring popcorn or allow students to bring their own snacks. It’s fine if some students have already read the book, since they can identify similarities and differences between the book and the movie. For those students who haven’t read the book, it might just encourage them to do so.
Have students help with organizing, bulletin boards, and clean-up tasks. Some students love being little helpers and this is a great way to utilize their strengths during natural break times.
Give time to play some fun but educational board games. Scrabble, Boggle, Konexi, and Blurt are just a few of them. Blurt is one of my favorites because it forces students to use self-control and patience when it is not their turn to “blurt” out the answer.

Whatever you choose, remember to stay cool, calm, and collected. Enjoy the last days with your students!

Last Weeks of School Survival Kit

Teaching Social Skills & Why It’s the Most Rewarding Subject To Teach

May 23, 2015 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Social skills are what allow people to communicate and interact positively with others. Most children learn these skills through positive role models, adult guidance, and interactions with others. They just learn them and the rest is pretty easy! Others, though, don’t pick up on the social skills that way. These are the kids who are getting into arguments with peers, like to follow their own set of rules, don’t see why they have to wait their turn, and sadly, often don’t have many (or any) real friends. Teaching social skills isn’t easy. It’s something extra you have to teach on top of everything else, so sometimes it gets forgotten or put off. It is, however, the most rewarding thing to teach because it REALLY makes a difference. It doesn’t happen quickly, but you can see a kid transform from being avoided by other kids to really being *liked* by his or her peers. That’s special, really.

Use real-life social scenarios to teach social skills.

If you want to teach social skills, but don’t really know how to get started, the easiest thing you can do is discuss real-life social scenarios and situations. For example,” Tracy is sitting alone at a lunch table.” In a small group, have students come up with ideas for how Tracy might feel? Why might she be sitting alone? What could someone do to help in this situation? It’s most important for kids to focus on how *THAT* person might feel, not themselves. That helps develop their ability to take the perspective of someone else. Coming up with a variety of real-life social scenarios like this can help kids problem-solve social situations. Plus, it’s super fun getting to see how they feel about certain situations.

Similarly, you can teach social skills like this with ANY literature. As you read a story, encourage students to consider some of those same questions about social situations. Why did that person act like that? How do you think the main character felt when..? Why did the character react like that when..? This can allow you to help students work on social skills while still staying true to your content in your classroom.

Social Skills Lessons, Task Cards, & Materials

Another important thing to remember when targeting social skills is that it’s highly important to include peer models for whatever you are teaching. I once tried to teach social skills to a group of students who all needed support in this area without any peer models due to a scheduling conflict. It didn’t last long before I realized it was just not going to work! You really NEED the support of strong role models in a group to help teach your struggling kids. It’s so true that children learn much more from other children than they do from us, no matter how hard we try!

My biggest advice is that if you know you have a child struggling with social skills, just try an intervention to help. Even if you aren’t 100% sure on the best techniques, methods, strategies, or materials, just try it. These kids with social skill deficits need supports and interventions as soon as possible so that they can begin to learn the skills and make new friends. Even if you learn with them, it won’t be quick and it won’t be easy, but it WILL be rewarding!

The Power of Positive

February 13, 2015 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Psychologists have researched for years to try and find a perfect ratio of number of positive to negative comments. These researchers have investigated the power of positive comments at work places, in marriages, and at schools. It was interesting to find that many researchers agree on a ratio of around 5 positive comments to every 1 negative comment. With more negative comments, people tend to feel discouraged and undervalued. I find this so interesting because I would say that this ratio needs to be even higher for children and young adults in schools. That means that teachers should be giving at least 5 positive and kind words of encouragement for every 1 negative thing they say. Below are some simple tips for incorporating more positive into your classroom:

1. Be specific. “You did a great job on that” doesn’t really tell the student anything. Instead, you can say something like, “I really like the way you took the last 5 minutes to reread your response and edit it. That was a great use of time”. You help that student feel good about themselves while shaping positive learning behaviors.

2. Give oral and written positive feedback. Oral feedback is great but sometimes I need time to think about how to give the best feedback. I love giving written feedback on assessments, math journals, and reading/writing journals. Then, when I hand back assignments, I make sure to give students time to “review my comments”.

3. Use your positive words to help drive positive classroom management. “I really like the way that Alex took out her reading book and read silently when she finished her quiz”. A comment like that and you’ll be amazed at how many students follow suit. It helps make one student a model, as well. Some students need to visually see what the should be doing, and this is a great opportunity for that.