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9 FREE Executive Functioning Activities

July 6, 2020 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

Planning, organization, time management, and self-control. These are just a few of the extremely critical executive functioning skills that we use every day to accomplish tasks and be successful. We use them so regularly that we may forget their importance. But to kids and teens (and yes, even adults) who lack these skills, the struggle is real.

What are Executive Functioning Skills?

Executive functioning skills are the abilities in our brain that help us to accomplish daily tasks. They include skills like planning, organization, task initiation, time management, and attention. It’s helpful to think of them as life skills, as they are the foundations of what helps us be successful in completing tasks and reaching goals.

Read more here on each of the executive functioning skills and how they each play an important role in our lives.

Executive Functioning Activities

Executive functioning skills can be strengthened and built up over time. Here are a few free printable (and some digital) activities you can use to teach your learners about executive functioning skills and why they matter.

1. Executive Functioning Free Workbook

Use this free printable executive functioning workbook to teach and give some basic practice with some of the skills. This is a great lesson to start you off if you aren’t quite sure how to introduce executive functioning skills to your learners.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

2. Executive Functioning Home Activities

Executive functioning skills are life skills! Use this free printable executive functioning poster with a list of ideas that kids and teens can practice at home. They include meaningful tasks like planning a meal together (planning), having a conversation (attention), and tidying up a room (organization).

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

3. Executive Functioning Skills Poster

Hang this executive functioning poster up to reminder adults and kids about each of the executive functioning skills. This can help you remind kids and teens about using them in the moment. Bonus: This poster doubles as a coloring page. Just use the black and white version to have kids color as you discuss many of these important skills.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

4. Organize the Room Activity

Use this hands-on activity to teach organization. Just print out the pages, cut out the items, and add them in the room where they should go. This lesson opens up the conversation about staying organized, why it is important, cleaning up after yourself, and much more.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

5. Study Skills Checklist

In order for kids to do well, they have to know what is expected of them. This free printable study skills checklist helps kids and teens read through several study skills that matter most, from keeping binders organized to taking notes. This can be a helpful starting point when discussing study skills for success.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

6. Problem-Solving Task Cards

While these free problem-solving task cards focus on social situations, these are perfect practice for planning, flexibility, and self-control. Simply put, problem-solving situations force us to active executive functioning skills in our brains.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

7. Motivation Workbook

Use this free motivation workbook to help young adults think about task initiation, developing goals, and accomplishing tasks. The activities go over understanding what motivation is and how to develop strategies for staying motivated, even when it comes to tasks you might not want to do.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

8. Homework Folder

Setting up a homework folder is a critical step in getting kids and teens organized during the school day. Use this printable homework binder directions page and cover page to get started.

9. Executive Functioning Escape Room

This free executive functioning escape room activity is a puzzle challenge that allows kids and teens to practice attention and working memory at the same time. Kids and teens will love unlocking the challenge. It’s also a great way to see how escape room activities work for your learners.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

10. Executive Functioning Self-Assessment

One more bonus activity is this executive functioning self-assessment, available for free for Pathway 2 Success members in the free resource library. Use it to help kids and teens assess themselves how their executive functioning skills from organization to self-control and everything in between. Grab it in the free resource library or learn here about how you can join.

9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

More Information on Executive Functioning

If you’re looking for more information, resources, and free ideas, I have them here for you. Read up on more executive functioning skills with the blog posts below:

  • Executive Functioning Skills Explained
  • Games to Improve Executive Functioning Skills
  • 15+ Executive Functioning Strategies Teachers Can Use
  • 5 Daily Struggles for Kids with Executive Functioning Challenges
  • Interventions for Attention Challenges
  • Interventions for Organization Challenges
  • Practicing EF skills with Play Activities
  • Using Task Cards to Teach Executive Functioning
9 FREE executive functioning activities for kids and teens. These are perfect activities and printable worksheets to help students build skills like attention, organization, time management, self-control, and more. Activities include workbooks, posters, coloring pages, and more. #pathway2success

Filed Under: Executive Functioning Skills, Social Emotional Learning, Study Skills, Teaching Tagged With: executive functioning

18 Mindfulness Activities for Outdoors

June 23, 2020 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Mindfulness is a critical self-regulation strategy for people of all ages. It can help us feel calm, focused, and in control. Learning to be mindful doesn’t have to be confined to the four walls of a building or classroom. In fact, there are numerous opportunities to practice mindful activities outside.

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Here are a few outdoor mindful techniques to try:

Blow bubbles. A strategy for focusing on deep breathing, blowing bubbles is an interactive and fun way to practice mindfulness. You can find bubbles at your local dollar store, online, or make them yourself with dish soap. Before blowing the bubbles, talk about mindful breathing and focusing on your breath. This is one of the most foundational elements to mindfulness. When we calm our breathing, we can calm our minds.

Watch wildlife. Spend time watching wildlife in your backyard, a local park, or on a hike. Once you spot something, spend time actually watching the behavior of the animal. Binoculars help, but this is something you can do without them, too. Afterwards, talk about all the things you saw that you never noticed before.

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Go barefoot in the yard. In a spot that is safe, like the backyard or a sandy beach, kick off your shoes and let your toes touch the ground.

Watch the clouds. Sit or lie down on the ground. Breathe in and out as you watch the clouds roll by. And of course, take note when a cloud looks like something else. This is a fun activity by itself!

Practice mindful breathing. Of course, mindful breathing is a technique you can practice anytime. Essentially, mindful breathing is focusing on our breath as we breathe in and out. One summer breathing activity is to imagine you have a dandelion in front of you. Slowly breathe in and breathe out. Grab these mindful breathing exercise cards or read up on more mindful breathing strategies to get started.

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Play “I Spy” outside. This is an outdoor games that practices mindfulness through mindful observation. Have one person find a target item. They might say, “I spy something green.” Others in the group should look around and take turns guessing what item might be the target.

Take a walk. Put the electronics away and just go for a peaceful walk. Notice what you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. These sensory sensations on the walk can be calming and mindful.

Read outside. Find a nice shady spot under a tree or on a park bench. Read a good book aloud or silently for a period of time. When practicing mindfulness, it’s important to focus on feeling calm and relaxed. Don’t pay too much attention to the academic portion of reading in this case. Read and just be!

Go on an outdoor scavenger hunt. Choose a list of outdoor items to look for. You might seek a plant, a butterfly, something that starts with an s, and a bird singing. The options for this are endless. Put together your list before you head out or grab these printable mindful scavenger hunts. Then, take time to find the items as you walk in the yard, field, around the block, or in a local park. Can’t find everything on your list? That’s okay, too! Part of mindfulness is learning to just be and avoiding the need for perfection. That’s a lesson in mindfulness just as well.

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Practice yoga. Learn some yoga poses ahead of time and practice them outside. Some of the best postures for kids include warrior pose, tree pose, and downward dog. There are lots more!

Color with sidewalk chalk. Draw fun designs or positive messages with sidewalk chalk. If you’re not sure what to write, look up some positive quotes ahead of time.

Stack rocks. Find some different sized rocks. Stack them and try to see how high your rock tower can go. This activity works on mindfulness and balance. You can talk about what balance means in our lives.

Color on a clipboard. Grab some coloring pages and a clipboard. Then, find a cozy spot underneath a tree to sit and color mindfully. You can use these free printable mindfulness coloring pages to give it a try.

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Have a picnic with mindful eating. Mindful eating is the practice of thinking about the sensory experience as you eat something. That means thinking about how it feels, smells, sounds, looks, and tastes while you are eating. If the weather is warm, try mindful eating with summer foods like ice cream, watermelon, or smores.

Smell flowers. If you happen to find a garden or some flowers growing, use them for mindful breathing practice. Slowly breathe in to smell the flowers. Think about what sensations you feel as you smell them.

Paint rocks and hide them. Rock painting can be extremely calming. To get started, find some smooth rocks (or you can purchase at a craft store). Use paint to design them with positive messages or interesting designs. Let them dry. Then, when you’re ready, head out to a hiking spot or walking path and hide them somewhere for someone else to find.

Build with sand. Use a sandbox or head to the beach for this outdoor mindful activity. Build some sandcastles or just feel the sand in your hands or a mindful experience.

Gardening. Taking care of plants and weeding is a mindful activity on its own. As a bonus, gardening works on lots of other skills like empathy and responsibility, too.

Journal write. Free writing outside on a sunny day can be extremely calming. Grab a journal and encourage writing time. Encourage kids to write about their feelings, respond to a prompt, write a story, or write about anything they choose. If you’re a Pathway 2 Success member (thank you!), grab the free Mindfulness Journal in the free resource library.

If you love these mindful activities but aren’t sure exactly how to teach mindfulness, I’ve got you covered with this set of mindfulness lessons and activities.

18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

More Mindfulness Ideas:

  • 10 Mindfulness Activities You Can Try Today
  • Mindful Breathing Activities for Kids & Teens
  • 5 FREE Mindfulness Activities
  • Mindfulness Journal Ideas To Try
  • 10 Best Times to Practice Mindfulness in the Classroom
  • Mindfulness Resources
18+ Mindfulness activities for kids and teens to practice outside. These activities are perfect for a mindful summer activity, incorporating physical activity, or just a planned way to get outside of the classroom during the school day. #mindfulness #pathway2success

Filed Under: Social Emotional Learning, Special Education, Tips for Teachers Tagged With: mindfulness, social emotional learning

Outdoor Activities to Build Social Skills

June 6, 2020 by pathway2success 1 Comment

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills

Working on social skills isn’t just an activity to take place in the classroom. We, as kids and adults, use social skills every day out in the real world. This gives lots of opportunities for practicing and strengthening those skills everywhere – even outside.

Whether you are a parent looking to boost your child’s social skills at home over the summer or an educator seeking some non-worksheet strategies for improvement, I hope these ideas are helpful to you.

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills

Some important points to help as you work on these social skills through outdoor activities:

  • Be intentional with the skills you are working on. Talk about the social skills and why they matter.
  • Give plenty of practice. So often, one experience isn’t enough to really target a skill. Give it time!
  • Allow choice. Give kids an option of two different activities. This will help them buy-in and feel empowered before they even start.

Here are some activities to build social skills outside the four walls of the classroom.

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills

Gardening

Gardening can sometimes be a favorite activity for kids and teens. Even though there is a bit of work up front, it’s so fun to see something you yourself have grown! Most obviously, this can build a great deal of patience. This can also be extremely rewarding and even act as a coping strategy to see something grow over time.

In addition to these skills, you can work on skill for planning while listing out ideas for a garden, choosing what you want to grow, and designing a map for where to grow each item. This can also involve some research, as it’s helpful to know what conditions different plants need.

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills

Writing Sidewalk Chalk Messages

Grab some sidewalk chalk on a nice day and write thoughtful messages. This activity lends itself to promoting kindness, empathy, and compassion for others.

If you’re not sure what to write, spend some time looking up positive and kind quotes before you head out.

Walking and Talking

A simple activity, walking and talking is just what it sounds like – building conversation skills while walking together. Spend time talking about feelings, interests, thoughts, and hopes for the future. Give plenty of time for back and forth discussion. This activity also provides practice with turn-taking, active listening, and empathy. All the while, you will also be improving relationship skills.

If you’re running out of ideas, grab these free discussion starters to give some ideas.

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills #pathway2success

Birdwatching

Birdwatching is an activity that can help build attention skills while also practicing mindfulness and coping strategies. To start with birdwatching, you don’t need anything special. Just pick a spot in a yard or while out on a hike. Then, use your senses to notice the wildlife around you.

This is a favorite activity, as it also encourages a sense of curiosity, leading to more discussions and learning. If you see or hear something that you’re not familiar with, take extra note of it or take a picture. Then, look it up once you’re back inside. This is a great way to create a positive connection with nature while working on social skills at the same time.

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills #pathway2success

Tidying the Yard

Cleaning up after ourselves is a critical self-management and organizational skill that we all need in our daily lives. You can use these activities to teach about why it’s important to clean up and stay organized on a regular basis. When we have routines for staying organized, it really makes the clean-up process much easier.

Just a few activities kids and teens can help with include weeding, raking, spreading mulch, cleaning patio furniture, and gathering toys.

Picking Up Trash

Taking care of the environment is important! Spending time picking up trash can promote responsibility and respect for the world around us. It can also encourage discussion about responsible decision-making and learning that our choices impact those around us.

Picking up trash can be done at any local park or just when you are out on a hike. Make it fun! Give yourself “one point” for every trash item you find and put in a bag.

During the clean up process, discuss that even though you didn’t leave the trash, it is part of our collective responsibility as humans to help clean up. Of course, this also fosters compassion and care for the environment.

Going on a Scavenger Hunt

Work on attention skills with an outdoor scavenger hunt. You can make the list ahead of time or find one to print out. Have kids mindfully look for different items, like a green leaf or a rock. Mark it down on the checklist and keep looking for more.

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills #pathway2success

Jogging

Jogging, running, and walking are extremely healthy ways to practice coping strategies outdoors. Just like any other aerobic exercise, jogging is known to raise heart rate, burn calories, increase lung capacity, and improve the immune system. While these are generally seen as physical impacts, it’s worth noting that this boosts mental and emotional health, too.

Going for a quick jog is a great way to promote a positive coping strategy when feeling stressed, angry, or even sad. Even more, jogging can be used as a proactive self-care strategy.

Basketball (or any sport)

Basketball, or really any sport, is an ideal activity to work on sportsmanship, fairness, and perseverance, to name a few skills. Choose a sport that your kids and teens enjoy most, whether it is basketball, baseball, soccer, or bowling.

If you want to work on flexibility skills, try a sport or activity that your child doesn’t know well. Practice and learn together!

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills #pathway2success

Leaf Rubbing

Another strategy for focusing on mindfulness, leaf rubbing is an easy and quick activity that can be done almost anywhere. All you will need is paper, a clipboard, and a crayon (or two). Have kids find a leaf on the ground that they like. Place it under the paper on the clipboard and shade in the paper.

Planning a Picnic

Grab a clipboard and start a checklist to work on planning your ideal picnic. Have kids take the lead to work on their planning and organization skills. Rather than telling them what they should bring, ask prompting questions like, “What do you think we might need?”

Letting kids and teens lead an activity like this also helps build self-confidence!

Play Freeze

In this activity, you will be playing music and giving dance time. After a minute or so, pause the music and make sure everyone freezes on the spot. After a quick pause, play the music again and resume.

Use this as a memorable way to practice and talk about self-control. Of course, this is a game that can be played either indoors or outdoors!

Again, it’s important to note that the possibilities are working on social skills outside are limitless!

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills #pathway2success

Filed Under: Social Emotional Learning Tagged With: sel, social emotional learning, social skills

9 Books to Highlight Kids with Disabilities

May 18, 2020 by pathway2success 1 Comment

It is so important to read and discuss books that highlight students with disabilities. Not only does it help students become more knowledgable and understanding about specific needs and challenges, but it also helps kids to become more inclusive, too.

All students can relate to these books in some way, supporting the overarching idea that celebrating our differences is often what brings us together.

Here are some books to highlight kids with disabilities:

My Sister, Alicia May by Nancy Tupper Ling – This beautifully illustrated book shares the story of Rachel and her sister, Alicia May, who has Down syndrome. This honest story highlights how similar we all are. The author writes, “In some ways, my sister is like any six-year-old. She likes dogs and horses. She likes to paint her toenails with polka dots, and she loves bugs.” I love the message that even if we are all different in our own ways, we are often so similar, too.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

Issac and His Amazing Asperger Superpowers! by Melanie Walsh – I love the idea of comparing someone with Aspergers’s to a superhero. This is a great book to help identify and discuss all the strengths that come along with autism! My favorite line is, “You can’t catch it. It just means my brain works a little differently.” By teaching kids that people with autism are unique and think differently, we can promote acceptance for everyone.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

Jack’s Worry by Sam Zuppardi – In this story, Jack is ready to play his trumpet for the concert, but realizes he has a worry that just won’t go away. Jack struggles with his feelings of anxiety until he talks about them and gets the help he needs. My favorite part of this story is that it doesn’t show a “perfect” ending. Feelings of worry can still be there, but you can get through them!

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete – This book is written from the perspective of Callie, Charlie’s twin sister, and highlights the real challenges and positives that kids with autism have. Charlie struggles with using his words and even saying, “I love you,” but Callie notices that Charlie show his love in different ways.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

Mrs. Gorski, I Think I Have the Wiggle Fidgets by Barbara Esham – This story highlights David, who is working to overcome the “wiggle fidgets.” He learns strategies to help him stay focused in class and make good choices, like playing with a fidget, using a silent timer, and using attention cards. For kids who struggle with ADHD or just paying attention in class from time to time, this is a helpful read!

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

My Buddy by Audrey Osofsky – A boy with muscular dystrophy tells the story of how his dog, Buddy, helps him throughout his daily life. This can be a great text to highlight that fair isn’t always exactly equal. Even though not everyone can, the boy brings his dog around everywhere because it’s what he really needs to be successful.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook – This is a helpful text to highlight kids with ADHD, or kids who just struggle with self-control and shouting out often. Louis has a tendency to speak out without thinking until he does some perspective-taking and thinking of his own! I love this book for thinking about how others feel and learning to wait your turn.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

If You’re So Smart, How Come You Can’t Spell Mississippi by Barbara Esham – I love this book because it highlights dyslexia in a clear and meaningful way. Katie’s dad is a smart and hardworking attorney in Chicago. He is the smartest person she’s ever know, but he can’t spell Mississippi! When Katie finds out her father has dyslexia, she goes ahead to do her own research and find out what that really means.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold – While this book doesn’t specifically target kids with disabilities, I think it’s an important one to mention because of its overt theme of inclusiveness across the board. This is a timeless picture book focused on diversity and inclusion of everyone. It’s a must-read for every classroom.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

Ella Bella Just Can’t Tell Ya! by Hallie Sherman – I know I’m over 9 books here, but I just had to add this one in after grabbing it. The story is about a young girl who struggles with word retrieval challenges. She works to learn strategies to help her along the way. SO many lessons can be learned from this book, including empathy and perseverance.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

I hope you love this list as much as I do! If you have other suggestions for great books to highlight learners with disabilities in a positive way, please feel free to mention in the comments.

Nine books to help highlight and discuss kids and teens with disabilities, like ADHD, autism, and more. These are perfect for class read alouds and a great way to celebrate diversity! #pathway2success

Filed Under: Autism, Reading Comprehension, Social Emotional Learning, Special Education, Teaching

Virtual Calm Down Activities

May 4, 2020 by pathway2success 3 Comments

Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success

All kids and needs need positive activities to help calm the body and mind. Use these resources to help create a virtual calm down room or just to add to the self-regulation strategies you are already using.

Calming Website Activities & Games

  • Do Nothing for 2 Minutes
  • Weave Silk Drawing
  • Tangrams
  • Word Clouds
  • Jigsaw Puzzles
  • Flipbook Maker
  • PBS Kids Clifford Adventure Stories
  • Build a Treehouse
  • Make a Robot
  • Pixel Art
  • Disney Coloring Pages

Animal Live Cams

  • San Diego Zoo Ape Cam
  • San Diego Zoo Elephant Cam
  • San Diego Zoo Penguin Cam
  • Marco Island Bald Eagle Cam
  • Oxford MA Osprey Cam
  • Hammonassett Osprey Cam

Guided Meditation Videos

  • Underwater Guided Imagery
  • Breath Meditation for Kids
  • Chakra Meditation for Kids
  • Guided Meditation: Your Secret Treehouse

Calming Apps

  • Colorfy
  • Calm
  • Toonia Colorbook
  • Sanvello
  • Relax Melodies
  • Happify
  • Toonia Puzzle
  • Stop, Breathe, Think
  • Headspace

Digital Calming Activities (for Google Drive)

  • Mindful Check-in Activity (free)
Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success
  • Positive Affirmations Activity (free)
Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success
  • Coping Strategies 30-Day Challenge (free)
Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success
  • Mindfulness A-Z Workbook (with moveable pieces)
  • Mindfulness Activities
Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success
  • Coping Strategies Workbook Starter (free)
Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success
  • Mindful Breathing Exercise Cards
Virtual calm down activities for kids and teens. This huge list includes apps, resources for google drive, videos, playlists, and more. These are essential for self-regulation and coping strategies supports. #pathway2success

Calming Sounds and Music

  • Mindful Soothing Music and Nature Sounds
  • Fairy Night Garden Sleep Music
  • Relaxing Happy Guitar Music for Kids
  • Rain Sounds
  • Ocean Waves
  • Spotify Stress Relief Music for Kids and Teens

Need more ideas? Read up on some of the topics below:

  • Mindfulness
  • Coping Strategies
  • Positive Self-Talk

Filed Under: Behavior Management, Positive Behavior Supports, Social Emotional Learning, Special Education, Teaching

Strategies to Focus on SEL Through Distance Learning

April 7, 2020 by pathway2success 4 Comments

9+ strategies and ideas to focus on social emotional learning during distance learning. This post includes free ideas, printables, and even digital resources to help teachers and support staff get started. #pathway2success

In the midst of a challenging situation, it’s critical to make time and space for social emotional supports for learners. Simply put, social emotional skills are the foundation for overall well-being. Kids and teens need to feel safe, respected, loved, and valued. They need to have strong coping skills to work their emotional challenges and they need to improve cognitive flexibility to deal with the changes that are happening, so many outside of their control.

For these reasons, it’s important that social emotional skills take the front seat when it comes to distance learning. While these skills are important all of the time, it’s easy to argue that learners need them now more than ever.

Whether you are a classroom teacher, school counselor, social worker, paraeducator, or parent, this list includes specific strategies and ideas to help support all learners during this distance learning experience.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Read Stories

It’s easy to say that literature is a great way to integrate SEL into the day. Pretty much any book or short story targets a variety of social emotional skills like kindness, empathy, perspective-taking, and more. It’s important to note that picture books aren’t just for little kids. Many older kids love a good read aloud, too!

Record a video of you reading a text (making sure the author gives permission for this first) and send to your students. You could even do a live read aloud with some videochat tools, like Zoom or Screencastify.

Use this free digital and printable list with ideas for SEL read alouds.

If technology isn’t an option, you can always recommend students and families read books as use. Use this free printable that highlights picture books for every area of social emotional learning.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Virtual Morning Meeting

Morning meeting is the semi-structured time of day when students and educators greet each other, check-in, and learn some important skills before starting the day. While it’s certainly preferable to lead a morning meeting in a face-to-face way, it’s also important to note that virtual morning meetings can work, too!

One of my favorite ways is to use a video conversation app, like Flipgrid, to start the conversation on a daily SEL topic. Topics you could choose might be positive self-talk, staying organized, or showing kindness. The specific topic is really up to you. After choosing the topic, record a video of you briefly explaining the skill.

Then, ask a question you want kids to respond to. If you are focusing on kindness, you might ask them to share a kind act they’ve done in the past week. If you are highlighting strengths and abilities, you might ask kids to talk about something they are great at doing. The best part is that with a video conversation app like Flipgrid, kids get to connect with you and each other.

Another option is to schedule a weekly or daily time with your learners to meet online using the software or programs your school is encouraging. That might be Zoom or any other program, depending on your school or student needs.

If you need some extra ideas for morning meeting topics to discuss, I’ve created this set of morning meeting cards for older learners and this set of morning meeting cards for elementary students. They specifically target one SEL skill every day, making it easy to go over all the skills kids need in every domain of social emotional learning.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Virtual Emotions Check-Ins

This is a stressful time for everyone, kids and teens included. Spend 1:1 time with individual students and check-in with how they are doing. Use this virtual conference time to ask students how they are feeling, what strategies they are using to focus on wellness, and techniques for managing stress.

Virtual check-ins can be simple messages through emails or Remind, or they can be in the form of videos using Google Hangout or other video programs.

Use this free digital and printable activity as a mindful morning check-in.

I also created this free digital and printable mindful morning activity to help learners start off the day in the right way.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Digital Task Cards

As an educator, I have always loved task cards. They are a simple activity to teach skills in a way that feels so different from a worksheet. Of course, in times of distance learning, it might not be as practical to send sets of task cards to each of your students. That’s where digital task cards come in.

For many of my favorite social emotional task cards I’ve already created, I have added a digital component. This makes it easy for kids and teens to still get the social practice they need, while responding to the cards right on the digital Google Drive page.

While there are many distance learning activities to choose from, these social problem-solving task cards are a free set to get learners started.

Use these free digital task cards to help learners work on social skills.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Video Instruction

Using videos can be a valuable tool in teaching a variety of skills. Some educators are using pre-recorded YouTube videos to share with their learners, while others are recording their very own personalized videos to send to their students.

If you aren’t quite sure how to get started, try recording yourself on your phone while teaching a mini-lesson to your students. For example, you might record a lesson teaching about using coping strategies, using positive self-talk, or practicing mindfulness (all skills that are extremely important right now).

Make a quick video just to practice and get started. Then, send it to your learners. Not only will you be sending valuable skills, but your students will love seeing you teach again.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Digital Lessons and Workbooks

One of the best ways to provide lessons through digital learning is Google Classroom. Using Google Drive digital-friendly resources, students can respond right on the workbooks and activities. Not only does this make things much easier for the student and families at home, but your students can then send their completed assignments straight back to you for review.

Browse a complete collection of digital resources for kids and teens.

I have added digital versions to a number of social emotional resources already. The reason why I’m adding digital version to pre-existing materials is simple. If you have already purchased a social emotional activity from me, you get the update for free. You deserve to have both options so that you can use digital materials now, but always have the choice to using print/paper copies in the future. Browse through the complete collection of digital resources to get started. Many resources are paid, but some are free, too!

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Using Apps and Websites

There are a number of websites and apps that students can use to practice social emotional skills. Some are free all of the time, while others have offered free membership for a period of time. Some possible apps and sites to try out include:

  • Breathe, Think, Do
  • Emotional ABCs
  • Smiling Mind
  • GoNoodle
  • Calm

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Daily Journal

More than ever, now is a great time to get kids journaling on a daily basis. Not only is writing in a journal a calming and mindful activity, but it’s also a great way to help kids share thoughts and feelings. Even more, you can use journaling as a specific way to target social emotional skills.

Each day, assign a journal topic for kids to write about. For example, you might have them list out some positive thoughts and then writing in a journal about how positive thoughts can be helpful.

Another simple strategy is to encourage kids to journal about their thoughts and feelings each day. Not only will this help them in the moment, but we are living through historic times, so it will be meaningful to them later on.

If you are looking for a simple solution, there are many pre-made digital journals to choose from. You might have students fill out a daily mindfulness journal, for example.

Use a daily journal to target social emotional skills.

My favorite journal, though, is a daily SEL Journal, with every week targeting a different social emotional skill. I created this SEL Journal for elementary students and this SEL Journal for older learners.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Family Check-Ins

With all that is going on, it’s also important to check in with families. If we want kids and teens to do well, we need to also support the families they live with. Provide a weekly check-in with families just to briefly ask how things are going and if they need any support.

With a weekly check-in, educators can also suggest a couple of simple activities for families to help build SEL skills at home, such as reading literature, playing board games, having conversations, or even watching a movie together and talking about how characters feel. It’s important to note that there are numerous strategies to work on SEL at home, but we have to give families the tools to get there.

SEL Distance Learning Strategy: Assign Mindful Activities

Whether learners have technology or not, educators can always encourage mindful activities at home. Assign 10 minutes of mindful time each day. You can ask students to complete a specific activity or have them choose from some ideas below:

  • Drawing or coloring
  • Free journal writing
  • Spending time outside
  • Reading
  • Go on a mindful scavenger hunt
  • Practicing deep breathing
  • Listening to music

Use digital mindful breathing cards to help focus on self-regulation skills.

One of my favorite mindful activities is mindful breathing because it’s a strategy kids can use anytime. I recently added a digital version to these mindful breathing cards, making it easy for kids and teens to carry them along with them wherever they go.

If you’re still looking for ideas, know that I have several free digital resources you can download and send home to students and families right away.

Side note: I’ve recently gotten some questions about how to properly send materials to students/families, so I’ll share here, too. All of my resources, free and paid, can be sent to families and students through e-mail or any other password-protected means, like Google Classroom or an app. Just please don’t post openly on a website, since these can be found from a Google search.

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please reach out. Thank you for all you do.

9+ strategies and ideas to focus on social emotional learning during distance learning. This post includes free ideas, printables, and even digital resources to help teachers and support staff get started. #pathway2success

Filed Under: Social Emotional Learning, Special Education, Teaching, Tips for Teachers

10+ Social Emotional Activities for Home

March 13, 2020 by pathway2success 1 Comment

Social emotional learning isn’t just something that should be practiced and taught at school. SEL skills are life skills, of course! These include skills like empathy, self-control, and decision-making.

Before I even get started, while I was writing this post, I decided to also create a set of SEL printables you can send home with parents and families right away. Of course, if you’re a parent looking for extra activities, I would encourage you to use them on your own, too! They include four choice boards covering skills like responsibility, friendships, strengths, and managing emotions. You can download your free printable SEL activities here.

It’s important to mention that you don’t have to be an expert with social emotional skills to teach and practice them with kids. Even small activities, like reading books and playing games, can strengthen social skills and teach kids important skills along the way. This matters.

Whenever you are doing a new activity, it’s important to let kids know what skills they are working on. This makes every SEL activity more purposeful and targeted. For example, if you are playing board games, just briefly remind kids that they are working on important social skills like taking turns and showing fairness. This can lead to a good conversation about what those skills mean and why they matter.

Here are some SEL activities you can encourage parents to try, or do with your own children!

Empathy in Action

Skills targeted: Empathy, Perspective-Taking

How to try it: Spend some time watching a show or movie. At any given time, pause and discuss how the characters are feeling. You might ask: “How are they feeling?” and “How would you feel if that happened to you?” Use this conversation to build on considering how others feel, discussing social cues, and caring about their emotions.

Acts of Kindness Challenge

Skills targeted: Kindness, Empathy

How to try it: Use this free printable random acts of kindness challenge to encourage kids to be kind to others. For each kind act they do, have them color in the picture. Another option is to have them give an example of each kind act before they color it in.

Just Chat!

Skills targeted: Self-Awareness, Conversation Skills, Relationships

How to try it: Start by asking kids questions about anything from their favorite foods and activities to what three items they might bring on a deserted island with them. Many questions can help work on conversation skills, turn-taking, and self-awareness. You can start with this free printable list of conversation questions or consider these social emotional learning task cards to chat and focus on the skills more explicitly.

10+ free social emotional learning ideas to use at home for parents. #pathway2success

Mindful Breathing

Skills targeted: Mindfulness, Coping Skills, Managing Emotions

How to try it: Let kids know that they will be practicing mindful breathing. Explain that mindful breathing is just focusing on breathing in and out to help calm our minds and bodies. There are many different mindful breathing exercises to try out. One of my favorites is “Cool off the pizza.” In this activity, have kids pretend they have a hot slice of pizza in front of them. Slowly breathe in to smell the pizza and breathe out to cool it down. Another one of my favorites is bubble breathing. If you have bubbles on hand it is even better, but you can also pretend! Practice breathing in and out as you blow bubbles. Learn more about other ideas to practice mindful breathing.

Mindful Scavenger Hunt

Skill targeted: Mindfulness, Attention

How to try it: Explain that mindfulness is learning to focus on the present. This can help our minds and bodies feel calm and in control. On your own, create a list of 10 or 12 items you want kids to find. Note that this can be done inside or outside. For example, if outside, you might want them to find a plant, a pine cone, something blue, and something bumpy. If inside, you might want them to find something yellow, something in the shape of a square, and something that makes noise. You can create your own scavenger hunts (or skip the prep with the ones I’ve made), so it’s entirely up to you and what you have! Give kids time to find these items and have them write them down on a piece of paper to document them.

Kindness Share

Skills targeted: Kindness, Confidence

How to try it: Discuss what it means to be kind and give compliments. come up with some examples together. Then, have each person (kids and adults) write their name on a piece of paper. Pass that paper to your right. When you get someone else’s paper, write something kind and thoughtful about that person.

Organize It

Skills targeted: Planning, Organization

How to try it: Discuss what it means to be organized and how we know when something is organized and tidy. Gather a set of supplies for each child or team. Set the timer to a certain amount (five minutes, for example) and see if the child can return those items to the correct spot.

Mindfulness 5-4-3-2-1

Skills targeted: Mindfulness, Coping Skills, Self-Regulation

How to try it: Explain that kids will be practicing mindfulness, which is a skill that helps us stay calm and in control. Have kids look around their room to find 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste. This is a grounding exercise that can help manage tough emotions and provide a mental reset when needed. After giving it a try, you can move to another room and try the same. More free mindfulness activities and ideas can be found here.

Optical Illusions

Skills targeted: Perspective-Taking

How to try it: Find any optical illusions online or use this free printable worksheet. Have kids review the optical illusions. First, have them think about what they see and write it down. Then, share. Kids should quickly notice that what they see isn’t always what others might see. Explain how optical illusions are like situations; sometimes you and someone else can see the same situation in different ways. As a follow-up, kids can find their own optical illusions online.

SEL Read Alouds

Skills targeted: All SEL skills (varies depending on book)

How to try it: Choose any read aloud. As you read through the book, stop and discuss the social emotional skills embedded in the book. One skill that carries across all picture books, for example, is empathy. You can talk about how the character might feel, what they might be thinking, and how you can tell. Depending on which book you choose, many different social emotional skills can be discussed from confidence to decision-making and beyond. Grab this free printable SEL Read Aloud List to help you get started.

Board Games

Skills targeted: Turn-Taking, Sportsmanship

How to try it: Use any board games you have on hand, such as Monopoly or Candy Land. These games can help support a number of skills, including taking turns, having conversations, and showing good sportsmanship. Check here for some other ideas for social emotional games you can use.

Mindful Coloring

Skills targeted: Mindfulness, Coping Skills

How to try it: Set the tone with some calming music. Have kids color or doodle quietly as they breathe in and out. Note that you can use any coloring pages or books on hand, or grab these free printable mindful coloring pages to start.

Charades

Skills targeted: Social Cues, Emotions

How to try it: Discuss that our body language and facial expressions can often hint at what we’re doing and how we’re feeling. Have each person or child come up with an activity, such as making a sandwich, and then act it out. See if others can guess the activity. Note that you can also do this with emotions, by having kids act out different emotions and seeing if others can correctly guess.

Journal Writing

Skills targeted: Emotions, Self-Regulation, Self-Awareness

How to try it: Explain that writing in a journal can help express our feelings and thoughts. Set the timer for 5 or 10 minutes, and have each person just write what is on their mind. Give time for kids to share their thoughts afterward if they want. Another option is to use open-ended prompts for kids to write about. You can learn more about mindful journaling here as well.

Inspirational Quotes

Skills targeted: Kindness, Perseverance, and many more

How to try it: Find a couple examples of your favorite inspirational quotes. This will vary depending on the age level of the children. For example, you might read, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Discuss the quote and what it means. Then, give a topic and have kids find or create their own quotes on that topic. Have them write them down and share them. You can even have kids design their own posters for the quote.

Practice Positive Affirmations

Skills targeted: Positive Thinking, Confidence, Self-Love

How to try it: Explain that positive affirmations are kind and supportive words we say to ourselves to lift us up. For example, before a big test, we might say, “I can do this!” Ask kids to think of their own positive words they might say. Use this free printable positive affirmations list to have kids find their favorite positive self-talk statements. Practice saying them, writing them down, and creating cards for each of their favorites.

I-Spy

Skills targeted: Attention, Mindfulness

How to try it: This is probably a game you’ve played before, but it’s important to mention because SEL skills can be easily integrated! Start by saying, “I spy with my little eye….”. For example, you might spy something green. Have kids stay just where they are and look around for the item. Instead of just guessing, it’s helpful to have them ask questions that really cause them to think. For example, they might say, “is it something you can play with?” and “is it something you can write on?” After giving some time for questions, allow the child to guess what it is. Whoever guesses it right can by the next to spy something.

Need more ideas? I’ve put together a massive list of 100+ FREE social emotional learning activities, printables, ideas, and more. Use it for yourself or share it to help someone else in need.

Filed Under: Social Emotional Learning

Managing Disrespectful & Rude Behaviors in the Classroom

March 3, 2020 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Strategies for managing disrespectful, rude, and other challenging behaviors in the classroom. This post is targeted to teachers and principals who need support with challenging behaviors in elementary, middle, and high school. #pathway2success #behaviormanagement

Let’s talk about disrespectful behaviors in the classroom. The child who talks back. The student using their cell phone, even after being told to put it away. The kid who refuses to do their work, and even loudly tells you, “no!” when you try to politely give some encouragement. The student who jokes about your class being dumb, causing an eruption of laughter in the room.

As educators, we’ve all encountered some (or probably all) of these situations from time to time. Here are some strategies to help you manage these challenging behaviors and get back to what you do best – teaching your students.

Change your mindset. First, the most effective strategy is actually a mindset shift. Kids aren’t being rude to be rude or disrespectful. Kids and young adults are coping with challenging feelings the very best way they know how to in the moment. Let’s think about it: Wouldn’t it actually be easier for a student to follow the rules and just fly under the radar? In most cases, it would. So, it’s important to remember that disrespectful, rude, or challenging behaviors are not really directed at you. They are just a way to communicate needs.

Challenging behaviors are the way a child is communicating. Use these strategies, tools, and ideas to help support kids and teens in school. #pathway2success

Have empathy. Remember that we don’t know what goes on in the lives of our learners. Take a trauma-informed approach. Rather than blaming and accusing the student for their behavior, take a step back and consider that they are struggling in some way. Even if we don’t know the reasons for the struggles, it’s helpful to have empathy always.

Be consistent with expectations. Kids and teens need boundaries. Spend time teaching, discussing, and practicing the expectations. Adults can be fun and still have rules. The key, though, is that kids need to know and truly understand them. Prior to group work, talk about what the expectations for being a good ground member are. Act them out and highlight them while kids are working. Before independent work, model what a good independent worker looks like. Give reasons and explanations for these expectations. It’s also important to note that this isn’t just something for the beginning of the year. Reviewing expectations should be a year-round and continuous process. All kids benefit from a refresh and some kids truly need it.

Train yourself to not take offense. This takes real work. Remember, though, that these are kids and young adults. They are still learning and growing. It’s critical to stress that these behaviors are not often meant to be directed at you. Also, think about it: Are you really offended that a 10-year-old made fun of your hair? Do you actually feel upset that a teen said your class was stupid? When we phrase these “rude” situations like this, it seems even a little silly to take offense, really. With that said, there are times when kids and young adults can use their words as weapons. When this happens, it’s important to view those behaviors as needs and skill deficits. Train yourself to not take offense so that you can stay calm and collected.

Consider skill deficits. When a student says something mean or rude, consider how it could be the result of a lack of social skills. For example, if a student keeps blurting out in class, are they really purposefully being rude or are they struggling with self-regulation? If a child tells you that your shirt is ugly, are they trying to be mean or do they lack a strong social filter? While not all “rude” behavior fits into this category, it’s worth taking the time to consider first.

Focus on the relationship. Continually focusing on the relationship with your students demonstrating rude behaviors is extremely important – for you and for them. First, so often, a child or young adult with challenging behaviors needs connection. Spend time talking about non-school related topics, find out their interests, hear about family, and listen to their favorite music. No relationship-building topic is too small. There needs to be connection before there can be correction. There really is no other way. Use this free printable relationship-building questions list or read up on more strategies for building relationships with your learners.

Relationships are a key element to supporting kids with behavioral challenges in the classroom. Help kids and teens while improving the entire atmosphere of the classroom. #pathway2success

Ignore what you can ignore. Sometimes, kids and young adults act out as a way to express their feelings. Of course, they aren’t going about it the right way, but in the moment is not the right time to address it. Other times, kids might be acting out for attention. In both cases, ignoring what you can ignore is often the best action in the moment. Walk away or pretend you didn’t see that eye roll. If you have to address some behaviors in the moment, say, “We’ll talk about it later.” This gives the adult the opportunity to let others know they are handling it, but also reduces any chance for power struggles along the way.

Be prepared for behavioral episodes. Using the word “ADAPT,” you can remember to act calm, de-escalate, acknowledge feelings, problem-solve, and think reflectively.

Avoid the impulse to punish. Now, I’m all for logical consequences. Punishments, though, are a whole different ball game. Sometimes, when a kid or young adult acts out, our first impulse is to punish them by giving them a detention or assigning extra homework. Almost all of the time, these on-the-fly punishments will do more damage to the relationship than they will help the problem. Problem-solving over punishing will always win.

Keep them in the room. As long as students are in your room, they can keep learning. This is especially important for those kids who refuse to do their work. Even if the student is not starting the classwork, leave them be. They will get much more out of the class conversations and discussions than they would in the office or in a desk outside your room. There are exceptions to this, of course, including when students are disruptive to the learning to others or if there are any acts of violence. It’s safe to say that those are times when additional support outside of the classroom is necessary. When possible, though, keep them in the room.

Use de-escalation strategies. Strategies to defuse a bad situation are worth their weight in gold to an educator. I strongly feel these strategies should be emphasized, discussed, and practiced during educator training every single year. Grab this free list of de-escalation strategies to print as a reminder and read up on more de-escalation strategies.

Use de-escalation strategies to reduce behavioral challenges in the classroom. Grab your free copy and learn how to manage challenges behaviors in this blog post. #pathway2success

Consider the why. There is always a reason behind the behavior. If a student is acting out when they have to do math problems at the board, maybe they are really embarrassed to do work in front of others. If a learner disrespects you when you ask for the homework, maybe they didn’t understand it and they don’t want to look dumb. Don’t focus on the what. Focus on the why. These will lead you into the right direction of problem-solving, rather than blaming.

Be self-reflective. Take some time to reflect on the situations that led up to the problem situations in your classroom. Of course, this isn’t a blame game. Being self-reflective means just considering what went wrong and what could have gone better. Could you have asked a question in a different way? Did you put the student in a situation that was maybe extremely uncomfortable for them? Was the classroom too noisy, causing the child some distress? Be open-minded and ask yourself some questions to figure out what you could do better next time.

Strategies for managing challenging behaviors in the classroom: Be reflective! Think about what might have gone wrong and how you can fix it in the future. #pathway2success

Meet privately with the student. Not punitively, meet with the student and talk with them. Rather than blaming them personally, highlight that you noticed there was a problem and you want to help solve it. For example, you might say, “Jane, I noticed there was a problem when you were working in a group yesterday. What’s going on with that?”

Listen. As educators, sometimes we have the habit of talking more than we listen. In this case, rather than talking at the student, give them time to speak. Sometimes, you will be amazed at what you learn. Maybe that student didn’t realize they were calling out. Maybe the student felt disrespected by something you said first. Regardless of what you think about their behavior, give kids a chance to speak. They deserve that. It can become the foundation for repairing relationships and moving on.

Brainstorm solutions. After listening to a student, brainstorm some strategies that might solve the issues together. Again, stay open-minded about suggestions from the student. Offer some of your own ideas as well. Actually brainstorming solutions goes a long way. The best solutions are almost always developed together.

Make a plan together. After brainstorming, set up a specific plan of action with your student. Come up with at least one thing the student can do and one thing you can do to do better next time. For example, if a student was acting out when in a difficult group setting, perhaps they can come up with a list of group ground rules, and you can agree to ask their input about their groups in the future. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to show that you care and you both are working in the right direction.

Make time for social and emotional supports. All kids and young adults deserve a supportive check-in with an adult. This can be done during morning meeting advisory, homeroom, or even study halls. Talk to kids about how their feeling and what’s going on in their world. You can even teach SEL skills with this morning meeting set for the year that I developed. While this intervention won’t fix disruptive or challenging behaviors in the moment, it is a proactive approach that will help learners throughout the year, even halting problems before they start.

Use morning meeting time to practice social emotional skills and reduce behavioral challenges in the classroom. Learn more strategies about challenging behaviors and social emotional needs in this blog post. #pathway2success

Teach the skills. If a student is lacking some social skills, teach them. If they need to work on managing their emotions, teach emotional management and coping strategies. If they need to work on self-control, discuss and practice strategies for self-regulation. While not all educators have time for this set up in their schedules, there are many ways you can integrate social skills into your instruction. Another option is talking with support staff about setting up a small lunch group to teach the skills kids need explicitly.

Focus on your own self-care. Working with challenging behaviors can be stressful. Schedule time for yourself to unwind and relax. Whether you take time reading at home, head to the gym, or schedule time with friends, find what works for you. Use this printable self-care poster for educators to remind you throughout the week.

Challenging behaviors can be stressful to deal with! Use strategies to focus on your own self-care. #sel #pathway2success

Throughout these strategies, there is a solid theme. Educators can learn to ADAPT. This is a acronym I created to stand for: Act calm, De-escalate, Acknowledge feelings, Problem-solve, and Think reflectively. These are the essential elements of handling challenging behaviors in the classroom, including behaviors we see as disrespectful and rude. If you are a subscriber, head over to the free resource library to grab your very own ADAPT poster as a reminder. If you aren’t a subscriber yet but are curious, head over here to learn more and join.

Have you been successfully managing disrespectful or rude behaviors in the classroom? Feel free to share what is working for you!

Strategies for managing disrespectful, rude, and other challenging behaviors in the classroom. This post is targeted to teachers and principals who need support with challenging behaviors in elementary, middle, and high school. #pathway2success #behaviormanagement



Filed Under: Behavior Management, Classroom Management, Positive Behavior Supports, Social Emotional Learning, Tips for Teachers Tagged With: behaviors

Executive Functioning Activities to Start the Morning

February 17, 2020 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Use engaging and fun executive functioning activities to help jump start kids and teens in the morning. Simple activities like mindful breathing, brain games, journaling, and exercising, can help activate students' brains in the classroom. #pathway2success #executivefunctioning

We all want kids and young adults to start their days off calm, confident, and ready for success. Helping learners nurture their executive functioning skills can be a strategy for getting there. EF skills are the brain abilities we use to plan, organize, and start tasks. Ultimately, our executive functions impact everything from smaller activities like putting the right binder in the backpack to head out to school, to much more complex tasks such as planning for an essay to start and finish before the end of a class.

While some learners struggle with executive functions more than others, all students can build and improve them along the way. Here are eight executive functioning activities you can try to help start students off on the right foot.

Materials Checklist

It’s helpful to have a materials checklist listed just as they enter the door. My favorite spot to post this is actually right outside the classroom. For example, if students need their textbook today, post it and let them know. This gives kids a chance to ask themselves, “Do I have everything I need?” before even walking through the door.

For many classrooms, the list will be the same every day and that’s okay! It serves as a reminder for all students to have a pencil, their notebook, homework, and any other materials they need to succeed.

Preview of the Day

Start the morning by listing your daily schedule on the board. Review it by quickly highlighting your plan for the day. For example, you might say, “This morning, we’re going to review our homework, learn about how to visualize as we read, practice the skill, and start the homework for tonight.” This only has to take a minute, but it can have a positive impact on mindset because it prepares learners for what’s coming.

Morning Meeting

Holding a daily morning meeting helps build community. While at first, it might not seem like this practice is directly related to executive functioning skills, it is. By starting the day with a specific and predictable routine, this can help learners organize their thoughts.

Additionally, morning meeting can be the perfect time to talk about skills like organization, self-control, and perseverance.

Another thing to consider is that the classroom can be a scary place for kids with executive functioning challenges. We ask these learners to take risks every day by working on skills that don’t come easy to them. With that, it’s critical that classroom space is welcoming, encouraging, supportive, and accepting of mistakes. One way to gain that sense of positive classroom community is by leading a daily morning meeting. When students feel safe and loved, they will be better ready to pay attention, initiate tasks, and persevere through challenges.

Use engaging and fun executive functioning activities to help jump start kids and teens in the morning. Simple activities like mindful breathing, brain games, journaling, and exercising, can help activate students' brains in the classroom. #pathway2success #executivefunctioning

Morning Exercise Routine

Exercise activates the brain. Help give kids a jump start every morning with a quick daily exercise routine. Spend a few minutes with a daily workout video. You could also lead students through simple stretches, jog in place or practice yoga postures.

If you’re looking to make things more interesting, try a timed scavenger hunt around the room, or outside if the weather is nice. Kids can do this in partners or on their own.

Not only is exercise encouraging a healthy habit, but it will also help students improve focus and be ready to learn.

Use engaging and fun executive functioning activities to help jump start kids and teens in the morning. Simple activities like mindful breathing, brain games, journaling, and exercising, can help activate students' brains in the classroom. #pathway2success #executivefunctioning

Organize and Prepare Time

Explicitly schedule time first thing in the morning for students to organize and prepare for the day. During this time, students can sharpen pencils, gather belongings, tidy desk or backpack, write in homework log, and turn homework in.

Question of the Day

Writing can be used as a predictable routine to help students start off the day focused, organized, and calm. Choose a daily prompt to write on the board or projector. As students come in, have them respond independently in their journals. You can even touch other social-emotional bases using questions that target critical SEL skills, like empathy, organization, and problem-solving.

Grab a free week of daily social emotional learning journal prompts to start the morning.

Free-write Journaling

Similar to a question of the day, a free write also helps provide a predictable routine. The difference is that students are choosing what to write about entirely on their own. This can serve as a safe space for students to free their minds before starting the day. It can also help them ask any questions or share feedback with you in a private way.

Class Read Aloud

Choose a read aloud or have your students pick one for the morning. In particular, short picture books are a simple and quick way to increase attention for the day. Also, this can be an easy way to integrate other executive functioning skills like flexibility, self-control, and perseverance. As you read, stop and talk about the characters as they use each of those skills.

Brain Games

Brainteasers, riddles, and other puzzles are simple activities to help students activate their brains in an engaging way. Whether you use a crossword, word search, memory game, or play on words, these activities will help start the day off strong. As an added bonus, they can also help practice skills like organization, planning, working memory, attention, and perseverance.

Use engaging and fun executive functioning activities to help jump start kids and teens in the morning. Simple activities like mindful breathing, brain games, journaling, and exercising, can help activate students' brains in the classroom. #pathway2success #executivefunctioning

Classroom Jobs

Classroom jobs are a healthy way to start each morning, as they give every child a purpose in the room. This can be a positive strategy in just setting a predictable routine, helping your students feel valued, helpful, and organized for the day. It’s helpful to assign specific classroom jobs to best suit your learners. For example, if a student has a strength with using technology, have them turn on the laptops first thing in the morning. If another student is especially artistic, give them the role of drawing a positive welcome message to others. A classroom job can help all students start the morning with a positive frame of mind and allow them to feel mentally prepared for the rest of the day.

Practice Mindful Breathing

Think of mindful breathing as a brain break. They are a quick activity to help students reset and refresh before moving on. Not only can they be an effective morning strategy, but really can be used between any tasks. Learn more about mindful breathing, why it’s important, and a few simple mindful breathing exercises you can use with your learners.

Use engaging and fun executive functioning activities to help jump start kids and teens in the morning. Simple activities like mindful breathing, brain games, journaling, and exercising, can help activate students' brains in the classroom. #pathway2success #executivefunctioning

Positive Affirmations

All kids and young adults could use more positivity in their days. This is especially true for kids who struggle with executive functioning skills. These are the students who are more likely to struggle with basic tasks like following directions, starting work right away, and paying attention. Over time, these challenges can lead to reduced self-esteem. To counteract this, use positive affirmations to help build kids up and feel good about themselves before starting their day. More confident learners are more likely to task risks, stay motivated, and work to their individual potentials even in the face of difficulties. Grab a free positive affirmations list and let your students create their own individualized lists to start.

Download a free printable list of positive affirmations for kids & young adults.

If you want to help build learners’ executive functioning skills, just give one or two strategies a try! Even small steps are steps in the right direction to helping kids and young adults strengthen their executive functioning skills.

Interested in more executive functioning posts? Check out the following articles:

  • Understanding Executive Functioning Skills
  • 15 Executive Functioning Strategies for the Classroom
  • Executive Functioning Interventions for Organization
Use engaging and fun executive functioning activities to help jump start kids and teens in the morning. Simple activities like mindful breathing, brain games, journaling, and exercising, can help activate students' brains in the classroom. #pathway2success #executivefunctioning

Filed Under: Executive Functioning Skills, Social Emotional Learning, Special Education, Teaching, Tips for Teachers Tagged With: executive functioning, executive functioning skills, study skills

Using Positive Affirmations as a Morning Routine

February 4, 2020 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Use morning positive affirmations as a positive and motivating way to start each day with your students! Learn how you can follow a few steps to promote a more positive classroom climate with a free printable download right away. A great way to integrate social emotional learning into every teacher's classroom. #sel #positiveaffirmations #pathway2success

Positive self-talk is a powerful social-emotional tool that can help kids and young adults in many ways, from managing tough emotions to persevering through challenges. Reading positive affirmations, or sayings, in the morning is a healthy strategy to create a routine that builds our positive self-talk voice.

The power of positive self-talk is real. When used on a regular basis, positive self-talk can help build confidence, reduce stress, encourage risk-taking, improve mood, and promote a sense of happiness overall. By taking just a few minutes each day, we can teach kids and young adults skills they can use throughout their whole life.

So often, kids and young adults speak with a negative self-talk voice. Here are a few examples you might have heard:

  • “This class is dumb.”
  • “I can’t do this.”
  • “I’m not good at math.”
  • “I can’t believe I’m so stupid. How did I make that mistake?”

By explicitly teaching and practicing positive self-talk, we can help those students instead say things like:

  • “Today will be a great day.”
  • “If I work hard, I can do tough things.”
  • “I am strong and beautiful.”
  • “I make mistakes sometimes, and that’s okay.”

One of the most important ways to change negative self-talk to positive self-talk is to create an ongoing routine. It is truly a practice; one that requires effort, consistency, and encouragement. To create a positive morning routine, just use this free printable affirmations list and follow the simple steps to get started right away.

Use morning positive affirmations as a positive and motivating way to start each day with your students! Learn how you can follow a few steps to promote a more positive classroom climate with a free printable download right away. A great way to integrate social emotional learning into every teacher's classroom. #sel #positiveaffirmations #pathway2success

Grab your free printable positive affirmations activity to start right away.

Discuss the Importance of Positive Self-Talk

Explain to students that positive self-talk are the words we say to ourselves to provide encouragement. We might use positive self-talk before a tough test, when we feel overwhelmed with homework, or after something doesn’t go our way.

Read and Choose Affirmations

Have students highlight or circle their top affirmations. Encourage students to internalize the words and think about what they mean to them. It is helpful for every student to have their own individualized list of positive affirmations, so that it is personalized and special to them. Students can even come up with their very own positive affirmation statements.

Use morning positive affirmations as a positive and motivating way to start each day with your students! Learn how you can follow a few steps to promote a more positive classroom climate with a free printable download right away. A great way to integrate social emotional learning into every teacher's classroom. #sel #positiveaffirmations #pathway2success

Write a Positive Affirmation List

Have students list out their top ten affirmations on a piece of paper. After writing them out, students can color or design their affirmation list. This will be the set of affirmations kids and young adults will refer to day after day. While it’s true that they can go back and add or change statements, it’s helpful to have one static list to start.

Use morning positive affirmations as a positive and motivating way to start each day with your students! Learn how you can follow a few steps to promote a more positive classroom climate with a free printable download right away. A great way to integrate social emotional learning into every teacher's classroom. #sel #positiveaffirmations #pathway2success

Read Affirmations Each Morning

Students can keep this list in their folders, binders, or anywhere else that they will have access to it each morning. Start a morning ritual by giving 2-5 minutes each morning to read through their positive affirmations out loud to themselves (or silently, if you prefer).

Using Affirmations as a Coping Skill

Of course, morning isn’t the only time kids and teens can use their positive affirmations. Positive self-talk is a healthy coping skill. Teach them to pull them out and use them whenever they need them, such as before a challenging assessment or feeling let down by a friend.

Use these simple steps and this printable positive affirmations list to get your learners started. It will make a difference for now and in the future!

Use morning positive affirmations as a positive and motivating way to start each day with your students! Learn how you can follow a few steps to promote a more positive classroom climate with a free printable download right away. A great way to integrate social emotional learning into every teacher's classroom. #sel #positiveaffirmations #pathway2success

Filed Under: Social Emotional Learning, Special Education, Tips for Teachers Tagged With: positive affirmations, positive self talk, self talk, social emotional learning

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⭐ Kristina Scully
💖 SEL & Executive Functioning
💻 Blogger at www.thepathway2success.com
👩‍🏫 Curriculum Specialist
🏫 10 Year Special Ed Teacher

Pathway 2 Success
Flexible thinking is SUCH an important skill. It c Flexible thinking is SUCH an important skill. It can be the difference between a child getting extremely angry when their pencil is missing (assuming someone stole it) and staying calm (considering that maybe it's just lost on the ground).⁣
Flexible thinking is not easy (for kids or adults honestly). It takes practice. It takes effort. But it can be strengthened by talking through real scenarios.⁣
Can you think of another reason why a pencil might go missing?⁣
Cards are in my profile! (and yes, they are digital too!)⁣
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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Flexible-Thinking-Task-Cards-2864258⁣
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What are some challenging behaviors you've worked What are some challenging behaviors you've worked through lately? I developed the acronym ADAPT to remember these 5 steps when working through challenging behaviors. Read more on my blog and even grab a free printable to help you through these tough moments!⁣
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https://www.thepathway2success.com/managing-challenging-behaviors/⁣
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Executive functioning skills from A-Z! I actually Executive functioning skills from A-Z! I actually had a lot of fun brainstorming for this resource, because I wanted at least 1 skill for every letter of the alphabet. I ended up with 40 mini-lessons and activities focusing on different skills.⁣
A is for attitude and activating your brain. B is for brain skills and being self-aware. E is for evaluating priorities. M is for memory skills and meeting deadlines. I could go on!⁣
It's designed as an interactive EF workbook to target all these skills, but I've also added a printable workbook in case digital isn't what you need at the time. ⁣
Check it out with the link in my profile and I hope you love it as much as I do. ⁣
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Executive-Functioning-Digital-Workbook-from-A-to-Z-Distance-Learning-6299240⁣
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Sending a freebie your way! These cards target soc Sending a freebie your way! These cards target social skills across a variety of settings and scenarios. Use them as task cards, journal prompts, or discussion starters.⁣
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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Social-Problem-Solving-Task-Cards-Free-Distance-Learning-2026178⁣
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Five steps for leading a morning meeting focused o Five steps for leading a morning meeting focused on SEL! ⁣

If you need more ideas, check the link in my profile for a post I wrote.⁣
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https://www.thepathway2success.com/5-steps-for-leading-a-morning-meeting-focused-on-sel/⁣
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#teacherspayteachers #tpt #iteachtoo #teachersofig #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #iteach #specialed #specialeducation #education #teaching #classroom #teachergram #sel #socialemotionallearning #socialskills #morningmeeting #advisory #distancelearning
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