Tips for Teachers

5 Daily Struggles for Kids with Executive Functioning Challenges

September 4, 2018 by pathway2success 1 Comment

A number of kids struggle with executive functioning skills on a daily basis. Sometimes these struggles are obvious, like having a messy binder or forgetting to turn homework in, but other times they are more hidden. This is a critical topic because all educators have these kids in our classrooms every single day. Here are five daily struggles for kids with executive functioning challenges and what you can do to help:

STAYING ORGANIZED. To me, this is one of the biggest challenges I’ve seen after teaching middle school especially. In school, kids are expected to juggle and organize so many different papers, binders, journals, and books. So often, students don’t know the right place to put materials or organize in the first place. Other times, even when students do understand how to organize, there is often just not enough time. The bell rings and it’s time to transition to the next class, so what does the student do? Shove all their papers into the closest folder and heads out right away. Finally, for many kids, disorganization has been the only way they’ve ever known! Some of these kids don’t realize how much easier and orderly life would be if they just learned a few extra skills and tricks.

What you can do:

Explicitly teach organization. Always spend time teaching organization. No matter the age, your learners are going to need to learn your system of organization. That takes time and practice! I developed an Organization Boot Camp specifically for kids and young adults who struggle and need a more in-depth set of activities to teach these skills.
Set up a homework binder. Helping kids set up a specific spot for homework only can make a huge difference for organization. This should be the dedicated spot where all current homework goes. It helps kids differentiate what work needs to be done tonight and what work needs to be filed away in another spot. You can use this free homework binder template to start your students off.
Give time to organize. I would say this is one of the easiest things you can do that is often forgotten about! When you ask students to change from one binder to another, give your struggling organizers sufficient time to do it. Moving on too fast only reinforces kids who shove papers away in a messy manner. These kids are going to take more time putting materials away in the right spot, and they deserve that time to do it.
Use visuals. Take a picture of a model desk to show how it should be organized. Tape the photo on the wall or on a certain student’s desk to help remind them.

TRANSITIONS. Many kids with EF challenges struggle when it’s time to stop something and move on to something else. This task switching really takes a lot of brain power! You have to have self-control to stop what you are already engaged in, use organizational skills to put things away in their correct places, initiate the switch, and be mentally flexible to move on to something new. This can be especially difficult when adults are expecting a learner to transition to a new task or class within just a few minutes. While many students have have routines and strategies to help them during transition times, there is a large portion of kids who just never put those puzzle pieces together. This can often leave them even more disorganized, confused, and behind schedule.

What you can do:

Create routines. Practice your transitions several times with students so they become second nature. Kids who are inflexible and struggle with changing from one activity to another will do considerably better when the transition is practiced and more comfortable.
Give countdowns. Let students know how much time they have left to work on their research papers or during break time. This at least gives a concrete warning. For kids who struggle with time management, setting a backwards timer can be helpful, too.
Use a chime. Using a calming sound like a chime when it’s time for transitions can help prime kids and young adults for the change. It will gain their attention and help serve as a memorable indicator that it’s time to change what we’re doing.
Use visuals. Make a list of steps for transitions that are particularly difficult and keep them posted. This will serve as a visual reminder when it is time to move from one activity to another or switch classes.
Use social scripts. Previewing the steps of a transition can be extremely helpful for kids. A social script is a short narrative a child or young adult can read to themselves prior to the transition to remind them of the expectations and plan. You can create your own or use these social scripts to help kids who need this extra support.

HOMEWORK. The whole idea of homework is that it should be extended practice kids and young adults can do independently. When a learner has a difficulty with executive functioning skills, that is often not the case at first. So often, kids with EF challenges don’t ever stop to write the homework down in class in the first place, or stop to make sure they have all their materials before they head home. This is the first thing that sets them back. Further, starting homework independently takes a good amount of task initiation skills mixed with self-control. For kids with already-weak inhibition skills, playing videogames, chatting with friends, or playing outside seems a lot more enticing than opening up a math book. Finally, when learners do finally start the homework, it can be challenging and, let’s be honest, boring. Sticking with it, or perseverance, is a skill that many students don’t always have on their own. If they come to a task that’s perceived as challenging, it’s often easier to abort the mission than to seek out solutions and work though.

What you can do:

Be consistent. Keep homework written in the exact same spot in your classroom every day. Teach students that this is the one homework spot and keep it consistent throughout the year. This makes a huge difference for kids who struggle with EF skills, since it can become a lot of mental energy and work to figure out where the homework is before even starting the process of writing it down.
Give prompts. Take time to prompt students to write homework down, especially the ones you know struggle to do it. Instead of just telling them to write it down, encourage them to think on their own by saying, “What should you be doing down right now?” or “Look around and notice what others are writing down.”
Make an end of the day checklist. Help kids come up with a list detailing what they need when they walk out the door. This can help students review their homework planners, make sure they know what assignments to work on, and bring home the necessary materials. Use this free end of the day checklist to get started.
Talk to families. Help set up more positive supports at home for kids who struggle with getting their work done. Talk to families about a dedicated workspace for homework and strategies for when the child gets stuck on assignments.

FOCUSING IN CLASS. Attention is a fascinating skill. It’s not something we just keep on permanently. Instead, it’s a skill we learn to focus and re-adjust constantly when we find ourselves starting to zone out. Kids with weak executive functioning often don’t know this secret, though. In a class, these are the students who are frequently looking out the window, playing with something in their desk, or just daydreaming to themselves. It’s not that they mean to not pay attention. It’s often that they don’t know how and when to refocus themselves in the right way. This becomes especially challenging in long classes with lots of lecture and talking. Of course, a child or young adult can also become extremely frustrated when they can’t focus, as it causes them to feel confused and not know what is going on. Sometimes, this can unfortunately snowball into a child who gives up easily and doesn’t try. Again, it’s not that they want to be unfocused, but they are severely lacking the skills to get there.

What you can do:

Incorporate movement. Learning doesn’t have to be stationary! Kids learn better when they are moving. Have students working while standing up at the board during math time, or moving from center to center when completing writing prompt questions. If you have a specific student who needs even more movement, give them specific jobs to deliver messages to another teacher or the office just to get their legs moving throughout the day.
Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a great strategy to help kids improve their focus while also learning skills for managing emotions and feeling calm. You can use mindfulness activities just before a test, after a transition, or any other time to calm kids feel more focused and in control. Note that mindfulness is a long-term practice and not a quick fix, but can really help kids over time!
Give time for brain breaks. Brain breaks are another great option to get kids moving. They are quick activities that help break up the learning and let the brain recharge for a short period of time. You can do anything from having kids do 10 jumping jacks to practicing a few yoga postures. These activities can be done anytime between transitions to help keep kids alert. I love these executive functioning games and play activities, mainly because they provide a fun brain break while still working on the skills kids need!
Teach attention skills. Explicitly teach what it means to focus in class, what behaviors students can engage in to help them stay focused, and how to refocus when attention wanes.

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS. Sometimes when we think of executive functioning, we only think of academics. That’s actually not always the case! Kids and young adults who struggle with EF skills also can experience big challenges when it comes to social skills and dealing with others. Lots of social situations require us to understand social rules, use self-control, plan our responses, have flexibility when things don’t go our way, and use coping skills to manage our emotions when we are upset. For kids who lack these skills, social interactions can be especially difficult.

What you can do:

Openly express social expectations. If you are having group work, make sure you go over what it means to be a good partners ahead of time. I love using visuals for this because they are something you can keep up to remind students, as needed. Just a simple list for what you do when you are playing games with others or a visual to show group work expectations can go a long way.
Explicitly teach social skills. All kids can benefit from social skill instruction, though some need it more explicitly than others. You can use social skills lessons for younger students or social skills lessons for older kids to teach the skills they need. These lessons and activities can be taught in morning meeting, during a lunch group, or advisory periods.
Use social scripts. Some students really benefit from previewing social expectations right before a situation occurs. You can have social scripts for before recess, lunch, group work, and other social times to help remind students what will happen and what they can do. You can develop your own or use these pre-made social scripts to help support students’ needs.
Give opportunities for positive social interactions. Kids need practice in applying social skills! You can always integrate your content into games and group activities to give students this time with their peers. I also love these games and play activities for executive functioning skills as a way to specifically target the EF skills these kids need.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING RESOURCES & IDEAS. If you are seeking more information about executive functioning skills and how you can support your learners, consider the following blog posts and resources:

Blog Posts:

Resources to Teach EF Skills:

An Open Letter to Administrators of Special Educators

July 2, 2018 by pathway2success 4 Comments

Dear administrators,

Let me start off by saying that I write this letter on behalf of special educators. While it’s true that I might not speak for every single special ed teacher, after spending 10 years in the classroom, I like to think I speak for many.

First off, we truly appreciate all that you do. As a special educator, our caseloads are often so small compared to the number of students you must interact with on a daily basis. We understand that the mandates, challenging behaviors, and needs of a whole school are a lot to handle. We respect your role and want to be there to support you to make the best possible impact on our school community together. But in order to do this together, there are a few things you need to know from the special educators you work with.

Please respect that what we do is different from the average classroom teacher. And when I say that, I don’t mean better or worse. We’re just different. While a teacher might have multiple report card comments and grades to enter, we spend time updating our IEP goals. While a regular educator grades a stack of tests, we are scoring, analyzing, and writing reports for our educational evaluations. Please value the work that we do every day, even though it doesn’t look exactly the same as other teachers.

When you walk into our classrooms, please don’t judge us right off the bat. Special educators must be masters of going with the flow and putting out a fire before it becomes an inferno. You might not even realize we are using these skills in the moment, but we are. If you walk in and we’re playing Uno or talking about our dogs, trust me, there’s a really good reason. If you see us blissfully walking past a behavior that another student would probably get a detention for, we’re not clueless. We’re using planned ignoring in an effort to extinguish that behavior. When you notice we are celebrating something that seems like a small task, it’s because it took that child a lot to get there. And yes, the classroom might be a complete disaster at any given moment. Whether that’s because a child had an emotional meltdown or because we just haven’t had a moment to clean up from our craft activity, know that we are working on it.

Understand that relationship-building is an essential part of our job. We are expected to help kids work on their weaknesses every day, pushing them to go further and further. This takes a truly special type of bond between an educator and the students. Sometimes that means we have to do silly things or just spend time building those relationships up. This isn’t wasted time. It’s an investment in building confidence and relationships with our students so we can help them get to where they need to be.

Know that there are parts to our job you may never “see”. While some of these are not specific to special ed, I do think it’s important to note them. We spend countless hours communicating with parents through email, on the phone, and in person to build strong home-school connections. We tirelessly collaborate with regular education teachers to try and find a balance between the appropriate level of supports and modifications. Many special educators also spend nights answering additional parent emails to update on a child’s day, writing educational reports for an upcoming IEP meeting, and finding materials to bring our lessons to live for our students. To be quite honest, there’s not enough time to do everything during the school day. So, even though you don’t see these things happening, just know that they are and we’re working really hard to make a difference every day.

Give us positive feedback. Of course, you should tell us you appreciate us and that we’re an asset to the building, but do more than that. Let us know specifically what you saw that showed us what a great job we’re doing. Write us a quick note expressing how you saw how we interacted with a student who was having a tough moment and helped to turn that child’s day around. Send a quick email recognizing how organized we were for a really challenging IEP meeting that went on.

Spend time in our classrooms. Get to know our students and how amazing they are every single day. At the next IEP meeting for each child, we would love nothing more than for you to share something positive you saw that child doing or discuss a strength you’ve seen in action. Being in our classrooms helps you understand our needs, too. Special educators have a way of solving problems without ever making an issue out of it. We would love for you to see how innovative and creative we are, but also to recognize the needs for things in our room we don’t have.

Recognize the amazing work of our paraprofessionals. I even like to call them paraeducators because that’s what they are. Educators. So often, the paraeducators in a school go unnoticed. They work magic with our students and our the true backbone to a strong special education department. While they don’t often want the spotlight, it would mean so much to us if you could recognize the hard work they do day in and day out.

Encourage us to grow. We are specialized in special education, but that doesn’t mean we know everything. Offer us new strategies, share recent articles about techniques you’ve heard of, and even encourage us to attend an outside professional development session on a topic that would make a difference for our learners.

Most importantly, know we love our students. In special ed, it is absolutely always about the kids. With that, we know what’s best for our kids. When we suggest a reading program, modification, or communication device for our learners, it’s because they really need it. When we mention that a student really needs paraprofessional support, it’s because we professionally know this is the right step to be made. We’re not trying to make things easier for our kids or make our own lives easier either. We are always trying to push our kids forward. Sometimes that means taking one step back before a leap can be made. Know that in every single decision we make, it’s for our kids.

The job of a special educator is seriously challenging. So much so that half of special ed teachers will quit within the first 5 years. And half of those teachers who make it will leave the profession within 10 years. This isn’t said to scare anyone, but instead to prove that it’s important to listen to the voices of special educators across the country. Start with the ones in your own school and community. Talk to them. Ask them how they’re doing and what they need. Give them the support, encouragement, and autonomy to make the best choices they can for their learners.

Sincerely,

Special Education Teachers

10 Ways to Build Relationships with Kids

June 17, 2018 by pathway2success 2 Comments

Relationship building is the single most important way you can impact a child’s life. So often, kids actually can’t learn from someone they can’t connect with. I’m also convinced that building a strong relationship with a kid or young adult diminishes a huge number of behavior challenges. Many times I worked with students who were “behavior problems” in the classes of several teachers. Those teachers would think I was crazy when I would say, “They worked great for me!” and I’d even invite them to come to see those students work in the resource room with me. Building that connection is the best proactive strategy to support learning and classroom management. It’s a no brainer.

It’s critical to work on building those relationships early, because it gets harder if a student acts out in a class first. At that point, so often the teacher and student are already not getting along. Resentment builds and fixing that relationship becomes more and more challenging. It can be done, but it starts with us as the adults. So, whether you are just starting the school year or in the middle of one, use these strategies to work on building and strengthening your bonds with each of your students.

1. Talk to them about non-school related subjects. Ask about the local fair in town, how the pizza at the new restaurant in town is, and even debate what the best phone is at the moment.

2. Let them teach you about their interests. Letting kids teach their teacher can be very empowering for them. A few years ago, I worked with an 8th grade boy who knew everything about dirt-biking. He taught me about dirt-bike races, customizing bikes, and where the local places to practice were. I will be the first to tell you that you will never see me on a dirt-bike, but that did not stop me from learning! I even picked out my would-be biking gear if I ever did race. In my past years as an educator, I’ve learned about everything from My Little Pony and makeup to robotics and basketball. Find out what each student is an expert in, and let them teach you.

3. Remember things about their lives. During a lesson, activity, discussion, or just interaction in the hall, bring up something that you remember about that student. During passing time, ask them how their team did during the game over the weekend. During afternoon homeroom, strike up a conversation about a students’ family or trip they are taking soon. These small gestures remind kids that you really know and care about them.

4. Share about your own life. This is one of the strongest ways to build connections early on. Share about your family, pets, vacations, and activities you do outside of school. My middle schoolers loved hearing about my dog, Nova. In fact, we had an ongoing joke that if you wanted to distract me from class, just bring up Nova. This really helps kids to see you as a real person. It’s important to keep boundaries, of course, but a balance can and should be done.

5. Engage in activities with them. If you are after school and see kids practicing basketball, run in and take a few shots. It’s fine if you’re not a basketball star. Kids won’t care about that. Instead, they will love that you joined in. Maybe they can even give you tips about playing. Check-in with students during art club or cheer on a student at the track and field meet. I know the educators are busy. Note that you don’t have to stay the whole time or dedicate yourself to leading one of these activities. Just stopping in and showing you care will help strengthen those relationships over time.

6. Tell hilarious (and even embarrassing) stories. Sharing funny stories helps you show vulnerability in front of your students. It shows you are a real person. The time my dog barked ferociously at a snowman on a walk. When I spent a lot of money on concert tickets only to stand directly behind a 6’5” man (note that I’m 4’11”). The time I slid completely into a mud pile from my arms all the way to my toes. These real-life stories are great to bring up when you need to get kids’ attention or shift the energy in the energy in the room. And trust me, kids will remember these!

7. Share inspirational stories from your life. I loved sharing with my learners that I was the first in my family to go to college and paid for it myself. I let them know that it was actually my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Therrien, who told me that I could be the first in my family to get there, and she was right. I also loved sharing with my students about planning my trip to California, somewhere I’ve always dreamed of going. These stories help kids see you as a real person, but also remind kids that they, too, can achieve their goals and dreams.

8. Do crazy things. Don’t be afraid to do something different or wild in the classroom to get kids attention! Stand on a desk or chair while giving important directions, sing a song about a lesson, or . I’m pretty sure I embarrassed my middle schoolers with my songs, such “Write your name,” (to the tune of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Say My Name’) and “Who Let the Students Out,” (to the tune of ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’). Most importantly though, these experiences stood out for the kids. It’s fine if you’re not super comfortable going all out. Start with just one thing outside your comfort zone!

9. Use their interests in your lessons and activities. Sometimes this takes a little bit of planning but can go a long way! If you’re studying percentages in math, talk about the percentages of shots someone on a basketball team makes. If you’re learning about energy in science, discuss the energy used in a race car. There are so many options for this throughout the year.

10. Apologize when you mess up. Making mistakes does not make you a bad teacher. It happens to everyone – even the best and most seasoned educators. We do need to own up to our mistakes when we make them, though. Really apologize when you make a mistake. For whatever reason, sometimes adults don’t like to do this, but it truly goes a long way in building trust.

If you need more ideas, check out my store for lots of resources and freebies you can use with your learners right away. You might also want to read up on other blog posts I’ve written, including:

If you love the 10 Ways to Build Relationships poster below, you can now get it as a free poster in my Free Social Emotional Learning Posters.

13 Ways to Avoid Power Struggles

April 15, 2018 by pathway2success 4 Comments

As an educator or parent, getting into a power struggle can be an awful thing. We waste so much of our energy trying to get we we want that we sometimes forget what our goal was in the first place. Power struggles can be especially difficult with kids with ADHD, autism, oppositional-defiant disorder, and other social-emotional challenges. After teaching middle school special education in a behavioral classroom for ten years, I’ve picked up a few strategies on how to avoid (and get out of) power struggles.

If you find yourself needing more support with de-escalation strategies for kids and young adults, consider this De-escalation Strategies Guide with a detailed educator guide, sample scenarios, proactive strategies, and de-escalation techniques.

Here are some strategies for avoiding power struggles that you can use right away:

1. Develop a relationship early on. This is by far the most important element to reducing power struggles with kids and young adults. Talk to kids about what they’re interested in and spend time learning about those topics. That often means talking about non-school related topics, and that’s okay. Time spend on relationship building is never time wasted. It’s a prerequisite for learning.

2. Hide your frustrations. We all get frustrated with students sometimes! When that happens, take a breath and walk away. Kids really need more positivity in their lives. By showing our frustrations, we are just making kids feel poorly about themselves instead of helping them reach their individual potentials.

3. Be kind. A kind tone and “please” really can go a long way. Sometimes this can be all the child or young adult wants. Other times, kids are so shocked that someone would ask them so politely, they just end up following through right away. Be reflective with yourself frequently about how you might be coming off to another individual.

4. Give the expectation and run. That means what it says! Literally tell the child your expectation or direction privately and then get out of there. Don’t give the child a chance to talk back to you or tell you they aren’t going to do it. Get out of there!

5. Ignore what you can ignore. If a behavior isn’t interfering with the learning of others, try to ignore it. Even if it bothers you personally (like pen clicking or tapping), let it go. Most likely, another student will end up politely correcting the child. This is really the best thing when this happens because kids listen to each other much more than they listen to adults! Additionally, sometimes our reactions are actually the reinforcement that kids are looking for. By ignoring many behaviors, we are helping to extinguish them. When you want to correct a behavior, consider if you can ignore it or not first.

6. Let the child or young adult get the last word. This seems counter-intuitive in the education world. Adults always feel the need to get the last word with kids, but so often it really does not get us anywhere except further argument! My favorite strategy is just to pretend I didn’t hear it when a student talks back or says something negative under their breath. Things like, “I’m not doing it,” and “This is a stupid project,” can just be completely ignored! It will make your life easier in the end.

7. Listen and validate. If a student is having a problem or starts to argue, listen to them without interrupting. Validate them by saying, “I see your point,” and “So what you’re saying is…?”. Spending that extra time just listening to a student and letting them have a voice can defuse power struggles before they start.

8. Explain your reasoning. Let students know, “I really need all eyes on me right now so I can explain the directions to the lab and then you can go off with your groups.” Kids need to know why they should be paying attention and following rules. So often, a simple explanation can make a big difference.

9. Give choice. It’s healthy for kids and young adults to have choices. On a math homework page, let kids choose any ten to finish. For a presentation, allow students to select whether to do an oral report, a multimedia presentation, or write a report. Even really small choices can make a big difference. For example, if you have a student who struggles working with group work, ask them to choose between two groups.

10. Be flexible. Kids and young adults need structure, of course, but adults need to show they are flexible and compassionate, too. Don’t get stuck on having one right way to do things. My favorite example is letting students use gel pens to complete their work. I have never in my life seen middle schoolers so excited to complete homework. If students are working and growing, it’s okay to be a bit flexible in how they do it.

11. Know how to back out of power struggles. Finally, if you do happen to get in a power struggle, here is a winning phrase that can stop the battle right away: “Let’s talk about that later”. It defuses the situation, lets the child or young adult know you will follow up, but puts the disagreement on hold. This is a great way for teachers to address the behavior without making a huge deal of it in the moment. It tells your other students that you are handling the behavior, just not at the moment. Get this list of over 50 free de-escalation strategies you can use right away.

12. Compromise with a goal in mind. Consider what your goal is for the child. Do you want them to finish an assignment? Work in a group? Finish their test? Stay quiet during a lesson? Be willing to make accommodations and compromise with the student in order to have them meet your expectation for them. Let’s consider an example. Let’s say a student is outright refusing to start their math homework. They tell you it’s too long and they don’t do homework. If your goal is to help that student work on some math problems, ask them how many they think they could finish before the end of class. Compromise on a number and assign only those ones. While it’s not where you want the student to be, it’s a stepping stone to get there.

13. Embrace the behaviors you can. If a student has their phone out in class when they shouldn’t, direct them to look up a question about your curriculum and then give them time to share the answer with the class. When a student makes a joke, make a joke right on back! This has to be done thoughtfully, but it’s healthy to embrace the challenges when you can.

If you are interesting in this topic, be sure to read my article on 50+ de-escalation strategies with a free printable list!

25 Ways to Integrate Social Emotional Learning

March 15, 2018 by pathway2success 4 Comments

Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships, and make better decisions. Without a doubt, these are critical skills for all learners.

In my years as a teacher, I know there is just not enough time for everything. So often, social and emotional learning gets put on the back burner to other important skills like reading, writing, math, history, and science. While these skills are certainly important, I would argue that it’s even more important that kids develop their emotional intelligence through social emotional learning activities. Simply put, if kids are mentally and emotionally healthy, they are better equipped to face the challenges life brings. We just have to make the time to teach, discuss, and practice these skills! Best of all, there are many ways to integrate social-emotional learning into what you are already teaching.

Here are 25 ways to integrate social emotional learning into your classroom:

1. Use Journal Writing. You can use daily journal prompts to help kids think about social-emotional skills in all areas. For example, you might ask kids, “When was a time you used self-control? What was outcome?” to focus on self-management skills. After writing, it’s helpful to have students share their responses with a partner and with the class as a whole. Kids will be practicing writing, partner work, group discussion, and SEL skills all at the same time. I love this yearlong Social Emotional Learning Journal for just a few minutes of writing and discussion every day.

2. Teach Perspective-Taking with Read Alouds. This is one of my favorite strategies for integrating SEL into everyday learning because it is something educators do so often already. While reading, spend time talking about how some of the characters might think and feel. Use this time to highlight that this is perspective-taking, a skill we use to understand others’ emotions and thoughts. Best of all, it can be done with any text you are already reading.

3. Incorporate Art Activities. Art can be a powerful way to target social and emotional skills. Creating a self-collage can help kids develop better self-awareness about who they are. Painting and drawing can serve as positive coping strategies to manage stress. Having partners work together on a shared drawing can increase collaboration and relationship skills. There are lots of opportunities for learning with art!

4. Hold Class Meetings. You can choose to hold a class meeting once a day as a “morning meeting” or just once a week. The purpose of a class meeting can be to boost each other up, to help solve problems, and plan class events together. Having this space for community can help promote a positive climate for all kids.

5. Talk About Managing Emotions. No matter what age, all kids and young adults need practice managing their emotions. This is another skill that can be weaved into literature as you talk about character’s feelings and needs. You might say, “How did Theresa feel when her mom left? How did she manage her emotions? Do you think it was a healthy way to manage them?” Additionally, be open with kids about how to manage their own emotions and give strategies for what kids can do in your classroom. For example, “If you are feeling nervous about the test today, remember to use positive self-talk. Tell yourself that you’ve got this!”

6. Give Responsibilities. Giving kids responsibilities and jobs helps build their sense of self-worth and gives the message that we are all part of a larger community. It’s important that every student has some type of responsibility, whether it is a class librarian, lunch counter, or part of a “clean up crew”.

7. Practice Problem-Solving Skills. If students have an issue or challenge to overcome, avoid solving it for them right away. Encourage kids to think about how they could solve their problem and have a 10 minute policy – students can get your help but they need to think about the problem for at least 10 minutes first. Often, kids will figure out a solution on their own or with a friend during that time. You can use these free social problem solving task cards to get started! Again, this is another skill that can be strengthened through literature by discussing characters, problems, and making predictions about solutions.

8. Build Community with Teamwork. For class projects and assignments, have students work in larger teams to complete a task. Teach students to assign different jobs when working in a team, so that all students have important responsibilities.

9. Encourage Positive Self-Talk. Self-talk is voice in our minds that reassures and encourages us. It also helps us control our emotions so we can deal with problems appropriately. Today, kids hear a lot of negative, so teaching positive self-talk explicitly is really important. Model this and encourage this every day.

10. Celebrate Diversity. Spend time discussing and learning about people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ability levels. Kids need to hear, see, discuss, and understand that we are part of a larger community within our countries and world. Early discussions about diversity can help promote tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion for everyone.

11. Incorporate Hands-on Crafts. If your students need a craft break or activity before a holiday, use that time to promote social and emotional skills. The craft below is a Positive Self-Talk Flower Craft. Kids can add their own positive self-talk statements, color the craft, cut it out, and then keep it to help remind them how to use this helpful strategy. This is just one small example that can help to maximize your learning time by incorporating SEL into activities like crafts.

12. Encourage Reflection. After students complete a task, assessment, project, or assignment, encourage them to reflect about their own progress. This is a critical SEL skill that can be used across all curriculum, such as math, reading, writing, science, history, and more.

13. Practice Mindfulness. Using mindfulness in the classroom can help teach kids how to calm down before a big test, manage their emotions when they are upset, and just feel happier in the moment. Sometimes, kids don’t really know how to calm down on their own. Teaching mindfulness can help kids learn breathing strategies, how to focus on just one thing at a time, and relaxing our bodies. You can use these Mindfulness Activities to teach kids these strategies right away.

14. Create a Calm Down Area. Not all kids will use this area, but there are some students who truly need it. Set up a small area in your classroom with a bean bag, a few books, a calm down jar, a few fidgets, and anything else you have that is calming. Students who need this space can sit, use coping strategies, and return back to class when they are calm again.

15. Promote a Growth Mindset. Embracing a growth mindset helps kids and young adults learn that we can accomplish our goals with hard work, good strategies, and persistence over time. Sometimes kids feel they are just as smart as they’ll ever be (i.e. “I’m just never good at math, so there’s no use in trying). This mindset can be detrimental to student growth, so it is worth investing time into teaching kids to embrace a growth mindset and instead say, “Math is tough but I’m going to study, work hard, and ask for help so I can accomplish what I want to.” Use these free Growth Mindset Task Cards to get yourself started!

16. Encourage Kindness. One of my favorite ways to promote kindness is encouraging random acts of kindness. Set up a bin where students can write and add a note when they notice someone else doing something kind or helpful. Once a month, draw from the bin to award a small reward. You can also post the random acts up on a bulletin board so that everyone can see.

17. Play Games. It’s helpful to have an assortment of games that focus on social-emotional skills, such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving. You can also read my blog post about games you can use to strengthen executive functioning skills, such as self-control, planning, attention, and more.

18. Provide a Daily Check-in. You can do this either through a morning meeting, or just a quick check-in for specific students in need. Have students identify how they are feeling and consider what they might need to improve their emotions in the moment.

19. Discuss Empathy. To me, empathy is one of the most critical skills for kids to develop. It is the foundation for considering about how others think and feel so that we can respond in socially appropriate and compassionate ways. You can practice empathy on its own or through literature by discussing characters and how they might feel in a variety of situations.

20. Create SMART Goals. SMART goals are another way to help kids have control over what they want to accomplish in life. You can have students write SMART goals for an academic area that they need to improve or a social area that needs work. Make sure to check-in on these goals periodically so that students can identify if their strategies are working or not, and make decisions about how to change their approaches to make their goals a success.

21. Teach Coping Skills to Manage Stress. All kids and young adults experience stress even when we don’t see it. It is so important to teach them actual strategies they can use when they are feeling overwhelmed. It’s critical that kids practice these strategies when they are actually calm and don’t need them. That’s so they can effectively use those skills in the moment when they are struggling with emotions. I love this Coping Strategies Wheel to teach and practice some of these skills in a hands-on way.

22. Highlight Skills Throughout the Day. Just teaching or addressing some of these social-emotional skills isn’t enough. When you see them in action in the classroom, highlight and encourage the skill! For example, you might say privately to a student, “I noticed you were frustrated when you couldn’t work with the group you wanted and you did a great job using your self-control and flexibility to go with the flow and choose another group. Thank you.” You can highlight the skills to the whole class, too. You might say, “Before this test, I want everyone to just stop and use some positive self-talk. Give yourself a compliment.”

23. Teach Active Listening Skills. All kids need to learn strong active listening skills for success at school, with friends, and at their future jobs. Kids will use them in your classroom when you are teaching, when they are working with a partner on an assignment, and when they are just chatting with a friend.

24. Teach Group Ground Rules. Group work is an important part of learning in the classroom, but it is not a strength for all learners. Have your kids develop “Group Ground Rules” for what is important when working in a group. Some examples might be: Do your fair share of the work, stay with the group, and give everyone a chance to speak up. Continually remind students of these rules when working in groups or partners.

25. Practice Respectfully Disagreeing. People are going to disagree sometimes, so learning how to disagree respectfully is a critical skill (especially in our digital world). Have students discuss and debate topics, making sure that they actively listen to the other person and respect that opinion even when they don’t agree. You can use these Free Communication Skills Lessons to practice!

Remember that a social-emotional learning isn’t just one thing. It’s an approach that brings all of these aspects into your classroom and supporting your learners every day. These are just some ways you can incorporate social-emotional learning into your already-busy classroom. If you have more ideas about SEL, please share!

Teaching Kids Self-Love in the Classroom

February 12, 2018 by pathway2success 5 Comments

Today’s kids and young adults have too much negative energy all around them. Whether it is negative comments on social media, means texts going back and forth, or just overhearing the daily news, kids are drowning in negativity. With all of that considered, it can’t be said enough how much kids NEED positivity in their lives. Having a more positive mindset increases our abilities to overcome adversity, deal with challenges, and ultimately meet our personal goals in life. The good news is that kids can be taught these skills for positivity and self-love.

After reading, make sure to scroll down and enter in the giveaway so I can share some LOVE with all of you! (edit: Giveaway ended! Thank you all for entering!)

Here are some ways you can teach kids and young adults self-love in the classroom:

1. Teach positive self-talk. Positive self-talk is the internal voice that encourages us, comforts us when we feel down, and pushes us to keep going. We can teach kids to use positive self-talk by practicing statements like, “I can do this,” and “I am enough just the way I am.” The more we say and practice these positive thoughts, the more we will truly believe them. It’s a healthy coping strategy that every child and young adult should have in their toolbox for managing emotions.

2. Model and teach gratitude. Practicing gratitude just means stopping and reflecting about what you are thankful for. Benefits of gratitude include improved happiness, improved relationships, developing stronger emotional skills, and much more. Take just a few minutes each morning to reflect about what you are grateful for. Teach kids to recognize when they are thankful for seeing the sunrise in the morning, having basketball practice after school, having a supportive family member, or just having a great lunch packed for the day. Whether big or small, each situation you are thankful for helps you develop your skills of gratitude overtime.

3. Encourage a growth mindset. A growth mindset teaches us that skills can be developed over time with hard work and practice. By encouraging kids to adopt a growth mindset, we help them learn they can accomplish their goals by working hard, learning from our mistakes, and pushing our way through challenges that pop up. Rather than feeling bad about themselves when they encounter a challenge or make a mistake, help kids learn that mistakes actually teach us valuable lessons. One of my favorite ways to do this is to study successful people who failed at fist but got back up. Some famous people include Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, and Steve Jobs, to just name a few. I always want kids to realize they can do anything the want if they put their mind to it.

4. Promote kindness. I love teaching kids that when they are kind to others, it actually makes them feel good, too. Once kids begin to realize this, it helps create a positive learning environment all around. Still, it takes practice! Use Random Acts of Kindness slips to have kids record when someone else is kind to them. Post these up on a special kindness bulletin board so that the kindness-giver can be recognized.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it only makes sense to give back the LOVE to all of you as well! I’m celebrating TpT’s upcoming Sale on February 14th and 15th by giving away a $100 gift card. Just follow the directions to enter up to five times below!

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50+ De-escalation Strategies

October 15, 2017 by pathway2success 8 Comments

Being able to de-escalate and defuse situations with kids and young adults is an extremely helpful skill. Kids and young adults who become emotionally overwhelmed or irritated in a situation may begin to express their emotions in aggressive or violent ways. Some examples of these behaviors might include aggressive posturing, yelling, throwing items, swearing, and making threats. Quite often, without training, these situations become a power struggle between the young adult and the teacher. These power struggles only make the situation worse, though.

The best way to handle these types of behaviors is to de-escalate the situation as soon as possible. It’s very important to recognize that this does not mean letting the student get away with the behavior. Instead, de-escalation focuses on helping the student return their emotions back to a normal level. It is critical that the student is calm for a period of time before behavior and expectations are discussed again.

Kids and young adults with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and trauma are just some examples of those who need these strategies utilized to be successful.

If you need further training and support in this area, consider the De-Escalation Strategies Guide that includes extensive training materials, information on Oppositional Defiant Disorder, proactive strategies, reference lists, and a quick-guide to store in a spot for use on the fly.

Also, remember to download the free printable list of over 50 de-escalation strategies. They are ideal to keep on a board by your desk, in the team room, or in a binder to bring to student support meetings. Let me add that they are not only for teachers. Parents, counselors, and administrators could use them, too!

Here are over 50 strategies and phrases you can use when de-escalating a situation:

Act calm even if you’re not.
Say, “Let’s talk about this later”.
Use humor to lighten to mood.
Lower your voice.
Give a choice.
Walk away.
Ask, “What would help you right now?”
Change the subject to a positive one.
Give personal space.
Say, “I see where you are coming from.”
Distract with a positive photo of something they like.
Show that you are listening.
Remove the audience.
Say, “I want to help you.”
Talk about something they like.
Make a joke.
Encourage the person.
Remind them of something amazing they did.
Say, “You can do this.”
Call another adult for help.
Say, “Let’s call… I think they can help.”
Be willing to find a solution.
Offer to change the way you are doing something.
Re-state what the person is saying.
Validate their thoughts.
Avoid over-reacting.
Use active listening.
Offer a solution.
Let the person talk without interrupting.
Say, “I see your point.”
Offer to take a walk with the person.
Clarify expectations.
Remind them of something they love.
Apologize for something you did wrong or the way it was taken.
Invite them to do a preferred activity.
Ask if they can explain more about how they’re feeling.
Try to understand the person’s perspective.
Slow yourself down to avoid getting worked up.
Say, “So, you’re upset because… right?”
Don’t say “calm down”.
Show empathy.
Encourage the person to use a coping strategy.
Don’t take items or personal property away from them.
Encourage the person to take a walk or get a drink.
Give the person an “out” (i.e. letting them go to another room or walking away).
Ask, “Would it help if… ?”
Keep escape routes open to the door.
Coach the person with positive remarks.
Acknowledge where you agree with the person.
Remind the person, “You’re not in trouble”.
Tell the person, “I’m here for you.”
Say, “Talk to me,” and listen.
Tell the person to take a minute to themselves.
Ignore the behavior if it’s minor.
Distract by saying, “Hey, let’s go…”
Be respectful in your tone.
“Do what works” in the moment.
Spend time debriefing after the incident to identify ways to improve.
Ask them to draw a picture of what happened.
Avoid needing to get the last word.
Just give wait time.

If you love this topic, read my post on 13 ways to avoid power struggles with kids and young adults!

Clipboard Progress Monitoring

August 2, 2017 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Progress monitoring is often a lot of work for educators. In this video, I explain how how to use clipboards in your classroom to help you manage student data and progress monitoring. I love this tip because it’s a simple solution for how to take quick and easy student data on the go! After watching the video, check out the links below to find the right progress monitoring forms for you and your learners.

Resources I discussed in the video:
Free Progress Monitoring – A free set of progress monitoring forms you can use to help track student goals and progress.

Editable Progress Monitoring – An editable set of progress monitoring forms for tracking student data. The benefit to editable forms is that you can copy and paste your students’ goals right into the forms, save them on your computer, and print them. This gives you a computer file of student goals as well as a printed form for on the go progress monitoring.

Progress monitoring should help you track trends and make critical educational decisions for kids. It shouldn’t take up all of your time! Find a method for tracking data that works for you and stick with it to help your kids grow.

12 Things Special Educators Need

August 1, 2017 by pathway2success 4 Comments

Being a special educator is an amazing title that comes with lots of prep work and responsibility! There are just some resources that a special educator really needs to have in their classroom to help keep them organized, data-driven, and their students on track. Whether you are prepping your classroom for the back to school season

Here are 12 things special education teachers need for back to school:

1. A timer. These come in all shapes and sizes. My personal favorite is a visual timer that shows how much time has passed. These are just critical when you are timing a transition, a lesson, or during a student’s time out period. I like to have multiple timers all around the room. Encourage students to use them, too! It’s great to have kids timing themselves on how long an assignment will take or seeing if they can beat their past fluency rate.

2. A hanging file folder. Words cannot express how critical a hanging file folder can be! They are the perfect place to add folders with individual student names. I like to add any outstanding work, assessments to be finished, or important materials to go home to these files. Kids know when they walk in the door to check their files first. If there is anything in that file, it is a “do now”. Hanging file folders are also a great place to store reflection sheets, goal pages, homework logs, or any other resources you’re going to need frequently.

3. Extra pencils. I mean LOTS of extra pencils. Buy so many you think you will never use them and then stockpile them in a cabinet. You will probably be out by halfway through the year!

4. Magnetic tape. This stuff is the best for putting posters, index cards, artwork, and more up on your board. I personally love making an index card for each class I teach and then putting it up on the board with magnetic taper. Underneath, I’ll list the expectations and plans for the day in that class. These are great because you can use them over and over throughout the years.

5. Coping strategies notebooks. These are extremely helpful for kids with emotional challenges. A coping strategies notebook is just a binder with individualized coping strategies inside for each student. Kids can develop their notebooks with the help of an adult and use it on their own in times of stress. Use this free coping strategies notebook to get started with one in your classroom.

6. A craft bin. Add any assorted craft materials and add them to a bin or cabinet in your classroom. You just never know when a project is going to require popsicle sticks, shoe boxes, or yarn. As a special ed teacher, I end up saving everything for that one time I might need it. It comes in really handy when you do!

7. Books. A classroom library really should have a bunch of books. As a special educator, you are going to need many different levels to meet the needs of your students. Consider asking your friends and family member to donate any old childrens or teens books that they have. My first year, I was very lucky to have a friend set up donation bins at their work and church for me. I ended up bringing about ten big boxes of books into school completely free. If that’s not an option, consider checking out tag sales or sales at your local library for some deals.

8. A binder for every student. I love to use reflection binders to help kids chart their progress over time. It’s important that every student has their own individual binder to store their goals, progress, charts, data, and anything they are proud of and what to keep throughout the year.

9. Alternative seating options. In the past I’ve used mini-rugs, exercise balls, bean bags, beach chairs, and wiggle stools. Kids just love having the option to sit a different way. This is especially important for kids with ADHD. While some seating options can be on the expensive side, you don’t have to go broke to invest in some seating options in your classroom. Many options exist at your local dollar store or discount store.

10. Progress monitoring sheets. Every special ed teacher needs a simple and easy way to take data. Use these free progress monitoring sheets to print, fill out, and clip to clipboards. This makes them easily accessible for you or a paraprofessional to utilize and fill out data throughout the day. If you need an even easier solution, use these editable progress monitoring forms to copy and paste your students’ goals into, print, and go.

11. A reward system. The options are really endless with reward systems. You can choose whether you want a classwide behavior system or reward systems that are more individually based. This might also depend on your age/grade level. I’ve found that the best reward systems are developed WITH your students. That means involving them on how they can earn points or classroom currency and having a class discussion for what types of rewards can be earned. The best types of rewards are really free: listening to music, a half homework pass, lunch with a friend, taking a walk, leading the class, and a free time pass.

12. Task cards. I love task cards because you can get them on any subject you need. They’re so helpful in the special education classroom because you can have students working on different sets of activities with task cards simultaneously. They are small and can fit in a folder or bin for safe keeping. It’s helpful to have a variety of task cards on subjects like reading comprehension, vocabulary, social skills, writing, math, and even study skills.

What else do you think special educators must have in their classroom? Let me know!

7 Tips to Survive the End of the Year

May 8, 2017 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

After state testing finishes, many kids (and adults) struggle to survive the last few weeks of school. Summer is coming and everyone knows it! Here are seven tips that will help teachers and kids have a positive and fun ending to the school year.

1. Assign end of the year projects. Kids love projects with a final result. One of my favorites is an End of the Year Time Capsule Project. Kids can select and bring in three items that symbolize important events, people, or places in their lives this school year. Then, they write essays detailing why each item is important to them. Best of all, this is an easy project to differentiate. You can have kids write longer or shorter essays, depending on ability level. Another option is to include fewer or more items that are meaningful for the school year. The end project is a time capsule in a shoe box that they can share and then bring home to talk about with families. Other options for end of the year projects include designing their own perfect school, creating a list of “must read” books, creating a class book of favorite class activities, and planning a pretend field trip to anywhere in the world.

2. Cut back on grading assignments. You can always give extra practice, activities, and projects without grading them all. Give yourself permission to reduce the amount of time you spend grading papers and entering those grades.

3. Assign organizing jobs to kids. Some students seriously love being given a job by the teacher. Use some of those students to help you organize materials that can be tidied and put away early. You will be happy that you got to it during the school year so you don’t have extra to do during the summer or on the first days back.

4. Plan a bulletin board that kids can help with. One of my favorite end of the year bulletin boards is a project that kids create for next year. That means the kids will be doing the bulk of the work while reflecting upon the school year, with the intent to leave it up for your next years kids. It’s just genius. Kids can write reflections on what fun activities they did this year, what advice they have for next year’s kids, how they felt challenged, what they did in each subject, and more. You can make your own or purchase the What We Learned Bulletin Board here.

5. Plan some fun downtime. Plan a movie afternoon. You can choose a movie aligned with something in your curriculum, or just make it a fun kid’s choice selection. Another alternative is having games centers that kids can play on their own. Games like Scrabble, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry, and practically any other board games make perfect center activities. You can have kids play just for fun or answer a task card of your choice before taking a turn. These downtime activities also give you the time you need to correct assignments, finish reports, or get grades in.

6. Consider materials and resources for next year. It’s never too early to get a head start for next school year. While the year is winding down, I find it helpful to inventory what I have and what I need for next school year. Make a list and purchase some materials and resources if you find the time. You will thank yourself in the fall!

7. Get outside. Spend time doing a read aloud outside underneath a tree. Consider an outdoor scavenger hunt or take a nature walk that you plan to write about. Getting outside can be fun and give you the dose of sunshine that you need during the springtime months.

If you find yourself needing some fun materials, see what end of the year resources I have available to keep your kids going for the last few weeks of school!

Best of all, TpT is having a Teacher Appreciation Sale on May 9th and 10th, which is a great time to stock up on resources for the end of this school year and the beginning of next. To celebrate, I’m hosting a $10 TpT gift card giveaway below. Please enter to win! Good luck and happy shopping!

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An Open Letter to Administrators of Special Educators

Clipboard Progress Monitoring

12 Things Special Educators Need

7 Tips to Survive the End of the Year

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