As a recovering people pleaser and empathetic person, this is something that I’ve been thinking about lately. How do I teach my own boys and help my students to begin to have empathy for others, while also staying true to themselves? When I was pregnant with each of my boys, I would pray (and stillContinue reading “There can be a fine line between teaching our kids to have empathy and conditioning them to be people pleasers.”
Author Archives: Shannon Fisher
What happens in our bodies when we are dysregulated?
Self-regulation seems to be a big buzz word in the education environment, but many people are still unsure of what it is exactly. To put it simply, self-regulation is the nervous system’s response to stress. Think of it like this: when our bodies are in a calm, relaxed state, we are regulated. When our bodiesContinue reading “What happens in our bodies when we are dysregulated?”
Using Starr Commonwealth’s Universal Needs to help plan for the school year during uncertain times
I don’t know about you, but this is a crazy year for trying to prepare for the beginning of the school year. Whether your school has chosen to return virtually, with a hybrid model and social distancing measures, or returning full time (5 days a week with social distancing measures), nothing about this year seemsContinue reading “Using Starr Commonwealth’s Universal Needs to help plan for the school year during uncertain times”
Simplify Your Classroom
How do you set up your classroom for success? It’s July and that usually means seeing ALL of the back to school posts. I’ve seen quite a few already, even though most of us don’t know what next year will look like. As someone who has taught for 18 years and spent time as bothContinue reading “Simplify Your Classroom”
First Then boards
First then boards (or if we really want to get fancy, this is called the Premack principle) are a great visual resource to use for students as well as kids at home to help break up their day into smaller, manageable chunks. This strategy is also great for helping children to complete a non-preferred task!Continue reading “First Then boards”
Positive Relationship Challenge
Today is the day! We are so excited to share our 10 day positive relationship building challenge with you all! We created this challenge as a way to reconnect and strengthen the bonds we have with our students after the extended break. Remember that you already have a relationship with each of your students, theContinue reading “Positive Relationship Challenge”
How I build relationships with students
I’ve had a few people DM me on Instagram and ask me how I create relationships with my students. We all know that relationships are the foundation of any successful teaching that will occur in your classrooms! Here are 5 simple strategies I use to help develop and strengthen my relationships with students (includingContinue reading “How I build relationships with students”
Your thoughts determine your relationships…
Can we talk about this and how it applies to education for a minute? A few things before I dive into this… I 100% agree with the people who say that educators and schools are unfairly judged by society and the people who make the educational decisions in this country. They don’t truly understand whatContinue reading “Your thoughts determine your relationships…”
Be the change
I took this picture of my sweet boy at 4:30 this morning. He had woken up around 1:30 and came downstairs to find me asleep on the couch (hello, third trimester). He’s too heavy for me to carry back upstairs so we snuggled on the couch until he fell back asleep. After I snapped thisContinue reading “Be the change”
Social-Emotional learning in action through relaxation stations
If you know me in person, you know I feel strongly about teaching children social-emotional skills and giving them an appropriate space to work through those feelings (whether it’s anger, frustration, sadness, or anxiety). It’s one of the things I am the most passionate about in education. Maybe it’s because I have witnessed first handContinue reading “Social-Emotional learning in action through relaxation stations”
The Purposeful Classroom 