Education – The Purposeful Classroom

There can be a fine line between teaching our kids to have empathy and conditioning them to be people pleasers.

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.”

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”