How to Keep Kids Learning in May and June

In this video, we explore strategies to make the last months of the school year, May and June, the most rewarding for both teachers and students. While acknowledging the challenges of teaching during this time, the video emphasizes the importance of staying intentional and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by the season. Four key ideas are shared:

  1. Shifting the focus from always looking forward to appreciating how far students have come, allowing them time for reflection and celebrating their growth.
  2. Avoiding busy work and instead engaging students in meaningful projects that hold significance for them and their community.
  3. Providing personal and creative opportunities for students to respond, keeping their engagement high and fostering social and emotional learning.
  4. Creating proactive behavior management strategies that acknowledge the increased likelihood of daydreaming and the desire to be outdoors, incorporating movement and breaks while maintaining expectations.

Mental Health Strategies for Making It to the End of the School Year

Are you a teacher feeling overwhelmed and stressed out? Well, you’re not alone. According to a survey, about 75% of teachers are experiencing frequent job-related stress. That’s why, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re sharing some mental health strategies to help you make it to the end of the school year. These are not just tips we found on the internet; they’re real strategies used by myself and other experienced teachers. So, if you’re struggling right now, join me, Dr. Cichy-Parker, your teaching coach, as we explore how to make it through the month of May. Remember, this video is not meant to replace systemic change, but it’s a life-line until that change happens. Learn how counting down, getting outside yourself, and getting outside can help you stay grounded and focused during these trying times. Watch the full video for more tips and tricks to make it through the end of the school year.

IEP Meeting Survival Guide for Gen Ed Teachers

In this video, we’re talking about IEP meetings, and if you’ve never been to one before, don’t worry! I’m going to give you all the tips and tricks you need to know to feel confident and make a real difference in the meeting. An IEP, or Individualized Educational Program, is a legally-binding contract between the school district and the family of a child with a disability, so it’s important to approach these meetings with the right mindset. As a general education teacher, you’re an essential member of the team that sets goals and services for the student, and your attendance is legally required. In this video, we’ll go over the key parts of an IEP, and I’ll share specific advice on how to contribute to each section. So stick around, and you’ll leave this video feeling empowered and ready to make a difference in the lives of your students!

Accommodations and Modifications ARE NOT the Same Thing!

Welcome to my channel, where we talk all things education! Today’s topic is accommodations versus modifications. In this video, I’ll explain why these two words aren’t interchangeable and why it’s important to use them correctly. As an experienced educator and holder of a Ph.D. in educational psychology and special education, I know what I’m talking about. The use of accommodations and modifications can create misunderstandings between general and special education teachers, mistakes that could even end up leading to legal complications.

What Works Clearinghouse

When I first started as a teacher, I was clueless about whether the methods and curricula I was using were actually effective, so I did what I was told and what I was shown by the teachers I had in my own school days. But you are in a different spot, and you have resources that I didn’t have when I started teaching. With the What Works Clearinghouse, you can get access to reliable and current information on the best practices and programs out there. No more second-guessing yourself or relying on outdated traditions!

Responding to Inappropriate Behaviors

One of the hardest parts of any difficult situation is not knowing what to do next. This feeling is magnified for teachers when their classroom feels out of control, and they don’t know where to turn or what to do about it. This video provides new and intermediate teachers with nine strategies they can use to intervene with inappropriate behaviors that are happening in their classrooms. Function-based interventions on inappropriate behaviors increase the probability that you’re going to be successful on their first try!

Responding to Appropriate Behaviors

Teachers can choose to rule their classrooms with an iron fist or with a heart of gold, but if all you’ve got in your repertoire are punishments, you’re going to hit a dead-end sooner than later. This video gives you ideas on how to respond to all the appropriate behaviors, the good things, that are happening in your classroom so you can walk away proud of what’s happened at the of the day instead of ankle deep in office referrals that might not end up where you think they will anyway.

Maximizing Active Engagement

Maximizing active engagement is going to lead to better behaviors from your students during your class. In order to maximize engagement, you need to maximize the time your class spends on task, how you give students opportunities to respond, and the culture that you create in your classroom around engagement.

Establish and Teach Rules

When I first started teaching, I thought a lot more about what I didn’t want the students to do than I do now. Now I realize that rules are more about what I want them TO DO, and this a habit of mind that I want you to pick up as well.

Maximizing Structure

There are five requirements for tight classroom management. The first of the five is maximizing structure. This includes both the physical space and the routines you develop within the space.

Five Requirements of Classroom Management…Put into Context

Following these five rules to classroom management can help teachers of all ability levels improve the flow of learning in their rooms. Based on what we know about behaviorism and learning, especially as we think about our needs in a post-pandemic world of schools, teachers need to use as many evidence-based practices as they can.

Ed Psych is Always Right… Unless It Isn’t

In our pursuit of competence, advocacy, and justice, we have to always strive to use the principles of educational psychology as a basis for our work. But sometimes there are problems with that plan for some of our students. When that happens we need to have a plan about how to respond.