The No-Excuses Homework Supply Bag

     

I have an incredibly ironic secret to share with my fellow teachers. I despicably, vehemently, despise giving homework to children!   It's my belief that children are in school all day working hard. When they go home at night they should be outside playing, participating in sports, joining after school clubs, eating dinner, spending quality time with their families. Kids need to spend time just being kids. These are the things that may give them interests in life-long hobbies and many positive memories. Right? 

    So, even though I am not a staunch believer in lots of homework, I am a believer in a little bit of homework to give children a responsibility and to also practice skills so that there is more time in school to do the bigger lessons. I teach Life Skills to children in 7th-12th grade. Is it cruel to give homework to special education students? I say no!

     I decided that instead of working on spelling day after day in school. We could work on spelling two times a week in school and use the other days for heavy duty ELA lessons. My theory you ask? What good is spelling if you can't write a sentence! I want to make homework as painless as possible with an almost guarantee that ever student will bring their homework back to school everyday. 

   My plan: We made no-excuses, take home homework supply bags filled with everything necessary to complete home work at home. We had a blast making the bags with duct tape! Initially, I had visions of duct tape stuck in my hair or kids tangled up in it! Thankfully how wrong my vision was! The kids had fun and so did I! Since it is so ridiculously easy to make a no-excuses homework supply bag, I am sharing this fabulous invention with you.

Steps to Making a No-excuses Homework Supply Bag:

1) Buy the materials:

• Several rolls of colorful duct tape. I bought mostly solid colors with a few printed rolls to accent the bag.
• Gallon sized plastic bags with zippered locks.
• Supplies that your students will need for home work:I filled ours with pencils, pens, erasers, colored markers, crayons, colored pencils, and a spiral notebook. It's best to purchase the supplies during the back to school sales, when the prices are low.

2) Lie the plastic bag flat on the desk in front of each student. Tape the bottom with excess tape on both sides so that the bag doesn't move while the kids are adding more tape.

3) Allow the students to choose their own colors. I had my kids use solid colors and then add the fancier duct tape for fun! We put duct tape on the first side of the plastic bag in strips.  We then flipped it over to do the same to side two.

4) Next we embellished each bag with the printed duct tape.
5) Since we are a life skills class who uses an assembly line on other projects, I chose to practice our assembly line skills to fill our no-excuses home work supply bags. The kids did a great job!

    The next task I did to ensure homework completion was to sign my class up for Spelling City. http://www.spellingcity.com  Spelling City is an on-line site where I can post my students spelling and vocabulary words. The best part for me is that since my students spelling lists are individualized according to their own personal level, I can easily add as many lists as I want. I was also able to print letters to the parents in both Spanish and in English so that the parents knew that their children can practice on their computers at home. I am notified of the time each student spends on Spelling City and see their progress. Better yet, the games on Spelling City are varied and fun! My students love it! A few have downloaded it to their cell phones!  No, I don't work for Spelling City. I just like to share helpful tools for my colleagues. So whether you send home spelling homework or another subject you should never again have to hear, "I couldn't do my homework because I didn't have any supplies".
     Now I can tell you that the "No-excuses Homework bags combined with Spelling City have made ten highly successful students in my classroom. We have a 90% success rate with homework and 100% on all of our spelling tests. I'm proud, my kids are happy. ELA is going great! In a very odd sense the No-excuse homework bags have seriously changed our classroom lives for the better! I hope this tool can work for you too!

SymbalooEDU Social Bookmarking Service Gets this Teacher into the Cloud!

     Three weeks ago I had never heard of SymbalooEDU. I went to a professional development class feeling not so tech enabled with my head literally in the clouds and left with a free social bookmarking service in the cloud! Clouds now have a whole new meaning to me! SymbalooEDU has changed my life for the better.

      With SymbalooEDU teachers can organize and share the best of the web with their students. To me SymbalooEDU is an amazing tool. To the right of this page is a sample picture of what SymbalooEDU looks like. SymbalooEDU is a free educational tool that gives teachers and students a way to save their on-line resources in the cloud with access from any technological device, such as: an iPad, iPhone, MAC, and/or personal computer. Each tile on the SymbalooEDU grid (actually called a gallery) is a website, app, or a resource. As a busy teacher who always wants to give their students the best possible lessons, SymbalooEDU is not only a life saver but also a time saver. Now with a click of a button, the classroom teacher can share websites with students and colleagues. There will no longer be gaps in instructional time while the teacher types in web addresses manually. Just one click and the whole class is together on the correct website. There will no longer be the worry of advertising getting into what the student sees. The best part is that all resources in the SymbaloEDU gallery are saved in the cloud. This means that they can be accessed by any device in or out of school.  SymbalooEDU resources automatically sync between a user’s ipad, iPhone,Mac, and personal computer.

   Again, please look at the sample SymbalooEDU picture above. Each color coded section which will actually have pictures or graphics on it from the website, demonstrates how each teacher or user can organize their SymbalooEDU gallery. This actually has a name called: a webmix. Simply stated, a webmix is a collection of links around a specific topic. My personal teaching gallery is actually made up of six webmixes: lessons, typing practice, behavior, presentations, teacher made websites, and music to teach by. Webmixes can be published for other teachers to find and use. Symbaloo EDU is very user friendly. I am not a strong tech person, but even I was able to quickly and easily add my frequently used websites to my SymbalooEDU gallery. It is very simple to search the web from the SymbalooEDU gallery. There you can find your favorite websites that you frequently use and place them on a tile in your gallery.

   Another great feature of SymbalooEDU is there is a tile where you can create or obtain lesson plans in the marketplace. There is even a Symbaloo basic certification lesson plan!

  Since I'm not an expert of SymbalooEDU my recommendation is to hop on over to http://www.symbalooedu.com to learn more about it. 

Soon you will be just like me: a teacher in a cloud! Best of luck.

ADHD Informational Guide: Three Main Types

How Far The World Really Goes

Maybe it's better she never knows
                           How far the world really goes...
Maybe it's better she only sees old...
                  for her belongings to her are purely gold.
Maybe it's better she's never seen Parents who work...
              they wait for the check unlike a crook.
Her parents are home, they're drunk, they                                                                      never cook.
Maybe it's better there's free meals in                                             school,since now she can read.
Maybe it's better her parents can't read...
             She can a little, not enough to be freed.
Her clothes are tattered, rarely clean, 
                                                      ...doesn't matter
The colors are pretty pink, blue, purple,                                                                              ..drabble. 
 Maybe it's better her hair is all knotted ... layers of hairspray to keep lice out ...                                                                              undoubted
More kids means more money. 
                                                 Don't worry honey. Brothers and sisters are built in friends
             Maybe it's better they love to the ends 
Holidays are grand, people give this is 
                                                                normal.
                       Mom and Dad are always cordial.
Thanksgiving turkey...
Christmas rum balls, cheap toys  make                                                                      everyone perky.
Maybe it's better she never knows how far the                                                     world really goes.
Parents, kids, cats, dogs, mice, sleep on the                                                                                 floor,
surrounded by trash, chip bags, beer bottles                                                                            galore. 
Maybe it's better she never knows how far the 
                                                    world really goes.
Life in this podunk town makes fewer foes.
The neighbors' life story is simply the same,
as the little girl next door who isn't yet the one
                                                                   to blame.
So to those who know how far the world goes
            who never would wear tattered clothes,
Think of the children who will be lost forever 
in filth, poor education, poverty, however....
If those who know how far the world goes would take a few minutes to reach out and                                                                                care 
             Perhaps a little girl may someday dare
to reach beyond her podunk town
to find a world so sweet and sound
To learn that going to school was more than                                                               free lunches...
That book or two and that teacher who                                                                                    taught,
Gave her a ticket to see past her zone...
She saw the world...
She came back to help her own.

Starting the School Day Right

    I recently started teaching in a new school. I can only send praise to my predecessor. She was brilliant. Since I began my new assignment in an established classroom, I decided to not make any major changes until August when the new school year begins.  The kids in this classroom already had a routine and a certain way of doing things. Instead of changing what they knew, I decided to change my ways to adapt to them. 
   One of the most outstanding things my predecessor did was to start the students academic day with daily classroom news. First thing every morning after breakfast, my students begin by reading our classroom newspaper. The newspaper highlights what we are learning in school, upcoming events in school, real world news, what's for lunch and more. The newspaper doubles as a point card on the back to track the students behavior. The students bring their newspaper home every night so it is also an easy way to communicate with parents. There is a place for comments on the point card side so if a student does something really well, or something s/he shouldn't have done this can be written on the back side of the newspaper too.
   Now this is where the true genius of the newspaper comes in: There is a joke in it everyday that the students must solve! There is a weekly joke person who's job is to find the daily joke for the newspaper. So now the teacher is linking reading, current events, challenges of the mind...and wait...there is more! The newspaper also has a wordsearch built in! Each day the students are asked to find five words present in the articles of the newspaper! This gives the students more reading power and vocabulary! What more can a teacher ask for than to have a meaningful activity every day to ease the students into their day of learning! So kudos to the teacher before me in this classroom who found a stress free  way of starting the school day right! I sincerely praise your efforts.

A Newspaper sample:

P.S. The names in the sample have been changed for anonymity.

Saying Good-bye is So Very Hard to Do

 

       How do I say good-bye to kids that have been part of my every thought for the past three years? I have become a person in their lives that has not let them down. I have taught them that school is okay. That learning can happen and can even be fun! When we are in class, I think that for a little while we all forget our out of school circumstances. I think that we all have hope for  brighter futures When we are together we work hard to make sense of the Common Core Standards in all of our subjects.We don't bad mouth the Common Core because there are many solid learning objectives in them. Objectives that may open our minds to think deeply and critically. Objectives that will keep the kids talking to each other long after the school day has ended. Isn't this what we want?
     Tonight I am thinking critically and deeply. I didn't expect opportunity to knock mid school year. It's suppose to knock during the summer so there is a clear cut beginning and ending to the school year. Leaving mid school year seems unfair to my students but that's when my opportunity came. The trust that I have built with these students  is partly due to the fact that I am always fair to "my kids". They are my kids! I teach them, I discipline them, I do laundry for them, I feed them, comb their hair, call their parents with good calls and sometimes not so good calls. Their families are my families too. I understand that raising a family is difficult and expensive, and more so if there is only one parent. We all do the best we can.
    So what do I do? Do I answer the door with opportunity knocking? Do I break the news to my kids that they have to finish the year with someone new, causing sadness and anxiety in all of us. Or, do I say no to this opportunity and stay here until June hoping that opportunity comes knocking at my door again. This decision doesn't affect only me, yet the decision is only mine to make.
    Today I handed in my resignation. I had to do it quickly, without thinking too much about it. If I thought too much then I would have been overwhelmed with heartache over leaving a group of terrific kids! Quite honestly I learned more from them than they ever did from me. I have learned to never pass judgement on any of my students or their parents. Their biggest feat of the day is getting themselves to school. Outside of school they are often faced with adult problems and situations that deeply affect them but because they are children they are expected to go with the flow. School is their hope and mine that they can each ultimately find their own way with the skills they have learned in life and in school and run with it.
   Four days left. I have seen signs that "my kids" are anxious with my departure. We have talked a lot about it. They know that I care deeply about them. They know that I expect their full cooperation with their new teacher. I am hoping that technology and the U.S. Postal Service can keep us all in touch for many years to come. I'm hoping that their new teacher and I can connect our classrooms via Skype and do a lesson together. Perhaps all of my kids can make new friends long distance. Isn't technology great?
    Three and a half years ago, I took on a class full of holes and with my students, colleagues, and a few twitter friends made it whole. As I leave, it is my goal to find a way to keep each child in it whole. After I leave, I am no longer their teacher. I can only hope that I was able to plant enough seeds to keep these kids moving forward, beyond their personal circumstances, and to follow their wildest dreams! To the kids in room 215 a piece of my heart will always be with you.

Bring History Alive with Art and Drama

          Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. (Abraham Lincoln) Three years and one and a half months ago I began teaching in a 12:1:1 classroom. I had twelve little faces and three aides staring up at me day after day, all day, to improve their skill and knowledge in: ELA. math, reading, science, social studies, and life skills. I had an eclectic group of children with multiple disabilities with a wonderful common strength...They all wanted to learn! They didn't know what a continent was, or a state, they couldn't tell me what their own state capital was. They did know who Abraham Lincoln was but only as the President with the tall hat. I quickly learned that teaching them was a balancing act of knowing when they were best at doing seat work, when they needed to get up and move, when they needed a brain break or a snack. I planned each lesson accordingly. I rarely heard moans and groans from kids who didn't want to learn. My runners stopped running from class. The kids quickly learned that their classroom was their safe place where they could be themselves but did have to follow the parameters of our "point system". There was only one part of the day where "my kids" lost interest...Social Studies"! Social Studies came right after lunch. My kids just wanted to chill out but I had to teach them social studies!
     Social Studies became my biggest challenge! Social Studies kept me up at night! Social Studies was my tempest in a teapot! I tried teaching map skills but even my aide moaned! We did a study of New York State which was beneficial but was not part of the regular curriculum. So during the holidays, we tried "Christmas Around the World." My idea was at least they will learn about different countries! We made paper suitcases. I gave each student a passport with their picture in it. I had different stamps for each country. Sounds like fun, right? It was, but phenomenal and memorable it was not! My kids still couldn't differentiate between a continent, country, state, city...town! We did activities to rectify this but it only helped short term.
    So, I went back to the beginning. I triple checked the NY standards for their grades (6th and 7th). I decided to find a way for them to learn American History. Sixth graders were suppose to learn Global History but how can they learn Global  History when they can't even tell me that Albany is the capital of New York State! I decided to teach American History and tie Global History inasmuch as possible. 
     It was mid-school year when we got started.  I taught my students how to write two column, guided notes. We began by studying explorers which definitely included Global History. We made a growing timeline along the wall.  Each student did a report on an a assigned reporter. They loved going to the library to do their research. They felt important because just like their peers they had a research project.
     There are two best parts to my story, the first one is coming now. Both best parts are important because it is me that learned the lesson!  When we got to the colonies, I decided that we shall make a model of Jamestown with popsicle sticks. The clouds that had hung over my social studies class all year floated away and the sun appeared! My kids loved building Jamestown! They used milk cartons from lunch covered in pretzel sticks  for buildings. They used Quaker round oatmeal boxes to build the bulwarks. They even landscaped their structure. Best of all because of their intense hands-on learning, they could name the buildings and sections of the fort!

Snowing at Jamestown by using microwaved Ivory soap from our science experiment!

     It's currently year three with my kiddos! We now love social studies! Let me tell you why! This is my second best part! We have recently been learning about the "French and Indian" War. I continue to use two-column, guided notes with blanks with the first letter of the word. The kids love to try to be the first one to guess what goes in the blank! When they do, they get extra points. I read the "stories" from their actual history textbook.  I very simply act out the lesson and then repeat it for the kids to act out! I then do very rudimentary drawings on my whiteboard to bring history to life!  The kids laugh at my lack of artistic talent, as I joke that I draw better than the art teacher! All information taught is straight from their history book, broken down in simpler language. The kids get it! They can repeat the stories! Just ask them why it wasn't a good idea for the British to wear red coats! They can tell you that and more! Social Studies  (History) has become a game where we all win!

Never Give Up!

    When days are rough, I sometimes need to remember my own motto, "NEVER GIVE UP"! I learned this motto on the first day, of my first, full time special education teaching job way back in 1984. First jobs toward one's career are the foundation for the rest of our days until we one day retire. I'm not anywhere near retirement, nor do I want to be, but my motto still rings true, "Never Give Up."

 
      Today is a particularly difficult day for me tied in to difficult, weeks, months, and years. It's a personal journey that isn't at the point of sharing and doubt it ever will be. Those who know of it, tell me to "Give up". The thing is, I can't.  If I give up I'm only failing myself, failing the other, and not fulfilling my motto of, "Never Give Up"! As in my first special education job, I have often received children who appeared so lost that there was no way to help them. 
       In my first job, I taught 8 boys all under the age of 16. I was also home caretaker for four of the boys. Since this was a residential setting, this meant that I had to come to work an hour early to help the boys clean-up, get dressed, and eat breakfast. All four boys were basically non-verbal, one had a few words. They were also both self-abusive and sometimes aggressive. 
    On my first day, I went with my Principal to meet my new students. While walking through the boys' residential home unit we found one, a rather large boy, about 5'5" weighing nearly 200 pounds, kneeling on the steps leading  to the second floor, leaning on his elbows. He was jabbering in his own language. He was blocking the stairway from both directions. Since this was a locked unit, the principal simply said this is "Douglas".:" He never stays with the group. If he leaves, let him go. He'll hurt you if you don't. He can't get out the facility is locked and fenced in." I simply nodded. I wasn't agreeing with her, I was matter-of-factly processing what she said. I finished the day, meeting all of my students, and colleagues. The school had two full time teachers, and an art and physical education teacher that traveled between schools. There were numerous house mothers/aides, a cook, and two laundry persons. This was not a job for the light-hearted. This was also not a job that I ever saw myself in, but here I was and I was determined to make a difference in these kids lives. I was going to figure out "Big Doug", and make sure he became part of the group.
   That first night, I couldn't sleep. I read the boys IEPs (Individual Education Plans) carefully. It appeared that all kinds of people came in and out of these boys lives. I literally had the kids that nobody else wanted. The last teacher was let go for tying the children to chairs with shoe strings! My mind kept wandering back to Doug and what brought him here and why he did he not want to be with people. Oddly, our birthdate was the same! 
     Day two began bright and early. I had to be at school before 7:00 am. The other employees were not responsive to me. I guess they saw too many other people come and go. I found Big Doug staring out his bedroom window. He was having a full conversation, complete with hand gestures, and head shakes all by himself. He was so adorable that I had to chuckle. I gingerly approached him because I didn't want him to bolt. I simply placed my hand gently on his shoulder and listened as if I understood. He didn't flee. 
     Eventually I had all four of my boys up, cleaned and dressed. My self-abusive autistic guy scratched me up pretty good right down my neck when I removed his mitts to get him dressed. He was a tough one, but we made it through. I held Big Doug's hand all the way to the breakfast table down stairs. We made it! The table was U shaped with Doug sitting in the U against the wall so he couldn't escape. Doug would sit in his chair while eating and bounce up and down while giggling. He was precious! After the boys finished eating, I cleaned them up at the table. We then exited to go to the school house which was directly next to the residential house. Doug made a break for it when we went outside! He ran to  picnic table put his knees on the bench and his elbows on the top and carried on his one man conversations! 
    I could see Doug from my classroom window. As I worked with my students 3 or 4 at a time I watched Doug walk between the picnic table to the fence all the while carrying on a full conversation. Finally a friendly adult, face, when the Physical education teacher came. He helped me collect Doug to get him to the gymnasium for gym class. After gym class, I fed the boys lunch. We then went upstairs to their living quarters for self-help skills (Brushing and flossing teeth, combing hair, clipping finger and toe nails and washing up.) Initially, I lost Doug on the stairs everyday, on our way to the boys living quarters! After self-help skills we had another class in the school house Doug would stay glued to the stairs! At the end of my work day I would bring "my boys" to the living room in the residential house to be with their night-time recreation counselor. He too told me don'y worry about Doug, that's just him, he does this to everybody.
    I did worry, and I did think. In fact Doug is all I thought about. I couldn't give up on this kid or his peers! Giving up on any of them just wasn't an option! Days went by,some better than others. I was scratched on a daily basis by my self-abusive, autistic boy with mitts, "Henry". Henry too had horrible days where he'd get his mitts and helmet off and totally self abuse himself. He'd bang his head on the wall, poke his thumb nails into his hears and slap his face repeatedly. I'd have to restrain him and/or bring him to our padded time out room. When doing this the other boys would watch an educational video within sight in the living room. Doug would usually go the the stairs on his knees and converse with himself. I always made sure that the boys knew I was there for them too.
    Weeks went by. My plan after much thinking, was that when Doug left the group, I would take the group to him. No matter where Doug landed, inside, outside, rain, snow or shine, we'd go with our school supplies to Doug. We of course dressed weather appropriately and made sure that Doug was too! We did many lessons at the picnic table and on the stairs! 
    As months passed, Doug greeted me with a hug in the morning! It was "our special time" to chat. He'd tell me stories and I'd respond with appropriate gestures and voice inflections! He'd laugh and I'd laugh, for real, this kid was so funny and good-hearted. Eventually Doug would take my hand. On the occasions he would bolt,he would willingly come back to class. I would go get him with my hand held out and he would grasp it.  He would talk all the way to class. 

     Now for the next to best part of my saga and the reason why, "I NEVER GIVE UP." Doug went months without leaving the group. So the group was allowed to go on field trips! I passed a driving test to drive the school van. We always took an aide with us. We went to the Philadelphia Zoo, Longwood Gardens, Special Olympics, the Strasburg Railroad, The Jersey shore to my house to make a spaghetti dinner and more. Sometimes we just went out for ice cream. It didn't matter, Doug was with us! 
  The best part...Doug didn't need to be in a locked facility any more! Doug got to move on to another residential unit with out fences all the way around! His mother could come to visit and actually take him out. Doug was happy. Everyone in Doug's life was happy. I was happy too. Every now and then I would see Doug on campus and he would bolt, right to me with a great big Doug, bear hug! Then back to his group he'd go! My motto is, "NEVER GIVE UP". Small steps for some are miracles for others.

     

 
   

    

Making Memories Back to School Schultüten a German Tradition

     Every year parents,kids, and teachers are anxious and elated over the first day of school. It's funny but the air even feels different like something big, and special is about to happen. Children get new clothes, sneakers, back packs,  and school supplies. Parents run around checking their kids lists to make sure that they have gotten everything they need for a successful start to the school year. Then it finally happens, day one! The bus pulls up, the children get on and are taken away for their first day of school. Anxious parents and caregivers leave the bus stop waving goodbye with hopes of great things for their children. I suppose memories are made but perhaps more could be done to make even more positive memories!
   This summer I traveled to Germany to visit my daughter, her husband, and my daughter's new family. We were welcomed with open arms. We stayed at my son-in-laws parents home for the first few days. My daughter kept asking her mother-in-law, "When can we watch the first year video?" Her husband not so eagerly added, "Can we not?". Finally we did! I swear it was the most amazing instructional video I had ever seen! It was a video of my son-in-law at age 6 in his first year of school after kindergarten. It was almost a grand celebration for all of the first year students to be welcomed to their education! Parents were included to take part in the festivities. The older children came and read to the new students. Smiles were everywhere as the older children unknowingly modeled positive school behavior and learning to the younger students. Next they did a round of math lessons using musical instruments to demonstrate the counts of each number in simple math equations. Before the video finished I realized that multiple modes for learning were used when the older children taught the younger children. They used sight, hearing, tactile-kinesthetic, and taste. All of the children were happy, proud, and their parents were too. As the children left school they were all handed different, colorful cones! At this point I didn't know what they were, but I knew that I wanted one! It also became me instead of my daughter who started begging, "Can we see the first year video again?"!
      I soon learned that these colorful cones are called "schultüten" . I was right, I would want one! They are filled with school supplies, candy, and small toys. They are typically given to first graders in Germany. On their first day of primary school, children are brought to school by their parents where they are welcomed by their teacher and new classmates. Just like in the video, there is a small two hour  welcoming party, with songs, poems, and theatre which are performed by the older children.    
     Through a bit of research, I have learned that the tradition of schultüten dates back to 1810. As the legend states, there is a tree at the teacher's home with a decorated cone on it for every first year child. After the tree fully matures, it is time for school to start. In the old days, it was the godparents who gave the children the colorful cone-shaped schultüten at school. Today it is the parents who actually fill each schultüte for their child. 
    I can only wish of having a schultüte tree at my home. I knew that my middle schoolers would love hearing about this German Tradition and getting their own schultüte. So I decided to make them for my students for the first day of school! I rolled old, colorful posters carefully and gently taped and stapled them into cone shapes. Next I filled each one with school supplies, snacks, and trinkets. After filling them I carefully cut and folded tissue paper and glued it to the wide end of the cone. I then sealed the cone with colorful ribbon making my schultüten complete! Each schultüte had identical contents so that no one would feel left out!

     The best part of this whole project was hearing squeals of delite and the thank yous! Every child chose to keep their schultüte intact to bring it home to show their parents. So after opening them, we gently refilled them and replaced the closure ribbon for the trip home. It's a memory that my students will remember and better yet it connects them globally with the children in Germany.    

Keep Calm and Teach On

     Each school day buses pull up to 98, 817 public schools in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This does not include private schools. Let's think about the staggering number if children, parents, and teachers this number represents! Wow! Next question, what do you think that a parent or a student expects to happen in their school each day?  I can only speak from a parent perspective, but I expect that my child will enter school, be greeted by teachers and friends, be taught daily lessons, eat lunch, go to specials, possibly be assigned homework and then ride the bus home. Day after day, I sent my children to school with no worries. I had faith in their principal, their teachers, other school professionals, and their friends. Did all of their school days go smoothly? Of course not! In fact, we had days that I'd like to forget! However, in any of these days did I ever worry that my child would be yelled at or scolded by an adult working in the school system? My honest answer, "no".
      The word, "scold" comes from the middle 12th century. According to Dictionary.com, "A person who is constantly scolding often uses loud, abusive speech. It's to find fault, angrily, to chide or reprimand." This does not mean the adult is cursing at the child, it simply means the adult is using a loud tone often with demeaning words and/or gestures, such as the common pointing index finger!
     Did you know that discipline is actually suppose to be about education? According to Education.com, positive discipline is: 

Positive Discipline:

• is guiding and teaching;
• is done with a child;
• requires understanding, time, and patience;
• teaches problem solving and builds a positive self-image;
• develops long-term self-control and cooperation.

 According to James L. Hymes, Jr. an U.S. child development specialist, "Building a conscience is what discipline is all about. The goal is for a youngster to end up believing in decency, and acting whether anyone is watching or not--in helpful and kind and generous, thoughtful ways."
       Students perceive the yelling or scolding in various ways:
1)  Often the adult "yeller"becomes the victim when the student tries to regain control by becoming defiant which only increases all parties anger and chaos commences.  
2)  Some kids accept the fact that they didn't do what they were suppose to do and accept the scolding as a justified consequence.
3)  Some children just think that the adult is doing this because s/he doesn't like her/him.
4)  Some kids think, "This stinks but adults can yell, if they want to."

      The University of Pittsburgh found in a study that yelling and scolding:

1) Reinforced each other. In other words, the more the adult yells the more negative the behavior in the child becomes.
2) Yelling can cause depression in the children if it is used often.
3) All kids regardless of their home lives are equally in danger of the long term effects of being yelled at.
      Children who are scolded can psychologically have feelings of guilt, shame, humiliation, anxiety, stress, and indignance. If this is combined with a lack of positive feedback, the child may have difficulty forming positive friend or social relationships as they grow-up.   
     On-lookers or classmates may feel a negative impact as well. Have you ever been in a situation where someone is yelling and every muscle in your body cringes because you feel so small and helpless? This is how classmates may feel. This is not conducive to learning for anybody.
      Yelling or scolding can help temporarily but does not change the behavior. Why? The reason why is that "discipline " is to educate and yelling does not teach appropriate behavior. Plus even if the educator tried to teach acceptable behavior after scolding, the student has probably tuned him/her out!  Plus, think of yourself too, yelling is ugly! Do you really want the students to view you this way!

     So, to preserve the reputation and serenity of the entire class including yourself, remember, yelling should never be an option. Instead, create class rules and stick to them. Create a positive classroom behavior plan or a behavior modification plan. See mine at: http://mittaubs.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-win-win-reward-system.html Also, get to know each child in your classroom. Build positive relationships with each child. do all of these relationships come easy? Uh, no way! So many factors come into play such as the child's home life, if they are hungry or not, did the child get enough sleep, does the student feel inferior because s/he just can't grasp the school material, there can be hundreds of reasons why it will be hard to get to know every child in your classroom. My advice: Do it anyway! Will other adults and students frown because you have taken the "bad" kid under your wing? Yes! Ignore this, do what you have to do! Build an influential relationship with this child that makes him/her want to be respectful in class and participate in the learning activities. Oh, and the best part is, those that felt you were wrong for not yelling, may actually come back to you and say, "now I see why you did what you did!" 
   In a sense, you will be "shadow coaching" a new term I learned from my friend in New Zealand, Ritu Sehji.  Ritu Explains Shadow Coaching as an application of reflective and observational coaching that provides people opportunities to explore beyond the superficial into the core and making decisions that help people move forward. It goes beyond just supporting to problem solving. Read her blog @ http://linkis.com/ritusehji.wix.com/rXCci. 

Good-luck! 

Strategies to Help Students Cope with Anxiety

     Anxiety in students can be a difficult behavior for classroom teachers to identify and calm. Anxiety comes in many forms and displays in many different ways. All students feel anxious at one time or another which is to be expected. Anxiety disorders on the other hand, and be described as a maladaptive emotional state or a behavior that is caused by excessive fears and worries whether real or imagined. Some students, suffer from anxiety that is severe enough to interfere with daily activities Some behaviors limit a child's progress in school due to the inability to actively engage in everyday activities and routines. Anxiety also can limit friendships which leads to isolation and loneliness.
   Anxious behaviors include by are not limited to: restlessness, irritability, trouble focusing, tires quickly, sweating, blushing, muscle tenseness, avoidance of an activity,non-compliance, destruction of property, fidgeting, talking out, cursing, disrupting classmates, obsessions, compulsions, extremely shy or introverted, in a daydream like state, agitation, disorganization, or extreme organization, anger, withdrawal, flight, worry, crying, truancy, frequent illness or injury, and/or school refusal.
    Suspected student anxiety that lasts more than a week should be shared with your school's mental health support team such as the school psychologist, guidance counselor, nurse, and social worker.. The observations should also be shared with the child's parents and/or guardian's. Parents and guardian's often have valuable information in regards as to changes in the student's home environment that can cause anxiety.
     As a special education teacher I encounter students with anxiety on a daily basis. All of my students have had team meetings where various strategies have been discussed. Knowing which strategy to use often comes from simply connecting with the student and knowing which strategy to use to help him/her cope with the anxiety provoking situation. Below, I've made a chart with sample situations that students face each day, and possible strategies that may help. Remember, consistency is key, and what may not work on day one may work on day five as long as the strategy fits the situation and the students and its use is consistent.  Students who are anxious work best in a calm, supportive, organized classroom with clear expectations.  Students work best with a teacher who is clearly in authority but uses positive rewards and reinforcement who respects and listens to  the student.

Anxiety Strategy Chart:

   

   *Remember, anxiety is a serious  condition. Please check with your school's mental health team and the child's parents and/or guardians before beginning ant type of formal strategy plan.

Sample Response Cards:   

Gimme A Break Box:

http://mittaubs.blogspot.com/2014/11/gimme-break-box.html

Mitt Aubin's Book Review:

    Today's book review comes from Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham in their picture book, Harry the Dirty Dog.  Harry, has been around entertaining children for over 50 years!  I chose to write about Harry because he has anxiety about getting baths!  So he does what a lot of anxious people do, he fled and avoids the bath altogether! He even hides his bath, scrubbing brush! In the process, Harry gets very dirty! His family becomes very worried about him when they can't find him! When they finally see Harry, they don't recognise him because he is so dirty! So, Harry overcomes his fear of baths in a desperate measure to reunite with his family! You will have to read the rest of this book or listen to my dear idol, Betty White to hear and see how happy one can become when overcoming their fears!