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Safety and Security, School
(see also Bullying,Terrorism, Tragedy, Violence)
- Safeguarding Laptops and Their Contents
- Preventing a School Hostage Crisis in the U.S.
- Crafting A Workable Cell Phone Policy
- A Crash Test in Drunken Driving
- An e-Interview With Youth Violence Expert James Garbarino
- Schools Combat Violence
- Is the Teacher in the Classroom Next Door a Convicted Felon?
- Safe Schools: Four Web Sites Help Administrators Address a Complex Issue
- Guide Helps Schools Guard Against Violence
- Anonymity Spurs Students to Report Potential Violence
- Badge, Please? Schools Turn to ID's to Enhance Security
- Preparing For The Worst: Why Schools Need Terrorism Plans
- Secret Service Report Targets School Violence
- Learning to Head Off Violence
- Texas Firm Creating Bank of School Safety Information
- Dismantling the Devil's Workshop
- New Web Site Enhances Successful Safety Curriculum
- Strategies to Stem School Violence
- The School Shooter: One Solution Doesn't Fit All
- Information Sharing to Make Colorado Schools Safer
- FEMA Program Helps Schools Develop Emergency Response
- Restraining Orders: How Can Schools Respond?
- Are Our Children Safe In School?
- A Slow Healing: Jefferson County Schools Move On
- School Resource Officers Seeing Results
- Schools, States Review Cell Phone Policies
- Making Peer Mediation a Part of Campus Life
- Good Morning! -- A.M. Announcements Build School Community
- Using Satellites to Track Wandering Students
- To Close or Not to Close: A Superintendent's Winter Worry
- Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver: Preventing School Vandalism
- Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver: Dealing With School Vandalism
- Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver: Preventing Student Aggression
- Tattle Tales
- A Safe and Orderly Environment
- Using Student Ears, Eyes to Stop Crime
- Improv Team Acts to Curb Violent Behavior
- WatchDOGS Unleashed on Schools
- Dealing With Angry Parents
- Improving School Environments Through Green Cleaning
(see Teachers, Salaries of)
- More Schools Turn to Extended Days
- The School Day: Fitting In Everything Requires Creative Scheduling
- Block Scheduling: A Solution or a Problem?
- Around the Block: The Benefits and Challenges of Block Scheduling
- The School Day: It's Not a Race; Let's Change the Pace!
- Chicago, Rochester Offer Flexible Graduation Options
- Making Memories All Year Through
- "Survivor" Fosters Community Through Friendly Competition
- State Your Mission: Creating Mission Statements that Work
- Use a Daily "School Pledge" to Build Community
- Rise and Shine with Morning Assembly
- Does Your School's Atmosphere Shout "Welcome!"?
- Yearlong Themes: Principals Use Them to Build Spirit, Achievement
- Got Motto? -- Twelve Slogans to Help Build School-Wide Community
- Saving Kids from Stress
- Best Bulletin Boards: Principals Share Favorite Hallway Displays
- Bulletin Boards: Powerful Teaching, Community-Building Tools
- Getting the Most Out of School Counselors
- Principals Share Programs That Work
- If You Were Handed a $10,000 Windfall
- Reformers, School Leaders Work Closely to Improve Schools
- Counseling: A School Improvement Tool
- Students Clean Up Their Act and "Dare Not To Swear!"
- Has the Threat of Lawsuits Changed Our Schools?
- States Step Up Efforts to Reduce School Segregation
- Familiar Ground: Traditions That Build School Community
- Logos Help Schools Define Missions
- Is Your School's Culture Toxic or Positive?
- Today's School Nurse: More Than Just a Person Who Bandages Knees
- School Psychologists' Changing Roles, Responsibilities
- 50 Signs Your School Is a Great School!
- The Social Context of Education -- 1997
- Department of Defense Schools: Their Secret Weapons for Success
- Work Ethic Earns Texas School National Spotlight
- Citizens Speak Out on Public Education
- Americans Give Public Schools High Grades
- Predictions for Education in 2006
- Dealing With Angry Parents
- School-to-Work: Connecting Schools and Career Decision-Making
- Florida Meets the School-To-Work Challenge
- School-to-Work: Connecting Schools and Career Decision-Making
(see also Budgets, Facilities, Leadership, Reform, Rural Schools, Safety and Security, Schedules, Standards, Urban Schools) Schools, Partnerships With Businesses
- Need School Supplies? - Ask and You Shall Receive!
- Executives Get an Education as Principals for a Day
- 'Adopted' Classes Thrive with Personal, Financial Support
- Detroit School Repair Program: A Model for Others
- School-Business Partnerships That Work: Success Stories from Schools of All Sizes
- Businesses Provide Supplies, Grant Money
- Are Smaller Schools the Answer?
- Reform Means More Than Just Small
- Grants Allow Schools to Develop Small Communities
- When Size Matters: Making Big Schools Feel Small
- Are Smaller Schools Better Schools?
- Large Schools Should Take Lessons from Small Schools
- Saving a Community's Heart: The Small Rural School
(see also Science Lessons, Science Articles)
- Student Showcase Highlights Science and More
- The Slinky Paradigm: How One Science Teacher (Eventually) Created Another
- Teachers Significantly Impact Girls' Science Views
- Author Makes Science Readable, Enjoyable
- Science Subject Center, Teacher-Submitted Science Lesson Plans Coding and Quilting the Elements
- Why Are Chicago-Area Students Tops in the World in Math and Science?
- Math and Science Achievement: It Starts With Better Teaching!
- Science Teachers at Home on the Web
- High Schools Introduce Engineering
- Toshiba's ExploraVision Launches Student Researchers
- David Willey: "Mad" Scientist, Stunt Man, and Physics Instructor
- A Study of Inventions Promotes Thinking 'Outside the Box'!
- How to Put on a Great Science Fair!
- Online Science Site Teaches Students to Solve Real-Life Problems
- Scientists Pan Middle School Physical Science Texts
- Teacher Promotes Blood Donation Education
- Lab Work Demystifies DNA
- Students Digging Forensics
- Sheila Tobias on Re-Thinking Teaching Math, Science
- Former Astronaut George 'Pinky' Nelson Champions Science Literacy
- Students' Inventions Combine Creativity, Science, Technology -- and Earn Rewards!
- Discover Mars
- Integrating Technology and Science
- New Approach to Teaching Math, Science Spurs Gains
- Helping Children Become "Well Aware"
- World's Tallest Woman Tell Kids "It's OK To Be Different!"
- Advice About Middle School Advisories
- Can Adults Praise Children Too Much?
- 99 Ways to Say 'Very Good'
- Teachers, Students Walk in One Another's Shoes
- Students Teach Students: Using Student Essays To Build Coping Skills and Self-Esteem
- Ten Activities to Improve Students' Self-Concepts
- Self-Esteem, Class Pride
- Rallying Cry from a "Champion for Children"
- "Souper Bowl" Connects Kids to Their Communities
- Growing Caring Citizens Through Good Works
- Kids Can Help Too
- Orphan Train: A Social Studies Project that "Clicked" with Students!
- Community Service: Opportunity or Exploitation?
- Senior Pals: Bridging the Generation Gap with Technology
- Students Learn While Helping at Soup Kitchen
- Service Learning in Action Across the Grades
- Is Community Service a Waste of Time?
- Young Authors and Artists Collaborate on Humanitarian Project
- Close-Up: Four Schools With Award-Winning Service-Learning Programs
- Getting Kids to 'Do Something'!
- Kids Count Clams to Spur Community Cleanup
- Service Projects Help Students Find Their Voices
- Earth Inc. -- A Service-Learning Lesson Plan
- "I Never Knew I Could Be A Hero": Thoughts on Service Learning
- Service-Learning Thrives Despite Less Funding, Time
- Lessons in Service Learning
- Programs Connect U.S. Students, Orphans Abroad
(see also Pregnancy, Teaching About) Sick Schools
(see Facilities)
- The Yin and Yang of Learning: Educators Seek Solutions in Single-Sex Education
- Single-Gender Classes: Are They Better?
- Girls and Boys Together?
- Are Your Students Sleep Deprived?
- Power Napping Refuels Weary Students
- Teens Explore Effects of Sleep Deprivation
- It's About Time (and Sleep): Making the Case for Starting School Later
(see Report Cards)
Social Sciences Subject Center, Social Sciences Lesson Plans, Teacher-Submitted Social Sciences Lesson Plans, History, Teaching About)
- Top Teacher Ties History to Current Events
- Social Studies Fairs Inspire Young Historians
- Making Social Studies Work for At-Risk Kids
- Advancing the Need for International, Global Studies
- Growing Caring Citizens Through Good Works
- Advancing the Need for International, Global Studies
- Every School Should Have a Playground Map!
- GeoGame = Geography + Fun
- A "Boring" Lesson in Geography
- Playground Maps Are an Endless Source of Fun and Learning
- Timelines: Timeless Teaching Tools
- Five Times Five: Five Activities for Teaching Geography's Five Themes
- Twenty-Five Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events
- Ten Great Activities: Teaching with the Newspaper
- It's News to Me: Teaching Kids About the Newspaper
- Read All About It! Ten Terrific Newspaper Lessons
- We've Got News for You! (News Activities, That Is)
- Schools Celebrate Martin Luther King and His Dream
- Social Studies Fairs Inspire Young Historians
(also see Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Gifted Education, Inclusion)
- Resources to Help Reach and Teach Autistic Students
- Helping Schools Do What's Best for Special Ed Kids
- Teaching Special Kids: On-Line Resources for Teachers
- Will the Government Fund Its Commitment to Special Ed?
- Teaching Special Kids: On-Line Resources for Teachers
- How Can Teachers Help Shy Students?
- Helping Blind Students 'See' the Stars
- Taking JayJo to School
- Teamwork Counts (A Lot!)
- Making Inclusion the Norm
- Documentary: U.S. Students No Match for Peers in India, China
- Leveling the High-School Field
- Setting Standards in Our Schools: What Can We Expect?
- Administrators Praise Three-Minute Walk-Throughs
- NEA Launches NCLB Reform Effort
(see also Teaching, Effective Strategies)
- Kids Learn Better With a Song in Their Hearts
- Community Scavenger Hunt Teaches Research Skills, Much More
- Applying Differentiated Instruction
- Lean Regime: A District Cuts Almost Half Its Administrators
- Boosting Test Scores: "Principal" Strategies That Work
- Principals Share "Best Meetings of the Year"
- Student-Centered Learning: The First Steps Are the Hardest Ones
- Hold an Interest Fair: Broadened "Science Fair" Taps All Subjects, Students' Interests
- Teaching About Current Events
- Tackling Big Projects: No Wonder Students Get Frustrated!
- No-Grade Assignments Open Up Student-Teacher Communication
- Put On Your (Six) Thinking Hats!
- More (Short) Tests Can Help Learning
- Somebody Needs You: Larry Bell
- Always Strive to Be a Better You: Pete Hall
- Student-Led Conferences: A Growing Trend
- Student-Led Conferences Successful in Elementary, Middle Grades
(see also Mobility)
(see also Testing )
- Mapping Instruction With Interim Assessments
- No Time for Reading -- A Lesson Learned at Gunpoint!
- Voice of Experience: Digging Beneath the Surface of Assessment
- RAND Report Questions Texas Test Gains
- Assessment Reform: Are We Making Progress?
- National Testing: Prepare for a Battle
- Close-Up: Voluntary National Tests
- More (Short) Tests Can Help Learning
- This Is Only a Test
- Beyond Standardized Testing: District Focuses on Assessing the Whole Child
- Top Administrator Focuses on Standards, Achievement Gap
- Test-Stressed Out: Strategies for Improving Attitudes, Scores
- Big Test Pep Rallies: 2, 4, 6, 8 -- Taking Tests and Feeling Great!
- Test-Stressed Out: Strategies for Improving Attitudes, Scores
- Saving Kids from Stress
- This Is Only a Test
(see also Critical Thinking)
- Teachers Link Juggling to Improved Academic Skills
- Chess, Anyone? -- Chess As an Essential Teaching Tool
- The World Almanac: A Tool for Building Study Skills
- Beat the Clock! Lessons in Time Management for Middle Graders
(see also Sub Station: Tips and Resources for Substitute Teachers)
- Schools Respond to Substitute Shortage
- Solving the Substitute Shortage, Part 1: Four Rules to Keep Your Best Subs Coming Back
- Solving the Substitute Shortage, Part 2: Exploring Other Options
- There's No Sub for a Good Sub Plan!
- Sub-Searching Made Easier
- Substitute Survival: Tools You Can Use
- Substitute Teachers Gain National Voice
- Planning for a Substitute Was Never This Easy
- Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver: While You Are Out
- Setting New "Sub" Standards
- In A Sub's Shoes archive
- A Son Became a Soldier, and a Dad Became a Teacher
EW Lesson Plans
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July Every-Day Edits
Use Every-Day Edits to build language skills, test scores, and cultural literacy. Be sure to see our tips for using Every-Day Edits in your classroom.
Hot Diggity DogBlueberries Thurgood MarshallU.S. Independence DayIdahoKoko the GorillaEarth's TiltMildred Wirt BensonPresident Gerald R. FordRabbitsIda B. WellsDisneyland OpensAlexander Calder, ArtistTunisiaThe Empire StateJacqueline Kennedy OnassisHarry Potter
Looking for ideas for using Every-Day Edits in your classroom? See our idea file.
Run out of Every-Day Edit activities for the month of July? Check out our Xtra activities for any time of year.
Tips for Managing Your High-Needs Classroom
Let’s talk about capacity. If you look into the world-weary and sleep-deprived eyes of any educator this year, you’ll realize one truth: meeting the complex needs of each of our students is no small task. As educators in the 21st Century, we are constantly on a quest for the golden mean between individualized curricular plans and teaching densely populated classrooms. We employ technology, standardized testing, creative grouping, and anything else we can possibly imagine that might ignite engagement to make each lesson feel tailored to the kids in our courses. But the differentiation of need is often still just out of a perfectionist’s reach.
And teachers are perfectionists, in the sense that we spend our life’s work finely tuning our practice – always looking to improve, to refurbish, to inspire. Nonetheless, even your most veteran educators struggle with the high demands of the modern education system. Today, Education World examines the kinds of student needs you’re likely to encounter at any academic level, as well as essential tools every educator should have in their pedagogical toolkit to make the sometimes seemingly impossible, very possible.
Student Needs
We’re not going to pretend that we can write a simple article that can problem-solve every type of student need you are going to find in the classroom. Our jobs are nothing if not unpredictable. And yet, if we were to break down the types of “needs” students tend to have in the middle of your lesson that might create barriers to their learning, we could very probably generalize most of them into “behavioral needs” and “academic needs”.
When we say “behavioral needs”, we’re referring to student struggles with some of the soft skills associated with the expectations around “being a student”: listening during a lesson, staying focused during worktime, staying in the chair when appropriate, modulating voice, transitioning from activity to activity, self-monitoring, avoiding excessive distraction, being respectful to the community, and participation. When a student struggles with managing these classroom habits, no matter what the cause or catalyst, it is hard to even begin imagining accessing the higher order thinking necessary to achieve in school.
“Academic needs”, on the other hand, are those specifically tied to understanding of the material: content acquisition and skill mastery. Many of our students also struggle with a wide range of characteristics and unique ways of thinking that can sometimes make the substance of the traditional learning process more difficult to manage.
In many cases, we find that students are often managing a combination of the two.
Regardless of the type of needs your diverse student population is facing, let’s be clear: the first step when you see students not accessing the content and skill you are attempting to transmit in your lesson is to identify what is going on. To truly do this, you need to look at each student as an individual. It’s too easy to try to group a problem together: “this class is struggling with __________”. Unfortunately, this approach never gets to the heart of the many different needs sitting in your class. You have to do you research. For the kids you are concerned about make sure you:
Check their docs: IEPs, 504s, grades history, testing scores…everything you have documentation on: What is the narrative here and how might it connect to what you are witnessing?
Talk to the student: What’s going on at home? How they are feeling about class? What has their sleep been like? What do they do after school?
Reflect on your classroom culture: How is your respect agreement working out? Is your class a rigorous working space?
Talk to your horizontal team: What are they noticing with this student in their classes? What’s working for them? What is not working?
Talk to the parents: How has the student been at home? Have there been any major changes? What are their concerns? Share what you are noticing.
Talk to the support staff (school psychologist, social worker, sped teacher, department head): Is there any information you should know about this student? Do they think a referral is necessary? What do they suggest exploring?
Going through this process for each student you are concerned about takes up a lot of time, but is also going to give you the most effective long-term impact.
But what do I do in class today?
In the meantime, however, you need to make your class period work. Below, find some in-class management strategies to help you best facilitate your high-need classroom, whatever that need may be.
1. Fine-Craft Your Groups: Sometimes, half the battle is how you set the students up in the classroom. Generally, kids get off task when it is too difficult, too easy, not interesting, or if the social dynamics just don’t feel right. Homogenous groupings with differentiated assignments for each crew can help kids to feel competent, yet challenged. Giving working roles to students during group work time can keep them engaged in the task at hand, making sure all members take on responsibility for the product. However you decide to group your students in the classroom, it allows you an opportunity for social engineering a successful lesson well before you even enter the classroom. An ounce of prevention, in this case, is often well worth the pound of cure.
2. Master Non-Verbal Signals: Whether you are dealing with insecurities associated with academic rigor or an otherwise behavioral response to external stimuli, teachers run a very real risk of escalating a distraction by making it public with verbal reprimands. Unfortunately, drawing attention to it often rewards off-task, attention-seeking behavior. Instead, have some non-verbal cues loaded into your classroom culture. Some of these can be for everyone in the class; some can be private communication for a specific student. Some that you might consider include:
A whole-class signal for quiet and to refocus attention back to you during work time. We like to use a hand, straight up in the air.
A signal to identify a specific noise or habit enacted by an individual student that is disrupting class. We like to point to the source of the behavior, hand extended, palm-side down.
A signal to suggest a student take a quick break from work and go for a walk or see support staff.
A whole-class signal for being interrupted during a lesson. We prefer folded hands, looking down, and waiting for students to correct the behavior of their peers.
3. Have A Break-Out Space: This is a life-saver. This breakout space could be a single desk in the corner of the room, a front table, a chair in a hallway, or even a messy desk. A space that is separate from the general classroom can do wonders. It can be used for impromptu minilessons to clarify or remediate with a small crew, without the distractions of their peers. It can be used for one-on-one conferencing, whether it is for academic support, revision, or behavioral concerns. It can act as a work space for students that tend to get distracted in their regular seating. For many of us, a temporary change in environment can help us to re-center and re-focus when we are frustrated, overwhelmed, or just need help and support. An all-purpose break-out space can help to facilitate just that.
4. Clarify Your System: Finally, it is absolutely essential that whenever there are behavior issues due to high levels of need, students need to very clearly understand what is okay in your classroom, what is not okay in your classroom, and how you approach discipline and support. If students do not know what to expect from you, it can be incredibly anxiety-provoking and make them feel insecure and unsafe.
What is your academic protocol? If they are struggling in class, where do they get support? What days are you after school? Where can they work quietly? How can they access support during the class period? If students are struggling in the regular classroom environment for any reason at all, they need to have options. It will make them feel supported and valued as a unique individual learner.
What is your behavioral protocol? After the non-verbal signal, what is the expectation if the behavior continues? How many warnings does a student get? At what point will they be expected to leave the classroom for support? Whatever the process is, make sure that your student understand it, and that you are consistent with it. Knowing the next step in the process of consequences allows students some control in the process, which can ultimately curb disruptive behavior.
Written by Keith Lambert, Education World Associate Contributing Editor
Lambert is an English / Language Arts teacher in Connecticut.
Improving your tech IQ doesn't mean you have to choose cutting edge tools. Summer PD is about working on skills new to you. Choose technology challenge that fits your needs. If you’ve been itching to move homework assignments to Google Classroom, get going! If you keep hearing about engaging classroom websites, start thinking about how you might use one. Whatever technology you decide to focus on, savor the extra time you have to master the basic functions and plan how to implement it in your classroom.
Harness the Web
The internet offers a wealth of free resources for teachers but it usually takes some time to determine which ones will work for your summer development plan. First, figure out what format you’re interested in. If you want the weight of a book in your hand, use the web to find curated reading suggestions for teachers. You can plan a trip to your local library based on teacher book lists on everything from classroom differentiation to learning innovation. If audio is more your beat, download a podcast app and learn from teachers, psychologists, and other school-based professionals. I like the Harvard EdCast for up-to-date interviews with education experts and authors. For conversation and connection, participate in Twitter ed chats. Many professional organizations host and publicize their own or you can use this spreadsheet to find one that works for you.
Make It Your Own
Whatever combination of reading, visiting, or Tweeting you decide upon, make it your own. Part of being a teacher leader is prioritizing growth. This summer, design a professional development plan that’s perfect for your needs.
Written by Marissa King
Marissa teaches 5th grade at Tulsa Public Schools where she spills tea and misuses the coolest slang. She is also a Yale National Fellow.
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COPYRIGHT 1996 - 2018 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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