Responsive Classroom

 Seven Principles     The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum How children learn is as important as what children learn The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction There is a set of social skills that children need to be successful academically and socially

Responsive Classroom

 Seven Principles cont’d  Knowing the children we teach is as important as knowing the content we teach  Knowing the parents of the children we teach is as important as knowing the children  Teachers and administrators must model the social and academic skills which they wish to teach students

The First Six Weeks

 The first six weeks is devoted to four intentions :   Create a climate and tone of warmth and safety Teach the schedule and routines of the school day and our expectations for behavior in each of them   Introduce students to the physical environment and materials of the classroom and school (and teach them how to use and care for them) Establish expectations about ways we will learn together in the year ahead

Morning Meeting

 Morning Meeting is a 20-30 minute daily routine used to begin the school day in elementary and middle school classrooms  Greeting  Sharing  Group Activity  News and Announcements

Guided Discovery

 Guided Discovery is a focused, playful activity to introduce students to new things      Introduction – naming Generating ideas and modeling exploratory work Children explore Children share their explorations and observations Clean up and care of materials

Establishing Rules with Students

 It is critical to learn students hopes and dreams and work to incorporate those in class rules  What do students want to learn?

 Why do they want to learn this?

 How will they use this to achieve their hopes and dreams?

 How can they create rules that respect others’ hopes and dreams?

Modeling Behavior

 Teacher names and presents the desired behavior  The teacher demonstrates the desired behavior  The teacher asks students to notice and name elements of the behavior  The teacher focuses on the “tricky” parts  Students practice the “tricky parts”

Modeling Behavior cont’d

 Teacher reinforces observed positive behaviors  The teacher continues to reinforce, remind, and redirect as needed

Logical Consequences

 A discipline technique that focuses on the consequences of misbehavior  Emphasizes internal control rather than external control  Three criteria for consequences  Related  Respectful  Reasonable

Logical Consequences Cont’d

 Most logical consequences will fall into three categories:  Making reparations “You Break it- You fix it”  Mishandling responsibility “More Limits Need to be Set”  Time Out