ARTICLES

See Students as Solutions Instead of Problems

Every child has gifts and values. Some of those gifts take longer to figure out than others. Great teachers make enormous efforts to connect with every child and look at them as a whole child with relative strengths and weaknesses, not just all good or all bad. In a principal meeting, my awesome boss Todd Erickson showed us this amazing video by Clint Pulver and we had a great conversation about the deeper implications. What do schools look like when they value the child as a whole? How can we lift up every child, even the ones that …

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Ideas for Classroom Sensory Kits

I posted an graphic of quiet breathing strategies that you can use in the classroom and in the post I mentioned that we are adding calming corner kits in every room. Well, that came back to me with a million questions on what we included in our kits! So, here you go, list below and image as well. Most of what we purchased was on Amazon. Most was relatively cheap. The Hoberman Spheres, or breathing balls, were probably the more expensive of the items, but they are very popular with students and teachers. Make sure you buy bins …

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9 Breathing Breaks Strategies – Graphic Takeaway

Here is a graphic I made with nine strategies that you can use with your students today. Make sure to model, be serious about it, teach, and practice these strategies if you want them to be effective. The more you use them and show that it is ok to take these kinds of breaks, the more our students will as well. Which one is your favorite?? I think I like the Tumble Dryer one the best. It makes a fun sound effect!

Behavior Tip: 6 Breathing Strategies to Relax Students

Students are stressed. Teachers are stressed. And it’s understandable and should be expected. If you do this job right, it takes a lot out of you and drains you emotionally and physically. There is so much that we cannot control around us, even our own emotions are really hard to keep in check. Especially when our students push our buttons over and over and over…and over… But what we can control is our attitude and actions. Consider deep breathing strategies as way to reset both for your students and for yourself. Many of our students arrive to school …

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Behavior Tip: Sensory Toys & Tools

Many of our students have sensory issues and we need to provide them with extra tools to address these needs throughout the day. This post and video helps explain some of the ‘why’ behind these toys and a reflection in video to the different toys/tools we have in our school. Thank you Ashland Autism Teacher Laura Ryba for starring in this post’s video! (Always go to the experts in your school for these types of issues!) WHY SENSORY TOYS AND TOOLS: Before we get into the different types of toys and what to buy, we should always first …

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Behavior Tip: Sensory-friendly supports and alternatives for intense lessons

There are times where some of our most interesting and engaging lessons are just too much for some of our students. The lights, sounds, and excitement can cause a lot of anxiety that ruins the amazing experience and all the hard work put in by the teachers. Students with sensory processing issues have difficulties with some types of sensory input and in many cases build a lot of internal anxiety when things are unpredictable. As educators, we should not have activities where we know some students will not perform well. But there is good news. We can still …

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Sensory Friendly Haircuts

For many families like mine, even simple things can be very stressful. When our son was little, the barber shop and a tight haircut, one of my favorite things, was way too much and very overwhelming for him. I had to cut his hair at home for years myself. Now it’s better, but I know many other kids go through the same thing. I’m so excited about this new program at Ashland where we can modify this experience and teach students how to enjoy this instead, and even better, have it done in school. Thanks to a partnership …

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Traveling Tips #dadsasprincipals

This year we took the plunge and the whole family to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. This is true both literally and figuratively since we all got wet flying down Splash Mountain! The trip was both fantastic and exhausting, and I learned a few tips along the way that hopefully may help other parents. Comment below if you agree or have more ideas!