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Teaching Executive Functioning Skills to Teens with Emotional Disturbance

Executive Functioning Skills

If you were to walk up to anyone on the street and ask them what executive functioning is, you could be met with many different responses. According to the Hill Learning Center, which specializes in furthering the education of students with learning differences, executive functioning skills facilitate the behaviors required to plan and achieve goals. This includes abilities like planning, organization, self-regulation, working memory, and attention. These can all contribute to a student’s success in and out of the classroom. 

Here is a breakdown of key executive functioning skills:

Planning and Organization:
The ability to set goals, break down tasks, and organize materials and time. 

Self-Regulation:
Managing emotions, impulses, and behaviors, including the ability to delay gratification and resist distractions. 

Working Memory:
Holding information in mind long enough to complete a task, such as remembering instructions or a sequence of events. 

Attention and Focus:
Maintaining focus on a task, filtering out distractions, and sustaining attention for an appropriate duration. 

Cognitive Flexibility:
The ability to adapt to changing situations, switch between tasks, and think flexibly. 

Task Initiation:
The ability to start tasks without procrastination or delay, even when they are challenging or uninteresting. 

Problem-Solving:
Identifying problems, generating solutions, and implementing strategies to overcome challenges. 

Time Management:
Understanding the passage of time, estimating how long tasks will take, and managing time effectively. 

Emotional Control:
Recognizing and managing emotions and responding appropriately in various situations. 

Learning these skills as a teen is vital as most teens are preparing for high school, which means their first job is often on the horizon. They also need these skills to manage their time more effectively. Everyday activities, such as getting up and ready for school, require executive functioning skills. Your students must know how long it takes them to be ready to leave for school in the morning. Then, they must plan what time to wake up, how long to shower, what they will wear, what to have for breakfast, and how long it will take them to get to the bus stop or walk to school. Not to mention making sure their homework is done and they get the needed amount of rest. As adults, we are so used to doing things daily that we don’t realize how much decision-making and planning goes into an ordinary day. 

Students can be easily overwhelmed if they do not have the skill set to plan and make time for their school day. And that overwhelm can turn to shutting down or giving up when things get too tricky. To prepare for life, they must know how to manage themselves daily. This can be done through the use of checklists, using a planner, and establishing daily routines. Breaking tasks into smaller steps is a helpful way for a student to feel successful as they work through projects. Writing important dates into a planner can help them remember due dates and assessments. Having a daily routine helps things to become more familiar and second nature. As Benjamin Franklin said, “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”

Try some of the following strategies when working with your students:

Executive Functioning Strategies

To catch up on the Teaching Teens with Emotional Disturbance series, visit our Instagram Page for tips! Join our Facebook group for support in working with teens with emotional disturbance. Visit our business Facebook page to say hello!

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How You Can Teach Teens with Emotional Disturbance Active Listening

Teach Active Listening
Teaching Teens with Emotional Disturbance

1. Create a Safe and Supportive Environment

  • Establish clear, consistent routines to reduce anxiety.
  • Foster trust through positive relationships and reassurance.
  • Use a calm and patient tone when communicating.

2. Teach Active Listening in Small Steps

  • Break it down: Define active listening as making eye contact, nodding, paraphrasing, and asking questions.
  • Use visuals: Post charts or visual reminders of active listening skills.
  • Model it: Demonstrate active listening yourself, emphasizing nonverbal cues.

3. Use Engaging and Interactive Activities

  • Role-playing: Have students practice listening in real-life scenarios.
  • Games: Try “Telephone” or “Mirroring” games to reinforce listening skills.
  • Storytelling: Read short stories and ask students to repeat key details.

4. Provide Structured Support

  • Cue cards: Give prompts like “What I heard you say is…”
  • Timers: Use timers to help students focus on listening for short periods.
  • Checklists: Provide a simple checklist for students to self-monitor their listening behavior.

5. Address Emotional and Behavioral Needs

  • Teach self-regulation: Encourage deep breathing or grounding techniques before discussions.
  • Validate feelings: Acknowledge students’ emotions before redirecting to listening tasks.
  • Use positive reinforcement: Praise and reward good listening behaviors.

6. Make It Relevant and Personal

  • Relate to interests: Use topics they care about to keep them engaged.
  • Peer partnerships: Pair students with a buddy for listening exercises.
  • Reflect and discuss: Ask students how they feel when they are truly listened to.

This is just a start. You may find your students need a refresher, and that is okay. This a skill which needs time to for one to get better at it.  Comment below if you have your own tips.

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Teaching Teens with Emotional Disturbance – Work Habits

Teaching Teens with Emotional Disturbance
Teaching Teens with ED

Students who receive special education services with a diagnosis of Emotional Disturbance account for about 5% of the students who receive special education services. These students are often educated in self-contained classrooms with a curriculum focusing on academic and non-academic supports. It is a more therapeutic environment that is behavior-focused, with the end goal of moving the student from a more to a least restrictive environment. Students with emotional disturbance have the worst outcomes of students with disabilities as a whole. These outcomes include out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and dropping out of school. This is very concerning for families, communities, and educators. As a teacher in a self-contained behaviorally focused classroom for preteens and teens, I decided to start weekly segments that focus on different topics pertaining to teaching teens with Emotional Disturbance (ED). 

The negative outcomes experienced by students with ED show the need for explicit instruction in skills that address both academic and behavioral needs. This would mean interventions are immediately needed to meet these needs. Teaching work habits to teens with ED provides numerous benefits for their personal development and future career success. Here are some of the key advantages:

1. Builds Independence and Responsibility

  • Helps them take ownership of tasks and develop a sense of accountability.
  • Encourages time management and reliability, which are essential for future employment.

2. Enhances Emotional Regulation

  • Structured work habits can create predictability, reducing anxiety and emotional outbursts.
  • Provides opportunities to practice coping strategies in a controlled environment.

3. Improves Social and Communication Skills

  • Encourages teamwork, appropriate workplace interactions, and conflict resolution.
  • Develops active listening and following instructions, which are key for employment and daily life.

4. Boosts Self-Esteem and Confidence

  • Mastering work habits fosters a sense of accomplishment.
  • Positive reinforcement helps them see their abilities rather than their challenges.

5. Prepares for Future Employment and Life Skills

  • Learning punctuality, task completion, and organization makes them more employable.
  • These skills translate into managing household responsibilities and finances later in life.

6. Provides a Sense of Structure and Stability

  • Routine and clear expectations create a more stable environment for emotional regulation.
  • Helps reduce impulsivity and improve focus.

If you have some tips on teaching work habits to teens and would like to share, please comment below!

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End of the School Year Wrap-Up

Person writing thoughts in a notebook or journal Reflecting on the school year

The end of the school year came at me fast! Grades, progress reports, and packing up my room were all at the top of the list as my 2023-2024 school year came to an end. This was quite the school year, and I figured it would be fitting to write about the good and the bad that occurred during the year. I know it is almost August. I ended my school year on June 7th when I started working as a behavior specialist for a summer camp. Not to mention, I’m still working on my dissertation and preparing for an upcoming presentation at a conference later this month. I have been busy!

I must start with a disclaimer, especially if this is your first time reading my blog. This year was probably one of the most difficult years I have had since I started teaching. I’m used to working with students who display aggressive behaviors. This means these students may exhibit behaviors that impact their ability to be successful by initiating arguments or fights with their peers or school staff. Hey, it could also be defiant or disrespectful for any number of reasons. I’m big on establishing relationships with my students and families that create an environment where problems may arise, but students are still learning. My kiddos showed some of the same behaviors, but due to added trauma in their lives, it was difficult to work through those behaviors and focus on learning, which brings me to the first thing I learned this school year.

1

The year really made me lean into my research about Trauma-Informed Education. I made it a point to read and study anything I could get my hands on that talked about Trauma-Informed Education. So much so that I created a presentation that I’m sharing with anyone willing to listen. In education, we are given so many new buzz words ALL.THE.TIME. Educators never know what is going to stick and what will fade, like the ink from your favorite stamp pad. Taking the time to analyze what your students are communicating to you through their behaviors is crucial to establishing a safe and supportive learning environment. It takes time, consistency, and dedication, but it is well worth it. Click here to get a free checklist for starting your own trauma-informed classroom.

2

Being able to loop with your students for a second year adds to their success. I usually work with my students for at least 2 years. I always see major progress in the second year. In previous years, I have had students totally reintegrate back into the general education classroom from the self-contained setting with success. This year was no different. My 6th graders were leaps and bounds ahead of where they were in 5th grade. They were more independent and able to advocate for themselves. But don’t just take my word for it; research has shown having a repeat teacher increases students’ test scores while also improving attendance and discipline for lower-performing students and male students of color (Wedenoja et al., 2022). Unfortunately, intentional looping, where districts plan for teachers to progress with their students, is not a “thing” everywhere.

3

Self-reflection is key. According to philosopher and educator John Dewey, “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” Taking the time each day to think about what went right or wrong was helpful to making improvements in my teaching. Being honest with myself about my shortcomings. This post on Edutopia provides tips on how educators can make self-reflection a consistent habit.

4

Practice gratitude even when things are not going well. Reflecting on the negative is not a good way to start or end the day. Having a daily practice of thinking about what you are thankful for can be encouraging. It can also help you focus on what is going well and how to make improvements. Use of a gratitude journal can help get you on the path of being thankful even when it has been a tough day. Check out this gratitude journal for teachers that I created, which is available on Amazon. If you are not a fan of journaling, take a look at this blog post about refueling your gratitude on Edutopia.

All in all, looking back on some of my highs and lows from the past school year has gotten me fired up for the new year ahead. There will be new challenges, including a new school building, classroom, and colleagues. There will also be familiar things, like my students from last year. I’m excited about the new adventures that await us.

References

Wedenoja, L., Papay, J., and Kraft, M.A. (2022). Second time's the charm? How sustained relationships from repeat student-teacher matches build academic and behavioral skills. (EdWorkingPaper: 22-590). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/sddw-ag22 

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How to Have Difficult Conversations with Parents or Guardians

How to Have Difficult Conversations with Parents or Guardians
How to Have Difficult Conversations with Parents or Guardians

The other day, I had an unusual (for me) experience with one of my students and their parents. This student struggled throughout the school day, so much so that I grew concerned and wanted to have a face-to-face conversation with the parent at pick-up. Due to the nature of my room, for those new here, I’m the lead teacher of a behaviorally focused classroom so I communicate daily with families in many ways: email, text, and/or phone. I’ve even done social media if any of the above didn’t work. My point is that I don’t shy away from communicating with families even when it can be a difficult and serious situation, and you can imagine that as the lead teacher of a behaviorally focused classroom, difficult conversations are somewhat of the norm.

COVID-19 changed the game for many educators as we were welcomed into the homes of our students through online teaching. We either experienced a spike in communication or radio silence (Fox, 2023). During my preservice years, I don’t remember taking any courses focused totally on parental communication.  This is interesting because research shows that addressing academic and behavioral issues with a proactive outlook builds a positive bridge of communication between school and home (Freytag, 2001). Over the years, I feel that I have learned how to effectively build that bridge with every family I have served. Some bridges started out dotted with potholes from previous teacher relationships and/or feelings of mistrust of the school district. With consistent and honest communication on my end, I have always been able to chart a smooth clear path across the bridge.

That is until the other day. Now as I said before, my student had had a particularly challenging day. There was an incident in the morning stemming from a sick friend and after contacting home, I found out he hadn’t slept well the night before. Immediately, I sprinkled myself with an extra helping of my special patience sauce (one day, I might share the recipe), knowing I was going to need it. The day forged ahead. Recess arrived, and my student smacked a student and pushed a couple of others. We worked through those issues only to have him go to PE and intentionally throw a volleyball at a student’s head. Did I mention this was the same student he smacked during recess?! At this point, we are at the end of the school day, and I know that I have to talk to Mom at pick up at the end of the day in addition to the phone calls I’ve already made to her earlier in the day. And I’m torn because no matter what I do (positive calls and/or text messages home) a majority of my communication is about her son’s negative behavior. She has shared with me how frustrated she has gotten over the years dealing with the aftermath of his outbursts. I was worried about continuing to add to this and possibly make her question her capabilities as a parent which influences the development of her child (Ma et al., 2024). 

I went out with my student, who ran ahead to hop in the car, trying to leave before I made it there. He locked the door, Mom started to let the window down, and he put it back up. I was able to open the door and start to talk to Mom when my student began yelling that I was a liar, among other things. I gave a short description of the day along with my concerns. Mom, instead of addressing today’s incidents begins talking about an encounter with one of my colleagues from two weeks ago. Apparently, my colleague had told this student to move when he was blocking the exit door. Mind you this was my first time being told this. Realizing the conversation was going nowhere, I politely excused myself after apologizing for the actions of another teacher. I was upset as I walked away. But I also began thinking about how I could navigate these types of discussions in the future, especially if my student is around and mom may not be willing to hear it.

Difficult conversations with parents
Families and education

My mind began to work overtime on how to have difficult conversations with parents. In addition to this situation, I work with another student whose mother refuses to talk to teachers, principals, or support staff. Right now, she only speaks with one of the social workers. Daily, there are issues that need to be addressed, but they are not due to a lack of parent-teacher communication. After thinking about it, doing some research, and interviewing others, this is what I came up with:

1. Remember the factors that influence child behaviors also influence the teacher-child relationship which greatly impacts the parent-teacher relationship. SO WATCH WHAT YOU SAY AND CHOOSE YOUR WORDS WISELY!!! 

2. Make sure you are communicating positive messages home as well. Do not allow all of your communication to be about negative things. Even if you call to voice a concern, like maybe the student is ill or the student is having an off day, keep it positive! Make the parent feel as though you are all part of the team to support their child because you actually are.

3. Serve a wrap instead of a sandwich. We have all heard of the positive feedback sandwich. We have all heard of the positive feedback sandwich. You give your negative or critical feedback but it is sandwiched between doses of positive feedback. The wrap approach allows you to ask what the parent may feel about their child’s current performance. You can then add your thoughts and have a discussion about it. It is more of a proactive approach to finding common ground and moving forward with a plan of support. I like this approach because it gives us educators an opportunity to validate parents’ thoughts and feelings by simply asking for it.

4. Finally, use the Golden Rule. Treat others how you want to be treated. Practice empathy. I always try to put myself in the mindset of my families. Think about the feelings of overwhelm and powerlessness that may be present and how I would want someone to treat and speak to me if those feelings were present in me.

Remember, you and the families of your students have the same goal in mind: ensure the student is making progress on their academic and behavioral goals. You are a team and there will be some problems along the way, but with respect and empathy, there can be success! 

References

Fox, K. (2023). Building an understanding of family literacy: Changing practices regarding homework and other forms of school-home engagement and school community, 33(1).

Freytag, C. (2001). Teacher-parent communication: Starting the year off right.

Ma, T., Tellegen, C., and Sanders, M. (2024). The role of parenting self-efficacy on teacher-child relationship and parent-teacher communication: Evidence from an Australian national longitudinal study, Journal of School Psychology

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How Your Personal Legend Can Improve Your Teaching

Alchemist Cover

How Your Personal Legend can Improve Your Teaching

How Your Personal Legend can Improve Your Teaching
How Your Personal Legend can Improve Your Teaching

A friend of mine recommended that I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I was embarrassed to say that I’d had a copy of the book for years and had not looked at it. I had skimmed a few pages and wasn’t really drawn in so I placed it into a box with some of my other books and forgot about it. I trust this friend and value her opinion about things so I dug the book out and took another swing at it. I’m happy to say that I’m glad I did.

Alchemist Cover

One of the main ideas of the book is the Personal Legend of Santiago. One needs to understand that your personal legend involves what you decide to do with your life. What do you want your life to look like? Who do you want to be? How do you want to be remembered?Will you look back on your life with regret or fond memories? This got me thinking about my own personal legend. Teaching is referred to as a noble profession. It’s a running joke that those who become teachers do not enter into it for the money. I myself chose to be a teacher because I wanted to help others and work with children. 

Teaching is my second career. This meant I had to go back to school, take additional classes, and pass the licensure tests for my state in order to make it happen. Initially, I was convinced I wanted to be an early childhood teacher for kindergartners. I was able to get a job as a substitute teacher and quickly realized how much I enjoyed working with children with exceptionalities. 

Paul Coelho wrote about how there are four obstacles that can keep someone from following their Legend. As a young child we can have visions of grandeur. I wanted to be a singing astronaut when I was young. People would let me know you could maybe do one or the other but you needed to be practical. Fortunately, I came from a family of people who followed their Personal Legends. My father and brothers embarked on fulfilling careers in the music industry so I saw first hand how one can successfully follow their Personal Legend. We can not let fear of what others feel is impossible stop us. We must proceed in love. We can not let the fear of defeat get in our way. Lastly, realizing what our dream is.

Obstacles Ahead

How does this first obstacle translate to improving your teaching? As an educator you need to approach each new class and school year with a fresh perspective. You must believe in the impossible as you embark on increasing the academic success of your students. Teachers fight against the impossible everyday in their classrooms. Trying to increase test scores, help students regulate their behavior, and many times working closely with families. We have to make sure we are not allowing our own biases to influence our thoughts on how we can help our students.

Love

The second obstacle of love is crystal clear. We need to have love for the profession of teaching. As mentioned before those who really commit to a life of service as an educator, must have a love for the profession. You do not enter this field with the dream of becoming a millionaire. You genuinely have a love of working with children, academic subject matter, or a combination of the two. It is important to also have a support system of those who can love and support you as you follow your Personal Legend. Knowing you have the support and love of others can help you stay focused on being the best teacher you can possibly be.

Goal Completion

For those of us already in the classroom, we know how rewarding it can be when you have assisted a student in grasping a concept. But what about those days when you go home feeling extremely defeated. The best part of the third obstacle, fear of defeat, is that it forces us to reflect on how we can be better the next class or school day. We can reflect on what new methods we can use to help a student progress academically or behaviorally. Being able to roll with the punches and still maintain a positive outlook can make the most of our path to following our Personal Legend.

Successful and happy students

 Ultimately, we find we are our own worst enemy when it comes to achieving goals of any kind. Achieving your Personal Legend is no different. Think about what you want to achieve as an educator. I have become an educator which was one part of my Personal Legend. Now I work on being the best educator I can possibly be. My point is that you must keep going and expanding to the next level. Do not be afraid to spread your influence to students outside of your classroom. How, Kandice is what you may be asking. That worksheet you created can be sold on Teachers Pay Teachers. That new research you have read about could be shared with your colleagues in a professional development session. Or you can present at a professional conference. You are the person in charge of the path on your way to your Personal Legend. 

I’m interested to know about your Personal Legend. Please feel free to share in the comments! 

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TikTok Made Me Do It

So I recently became a fan of TikTok. My daughters were always sharing different videos with me so I broke down and created an account. I had an account back in 2020 when COVID closed down the schools. It came in handy when I couldn’t locate my students through the traditional ways. I made a few videos and started messaging my students through the platform. Guess what, it worked! I was able to get them to attend their online classes. 

Once we moved on to hybrid classes, I didn’t see the need for TikTok, so my account just there collecting virtual dust until 6 months ago. I realized some of my fellow educators were creating followings displaying the comic relief that being an educator can be. There are days we need as much laughter as possible. You just need to laugh to keep from crying. I’m not an actress and sometimes it takes me a million years to get things accomplished on technology. Even after creating my own website, an online course, and trying to keep up with this blog I still struggle at times. 

I enlisted the assistance of my middle child who was more than happy to teach me the ropes. It was all fun and games until last week. I posted a video using audio from the platform not from my classroom of a student clearly yelling in distress. Not a fight, just a student yelling. I did so to show what educators are dealing with during the month of May or some of us for the entire school year. I teach a self-contained behaviorally focused classroom so there are often days when a student is yelling in distress. 

Watch on TikTok

Well, I ruffled a few feathers because I got some negative comments on my post. I was told I suck and some profanity was used. I’m an empath so I felt really bad and after consulting my daughter aka social media manager, she thought I should comment. So I did and the person continued to berate me. Now, I was feeling like I should delete the post, but saw supportive comments from those in the education field. They shared their understanding of what was happening in the video. That is when I decided to leave the post there, but make it into a teaching moment. Hence this post and an upcoming new TikTok and how to deal with a student who is in distress especially for my newbie self-contained teachers.

What to Do When a Student is in Distress

Evacuation Plan

At the beginning of the school year, you should create your evacuation plan. This has nothing to do lockdowns, fire drills, or tornado drills. Your evacuation plan details where you take a student in distress to calm down. There will need to 2 parts to this plan because if the student in distress is refusing to leave the area, then you may need to evacuate your other students. It is also good practice to conduct practice evacuation drills as with other drills so students know what to do and where to go. Make sure you have a point person they will go with if it is not you. If your class needs to leave, then the area needs to be big enough for them to be comfortable and have adult supervision. You may need to stay behind with the student in distress.

Consistently Teach Skills

Now I’m going to get on my soapbox. You should be teaching social emotional skills daily. If you need SEL curriculum suggestions, drop me an email. Students should be taught how to identify their emotions and ways they can self-regulate. We all know that this does not always happen but most students make considerable improvement in their behavior when replacement behaviors are taught on a regular basis. 

Be Supportive

If the student in distress is at the point of the student in the audio, there is not much talking or reasoning they want to hear. You can drop gems like, “When you are ready, I’m here “ or “When you are ready, I want you to know how I can support you.” Then walk away but keep the student in your proximity and line of sight. Give them the time and space to calm down. 

Keep Them Safe

In my video the student in distress is yelling and I’m sitting at my desk looking from the “student” to the camera, not saying a word. I’m not making any comments, yelling back, or trying to come in contact with the student at this time. I’m watching to make sure they are safe and not trying to harm themselves or anyone else. That is why it is also important to have an evacuation plan in place. Remove others so they do not try to provoke the student or make matters worse. You may even have a crisis team at your school. If so, follow the protocol.

Follow Up

Make sure to take time to follow up with the student when they have calmed down completely and are ready to talk. This may even be the next day, but make sure you follow up! Talk about what happened, why, what they could have or should do differently, and what you can do to support them in the future. Depending on the severity, frequency, and duration of the situation you may also need to call home, especially if the student has a goal on their IEP tied to self-regulation or behavior. Keep parents in the loop as much as possible or to the extent they would like to be included. 

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How You Can Build Community in a Self-Contained Classroom

A self-contained classroom educates students with disabilities in all of their academic subjects. Students with disabilities make up 14% of the student population nationally (Hirsch et al, 2022). Many of these students are educated in self-contained classroom if their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team has agreed that is their least restrictive environment (LRE). Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) are most often educated in self-contained due to their specialized needs in social emotional learning, social skills, and self regulation. Due to their disability, it can be difficult for teachers to develop relationships with students with EBD, let alone assist them in developing friendships with their peers. As a teacher of a self contained classroom for students with EBD for over ten years, I have compiled a list of ways you can build community in a self contained classroom.

Believe that your class is a community

A quote that is often attributed to Henry Ford is “Those that believe they can and those that believe they can’t are often both correct.” If we hold a strong belief in one way or the other, it can impact the outcome of any plan of acton we choose to implement. If you have a strong belief in something that is unwavering, you can also help others to believe as well. When your students see you believing that they can be successful at being apart of a classroom community, it can help make that belief a reality.

Model the behaviors you want to see

As humans we learn most of our behaviors by watching those around us. Babies learn speech by repeating the sounds they hear around them. The same can be said of modeling positive behaviors in the classroom. You can create lessons where you break down the behaviors you would like students to use in the classroom. That means showing them how to perform the specific skill. You may also need to give them the reasoning behind exhibiting these behaviors. We need to realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to learn how to relate to others, especially based on their backgrounds.

Be consistent with your expectations

Classroom management is an important part of creating a community in your classroom. The classroom management style of the teacher sets the tone for the classroom and determines the effectiveness of the learning environment. Creating expectations with your students and making sure they understand the consequences if those expectations are not met helps with consistency. Students know what will happen if expectations are not met and will act accordingly.

Be aware of your social and emotional competency

According to the website, Positive Action, the five core social and emotional competencies are: 1) self-awareness, 2) self-management, 3) responsible decision making, 4) social awareness, and 5) relationship skills. In order to teach these skills to students, teachers must be aware of their own competencies. Having self-awareness will allow teachers to understand their strengths and weaknesses which can help with maintaining healthy relationships. Self-management focuses on helping to improve your stress management, organizational skills, goal setting, and self-discipline. That works hand in hand with responsible decision making in order to make important decisions. Social awareness involves your ability to emphasize with others. This also helps in establishing healthy relationships. Ultimately, all this helps with your relationship skills to, yes you guessed it, establish and maintain healthy relationships that add to your classroom community.

Encourage and/or create opportunities for positive peer interactions

According to the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, positive peer interactions lead to the positive social and emotional development in children. Children who are given these opportunities are able to build stronger friendships and connections with others. Teachers are able to create these types of interactions in the classroom through group activities and role playing. Students with EBD may not develop these skills on their own and need more practice. Giving these students the opportunities for positive peer interactions can help improve their social behaviors.

Lead with positivity!

As a classroom teacher, you are the leader and set the tone for your learning environment. Your behavior and attitude can directly influence the behaviors of your students. Having an air of positivity in your classroom will create a supportive climate. A positive teacher leader is the unifier of healthy relationships in the classroom.

Educationally yours,

Kandice B. aka SPED Teacher KB

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What is Happening to the Field of Education?

Field of Education
Field of Education

In 2021, 25% of current teachers reported they are thinking of leaving the profession.

Bloomberg.com

If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything at all, it is that everything is fleeting. It can be here today and gone tomorrow, just like that. Systems and infrastructures that were so carefully planned and monitored proved to be the exact opposite. Looking across various industries we see where this has rang true. In the tech and auto industries, the current chip shortage has slowed the production of new vehicles and smartphones. The shipping and supply issues caused by the decrease in the workforce has raised prices and added to the scarcity of items available in stores.

Education has been hard hit as well. The closure of schools worldwide ignited a move toward digital classrooms. Words like synchronous and asynchronous became part of our everyday vocabulary. Remote learning, distance learning, hybrid or whatever term your district decided to use became our way of life before we knew it. Then masks became the new normal. Not only did you have to make sure little Johnny was paying attention, you also had to make sure he had on his mask. I remember the days of clear plastic shower curtains used as protection in the classroom. The anxiety and confusion these things added to the teaching profession has taken its toll on the field of education.

In a recent article on Bloomberg, it was found in 2021 that 25% of current teachers were considering leaving the profession. Many of the largest school districts in the country have dealt with threats of strikes and going virtual due to rising numbers after COVID variants were discovered. Then there are the staffing shortages. While teachers are out to deal with the sicknesses of their family members or their own, schools are scrambling to find substitutes. Ask your teacher friends and they’ll tell you about being asked to cover classes for colleagues daily. COVID has made working in a school setting dangerous and many would be substitutes are staying away. One local district is now offering substitute positions to applicants with just a high school diploma.  

If our educational system is going to survive this pandemic, change needs to happen, immediately! First, the thoughts and opinions of those on the front lines needs to be heard and appreciated. Decisions are being made that directly affect classroom teachers without getting their take on it. Another concern is that seeing all that has happened over the last couple of years will deter young hopefuls from entering the profession. What are your thoughts about the field of education?

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I’m still here!

Hello everyone!
I feel like I sat down to recover from school closures in the spring due to COVID 19 and got up just in time to start the new school year. My district continued to be remote for the start of the new school year, but I’ll get to all of that later! In June, I was exhausted. Shelter at home orders meant more family time but that also meant juggling working from home along with it. We enjoyed the drive thru graduation for my high school senior, the actress. We took a road trip to clean out my oldest daughter’s (the adult) apartment in Atlanta. Although I vowed to not work during the summer, I still worked on various re-entry plan work groups. I even decided to do some home improvement projects, that were delayed due to COVID-19. Can anyone say lumber shortage?! I also entered a doctoral program for my EdD in Special Education. Yes, I’m that person. Even when I say I’m going to relax I find other things to occupy my time. Before I knew it, it was August! I decided to keep my youngest, the creative, home for distance learning. The actress was off to begin her freshman year of college as her campus was open. Imagine the usual my child is going to college anxiety amplified by pandemic anxiety. Meanwhile the adult has been home as her college has gone remote. It sucks for her because this is senior year and there still is no word if or when she will return in person. Forgot to mention, I changed schools and grades this year. I’m now the lead teacher of a behaviorally focused classroom for 7th and 8th graders. I teach all four academic subjects for both grades. In case you didn’t catch that, I teach math, science, language arts and social studies for two grades! That’s EIGHT preps, but who’s counting?! A behaviorally focused classroom is was not something I envisioned doing online. I have to say that my team has been so supportive and the students are great too! Have there been challenges? Does a fish live in water??!!! That’s a post for another day.  I just wanted to check in and say hey. So hey! I have some exciting things planned for the blog and my website in the coming weeks. Be on the lookout for new resources that will be offered in both PDF and digital formats for your remote, hybrid or traditional classroom. There will be some lessons for the week after winter break, when our brains haven’t yet returned to the classroom. Don’t worry, I got you! Be sure to follow me on social media for some weekly inspiration and ideas. 
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