Why Behavior and SEL IEP Goals Take 700 Years to Write
There are some IEP goals I can write pretty quickly. If I have good baseline data and a clear area of need, I can usually figure out where I want a student to go with...
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Using Special Interests to Boost Engagement
I am not a mind reader, but I already know that there is a student in your class who can tell you every single Pokémon evolution but cannot remember the three vocabulary words you introduced...
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Prepping for a Manifestation Determination Meeting
Manifestation determination meetings can feel intimidating, especially when a serious behavior has occurred and emotions are running high. By the time the meeting is scheduled, there may already have been an investigation, parent phone calls,...
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Reading Comprehension and SEL
We have all sat through a meeting where someone put up a pie chart of instructional minutes and then announced that the school was also adding an SEL block. We know well that specific feeling...
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10 Screen Free Toys for the Classroom
This post contains affiliate links. There’s a point in the year (usually once routines are solid and the pace has picked up) when “free time” in the classroom starts to feel a little off. You...
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Do Fidget Tools Actually Help Kids Regulate?
Walk into almost any elementary classroom right now and you will probably see at least some kind of fidget tools. Teachers often keep stress balls, tangles, Velcro strips under desks, small cubes with buttons, or...
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How SEL Can Combat Teacher Burnout
Let me guess: you absolutely love teaching, but feel oddly disconnected from it at the same time. Yep, you’re not broken. And if the idea of adding one more strategy, meeting, or initiative makes your...
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The Martyr Teacher Myth
This post includes affiliate links. If you’ve been teaching for more than five minutes, you’ve probably heard some version of this message: “Good teachers give it all.” Stay late. Spend your own money. Answer emails...
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Setting Boundaries so You Can Keep Showing Up
There really is a line between caring deeply for your students and carrying their struggles home. However, it can get real blurry, real fast. We don’t just teach math, reading, or science. We teach kids...
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On Trend Teacher Shoes from Amazon
This post contains affiliate links. Like you, I spend most days on my feet moving from the copier to a small group to recess duty and back again. Over the years I have become picky...
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