As a new middle school teacher of special needs students, it was important to be mindful of the environment that surrounded my public school students. In order to effectively engage my students, I had to develop a relationship with them. It was critical that I knew where these students came from, who they were, and understand […]
Tag Archives: middle school
It Sometimes Takes ‘Trial and Error’ to Get to Culturally-Responsive Teaching
Culturally responsive practices, teaching in particular, are less about racial pride as a motivator but about understanding and aligning instruction with the strategies that your students immediate persons in their communities use to teach life skills and other concepts. You don’t have to rap or bring hip-hop into the classroom to spark interest and […]
Parent Mindsets – Be A Learning Hero
Parents have always been and still are the captains of learning fate of their children in school settings, and their children are still masters of their destiny. Whether or not they are aware, parents’ heavily influence the educational route that children travel along as they grow up and transition out into the ‘real’ […]
Here’s How Teachers Can Connect With Students[and their families, too]
As a beginning middle school special education teacher, there were so many student behaviors that I didn’t understand. I made wrongful, misinformed determinations, thereby disciplined students in frustration, raised my voice to regain control and get the disruptive behaviors to stop. Gaining ‘control’ is the wrong approach to classroom management, particularly when students are adolescents. There was one particular student, who had great […]
