I am not a clinical or licensed mental health professional, but I have been in low-performing classrooms as a teacher, coach, school leader, and consultant long enough to recognize one critical thing. In the lives of many students in our high-needs schools, trauma exists and...
Picture this… Student gets upset. Teacher kicks student out of the classroom. Student receives disciplinary action from the teacher. Student enters the classroom the next day and the cycle repeats itself all over again. This incident is typical in schools across America, and for students of color and males, in particular,...
Below is the link to our inventory of amazing questions, thoughts and commentary from our second Twitter Chat on the importance of student voice in the classroom. https://storify.com/wsprankles/studentvoice-ct3#publicize Our next Twitter Chat will be held on Saturday, April 9 at 9:00am PST/12:00 PM EST. Follow #ct3 to participate! Click...
Below is the link to our inventory of amazing questions, thoughts and commentary from our first Twitter Chat on Why We Must Love And Nurture Our Scholars. https://storify.com/wsprankles/why-we-must-love-nurture-our-scholars Our next Twitter Chat will be held on Saturday, March 12 at 9 AM pst / 12 PM est...
“I love the hardest ones the most.” Those are the words of Bill Heaning, a teacher that happens to be 61-years young in the Syracuse City School District. Bill was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York in the 70’s. His mother passed away when he...
All of the No-Nonsense Nurturers I know, and I know many, use please and thank you in their classrooms often. At CT3, we encourage and coach teachers to model the use of mainstream cultural norms—which include please and thank you amongst others. We also encourage...
Teachers often insist that it doesn’t matter if the student is tracking or looking at the speaker. “I can listen and not look at you,” are the words that made me stop and pause. The 25-year veteran teacher was absolutely right. She could listen without...
There are few statements that so simply and succinctly communicate the critical role that a teacher’s investment in their students plays in securing trust and cooperation. Students can and will put forth their best effort to meet and/or exceed whatever expectations we clearly establish as...
Building relationships with my students is the crux of the culture in my classroom. My students know that I love them deeply, and because of that love, I will accept nothing but their absolute best and I will push until we both feel like they...
A short time ago, I had the privilege of supporting a Real Time Teacher Coach (RTTC) as she was conducting a Baseline Observation in a middle-school classroom for an upcoming RTTC session. During our time in the classroom, when pressing for 100% of her scholars’...