Building a Culture of Caring in Your Classroom

By Karen LeVasseur, LCSW, owner and therapist at Calm4Kids Therapy Center, LLC

Building Character

Having worked as an elementary school teacher for many years I know the importance of building character in your classroom. I learned over the years that time spent on character education, in particular at the beginning of the school year, was time well spent. Think about it. To engage successfully in academic learning, the following skills need to be in place:

- Emotional regulation

- Problem solving

- Communication

- Teamwork

Students don't always come to school with the skills that they need and it is up to the educator to support kids in learning the "how" of getting through their school day. If you have ever read The First Six Weeks of School by Paula Denton and Roxanne Kriete, you will agree that spending time at the beginning of the school year, setting expectations, modeling and practicing socially acceptable behaviors, establishing a routine for identifying and resolving conflict and solving problems as a team will set up your students for success and allow your classroom to run like a well oiled machine. 

Setting Kids Up For Success

I remember one year, when I taught fifth grade. I was excited for the year, having been in fourth grade for many years. I was eager to dive into the fifth grade curriculum and set up a great academic program for my kids. Unfortunately, the twenty five youngsters in my class were not as excited as I was. The school year started off with problem behaviors, arguments, yelling, teasing... It was not the happy school year I had envisioned. About three weeks in, I brought academics to a screeching halt and put a heavy emphasis on character building. During the next month and a half I started holding a morning meeting each day, used the time right after recess for meditation and created an "Acts of Kindness" Wall. Everything we did academically involved practicing team-building and problem solving skills and assertive communication. By the end of October, my students not only knew what to expect and what to do, they also knew how to do it well. My well oiled machine was achieved!

Morning Meeting

Holding a morning meeting is an important part of your classroom culture. Starting each day as a community, interacting positively with one another is a great way to start off the day on the right foot, for students and for the teacher! There are many different activities you can incorporate into your morning meeting. Be creative and add activities that feel right for you and for your kids. Some ideas include:

Class Pledge- Write a pledge that speaks to the core values you want at work in your class. An example is "I pledge allegiance to my class, that I will try my best, to make good choices and try real hard to be responsible like the rest. I care about the others here and I care about me. I want school to be a special place where I learn and want to be!"

Greetings- One year I taught my students to greet one another using both Spanish and American Sign Language. Students would pair off and say/sign "Good morning, how are you?" The student would respond with "Good morning, I am (happy, mad, tired, sick...). How are you?" The kids loved the bilingual challenge!

Circle of Friends- Ask your students to sit in a circle either on the floor or in chairs. Pose a question such as "How will you be successful today?" or pose a challenge such as "Compliment the person next to you on something nice they did yesterday" and have each student respond. Emphasize active listening skills and use a talking stick if needed.

Problem Solving Box- Set up a box in the classroom with problem sheets that students can fill out indicating the following: I have a problem with... It is a problem because... I have tried to solve it by.... Each morning pull out one problem sheet and read it to the class. Allow the kids to generate possible solutions to the problem. The person who wrote the sheet can remain anonymous or they can identify themselves. Either way, the child with the problem will leave the circle with many new ideas to try!

Minute to Win It- Put kids into pairs and give them a 60 second challenge to complete together. Use riddles, math problems, rebus puzzles or have them complete a physical or building task like on the tv show. Allow the students to be noisy and have fun while they build teamwork skills!

Calm Kids are Productive Kids

I think one of the best decisions I ever made as a teacher was to add meditation to my schedule. I have used the technique at different times of the day but found that right after recess really helped kids to recharge and refocus, allowing success for the second half of the day. The meditation does not have to be long. Even a few minutes of mindfulness to breath and stillness can calm an active or emotionally labile child allowing them to make good choices with their behavior and with peer interaction. Try some of these techniques. I'm sure you will notice a difference in your students' affect as well as your own!

60 Second Vacation- Have the kids lay on the floor or relax in their seats. Ask them to close their eyes and imagine a place where they feel happy, calm and safe. Guide them in using their senses to explore this place, envisioning themselves doing something to be focused, calm and successful. After about 60 seconds of quiet visualization and deep breathing refocus students on the classroom environment and their job as a student.

A Moment of Stillness- Have kids relax as above and guide them in taking slow, deep breaths (belly breaths) filling up their lungs and expanding their abdomen like a balloon on the in breath, then releasing on the out breath. Once a breathing pattern has been established, ask the kids to continue breathing, remaining as still as possible for a minute of meditation. It is helpful to have them imagine sinking into their chair or melting into the floor. When time is up ask the kids to open their eyes and focus on your face (or a point in the room), taking one more cleansing breath.

Breathing Buddies- Students lay on their back on the floor with a small stuffed animal on their bellies. This is called their breathing buddy who helps them learn to take belly breaths as described above. Model for students how to take a belly breath, saying "On the in breath the belly goes out and on the out breath the belly goes in." Guide students in taking slow, deep belly breaths for a few minutes then collect the buddies and get back to work feeling refreshed!

Meditation for Kids

Meditation For Kids: Parents Turn To Mindfulness Practices To Help Children Stay Calm

Being Kind is Cool!

It is helpful to teach kids the importance of being kind and caring toward others. I helped my students learn this valuable lesson by first identifying acts of kindness in literature, providing roleplay scenarios and by inviting the "Note Fairy" to visit my classroom (she secretly leaves notes for students who she witnessed acting kindly toward others). Once the term "Act of Kindness" was well understood and students were regularly engaging in AoK's I set up an "Acts of Kindness" Wall where students could note the kindness of others or post their note from the Note Fairy to celebrate their own success. Each week a different student was honored on the wall with a brief description of how he/she went above and beyond in helping our classroom be a kind and caring environment. Regular celebration of success really helped to motivate kids to be kind to others and to themselves!

Random Acts of Kindness

Welcome | Random Acts of Kindness
Kindness stories, quotes, ideas, classroom resources and more.

Try some of these ideas and please share the wonderful things you do in your classroom! Be creative, have fun and remember, "What you notice will happen more!" Celebrate your students' successes and help them to build the skills they need to be able to add to the culture of caring you have established in your classroom.

Karen LeVasseur is an LCSW and is owner and operator of Calm4Kids Therapy Center, LLC in Bradley Beach, NJ where she offers hypnotherapy, play therapy, EFT, and mindfulness based psychotherapy for clients ages 3 through adult. Karen also has vast experience as a School Counselor, Elementary School Teacher, School Social Worker and School Anti-Bullying Specialist.

How to Implement IDEA: IEP and its Limits

by B. Lana Guggenheim, Staff Writer

All students are individuals and require individual attention, but some students are in need of special aid due to disability, autism, or other non-normative factors that hamper their ability to learn at the same rate or pedagogic style as the majority of their peers. For them, the US Department of Education has IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This legislation provides resources and tools to help children with one or more of 13 listed disabilities, including learning disabilities. While not every child with learning or attention issues will qualify for aid covered by IDEA, there are many options for those who do. One of those options is the IEP, or Individualized Education Program.

IEP is not the only education aid program; it bears some similarity to the 504 plan, including the government bearing the cost of any programs or services offered to aid the child in attaining educational goals. However, the IEP is much more specialized, as well as more difficult to obtain. A child declined for an IEP might yet be covered by 504 services, which tend to modify a regular education program in the general classroom, rather than arrange for a wide array of services outside of it or alongside it. Because the IEP is more highly specialized and encompassing, the law requires much more stringent documentation and implementation.

An IEP legally requires a written document, and the team involved to include not just the student’s parents, but a school psychologist or other specialist, a general teacher, a special education teacher, and a school district representative. The child’s abilities and progress need to be carefully monitored, and immediate benchmarks and long-term annual education goals need to be specified, thus allowing for progress to be measured and goals to be attained. Also, in order for an IEP to be implemented, the child needs to have both an in-school evaluation, and an official diagnosis by a specialist or medical professional. The law requires that meetings of the IEP team occur at least once a year to keep parents abreast of developments, but they usually occur more frequently, and can be called by parents at any time. Finally, a transition plan must kick in a minimum of one year before the child graduates high school and reaches an age of majority. This is when the child herself often is present at IEP meetings, and includes services and support to help the student transition from school to a successful adulthood and achieve post-education goals.

To compare, a 504 plan does not require all these individuals, nor even a written document. Furthermore, while a 504 committee includes parents, the law does not specify the individuals mandated to be on the committee, nor does the law even guarantee parent participation in these meetings, nor is the committee required to keep the parents abreast of developments, nor does it include transition plans as a matter of course. That is not to say that 504 plans are inherently inferior, but they are definitely less thorough, and are probably better suited for students with less severe difficulties or borderline cases.

What happens if things go wrong? The IEP has specific legal processes to resolve disputes. A parent can ask for mediation, and in cases where this does not resolve disagreements, can file a due process complaint. This requires a parent writing an official complaint letter, after which there is a resolution session. If this fails to resolve the issues, a formal due process hearing is held in front of a hearing officer or administrative judge. After this, the parent can file a civil lawsuit. Any agreements reached in any stage of this process are required to be documented in writing. Similar options are available for disagreements arising with the 504 plan, but the steps are not as formalized as they are with the IEP.

The IEP is clearly one of the more intensive options of the few that exist to aid struggling or disabled students. Because it is so comprehensive and requires cooperation between so many people, implementation can easily become difficult. Especially in underprivileged and underserved school districts, teachers are often overwhelmed and don’t receive the support they need to properly execute their general duties, never mind the extra effort it takes to help a struggling student. In addition, both IEP and the 504 plan are aimed at students in public schools. Students in private or charter schools are less able to access these resources to aid children, putting yet more pressure on already strained families, students, and teachers.  But lack of funding and overcrowded schools are well known problems in public schools all over the nation, and as a result students are often underserved and teachers are over-stressed, but those struggling students in need suffer the most.

In fact, disparities in school funding both between school districts and within a district are well recorded. Moreover, in 23 states there are noticeable gaps in funding allocated to rich districts versus poor ones. Children living in poverty arrive in school already disadvantaged, and need more resources just to get on an even footing; instead, they are held further back, and as a result, children in poverty lag behind their wealthier peers across the nation. Studies in New York and Texas show large disparities both within and between specific school districts, which further exacerbate the gap between the rich and the poor. In New York City, the gap could be as high as $400 per student, in favor of the wealthy. And poverty exposes children to many factors that cause developmental delays. A home with lead paint, common in older buildings, might lead to permanent mental disability. Children in low-income homes often lack access to books, adequate healthcare, and their overworked parents lack time with their children, which is a crucial factor for emotional and mental development. This also means that problems will be spotted later, when they are more difficult to address. Already disadvantaged, these children arrive to schools that are more ill-equipped than they ought to be to adequately address their needs.

Programs like IEP are meant to aid these students, but these underserved schools and over-extended teachers all but guarantee that they will not receive the help they need to succeed in comparison to their middle- and upper-class peers. The IDEA legislation and IEP program are crucial steps needed to make sure that students with special needs can flourish to the full extent of their potential, and in the case of students from impoverished backgrounds, break the cycle of poverty and disability. But that can’t happen unless teachers and their schools get the support they need.

Works Cited

Brown, Emma. "In 23 States, Richer School Districts Get More Local Funding than Poorer Districts." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 11 May 2016.

"Building The Legacy of IDEA." IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. US Department of Education, 2004. Web. 11 May 2016.

"The Difference Between IEPs and 504 Plans." Understood.org. Understood.org, 27 June 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.

"Guide to the Individualized Education Program." US Department of Education. US Department of Education, 3 Mar. 2007. Web. 11 May 2016.

Guin, Kacey, Bethany Gross, Scott Deburgomaster, and Margeurite Roza. "Do Districts Fund Schools Fairly?" Education Next. Education Next, 17 Aug. 2007. Web. 11 May 2016.

Lee, Andrew M.I. "How IDEA Protects You and Your Child." Understood.org. Understood.org, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.

Lovett, Kenneth. "EXCLUSIVE: Rich, Poor School Funding Disparity Hits Record." NY Daily News. NY Daily News, 11 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 May 2016.

Schwartz, Amy Ellen, Ross Rubinstein, and Leanna Stiefel. "Why Do Some Schools Get More and Others Less? An Examination of School-Level Funding in New York City." Diss. Institute for Education and Social Policy Wagner and Steinhardt Schools New York U, 2007. Steinhardt.nyu.edu. Steinhardt NYU, 2007. Web. 11 May 2016.

Stanberry, Kristin. "Understanding 504 Plans." Understood.org. Understood.org, 03 June 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.

Stanberry, Kristin. "Understanding Individualized Education Programs." Understood.org. Understood.org, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.

Valles, Rebecca, and Shawn Fremstad. "Disability Is a Cause and Consequence of Poverty - Talk Poverty." Talk Poverty. TalkPoverty.com, 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 May 2016.

Zorgian, Kris, and Jennifer Job. "Poverty and Special Ed." Learn NC. UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education (UNC-CH SOE), 2010. Web. 11 May 2016.

Elementary, My Dear Reader

Thanks for returning to the Enky Inc. blog! Today we have a great addition to our American Education Week content: an interview with an Elementary School teacher from New York City. She has been a teacher for a couple of years now & teaches in a charter school in Brooklyn. In this interview, we’ll learn about some of the experiences, challenges, & learning experiences she has had during her time as an Elementary School teacher, as well as the advice she has for those considering teaching as a profession. Now before I ramble on any longer, I’ll let our teacher Paige Kane take over from here!

Do you teach in a public or private school setting & what grade do you teach?

I teach in a Charter School setting and I teach fifth grade. 

Do you specialize in a specific subject or do you teach multiple subjects?

Since I teach elementary school it is still general education. I teach all subjects throughout the day, including English/Language Arts (ELA), Math, Science, Social Studies, & Writing.

Do you feel as though you have a good degree of control or discretion over what you teach, how you operate your classroom, and how students are assessed? Or are these factors generally controlled by the school or district?

My school follows a common core curriculum. Our math and ELA lessons are scripted and from the Engage NY curriculum. In this sense I don’t feel I have much autonomy in the way the lessons are taught, however, I do find it helpful that in these lessons I know I am hitting all of the standards and learning targets for the grade I teach.  Overall, I do feel I have a great sense of autonomy in how my classroom is managed and assessed. 

Can you give an example of a lesson you taught to your class recently?

I work at a Science/ Environmentally based school and we are very lucky to have partnerships with other organizations. One such organization is Construction Kids. For a science lesson we taught the students about variables and how they can affect an experiment. We identified the independent, dependent, & control variable. Our class was then able to take a trip to Construction Kids where they built catapults and manipulated variables. They worked to hammer all of the pieces together and then tested them. The students had to make a hypothesis based on the variable they decided to change. Such variables included changing the tension of the rubber band, changing the length of the arm, changing the angle of the arm and using different size projectiles to launch from their catapults. This was a great lesson because we really got to teach this concept in the classroom, but then the students actually got to see the real life application of what they learned. 

What has been the impact of standardized testing, if it has had any, in your teaching experience?

I have been very lucky in this domain because I have a principal who does not want teaching to revolve around test prep but around conceptual learning. That being said I do feel the pressure for my students to perform well on state tests because overall it does affect the rating of your school and how you are viewed as a teacher. 

Have you worked with English as a Second Language (ESL) students in your classroom before? What was that experience like & what language(s) were the students speaking?

I have worked and currently work with ESL students. When I was student teaching I worked in a school on the Lower East Side which had predominantly Chinese immigrant children. Many children came in not speaking a word of English (and this was a third grade classroom). In these instances I worked one-on-one with the students on basic and necessary vocabulary and decoding skills. For example, this would be identifying a word and matching it to the picture with its meaning. It is definitely a tedious experience and can become very frustrating for the teacher. However, I can imagine going to a new country and not knowing the language and imagine the amount of frustration I would feel, and this is what these students feel. I have also worked with Spanish speakers and children from Africa who speak different languages and dialects based on where in Africa they came from.

Is teamwork a big part of your job? If so, can you explain how & give some examples?

Teamwork is a big part of my job at the school I currently work in. I work on what is called a “PLT” or “Professional Learning Team.” This is the group of people who teach the grade. For example there are three fifth grade classrooms with two teachers in each so I have six people on my team. In order to create consistency throughout each grade level and what each class is learning, we plan all of our lessons together as a team. We also have a period called intervention where we group students based on need between the three classrooms. We will “share” our students during this period and it helps to continue and foster a sense of community within our team.  We get a better understanding of all of the students in our grade level. On a basic sense of teamwork, we will run off copies for each other or just give suggestions or encouragement on lessons or how to handle difficult students. 

What is your average day like?

The misconception that people have about teachers is that we teach core subjects from 8-3 and that is our whole day. We are responsible for up to 28 children at a time and that means not only for their learning but also for their emotional wellbeing. My day consists of teaching the core subjects of ELA, writing, math, social studies and science but it also consists of making sure my students have had breakfast, understanding why a student may be walking into the room looking sad and how I am going to make sure that student is still able to learn today.  It is understanding that each student has a distinct personality and learning style and knowing how I am going to reach every student so that every student is learning. On some days it means calling parents after school, making copies and going to meetings. So while we do have a schedule and routine that we follow daily, I would say there is no “average” day for a teacher.

What made you choose the profession of teaching? Specifically, why did you choose the elementary level to teach?

I chose to teach elementary school because I really like this age group. They still have an excitement about learning and an excitement about coming to school every day. With older students you are dealing with a lot of physical and emotional transitions that come with the age. I wanted the focus of my day to be teaching and learning.

What is the hardest part about your job?

The hardest part about my job is closing the gap. I need students to be able to master certain standards in order to move on to the next grade. However, I have students that come in at the beginning of the year (fifth grade) and don’t know their multiplication tables or when to use a period. It’s a struggle of how far I can go back to fill these gaps and still make sure I get through everything in the grade level curriculum.

What is your proudest moment as a teacher?

I honestly don’t know if I could pinpoint my proudest moment as a teacher but overall seeing a struggling student finally grasp a concept that they have had difficulty with and knowing that you were the one that got them there always feels very rewarding.

How has becoming a teacher changed your outlook on life/the world?

Teaching has taught me patience and really opened my eyes to the discrepancies in the education system. 

What advice would you give someone who is considering entering the field of teaching, specifically elementary school?

I would tell them patience, patience, patience. Be patient with even your most difficult student. Every child wants to learn if they can. There will be days where you will cry and you will question your decisions because you will feel like you’re not making that difference that you set out to. Believe me, you are. Be patient with your students but also with yourself. Going to graduate school can teach you what a perfect classroom will be like but in all honesty, until you are in a classroom with 28 faces looking back at you, you won’t truly understand what teaching means. As a first year teacher, be patient with yourself because while you are the one leading this class, you too will be learning more than you ever could in graduate school and it is all worth it.

Thanks so much to our Elementary School teacher, Paige Kane, for sharing her experiences with us this week. Be sure to check back here & on our social media pages all week for more great American Education Week content. See you next time!

Kindergarten & Elementary Teachers: The Front Lines in American Education

We're happy to welcome you back to the Enky Inc. blog for our celebration of American Education Week 2015! This special week is meant to honor all those teachers who have worked to help American children learn to the best of their abilities. This year, American Education Week's theme is "Great Public Schools: A Basic Right & Our Responsibility". Here at Enky, we fully support American public education, but we do not want to forget all of the teachers who work so hard in private & charter schools across the country. This week will be a celebration of all of the American teachers who spend so much time & energy making sure our children are learning as much & as well as they can. To tie our Profession of the Week series into the American Education Week theme, we will be focusing on Kindergarten & Elementary School teachers this week.

Kindergarten & Elementary School teachers are often the first professional educators children encounter in a school setting & thus have a grand impact on their educational futures. These teachers are entrusted with the early learning outcomes of America's children & have a very challenging job in not only educating children in subjects like math, reading, & history, but also in social skills such as communicating with others & following classroom rules. These educators often work in teams to ensure good learning outcomes for all children in the class, regardless of the child's learning speed or ability. Kindergarten & Elementary teachers generally must have a Bachelor's degree either in education or in a specific subject area they may teach. Teachers in public schools must be licensed or certified by the state they work in, which is usually accomplished via a series of exams & a period of student teaching within an actual classroom setting. Take a look at our infographic below to learn more about these amazingly selfless professionals & keep checking the Enky social media pages all week for lots more American Education Week content!!
The best thing ever.