Why Building Relationships With Families Using Respect and Positivity is Important

In the previous few posts, we’ve been talking about building relationships as a teacher with your students. Some of the ways have been by using respect and positivity, helping them feel valued, and learning and using their interests. This post begins a mini-series on building relationships with parents and caregivers, why it is important, and … Read more

5 Ways to Use Student Interests to Build Relationships

Student interests are varied and ever-changing. How can we use them to help build our relationships? In our ongoing series about building relationships with students, we’ve talked about using positivity and respect and helping them feel valued. This post will focus primarily on building relationships with students through their interests. Student Interests Does anyone have … Read more

How Helping Students Feel Valued Contributes to Building Relationships

Last month, we talked about why it is important to build relationships with your students using respect and positivity. Treating students with respect and creating a positive environment go a long way toward helping students feel accepted and this, in turn, will cause them to be more willing to treat others with respect and positivity.  … Read more

Why Respect and Positivity Help in Building Relationships with Students

In the previous blog post, we talked briefly about why it is important to build relationships with your students, their parents and/or guardians, as well as colleagues. This post will focus primarily on building relationships with students, why it is important, and how to do it. Building Relationships with Students One of my favorite quotes … Read more

Why Building Relationships with Students, Parents, and Colleagues is Important as a Special Educator

This blog post is the first in a new series about building relationships in special education. As a special educator, there is high value in building strong relationships with all parties involved in the job. Building positive relationships encourages trust, compromise, and value. Here, we will briefly talk about the three categories in which building … Read more

13 Ways to Show Appreciation to Paraprofessionals and Why You Should Show Your Gratitude

With Thanksgiving coming up, many people are thinking about what they are thankful for. I know that I am thankful for good Instructional Assistants, or paraprofessionals, every. single. day. I literally could not function without them and because of this, it is important to show your gratitude. They do amazing, grueling work, love our students, … Read more

3 Strategies to Streamline Work and Get Your Time Back

I received a question recently about how to streamline work and increase productivity as a teacher. I’ve learned a few things over the years that have taken me from disorganized and stressed, to more efficient and productive. By making a few little tweaks you can streamline your workflow and spend less time on work and … Read more

What are the Characteristics of Good Teaching in an Inclusive Environment?

You may be asking yourself “What are the characteristics of good teaching when it comes to inclusion?” Well, let’s continue on this inclusion journey we started a while back. Today I want to talk about the characteristics of an effective teacher that foster an inclusive environment. During my 14 years of experience in special education, … Read more

How to Effectively Use Google Keep to Boost Teacher Efficiency

Have you ever asked yourself “how do I increase my teacher efficiency?” Raise your hand if you are the kind of person who gets bogged down in the everyday details of work and the classroom and you get overwhelmed, don’t know where to start, and end up staring at your computer for an hour without … Read more