Polly answers the question: “My 6th graders are completely apathetic in class. How can I motivate them?”

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How do kids learn empathy? By watching us! When they see how we, as adults, interact with each other, they learn how to interact with others.

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Polly answers the question: “I’ve been using clip charts, marble jars, and other behavior management techniques I’ve learned over the years, but they’re not working that well anymore. Can you recommend one that works?”

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We want kids to focus and pay attention in class. But often when we say those terms to them, it causes them to do just the opposite.

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Polly answers the question: “How can we address vaping in the high school bathrooms?”

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When kids struggle with tests, it’s not always an issue with understanding the curriculum. It could be a memory issue.

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Polly answers the question: “Social media brings so much drama into my 8th grade classroom but it seems like banning cell phones is too difficult! What can I do?”

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Here’s a funny little story that totally shows the importance of teaching self-help skills to our youngsters. Kids shouldn’t get in trouble for not having skills we didn’t take the time to teach.

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Polly answers the question: “OMG! I have a 1st grade student who says things that are so not OK! Things I’m sure he’s seen on TV or in video games, fly out of his mouth, and it’s shocking! How do I deal with him?”

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“Those kids won’t let me play with them!” When a kid says that to us, often our response is to run interference. But is that always the best thing to do? Here’s what I suggest we do instead.

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