Too often kids wonder what their purpose is in school. So, we need to give them a purpose!

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Polly answers the question: “The other day one of my students got really upset with a peer because she wouldn’t stop bothering him. I gently told her to stop, pointing out that he had been asking very nicely. But what I really wanted to do was yell, ‘JUST STOP!!!’ Is there a time for that? I pride myself on being calm and gentle but sometimes I worry… am I too kind?”

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Have you ever been teaching a class and kids are having side conversations? Of course, we’ve all had that happen. How do you handle it?

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Polly answers the question: “I know kids need help paying attention in class but I’m struggling with all of these fidget toys and gadgets. Are they really helping my students pay attention because I worry that they are distracting?”

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Kids are struggling with the skill of ‘reading the room.’ What can we do? Use unstructured social time to coach them!

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Polly answers the question: “Right now my students seem to think they should have a choice about everything. At what point should they realize that some things are not up to them?”

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Does the environment in our schools invite kids in and make them excited to be there? It should!

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Polly answers the question: “I like to set goals for myself and the kids. But when we don’t reach them, it feels like we both failed. Is there a better strategy?”

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I’ve talked a lot about how to deal with kids’ anger, but adults get angry too!

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Polly answers the question: “I am supposed to refer kids to the principal’s office for their behavior but nothing seems to come of it! So I just don’t do it anymore. What’s the point?”

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