School as the Incubator of and for Democracy

A long time ago, so long ago that I can’t remember whether I was in 6th or 8th grade, everyone in our class was required to memorize and recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Some fifty-plus years later, while I must confess I can no longer recite the entire address from memory, certain parts are forever etched [...]

Executive Functioning and Cognitive Growth: The Intersection of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning

A number of studies in early childhood classrooms have documented that “self-regulation predicts academic performance in first grade, over and above cognitive skills and family background.” (Examples of these studies: Blair, 2002; Farran, 2010; McClelland, M. M.; Piccinin, A., & Stallings, M. C., 2010; Raver & Knitzer, 2002).

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Standing Up with Self-Control

Standing up with self-control is the final of the five key CARES skills underlying Responsive Classroom practice that help build positive proactive attributes in children both socially and academically. The other four are cooperation, assertion, responsibility and empathy.

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Standing Up with Empathy

As reported by the Boston Globe, on May 4, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick signed into law one of the most comprehensive antibullying measures ever passed. The family of 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who killed himself in April 2009 after extensive bullying, attended the signing, as did a group of teenagers who advocated for a statewide [...]

Standing Up with Responsibility

Responsibility is one of the five key CARES skills underlying Responsive Classroom practice that help build positive proactive attributes in children both socially and academically. The other four are cooperation, assertion, empathy, and self-control.

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Standing Up with Assertion

Assertion is one of the five key CARES skills underlying Responsive Classroom practice that help build positive proactive attributes in children both socially and academically. The other four are cooperation, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.

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Standing Up with the Skills of C.A.R.E.S.

In reflecting on some of the responses to my last blog about bullying (and what we can do to be more proactive in our classrooms and schools to address this serious issue at all grade levels), I spent some time thinking more deeply about the social skills at the core of the Responsive Classroom® approach [...]

Standing Up Instead of Standing By: The Heart of the Classroom

Six high school students have been charged following a long investigation into the tragic suicide of fifteen year-old Phoebe Prince, who killed herself on January 14 after being bullied in school, on Facebook, and through text messages in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

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