Neurodiverse students often struggle with organization in middle and high school, but they can be successful with the proper supports.

1. Bring your directions to life. Think aloud. There is power in narrating your thought processes when sharing expectations, organizing an equation, or annotating information. Consider how your lesson requires students to complete multistep directions. How can you break this direction down and model it aloud? Maybe today’s independent task requires students to organize information from a passage. How can you bring this task to life? Think aloud.

2. Graphic organizers are your friend. Always provide students with options of graphic organizers to use when completing assignments independently. This will allow them access to tools for organizing and synthesizing information. Always model how to use these organizers with real tasks in your class. You may choose to make graphic organizers available via hard copy in your classroom or in a shared digital folder for students to access at all times.

3. Leverage technology. Use media, images, and video to provide visual exemplars of ways to organize information, plan tasks, and set goals. You could let your students see examples of how others annotate text in unique ways. In math, provide multiple ways that students can organize information in a multistep math word problem or use math journals to support students in organizing daily notes and content.

4. Incorporate executive functioning into grading. Consider allowing students to earn points toward an assignment or in a given course by applying executive function skills. For example, students may be able to receive additional points for a cumulative assignment by turning in a copy of the outline and short-term goals they created as they planned out the assignment.

Incorporating executive functioning into the grading system can encourage goal-oriented students to practice and apply these skills to support their success.

5. Use apps. There are limitless options of applications that allow for managing lists, utilizing timers, generating reminders, setting goals, and organizing information. Be sure to share them with parents and students, with permission. If appropriate, you may even choose to allow students to utilize the apps during class time.

Reference: https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-ways-help-neurodiverse-students-improve-executive-function-skills?fbclid=IwAR3K-5jKQ3Pez622EZbPNY4Qgx8NygL7pCWQdAiOC-qIAYq_ZUdzK_D647A

1. Practice, practice, practice: Leana Malinowsky, a second-grade teacher in New Jersey, has been teaching for 13 years. She believes read-alouds provide the perfect opportunity to connect with students through literature and promote critical thinking skills. But, of course, it takes practice.

“If you are new to read-alouds, this will be your go-to strategy to feel comfortable and prepared,” she says. “Review the book you selected, keeping your unit, lesson, theme, and strategy in mind.”

2. Prepare ahead of time: Malinowsky also recommends taking notes on all the important points you want to share with your students and where in the text it’s appropriate to stop and discuss.

“Taking notes also offers opportunities to discover points you might not have thought of otherwise,” she says. “Using sticky notes with your thoughts also acts as a signal for when to pause and reflect, which helps if nerves set in, or you simply forget.”

3. Make connections: Samantha Bradshaw, a second-grade teacher in Wisconsin, has been teaching for eight years. She notes that storytime is a great time to make cross-curricular connections.

“Read-alouds provide the perfect opportunity to introduce, reinforce, or extend learning on a topic from another subject,” she says. A book like Penny Pot, for instance, is a great way to talk to students about how money works. That allows teachers to explore equations that involve money, Bradshaw says.

4. Encourage questions: It’s also important to consider the questions your read-aloud may inspire. “Not only should the teacher ask questions, but allow for students to ask questions, too,” says Bradshaw. “Teachers could even plan for ‘turn-and-talk’ or ‘stop-and-jot’ sessions during reading.”

5. Get into a flow: One of the goals should be to strike a balance with story time. Avery Lieske, a third-grade teacher in Alabama, is about to enter into her ninth year of teaching. She prefers to get lost in a book and read to her students without interruption.

“They are so engaged and always ask me to read more because I spend less time directly instructing during a read-aloud and more time just reading,” she says. “When you can read uninterrupted, it also gives students the time to build their own opinions and predictions and that leads into deeper class discussions.”

6. Embrace being goofy: Additionally, incorporating a silly voice or two—or three!—will make story time really come alive. “When you read in a silly voice it also shows your students that your classroom is a safe place to be who they are and may even build their confidence,” says Lieske.

7. Stay authentic: “Read-aloud time is when students get to see you in action as a reader,” says Malinowsky. “Don’t be afraid to model exactly how you would think, and also consider the age, grade level, and reading level of your students.”

8. Start fresh: Once you have some successful read-alouds under your belt, Malinowsky suggests taking a big leap of faith and reading a new book you haven’t previewed to your class.

“Sharing this with your students shows them your vulnerability and how everyone makes mistakes while reading,” she says. “It’s also a chance to show them how you approach a new book and utilize different strategies in the moment.”

9. Don’t be afraid to stop: One thing Bradshaw wishes she knew earlier in her teaching career was that you don’t have to finish a read-aloud.

“You may decide to read aloud a section of a book to model a specific skill or reading strategy,” she says. “If your students get bored with a novel, it’s okay to abandon the book. This is something many adults do, why can’t teachers and students?”

10. Keep reading out loud: Lastly, don’t forget that no matter their age, students love being read to, especially when it comes to picture books.

Reference: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/resources/read-aloud-tips.html?fbclid=IwAR0IwQx_UYpIZnqc7kw0XQgGlmga0wy_gdewUJJr1jvJVE_PctAWazQFio4

1. Parents have all the power.

There is a segment of parents who believe that their children can do no wrong and will fight tooth and nail to make everyone believe this to be true.

We have heard all too many times, “My kid doesn’t do this at home,” implying that we have single-handedly transformed children into disrespectful humans by the mere action of requiring respect. Behavior management is difficult when parents don’t back us up.

2. Fixing kids who have deep-seated emotional issues is hard.

Sometimes forming positive relationships with challenging students is not enough. The more we try, the worse the behavior gets. Early emotional trauma takes years of intense mental counseling to help or it turns into the violent behaviors we are seeing now.

Yet, parents and admin expect teachers to either work miracles or else accuse them of poor behavior management.

3. “Programs are half-assed.”

Restorative justice programs can be effective, but they are never implemented with enough buy-in, resources, or follow-up. Instead, these programs often have no consequences because those who implement them do not explain or execute them correctly.

Other school-wide management programs are abandoned after a year, which is not enough time to see any real effects.

4. Consequences aren’t allowed.

Many administrators avoid consequences and send students back into the classroom immediately. What does this say to the other students in the classroom that watch this happen?

The lack of backup ties our hands when it comes to classroom management. We avoid sending students to the office and instead endure an unsafe and chaotic classroom environment

5. We are using old techniques for a new generation of kids.

Kids grow up on screens and instant gratification. They learn and work differently than they did 40 years ago, yet we are using the same “test to death” procedures.

We need to create more elementary-aged magnet schools that take the whole child and their interests into account. Kindergarten should be more about learning social skills than learning how to take a standardized test. To prepare kids for the future, we need to understand where they are now, not where we wish they were.

6. Parents have an Us vs. Them mentality.

Teacher bashing has become a popular pastime on social media. Instead of working with us and solving problems, parents twist situations and seek support from others who join in with the herd mentality.

The blatant disrespect trickles down to students who act out towards us in the classroom.

7. School violence is on the increase.

Violent behaviors are on the increase as a result of unidentified and untreated early trauma.

Teachers experience student violence daily and should not have to pull apart kids, risk injury, or go through a lawsuit just to manage their classroom.

8.  Classes are too big.

We all know that building relationships with students is key to having effective classroom management. Well, I barely have time to form relationships with my own two children let alone over 200 students. This is mentally overwhelming, and yet the most common piece of advice we get from administrators is to just “keep building relationships!”

9. Educational institutions do not prepare teachers well.

Students training to be teachers usually have one behavior management class in college. Simulation videos often show staged situations that are laughable compared to what is truly happening in our classrooms. Although literally nothing could truly prepare us for what goes on with the kids every day, it would be helpful if our training classes fit the real world.

10. The Pandemic has further exacerbated social inadequacies.

The lack of social interaction that occurred during the Pandemic has created students who have not yet learned the social norms of relationships and being in a classroom. Students seem to be making up for lost classroom time by talking through entire lessons.

In every article I write, I always say that, to find solutions, we must listen to the teachers. Well, to solve this behavior crisis, we must listen to the students. Their cries for help come in the form of inward and outward violence, bullying, extreme disrespect, lack of social skills, and suicidal ideation.

Teachers cannot and should not be expected to use standard classroom behavior management techniques to solve these problems. They are just too big.

Reference: https://www.boredteachers.com/post/behavior-management?fbclid=IwAR1b_3mBnpKZJlgLLPEXKwo0kydCjXzIT37qY0TX2NpAh_Pb_-tl_WwWTzo

New teachers can use these ideas to sustain themselves when the demands of the job seem overwhelming.

1. REACH OUT

Teachers love teaching, and that usually includes teaching each other. Find a teacher or teachers who inspire you and ask them questions about lessons, classroom management—anything that you could use some help with during your school day. They’ve been in your shoes, and they want to help with resources, problem-solving, or even just support.

There are also ways to connect beyond your school or district. Consider joining a professional organization of teachers; many have state or local affiliates where you can connect. There are professional organizations for every teaching area, such as those at listed at TeachersFirst. Alternatively, you can ask your colleagues if they can recommend any organizations. Online teacher groups through social media can provide a lifeline of support or at least a laugh.

2. REUSE YOUR IDEAS

Create a system to organize your materials online so that they are easy to find again next week, next month, and next year. The digital age has been a wonderful time for organization of teaching materials. Google Drive makes organizing lesson plans and materials relatively simple. It’s easy to modify and adapt your plans as you go for a seamless planning process.

In addition to saving and organizing what you’ve created to reuse at a later time, adopt strategies that can be used repeatedly. In our classrooms, we have a few protocols that we use frequently, such as CEAL (Claim, Evidence, Analysis, Leaving Thought) for writing paragraphs, and LAPS (Literal, Analyze, Prove it, and So what) for responding to texts.

Having go-to strategies is good for you because you aren’t constantly inventing and constructing new ones, and it’s good for students irrespective of what grade you teach because routines are stabilizing and accelerate skill development. Finally, don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel—if you see or read about a good strategy or lesson, use it. You can always make changes so that it fits your particular teaching style.

3. REGULATE

“Tomorrow is another day.” These are words we’ve uttered countless times in our teaching careers. As we have worked through countless issues and scenarios, we have had to say it less. Leaving the job at the door becomes a healthy practice no matter what your profession is; guilt-free weekends and evenings make coming to work in the morning much less stressful.

It’s really important to draw boundaries around your time to maintain a healthy balance. You don’t have to grade papers all weekend—create realistic timelines for returning graded work. Timely feedback is important, but not every assignment requires the same attention. While tests should be scored within a few days, other assignments can take longer or be scored in class.

You can focus on just one standard to expedite grading, and some assignments can be scored as credit/no credit. At the end of a grading term, design your deadlines to make sure you’ve left yourself enough time to complete grading without causing yourself undue stress.

Make it a habit to practice the things that help you be your best self: exercising, reading, going outside, playing with your children, cooking, etc. When you leave teaching at the door, it opens up mental bandwidth for you to enjoy or focus on other equally important things in your life. There’s true power in a fitness regimen or other enjoyable pursuits to help keep teachers fresh in their daily teaching.

4. READY YOURSELF

Spending some time outside of your teaching day to prepare for future days can make your mornings easier and your days less stressful. For example, you can prepare for your week’s lunches on Sundays. It saves time and reduces the number of decisions you have to make before leaving for school.

This may seem over the top, but you can also plan your outfits for the week on Sunday nights. Gather all the pieces of each outfit, including shoes and accessories, and place them on hangers ready to go. That way, you’re not frantically rummaging through drawers for your panda socks when you’re already running late.

Also in the category of feeling ready is to always have a backup plan. Overplan—always have options in case the original plan falls flat or runs short. When you are new to teaching, timing is difficult to gauge, and more often than not, activities will go faster than you might think. In those cases, things that are ready to implement, such as relevant discussion questions, related quick writing prompts, or extra reading, can mean the difference between a disastrous class and a satisfying one.

Classroom management is very connected to engagement. If students aren’t engaged in class activities, behavioral issues are more likely to erupt. Even something as simple as an exit ticket to summarize the learning can fill in a few minutes at the end of class in a productive way.

5. REMEMBER/REFLECT

We’ve all had the situation when a difficult incident or class dominates all thinking about the day. Let it go. If it helps you to let it go, vent first to one of those teachers to whom you have reached out. They will be able to relate to those trying times and can lend support. Then, venting done, focus on positive moments: when a struggling student made a breakthrough, when a student gave you an origami swan, or when you laughed with your students.

Frequent reflection, in fact, is a powerful tool for your growth as a teacher. Think about why things went the way they did: lessons, assessments, interactions, and activities. When things go well, consider how to replicate that success. When things don’t go as well, consider how to improve that element of the lesson.

Finally, repeat to yourself, as often as you need to, why you became a teacher, and remember that even though you might be going through a rough patch, you are making a difference.

Reference: https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-motivating-practices-help-new-teachers-keep-going?fbclid=IwAR2jqqAZrirljt_jvP9p9JSF9OFhSzx3jrLDsBx_UCi-Gr03RBwUHskgvlo