SEL

Suggested Reflection Questions

1. Your role at Burke's

2. When did this opportunity take place?

3. Summary of workshop/ opportunity

4. Goals & Collaborations:

   - What were your big takeaways from your workshop or project?

This was a full-day online workshop. I hadn't taken an RC workshop in just about 10 years, but I was so pleased that I still do so many practices we discussed, but I also learned a lot of new information. Linda Izzo was an amazing presenter--clear, organized, kind, and informative. It was interesting to talk with other specials teachers especially about opening and closing class. The workshop inspired me to offer more academic choice, especially to 3rd and 4th grade students. I also used to think it was ok to say "Thank you (name) for doing (desired behavior)" but learned it's better to not use the student's name for a couple of reasons. I think Responsive Classroom is fantastic, and it was great to do a PD to review and learn so much more. I highly recommend this PD to any specialists who haven't taken it!

During the Responsive Classroom training, we had the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers in the Bay area community. This led to rich conversations about ways that each school has engaged with Responsive Classroom and how we, as individuals, can use the work in our classes. Many (if not all) of us came to the training with different identities and experiences that added to the conversations we had about the importance of seeing the whole child and supporting the growth of that student.

I loved engaging with the table activities that were ones that we could take back to the classroom. I had never done the "11's" game, and it felt like a really great community builder, as well as a great way to practice math.

I appreciated that "teacher talk" was addressed during this PD because I believe teacher talk is extremely important to the culture of the classroom…

I had the opportunity to attend the Responsive Classroom one day training on Monday. Taking this training was a fantastic way for me to continue to build my teaching practice, and helped me get new ideas for classroom activities that will more supportively engage my students in the material. Learning about ISLs and brain breaks, as well as the benefit of a structured Morning Meeting/Closing Meeting time, helped to provide an actionably framework for each day that I can build lesson plans within and around. I also was new to the concept of avoiding individual call outs as a form of positive reinforcement. I recognized that I had been using personal call outs as an acknowledgement for good behavior, but now understand how uncomfortable and harmful that can be to students, so I have removed it from my teaching practice and continue to work on new ways to inspire student…