Stimming is short for self-stimulatory behavior. It includes repetitive movements or repeated use of objects, and it shows up in autistic people, people with ADHD, people with sensory processing differences, and plenty of neurotypical people, too.

Nail biting, leg bouncing, pen clicking, hair twirling, and chewing on a pencil all fit the same basic pattern. The difference is that neurodivergent stims can be more visible, more frequent, and sometimes unsafe, which is why they attract attention in classrooms, clinics, and workplaces.

The reframe matters: many stims are a form of self-regulation, not defiance. For some people, a stim adds input when the brain is under-stimulated. For others, it helps dampen or organize input when the environment is too loud, bright, busy, or unpredictable. Stimming can help regulate stress, anxiety, boredom, fear, emotional overload, sensory overload, and sometimes it is simply how a person expresses excitement and joy.

That is the practical “why” behind sensory rooms. A sensory room is a dedicated space that lets someone meet a sensory need safely, with less social judgment, and with fewer harmful coping behaviors. Instead of forcing a child or adult to spend their energy masking, a sensory room provides a controlled environment where regulation can happen faster and with less fallout.

Suppressing Stimming?

What went wrong for years is the same thing that happens with nail biting. People see the behavior and try to stop it without addressing the reason it started. When you suppress harmless stims because they look unusual to others, you remove a coping tool and increase stress. If a stim is harmful (skin picking, head banging, hair pulling), the answer still is not “ban it and move on.” The answer is “reduce risk while you solve the underlying need,” which often includes safer substitutes, environmental changes, and predictable ways to take breaks.

Sensory Rooms Accommodate Stimming in a Healthy Way

Sensory rooms support that approach. They can be simple or elaborate, but the best ones do the same core job: they give a person more control over sensory input and a place to reset before stress escalates. That can include tools for tactile input (fidgets, textured items), proprioceptive input (weighted lap pads or blankets), visual control (dimmers, lamps, reduced glare), and sound control (soundproofing, white noise, permission to use noise-canceling headphones).

This also is not “just a kid thing.” Children who stim grow into adults who still have sensory needs. In fact, sensory stress can compound at work because many neurodivergent adults are actively trying to look “fine” all day. When someone is spending effort to mask, it reduces bandwidth for focus, communication, and stamina. A sensory space is one concrete way to reduce that load, and it often helps neurotypical employees too. Quiet and control are not niche benefits; they are human benefits.

A workplace example makes the point. An employee in a bright, open office manages most days, but a personal stressor pushes their nervous system over the edge. They cannot think clearly, their breathing feels tight, their heart rate climbs, and concentration drops. A short reset in a private, darker room, with fewer inputs and a chance to use a calming body position, helps them regulate in about ten minutes and return to work. The lesson is not that the employee is “fragile.” The lesson is that capacity changes with cumulative stress, and having a predictable reset option prevents a small overload from becoming a full derailment.

If you are setting up a sensory room, design it around control and choice. Privacy matters. Lighting options matter. Sound options matter. Seating options matter. Include a few “input” tools (fidgets, textured items, chewable options) and a few “calm” tools (weighted items, soft blankets, a neutral couch, a yoga mat). Add a clear usage policy that keeps access fair and keeps the space respected, and pair it with culture cues that make it safe to use. A room no one feels permitted to use is a room that will not help.

Finally, use accurate language. Neurodiversity refers to the natural diversity of minds across humans. Neurodivergent describes an individual whose cognitive style diverges from dominant norms. Neurotypical describes the majority cognitive style. “Neurodiverse” is best used as an adjective for a group or environment, not for an individual person. Susan_Fitzell_Style_Guide_v1.0

FAQ

What is stimming, and who does it?

Stimming is self-stimulatory behavior, usually repetitive movements or repeated interaction with objects. Autistic people and people with ADHD or sensory processing differences may stim more visibly or more often, but many neurotypical people stim too (nail biting, leg bouncing, pen clicking, hair twirling).

Why do neurodivergent people stim?

Stimming is often a regulation strategy. It can reduce sensory overload, organize attention, manage stress or anxiety, prevent emotional overwhelm, or provide needed stimulation when the brain is under-stimulated. Sometimes it also expresses joy or excitement.

Should schools or workplaces stop stimming?

Stopping harmless stimming without addressing the underlying need usually increases stress and can worsen regulation. If a stim is unsafe or damaging, the goal is to reduce harm while meeting the sensory need in a safer way, not simply banning the behavior.

What is a sensory room, and what problem does it solve?

A sensory room is a dedicated space designed to support sensory regulation. It gives a person a controlled environment to reset, meet sensory needs safely, and return to learning or work with less escalation, less masking, and fewer harmful coping behaviors.

What should a simple sensory room include?

Start with privacy and environmental control: adjustable lighting, reduced noise or white-noise options, and comfortable seating or space to lie down. Add a small set of regulation tools like weighted lap pads or blankets, soft blankets, a yoga mat, a few fidgets or textured items, and clear guidelines for respectful use.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Things to Consider Before You Jump On the Bandwagon

Neurodiverse hiring practices can benefit any company in any industry and in more areas than most people realize. The investment has yielded greater patenting, innovation, process improvement, efficiency, and creativity not only in technology industries but also in industries that include investment banking, insurance, and mortgage banking.

This resource explains the term “neurodiversity” and describes the potential positive impact on your business that can come from including neurodivergent individuals in your workplace.

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Before any real learning can happen, students must feel emotionally safe. They need to know they are seen, valued, and part of something bigger than themselves. That is why the foundation of classroom culture is not content, curriculum, or pacing guides. It is connection.

Too often, we rush into instruction without first making space for students to belong. In today’s classrooms, where students bring a wide range of experiences, stressors, and identities, a supportive environment is not a luxury. It is a requirement for learning.

Building a positive classroom culture is not about fluff or feel-good extras. It is about giving students a solid foundation so they can take risks, explore ideas, and truly engage.

The School House Model: A Legacy of Connection

One of the most powerful frameworks I use to support classroom culture comes from my late mentor of over 30 years, Fritz Bell. Fritz was a brilliant educator who deeply understood the human side of teaching. He created what he called the School House Model, and it remains one of the most impactful tools I share with educators today.

The model is built on three foundational pillars: Community, Connection, and Cooperation. These are not just buzzwords. They are the building blocks of classrooms where every student feels safe, valued, and ready to learn.

When we lead with these principles, we create a classroom culture that supports all learners, especially those who may have felt excluded or unseen in the past.

Community: Everyone Belongs Here

Building community starts with routines and rituals that say, “You belong.” Use morning meetings, daily check-ins, or end-of-day reflections. These quick, intentional moments help create a shared identity in the classroom.

For students who identify as Caregivers—one of the five motivational identities I teach in my trainings—this sense of emotional connection is especially important. Caregivers thrive when classrooms foster kindness, support, and inclusion.

Simple actions like greeting students by name, celebrating milestones, or using shared language for values can make a big difference.

Connection: Relationships Fuel Learning

Students will not engage deeply if they feel disconnected. Build relationships intentionally through:

• Informal conversations

• Student interest surveys

• Personal feedback on assignments

• Partner activities with rotating groups

Even small moments of connection can build trust. When students believe their teacher knows them and cares, they show up differently. Their effort increases. Their behavior improves. Their risk-taking grows.

Cooperation: Create Structures for Peer Support

Classroom culture is not just about the teacher-to-student relationship. It also includes how students relate to each other. Cooperative learning, when structured thoughtfully, helps students develop empathy, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Try:

• Peer tutoring

• Buddy systems for new routines

• Group tasks that assign clear roles

• Shared goal tracking

These practices teach students to support one another, which increases confidence and reduces isolation—especially for struggling learners.

Discipline as Reflection, Not Punishment

When a student struggles with behavior, we often react quickly with consequences. But true growth comes from reflection, not shame. Rethink discipline by integrating:

• Cool-down corners

• Think sheets

• Restorative conversations

• Reentry plans after time away

These strategies send the message, “You are still part of this community,” even when mistakes happen. That is how we teach accountability while preserving dignity.

Trust Is the Real Classroom Management Plan

You can have the best lesson plan in the world, but if students do not feel safe and connected, it will not matter. Classroom culture sets the stage for everything else. When students feel trust, they take academic risks. When they feel seen, they participate. When they feel supported, they persist.

This is the invisible work that leads to visible learning.

Let’s Build Safe, Connected Classrooms Together

Want to create stronger connections in your school or district? Let’s work together to build classroom culture from the inside out.

Call to Action

🎓 Schedule a keynote or team session with Susan Fitzell
🧰 Or explore the tools in Special Needs in the General Classroom for practical, relationship-based strategies

The best instruction begins with connection.

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of teaching strategies and resources for maximizing student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Differentiation Strategies to Reach ALL Learners in the Inclusive Classroom

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Motivating struggling learners isn’t about bribing them—it’s about knowing them. When students feel seen and understood, they engage differently. They ask questions, take more risks, and begin to believe in their ability to succeed.

That’s the power of student motivation strategies that are personalized, brain-aligned, and grounded in relationship. These approaches don’t require more time or complexity—they require connection. When we discover what truly drives a student, we unlock their engagement.

Motivation Starts with Knowing What Drives Each Student

In my trainings, I draw from the work of Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, authors of What Motivates Me: Put Your Passions to Work. Their research—based on surveys of more than 850,000 people—identified 23 key motivators that drive performance and satisfaction.

Building from their model, I help educators apply five student identity types that are especially relevant in the K–12 classroom:

• Achievers
• Builders
• Caregivers
• Reward-Driven
• Thinkers

When we align classroom roles, responsibilities, and recognition with what students naturally value, motivation becomes organic—not forced.

Classroom-Ready Motivation Strategies by Identity Type

Here are some simple, powerful ways to bring student motivation strategies into your day-to-day instruction:

🧠 For Thinkers:

Let them explore ideas. Give them independent research projects, personalized inquiry assignments, or a choice in how they show understanding. Avoid forcing group work if they prefer quiet thinking time.

🛠️ For Builders:

Put them in charge of setup or materials during activities. Let them help manage routines. These students want to contribute in practical, structured ways.

🎯 For Reward-Driven Learners:

Set clear, attainable goals and track progress visually. Use achievement awards tied to effort, growth, or reaching milestones—not just high grades.

❤️ For Caregivers:

Offer peer support roles, buddy systems, or classroom responsibilities that involve helping others. They thrive in a culture of care.

🔍 For Achievers:

Challenge them. Give opportunities to lead, compete with themselves, or pursue mastery goals. Let them stretch beyond the standard when ready.

Learn What Motivates Each Student

Don’t assume. Use student-interest surveys, brief conversations, reflection journals, or classroom observations. Even a quick check-in like, “What part of this lesson made you think?” can give you insight.

When we match instruction to what students value, we get engagement that lasts. Student motivation strategies are most powerful when they align with identity, not compliance.

These Strategies Aren’t Gimmicks—They’re Brain-Aligned

These approaches are rooted in cognitive science and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). They meet students where they are, reduce resistance, and increase participation. This is how we create classroom environments where students don’t just show up—they lean in.

When students feel their interests and identities matter, they’re more likely to take ownership of their learning. And that’s what lasting motivation is all about.

Ready to Build Your Classroom Motivation Toolkit?

Want to go deeper? Learn how to identify your students’ motivators and apply these strategies consistently in your classroom.

Call to Action:

🎓 Book a staff PD session or grab a copy of Special Needs in the General Classroom—packed with 500+ proven strategies that support struggling learners and empower every student. You might also be interested in my book, “Motivating Students to Choose Success.” 

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of teaching strategies and resources for maximizing student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Differentiation Strategies to Reach ALL Learners in the Inclusive Classroom

The post The Power of Student Voice: Motivation Strategies That Actually Work appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

What can teachers do?

• Give students activities that let them move safely more often, like role-plays, skits, and stretching.
• Have students who chronically rock balance on a rocking board while doing worksheets on a podium. It helps them to concentrate and keeps them from fidgeting.
• Build a small under-desk version of a rocking board. Students sit at their desks with their feet on a rocking board underneath and it keeps them from rocking back in their chairs.

You can find detailed instructions here: http://sawdustmaking.com/Foot%20Rest/footrest.html

Can’t build the rocking board yourself? Just ask the teacher of a woodworking class within your district or at a local tech school to build one for you.

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of teaching strategies and resources for maximizing student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Differentiation Strategies to Reach ALL Learners in the Inclusive Classroom

The post A Solution for Students Who Rock and Fidget in Their Seats appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

Dear Susan: I have some flexible seating available for my students. Do you have any suggestions on how to manage it when it becomes more of a distraction for the other students?

A: Implementing flexible seating can be a great way to help students refocus their energy and concentrate on the lesson being taught. If you have just a section of the classroom designated as a flexible area, it can be a nice change of perspective for students. And with the addition of unique seating like exercise balls, cushions, or rockers, students can release pent-up energy and focus on the lesson.

However flexible seating needs to be designed with a goal in mind so that students’ energies are directed in the way you want them to be. For example, a section of the class that is set up as a collaboration area – say, with a small table surrounded by cushions or stools where the students face each other – is great for independent study or group activities. It may not be the best setup if you want students to pay attention to you during a direct teaching session, however.

Dianna Radcliff, a 5th-grade ELA teacher, turned her entire classroom into a flexible seating space and says that she has very few problems keeping students engaged. Her suggestions for doing this successfully work just as well with classrooms that are part traditional, part-flexible seating.

• Visualize the end goal of the flexible seating arrangement. Is it to go along with a trend or to facilitate a genuinely student-centered environment?
• Research similar flexible seating arrangements by other teachers and ask questions about how and when the seating is used and what to do when the seating arrangement is disruptive to others.
• Allow kids to help make the rules about who gets to sit in the flexible seating area and when.
• Make modifications when needed, such as when a new student joins the class, an IEP student needs an accommodation, a new school year begins, and so on.
• Evaluate whether the flexible seating is working and decide whether to continue it.

What if the students are still arguing over who gets the flexible seating, are being disruptive, or even worse, damaging the seating after the rules are made? You’ll need to remove that seating and remind students of the rules temporarily.

The blog Tame the Classroom discusses this problem and teacher solutions in a real-life classroom.

“First, a student poked a hole in one of our stability balls on a day that I had a substitute teacher. … We had a funeral for the stability ball and replaced it with a chair. I was very stern in reminding the students that our stability balls cost money. They also realized that was one less option that they could choose from.”

When students were rushing to be first to the classroom’s Hokki Stools during transitions, the teacher temporarily brought back assigned seating. “I encouraged them to use the time that they were banned from exercising their choice to choose a seat to think about our rules.” Having students take the consequences for their poor choices is a vital and necessary part of their moral development and maturity. 

Flexible seating in higher grades can be problematic as well. Kayse Morris found that her eighth-grade students didn’t follow the rules about rotating their seating each day, and worse, they didn’t listen to her lecture. Many of them slept in class, tucked into sofa cushions out of sight. Some cheated on tests.

For Morris, the distractions caused by flexible seating outweighed the benefits to the students, and she decided to return to a traditional seating arrangement. But you don’t have to completely abandon the idea: Take a look at the current setup, write down what is working and what isn’t working, and consider whether you need to simply enforce the rules or revamp the layout of the flexible seating section. Sometimes, it’s about finding the balance between traditional seating time and flexible seating time. Also, know your students. Teens and couches in the classroom probably won’t work out most of the time.

Image credit: Kayla Dornfeld

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Disclaimer: The following article was submitted by guest contributor Jessica Robinson from The Speaking Polymath, a sub-blog of Assignment Help 4 Me.

Critical thinkers tend to stay one step ahead of others and outshine some of the people around them. They stand out in the crowd for they have the spark to grab attention. Besides, those who have the prowess to think critically exhibit strong reasoning and analytical skills. If you can think critically, you will never be scared of the challenges that life tosses up. You will instead find an opportunity in every hurdle because that is what critical thinkers do! Critical thinkers have subtle traits that impress everyone and inspire others to learn. What are these traits precisely that distinguish critical thinkers from others? This is precisely what this blog will answer so that you also realize the immense significance of being a critical thinker. Let us find out then without any more delay! 

Seven significant traits of critical thinkers

1. Inquisitiveness 
   Critical thinking is the intellectual process of gathering, processing, and evaluating information. Hence, inquisitiveness and curiosity are the highlights of the personality of a critical thinker. They want to collect as much information as possible to make informed choices. Perhaps the best thing about critical thinkers is that their decisions are backed by reasoning and scrutiny. Given this quality, they are not much vulnerable to making regretful decisions. This is a significant reason why you would want to master the art of critical thinking. 

2. Clear communication 
   Communication is the key to the success and growth of an individual irrespective of the profession. But not everyone can effectively communicate their thoughts and ideas. This can further lead to misconceptions and perplexity hence stalling the progress of things. One thing that critical thinkers do without a blemish is that they communicate well. They are impressive and confident communicators who present their ideas with sheer clarity and purpose. This, of course, is possible because critical thinkers do not have tangled thoughts and have a logic behind everything. Such endorsement of ideas through practical communication skills propels growth and achievements across all spheres of life. 

3. Adaptation 
   Being a critical thinker means that one can adapt to fast-changing scenarios. Critical thinkers are quite flexible in their approach and do not act rigidly to pursue their tasks. They make suitable adjustments to their actions and strategies as per the prerequisites of a situation and task. Besides, this trait of their persona adds to the prospects of their success in a significant manner. The ways of the world are ever-evolving, and people should have the ability to match the pace. While others may strive to do so, critical thinkers will do it with ease owing to their adaptability. 

4. Collaboration
   From school projects to corporate office goals, we need to collaborate with others many a time. However, not everyone has the skill or trait of practical cooperation. Some people are not able to work with others to accomplish common goals. Further, this can have some adverse effects on career growth. Contrary to this, an individual who can think critically will constructively collaborate with others. He will know the exact difference between tasks done individually and tasks performed better in a team. He will analyze the situation and then figure out the best response to it. You may not realize the importance of this trait in school or college, but you will see how essential it is to enter the corporate world. 

5. Self-Reflection
   How often do you make it a point to spare some time for introspection? When you do so, are you able to reflect on your actions and thoughts in a productive manner? The art of self-reflection is meant to make us realize our shortcomings and work on them. Constant self-reflection without improvements may only be a waste of time. It should serve as a useful means of self-improvement. However, this is something that critical thinkers do with perfection. With their reasoning, analytical, and evaluative skills, they examine their thoughts and actions. Based on this careful examination of self, they work to improve on every drawback. We can hence say that critical thinkers present the finest example of how self-reflection should be done rightly! 

6. Flamboyance 
   Humans do not seem very attractive without self-confidence, isn’t it? Individuals who exhibit great confidence can easily convince others and shape the opinions of others. This quality is of invaluable importance in industries that depend on customers and clients. A striking individual can easily win the faith of a customer and make him invest in the idea. Those who can think critically are always oozing with confidence and instead radiate their confidence onto others. They examine things well, communicate things well, and show a lot of self-believe in their abilities. All these attributes pave the way for uninterrupted leadership and success. Intriguing, isn’t it? 

7. Open-mindedness
   Critical thinkers are open to entertaining the opinions and thoughts of others. They are good listeners because listening is by default a binding domain of communication skills. Besides, they also make an effort to understand the other person, for they value logic and rationale. Furthermore, they also display remarkable open-mindedness toward divergent views of the world and the individuals around them. This helps them in gathering more useful information as they tend to learn from the perspective of others. This willingness to listen to others is crucial to the right decision making for students and professionals.  

Now, when we have looked at the key traits of a critical thinker, it is also vital to understand how you can think more critically. Besides the characteristics, you have also seen above how critical thinking can make you outperform others. It has the power to overhaul your persona entirely and add a silver lining to your personality. So, let us shed some light on the process of being more efficient critical thinkers. 

1. Be more inquisitive
   To improve your critical thinking skills, you need to ask more and more questions. Those who think critically make it a point to gather enough information before making a decision. How are you going to collect that information? By asking questions from people around you and challenging the logic of things! Thus, the knack for critical thinking and curiosity go hand in hand. The more questions you ask, the better is your collection of crucial information and data.
2. Confront assumptions
   To be a critical thinker of the highest order, you should develop the habit of challenging and confronting the world’s basic assumptions. Almost all great discoveries and inventions were possible because some people questioned the basic assumptions. Who were these people but? These people include Albert Einstein,  Graham Bell, Bill Gates, Newton, and so on. They chose to examine the assumptions of their surroundings rather than falling in line with them. Henceforth, to upscale your critical thinking, such an attitude will be priceless.
3. Avoid Cognitive Biases
   At times, even if we feel we are in control of our thoughts, that may not be the case for real. This happens because our prejudices and cognitive biases flaw our mental processes. To explain simply, cognitive biases are thinking errors that arise from our tendency to make intuitive judgments. In such a case, we end up jumping to conclusions too soon without analyzing things enough. But those who think critically do not reach conclusions without evaluating things in an informative way. They believe in terms of legitimacy rather than deciding based on their personal preferences. Not everyone can make this distinction of thoughts. This is what puts critical thinkers ahead of time and ahead of regretful decision making.
4. Evaluate the evidence at hand
   Collecting evidence and then examining it are two different things altogether. You have to develop the habit of even evaluating what seems obvious. Talking of evidence or facts that are in front of you, you have to analyze its credibility. You have to ask questions like:
   
   How was the evidence gathered?
   Who gathered the evidence?
   Is the evidence from a trustworthy source?
   
   To cite a basic example, let us say you are preparing for a college assignment that involves a lot of research. So, when you look for facts and evidence to back the claims you make in your assignment, you have to make sure the internet resources you use are credible. You should pick information from websites and blogs that are trusted and widely used because many details on the internet can be misleading.
5. Know when critical thinking is required
   No one can think all the time critically. You do not have to stress all the time to invest critical thinking in every decision of your life. You should know the exact difference between which situations require critical thinking and which situations do not. For the most crucial decisions and circumstances, you should bring out the critical thinker in you. For typical situations, you should just let yourself loose and feel at ease. Remember, critical thinking is a prowess that should be conserved for critical instances and decision making. 

In a nutshell, the traits that critical thinkers are known to have can boost your prospects for success. From students to employees to entrepreneurs, success is a common goal. You can see how these traits make an individual more confident, intellectually curious, independent, and empowered. 

The personality of a critical thinker is so dynamic that it attracts opportunities and achievements. Besides, we have glanced at the various ways in which someone can be a more powerful critical thinker. It takes curiosity to ask questions, the habit of evaluating things closely, and avoiding prejudiced thoughts to be a critical thinker. The success it offers is worth the effort that goes into the process of critical thinking. 

So, in our ultimate goal of reaching the pinnacle of success, mastering critical thinking’s art should be a supplementary goal for sure! 

Photo by Roman Bilik 💙💛 on Unsplash

FREE DOWNLOAD: Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Things to Consider Before You Jump On the Bandwagon

Neurodiverse hiring practices can benefit any company in any industry and in more areas than most people realize. The investment has yielded greater patenting, innovation, process improvement, efficiency, and creativity not only in technology industries but also in industries that include investment banking, insurance, and mortgage banking.

This resource explains the term “neurodiversity” and describes the potential positive impact on your business that can come from including neurodivergent individuals in your workplace.

The post Seven Significant Traits of Critical Thinkers appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

How A Speech and Language Pathologist Changed My Son’s Life

Speech and language pathologists (SLPs) are especially effective when they collaborate with the classroom teacher and team up to maximize their effectiveness, and you can hear me talk much more about how to do that in a new podcast with Char Boshart. If you’ve spent time on my site or in my programs, you know how highly I regard SLPs and their work in the classroom. As a teacher, I believe an SLP can change your life. If you try this, you and your student’s lives will never be the same. You’ll look at language differently — and language is everything.

The way that an SLP approaches teaching language is very different from most classroom teacher’s approach but, with a little planning, both approaches are complementary. An SLP tends to be much more technical, helping students learn and reinforce language skills, while an English/ELA teacher will focus more on ideas, the bigger picture, and how these relate to the curriculum. Working together helps the SLP hone specific skills that are more relevant to the curriculum when working with students who require one-on-one sessions.

I’ve seen so many benefits of having an SLP in the classroom. It reduces the stigma of being pulled out of the classroom for one-on-one teaching. It can increase individualized instruction and reduce transition time for the student between the classroom and the SLP’s room. It also helps to build stronger peer relationships with the students when the SLP works with the students along with their peers. And it helps to contextualize learning, so the student better understands the concepts being taught. As a co-teacher and as a co-teaching coach, I saw real success in the classroom with this approach.

Char’s podcast allowed me to share my own personal story of how a speech and language pathologist helped my son. And I got to speak at length about the many ways SLPs and classroom teachers can work together, and the benefits of doing so.

There’s a lot more to the art of building a solid co-teaching relationship between SLPs and classroom teachers. I go into detail on this, and the clear benefits of such a relationship, in Char’s podcast. 

Char Boshart is an SLP specializing in myofunctional therapy, articulation therapy and language therapy. She hosts The Speech Link podcast, and she has two websites: speechdynamics.com, which has excellent resources on speech therapy, and myswallowworks.com, an online myofunctional evaluation and therapy program. 

At just under an hour in length, this podcast episode is perfect for listening during your commute. Check it out here.

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The post How A Speech and Language Pathologist Changed My Son’s Life appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

Two Easy-To-Implement Options that Motivate Students and Teach Personal Responsibility

One of the things we as teachers can do to motivate students and provide them with a sense of personal power – within the class time we have – is to offer choice.

This is incredibly important when kids don’t have as many opportunities outside of school to make choices and experience the consequences of those choices. When students take responsibility for their choices, it increases their personal power.

Children can’t just run down the street to the playground with their friends, unsupervised, the way we got to do when we were young. I remember walking several blocks to the park, buying penny candy on the way to school. I had a sense of independence. I made choices. If I spent my quarter on candy in the morning, I couldn’t buy that Orange Crush after school. We had opportunities to make choices. We had recess twice a day and a break at lunch. Those were unstructured times to learn people skills. For most students, those choices no longer exist. In school, they’re bound by rules – rules about how to behave in class and in the halls, rules about where to be and at what time. Students may feel powerless in this constricted environment and that can have a huge negative impact on their motivation.

Teachers are limited in how much they can inspire and motivate individuals because of class size, time constraints and even more rules about what they can teach and how they teach it. Yet, giving students choices as part of class activities is so important. How can you do that? I’ve got a couple of suggestions.

 Option One: Choose How to Do Work

Joyce, a teaching colleague, was mandated to follow a lesson plan that dictated specific handouts for the students to complete. She had no option to switch the handout with some other assignment. Students had to complete this handout, which had ten problems to solve.

“Tell them to do it in any order they choose,” I suggested. “There’s no rule that says they have to do problems 1 through 10 in order. They can choose to do the easiest problems first. When they have success with the problems that are easier for them, they’ll be more confident and motivated to solve the tougher problems on the handout.”

You can even do this with assignments that aren’t already segmented into numbered problems. Say the class has to do the summary questions at the end of the history chapter, or a set of math questions from the book. However, you can’t have one student putting the answer to question 6 at the top of the paper, and another student putting the answer to question 3 up top, right? That would be a teacher’s nightmare when correcting.

So the solution here is to have them take the paper they’re working the problems on, and divide it into sections, drawing lines between each section and numbering them so they match the order of the questions in the book. You can even do what we used to do a long time ago as students, and fold the paper over twice, so that when it’s unfolded there are four even sections on each side, marked by the fold lines.

Then the students can answer those questions starting with any one they like – as long as they write the answers on their paper in the corresponding section.

This way, the students’ answers are in the correct spots, regardless of what order they answered them in – so you don’t have to go crazy later trying to grade their papers.

It’s one small way to give students a choice, but it can make a huge difference for them.

Option Two: Seating Plans

I’m a big fan of the class seating plan: I always had one when I was teaching. I didn’t want certain children sitting next to one another – you know how the dynamics between kids can be. A seating plan brings a little more order to the class and makes a teacher’s life a little bit easier. But it’s one more rule that takes away student choice.

We can give children some control over this, though. We can give them a choice when the lesson doesn’t require such structure. I’d frame the choice by saying, “Okay, when we’re doing independent work, or when you’re working with your partner (or group), you can sit where you want. You can stand where you want. As long as you follow class rules and aren’t misbehaving, you can choose where to work.”

For kids who hate sitting in the same seat for the whole class time, this is a tremendous motivator. They get that sense of, “I only have to put up with sitting still for the first 15 minutes of lecture, and then I can go and stand across the room and use the bookcase for a desk,” or sit in whatever flexible seating the teacher has arranged.

Bad Choices: Opportunities to Build Personal Responsibility

You may be thinking, giving students too much freedom has its downside. Noisy groups can disrupt the class.

But offering students a choice isn’t just empowering: It opens them up to making bad choices and having to deal with the consequences of those choices.

My colleague, Joyce, pointed out that a couple of her students liked to chat nonstop whenever they sat together. That was why she had assigned seating, to keep the two of them focused on studying.

I suggested that she let them choose to work together during the independent activity part of class. I explained that she should clearly spell out the consequences of making a bad choice to chitchat and not do the assignment. Choose language that reminds students they own the choice and the consequences of that choice. Say, “All right, you chose to work with Noreen. You both need to follow class rules and behave appropriately. Make a good choice so I don’t have to make the choice for you. I’d rather you make your own choice.”

That spells out to the students that there are consequences. It allows them to decide how they want to proceed. It gives them a little bit of control. Then, if they start chitchatting, instead of saying, “You two are misbehaving,” Joyce can remind them, “You two are making a choice that isn’t the best one. If you want to keep working together, how can you make a better choice?”

The Power of Choice and Consequence

Many children today are reaching their teen years and they haven’t made a lot of choices that have real consequences. Consequently, their executive function isn’t very well developed, and they’re at risk for making some horrible choices.

 It doesn’t seem like a lot, giving students the power to make these small choices. However, choosing how they’ll do an assignment or where they’ll stand or sit during class makes a difference when these decisions are a frequent occurrence. It really does have an effect. Even if it’s just allowing flexible seating during class – kids can get really excited about that, and that can translate into completed assignments and much more enthusiasm for learning.

Think about ways you can give students a choice within the constraints of a class. Consider that offering just one option, and being clear about the consequences of making a bad choice, can have a huge effect on your students.

For more on ways to motivate students, take a look at this article on how to motivate students based on who they are.

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The culture of blame is demotivating

We live in a culture of blame. Everything is someone else’s fault. This idea is reinforced by television, media, and what we see in the news. Frivolous lawsuits, high insurance rates; everything is someone else’s fault. One of the things that kids struggle with is taking ownership for their own behavior.

Why is this a problem? Because if I don’t believe that I am responsible for my own behavior, then I can’t change it. If I believe that you did something to me and that made me do something else: You made me mad; you made me do it – then I have given you the power and control.

Motivation means finding our personal power

If I don’t feel like I have any control, then I can’t be motivated. Why would I be motivated if I don’t have a choice? I can’t do anything because you have the control; it’s your fault. I’m powerless. We’re seeing this attitude become more and more prevalent in schools. Not every student displays this mindset, but it’s definitely an issue that I’ve seen and experienced as I work in classrooms across the country.

You can motivate your students by helping them to understand the power of owning their behavior. If motivation is about personal power, then when we blame, and give away our power, it affects our motivation level. But, when we own our behavior and say, “Okay, I own my reaction; I own what I do about it; I own how I take charge, then I own it.” We are motivated because we have the power to affect our circumstances.

Ownership and personal power equals Motivation

When I was younger, before I understood my own personal power, I would say, “You made me mad,” because, back then, that’s what I knew. But as I learned more about these concepts, luckily before my kids were born, I started changing the language in my house, then I changed it in my classroom: “No, I didn’t make you mad, I may have triggered your anger, I may have pushed your buttons, but you’re the one in control of you. I didn’t make you do anything.”

Ownership. Because if I own it, then I have control, I have personal power. If I have personal power I’m going to be more motivated.

For more on how to motivate students, take a look at How to Motivate Students and Increase Personal Power!

Would you like to reprint this article, or an article like it, in your newsletter or journal? CLICK HERE to visit the articles page.

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Students are born motivated to learn

They’re motivated to touch, to taste, to crawl, to explore, to put things in their mouth. They’re always learning.

Then they start school. What happens to their motivation? For some children, motivation starts to dissipate as early as kindergarten. Kindergarten teachers claim that they are getting more and more troubled and struggling students in their classrooms.

By the time they’re teenagers, student motivation is way down – no matter how enthusiastically they started school. Teachers lament, “We can’t get students to even care.”

What do we know about motivation? What causes it? What causes students to act? What drive their motivation?

Student Motivation Research

Years ago, I attended a conference based on the work of Dr. Ruby Payne. Her research indicated that most children of poverty, especially generational poverty, grow up believing in destiny. They believe there’s no escape from the poverty they are born into. That’s their life. That’s all they have. That’s all they will have.

Formal student motivation research, coupled with my extensive experience teaching at multiple grade levels, raising my children, consulting with schools in a variety of demographics, listening to teacher stories, working with students’ stories, teaching anger management, and all the reading I’ve done, I’ve come to look at it this way: Lack of motivation in students is about personal power.

Whether we call it resilience, self-regulation, or determination, essentially, it’s about personal power. 

“Students have personal power when they have the resources, the opportunity, and the capability to be in control of their destiny.” 

For example, why would Manuel, a student in my anger management program, be motivated to pass a test if he believes: 

• he was born angry
• he’s stupid 
• he is destined for prison 

What could possibly motivate him?

He explained, “There’s no point in me taking this stupid anger management program. It’ll do no good. I’m just going to jail anyway. That’s where my uncle ended up. Anger runs in my family.”

Who knows how many other relatives and friends of Manuel’s ended up in that same situation? Why would he care? Why would he think there was any possibility that he could improve his life? He’s not motivated because he feels he has no control over his own destiny. 

If students don’t feel they have an opportunity to change their lives, if they feel they are destined to live their life in the same circumstances they currently experience, they are not going to be motivated.

Student motivation quotes

These student motivation strategies aren’t tangible. There’s no workbook to buy. There’s no individualized software program to implement. The secret to motivating students lies in the words we speak – the quotes we use. The solution is all about how we talk to children to support changing mindsets.

Carol Dweck calls it going from a fixed mindset: The belief that “I can’t change my life. This is my destiny,” to a growth mindset: “Yes, I have control over my life and I can learn. I’m just not there yet.”

The first and fastest way to encourage students and help improve their motivation is through how we speak to them. It’s incredibly important. A student who’s struggling and thinks they’re a failure needs to be shown that they’re good at some things, and that they can succeed.

Here are three effective student motivation quotes you can use to help increase student’s personal power:

“I’m proud of the way you worked today. You showed (persistence, excellent problem solving skills, etc) to accomplish __________.”

“When you use __________ (a specific strategy – a mind map, flash cards, color coding, etc.) you succeed. Always use _____________ strategy when you have to learn something. That’s *your* secret learning weapon.” 

“I’m proud of you for taking ownership of your learning. You chose to do _________ (the approach or strategy they used)  to _____________ (complete this assignment, study for the quiz, etc.) That’s way better than telling yourself you can’t do it.”

Now, there are tons more positive things you can say besides these three things, and you can find many of them in this blog. The key is to encourage students and notice the work they’ve done to take ownership of their learning. Even if they’re struggling with an assignment, find something that they’re doing well and tell them what they’re doing right.

Even small choices motivate and empower students

Twenty years ago, educators had much more latitude in how they taught their classes. We had a curriculum to teach, but we created our own lesson plans and were trusted to use our skills as professionals to successfully educate our students. We had the latitude to try a variety of teaching methods to help struggling students.

Educators today are limited in how much leeway they can provide students. Sometimes, teachers are severely restricted in how creative they can be in their own classrooms. Many are working with a scripted program on a tight schedule.

But one of the most empowering things you can offer a student is choice. Even if it’s a choice in where they sit for part of the class, or what topic they get to write about, or the order in which they complete an assignment. Who says they have to start at number one? Many authors don’t start a writing project with an introductory sentence. Many, like me, start in the middle.

By giving students choice, we not only give them more control in their life – we can also observe how students learn and help them to discover the learning method that works best for them.

Teach students to choose strategies and tools that help them to be successful. Teach them that they have control over their destiny. Use language that fosters their sense of personal power by teaching them how THEY learn so they experience success.

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