Module 5

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Positive Classroom Practices: Planning and Engaging Students in Relevant Instruction

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Positive Classroom Practices

Summarizes evidence-based, positive, and proactive practices that support and respond to students’ social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs in classrooms. 

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Center on PBIS. (2022). Supporting and responding to student’s social, emotional, and behavioral needs: Evidence-based practices for educators (Version 2.0). Center on PBIS, University of Oregon. www.pbis.org.

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Supporting and Responding to Students’ SEB Needs 

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Practices to Create

Positive Teaching and Learning Environments

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Provide Specific Feedback

Consider Other Response Strategies

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Let’s focus on Planning and Engaging Students in Relevant Instruction

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Provide Specific Feedback

Consider Other Response Strategies

Planning Relevant Instruction: �Critical Features

1. Ensure the instructional materials and activities celebrate diversity of students and families (e.g., race/ethnicity, languages, cultural traditions, SES, local history).
2. Select curricula and activities that are relevant for your students’ learning history and needs.
3. Consider various dimensions of each activity (e.g., difficulty, duration of task, choice, communication needs).
4. Plan to differentiate to meet the needs of all learners (e.g., pre-teach prerequisite skills, flexible grouping, provide alternative ways to access and respond to materials).

Ensure the instructional materials and activities celebrate diversity of students and families. Select curricula and activities that are relevant for your students’ learning history and needs.

• Classroom materials should be inclusive and reflect the rich diversity of the school and broader community.
• You might provide assignments which allow students to research their own cultures, histories, and interests.
• Principles of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) may be of particular use in planning instruction. CRT includes 8 competencies.

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• Consider providing flexible learning opportunities, allowing for adjustments with:
• lesson content (what students learn)
• lesson processes (how students learn)
• lesson products (how students demonstrate knowledge)
• Consider principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which aims to remove barriers to learning by designing lessons with flexibility.

Consider various dimensions of each activity. Plan to differentiate to meet the needs of all learners.

Resilient Educator

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Let’s focus on Engaging Students in Relevant Instruction

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Provide Specific Feedback

Consider Other Response Strategies

Engaging Students: �Critical Features

• Use explicit instruction to teach social, emotional, and academic skills.
• Provide high rates of opportunities for students to respond (e.g., asking a question, requesting worked problem).
• Vary response opportunities to include:
• Individual, small-group or whole group.
• Variety of response types (e.g., vocal, written, response cards, white boards, gestures).
• Differentiate to ensure equitable benefit.

Use explicit instruction to teach social, emotional, and academic skills.

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• Explicit instruction involves describing, modeling, practicing together and then practicing independently with feedback. Think: “I do, We do, You do” model.
• Do this not only for academics, but also social, emotional and behavioral expectations.

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Provide high rates of opportunities for students to respond. Vary response opportunities.

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• Opportunities to respond keep students engaged as they are more actively involved in the lesson (as opposed to passively).
• Plan to use as many as possible in a lesson and mix it up!
• Strategies include choral responding, individual responding, using white boards to complete problems, using thumbs up/down to agree/disagree, etc.

Differentiate to ensure equitable benefit.

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ACTIVITY:

Think of a lesson you recently taught. Reflect on the following questions, taking note of your answers:

1. How is this lesson relevant to my students’ experiences and backgrounds?
2. Name some of the opportunities to respond students had in this lesson.
3. How were you (or could you have) differentiated instruction to benefit students equitably?

Share your responses with a trusted colleague for feedback.

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Thank you!

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Please contact Lindsay Fallon, Ph.D. (lindsay.fallon@umb.edu) with any questions.

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Created by Lindsay Fallon, Adam Feinberg, Julia Kausel, Diana Laenen, Andrea Molina Palacios & Emily Romero

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April 2023