Angels in Disguise: Certificate

By Dr. Jane BluesteinMarch 24, 2014June 9, 2022 Counselors, Creating community, Educators, General Interest, Gratitude and inspiration, Increasing Positivity, Parents, Relationships, Self-care and Inspiration, Stationery item, Teacher Appreciation Leave a comment

Download page for Angel Certificates Free download: one page with two copies of a certificate you can duplicate to recognize and acknowledge the Angels in Disguise who enrich your life. These “angels” could be family and friends, or they could be helpers, service people, or total strangers who add to your life with the work…

Book: Managing 21st Century Classrooms

By Dr. Jane BluesteinFebruary 11, 2014April 23, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Beginning Teachers, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Books, Bookstore, Classroom management, Counselors, Creating community, Culture and Community, Discipline, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Motivating cooperation, Recognition and reinforcement, Rules and Boundaries, School climate, Teaching, Win-win authority Leave a comment

How to avoid ineffective classroom management practices! by Dr. Jane Bluestein You know all those behavior management strategies we learned to use in our teacher ed classes (and many subsequent workshops)? Well guess what! Some of them are actually making things worse! It’s long past time for our approach to classroom management to catch up to…

Creating Kindness

By Dr. Jane BluesteinJuly 14, 2013June 9, 2022 Counselors, Creating community, General Interest, Increasing Positivity, Self-care and Inspiration, Taking care of yourself, Tolerance and Respect darkness in the world, dealing with outrage, fear, healing, kindness, learning from trauma, positive outlet for pain, reframing trauma, staying positive, stress, surviving trauma 4 Comments

Finding a positive outlet for outrage and pain Update, 2022: I wrote this piece in response to a specific incident that happened several years ago. We’ve certainly had more than enough “outrage and pain” since this post appeared. I have left the original reference in for historical purposes and context. I believe that the content…

Thumbs up, thumbs down

By Dr. Jane BluesteinMay 31, 2013May 4, 2022 Feedback and encouragement, Feedback and encouragement, Increasing Positivity encouraging growth, encouraging success, grades, guiding children, instruction, meaningful feedback, reviews, valuable comments 4 Comments

The importance of meaningful feedback My husband just came in to read a bit of consumer feedback on a product he was researching. The book received rave reviews but the reviewer gave the author three out of five stars because “the box was dented.” We’ve all seen this kind of feedback. Excellent restaurants downgraded because…

“Magic” Sentences for Effective Communication

By Dr. Jane BluesteinMarch 28, 2013December 1, 2022 Avoiding power struggles, Avoiding power struggles with your kids, Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Building responsibility, Counselors, Discipline, Discipline, Educators, General Interest, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Intervening negative behavior, Motivating cooperation, Motivating your kids, Parents, Relationships, Rules and Boundaries, Self-care and Inspiration, Taking care of yourself, Win-win authority, Win-win parenting authority avoid conflicts, boundaries, communicating with adults, communicating with kids, de-escalating conflicts, dealing with kids, negotiating agreements, self-care, setting boundaries, teachable moments, unacceptable behavior Leave a comment

Positive language for avoiding conflict, negotiating agreements, and taking care of yourself “Magic Sentences” are key phrases that offer practical ways to use specific language to prevent, minimize, or de-escalate conflicts with others. Different sentences will be useful in different situations. These examples represent a win-win approach to relationships, and while they were originally developed for…

Improving Student Behavior through Positive School Climate

By Dr. Jane BluesteinJanuary 13, 2013May 8, 2022 Behavior Management, Classroom management, Counselors, Creating community, Culture and Community, Discipline, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Increasing Positivity, Leadership, Parents, Problem solving, School climate, Social and Emotional Growth Leave a comment

It’s not about the rules! From the January 2013 newsletter: There is a strange myth around kids’ behavior that if we just have enough rules (and severe enough punishments), the misbehaviors will disappear. What I’ve observed, however, is an even stranger reality in which the opposite tends to be true, especially in schools: the longer the…

Ways to Improve the School’s Social Culture

By Dr. Jane BluesteinJanuary 6, 2013May 8, 2022 Counselors, Creating community, Culture and Community, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Problem solving, School climate, Social and Emotional Growth Leave a comment

Practical strategies for positive change • Pay attention to peer-to-peer interactions. Increase awareness, advocacy, and a willingness to take immediate, positive action (regarding how kids treat one another). • Advocate for the underdog. Encourage kids to connect with children who seem isolated. Emphasize the value of inclusion. • Interrupt any instances of meanness, name calling,…

Picking up the Pieces

By Dr. Jane BluesteinDecember 23, 2012May 8, 2022 Blog, Counselors, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, General Interest, Increasing Positivity, Parents, Recognition and Reinforcement, School climate, Social and Emotional Growth acceptance, emotional safety, emotionally safe classroom, encouragement, feedback, healing, identity and failure, self-concept 6 Comments

Reclaiming our essence “I can never read your writing.” “That was awful. Maybe you should leave the athletics to your sister.” “I can’t tell what this drawing is supposed to be.” “You’ll never be any good at…” Do any of these sound familiar? I know very few adults who grew up without at least some…

Staying Positive in the Face of Negativity and Horror

By Dr. Jane BluesteinDecember 15, 2012May 9, 2022 Blog, Counselors, Creating community, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Health and Safety, Increasing Positivity, Parents, School climate, Schools in Society, Social and Emotional Growth Leave a comment

Staying positive in the face of negativity and horror I am, by nature, a positive person. For my own sanity, and for the sake of maximizing my potential contribution to the world, I try to look for the good in all things. That said, I am also extremely sensitive to violence and cruelty, and seem…

Behavior Intervention Strategies for Teachers

By Dr. Jane BluesteinDecember 9, 2012June 5, 2022 Behavior Management, Behavior Management, Classroom management, Discipline, Educators, Increasing Positivity, Intervening negative behavior, Motivating cooperation, Recognition and reinforcement, SEL- Social and Emotional Learning behavior management, building cooperation, classroom management, intervening negative behavior, motivating, negative student behavior, neutral student behavior, on-task behavior, positive consequences, positive student behavior, reinforcing kids, school climate Leave a comment

Different approaches for different behaviors Depending on how your students are behaving, certain teaching strategies are more effective than others at maintaining those behaviors, motivating behaviors they are not exhibiting, and stopping undesirable or disruptive behaviors. These strategies can be quite effective with kids of all ages. Please note that they are not interchangeable. POSITIVE…