5 Ways to Deescalate Upset Students in your Classroom

When I left the Vegas conference I was filled with excitement and a driving force behind how I can begin to find my new voice for this blog. Leaving the classroom for administration has changed my focus and I want to share with you some of the things I am doing with my staff. I want to give a BIG shout out to the very lovely Mrs. Spangler from Mrs. Spangler In the Middle- I was lucky enough to sit next to her at one of the TpT conference sessions and we talked about what I could offer the blogging world now that I am not a middle school teacher anymore. This post was one of those ideas :) THANKS Lisa!

So imagine sitting in your classroom ..you prepared a ROCKIN' lesson. Everything is falling into place and you know you are in the ZONE. From the corner of your eye you see the beginnings of crazy town starting to surface in the back of the room. Little Suzie is about to loose it....  Maybe it starts with a sigh or a yell, then it begins to bubble over the yell is a scream ... maybe a cry. What do you do?!?!

First know that you are not alone! I think every teacher can relate to that scenario and the panic that sets in when you know a student is about to burst and they are escalating rapidly.

When I did this PD with my staff we started with a post it activity. In order to handle that child we first need to look inward. We need to figure out are our buttons ...and what pushes them! They needed to answer these three questions ....

 Each teacher was asked to write down all the behaviors that PUSH their buttons and post them. We are human and behaviors will irritate us! But what pushes my buttons isn't necessarily what pushes the teachers down the hall's buttons. The physical act of writing down what aggravated me is very powerful.

Then they needed to write how it makes them feel. This step helps label the emotion...when you do this.... I feel ....

As teachers we are not supposed to feel negative emotions....YA RIGHT! That little angel who comes every day and pinches or yells or rolls their eyes at you will elicit an emotion from you and its ok that those behaviors aggravate you. However while the behavior may enrage you we all know that those emotions are productive. They wont lead us to an end result that allows everyone in the room to continue in the learning process.

So now I am more aware of what behaviors are my "buttons" ... and we identified how they make me feel ...


The last step is identifying how these behaviors will impact the relationships I am building in my classroom. As we got to this phase the post-its it was clear... If I react with that emotion I will not be building any sort of quality relationship with my students. Not only that, if we live in those emotions and react from those emotions it will take a toll on our health and well being.

So now that I am more aware of MYSELF... how do I deal with those behaviors?!?!

Here are 5 ways to DEESCALTE ...

 

 

I will be revisiting this topic and giving more ideas and tips for behavior interventions!! I would love to hear feedback on this topic and if more posts on behavior would be helpful so feel free to leave a comment if these strategies are beneficial!! :)

Where to Eat in Vegas? Part 1

I big pink puffy heart Vegas. Since I have moved to AZ six years ago I think I have been to Vegas at least 6-7 times!! With so many teachers are headed to Las Vegas for the first time for the conference, I thought I would share some of my favorite places to eat when I stay in Vegas.

First up ...

The Paris Hotel

3655 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 946-7000

I love staying at the Paris Hotel. It is always so reasonable no matter when I decide to make a quick getaway to Vegas. The inside of the hotel looks like (what I would imagine) the streets of Paris look like. Cobblestone paths, bright blue skies full of puffy white clouds with really cute little shops lining the streets.

One of my favorite quick places to grab a bite is La Creperie. The line is usually pretty long if you wait to long in the AM but man is it worth the wait. I have gotten the St. Louis and the "Favorite" both were amazing! Cheap (for Vegas) and quick option.

A new restaurant in the Paris is Martorano's. This was by far one of the best Italian meals I have ever had that wasn't cooked by my grandmother or mother. It also has a very cook old school/new school vibe. Really modern in its decorations but has classic mob movies like Casino playing on on the big screen TV's.  I had the eggplant and chicken parmesan they were both packed with flavor! If you are going to Vegas with a group of people they encourage you to share your entrees as the portions are huge. This restaurants is a bit expensive but if you are looking for a good food and AMAZING service its worth the splurge.

Last one for Paris Hotel is Mon Ami Gabi. This restaurant has an amazing patio. If you go here please go at night and you will have the best seats in town for the Bellagio water show. I have had the mussels and they were fantastic. Get extra bread ...its so good!!

If you need a nice activity to avoid spending money in the slots ....

Go see ...

I recommended this musical to everyone who visits Vegas. Its very affordable ( especially for Broadway quality shows) and you get the experience of seeing a show in Vegas without spending a small fortune.





Next time I will show all the amazing places in The Venetian!!

30 Before 30 List

I recently turned 29 and I thought it would be fun to create a 30 Before 30 List. There are so many things I want to do ..

1. Plant a tree in memory of someone
2. Go on a road trip with friends
3. Go on a family vacation
4. Learn to cook better and healthier
5. Swim with the Dolphins
6. Step out of my comfort zone at least once a month
7. Host a fancy dinner party
8. Reach the 10K mark on Tpt.. If that is made early --- 15K
9. Attend a midnight viewing of a movie
10. Visit a winery
11. Pamper myself - facial or massage at least 4 times
12. Go to a concert
13. Visit 10 new places/ restaurants
14.  Take a creative class
15. Read at least 15 new books
16. Develop a morning routine
17. Take a spontaneous road trip or adventure
18. Redecorate a room in my home
19. Meditate- Yoga more often
20. Complete at least 1 DIY project a month
21. Blog at least once a week
22. Redo the Backyard
23. Run/Walk in a race
24. Pay off one of my student loans
25. Send three people a surprise in the mail
26. Go 24 hours with out any form of technology
27. Schedule the Dr.'s appointments I have been putting off
28. Learn to make clip art
29. Have friends over at least once a month - and text or call out of state friends
30. Take a vacation out of the USA

I will check back soon to see what  I have accomplished :)

Summer Scoop!

Hello...doubt anyone is still reading this lil blog. I have been a horrible blogger since moving to the new job. I was sitting and talking to someone recently and I realized I haven't blogged in MONTHS and I think I figured out why. As most of you know I took on a new job as Assistant Principal and found it hard to figure out what I can and cant blog about. I think with one year down I finally feel ready to begin blogging about all amazing things my admin team have been working on for the upcoming year.

Vegas is coming up!! Anyone going?!I cant wait!!



So what's new ....

 

One thing I am SUPER excited about is getting a major backyard facelift...

Coming Soon!!

 

                 

                  Phase 1:   Before                                                              After

More to come soon ..I promise!

Good Bye 2014! Hello 2015!!

Well first semester was a killer. I realized quickly I had over extended myself and was trying to do to many things all at one time. For a new administrator (or teacher for that matter) that is the quickest way to run yourself into the ground. I needed to step back from something in order to keep my sanity and unfortunately I chose this blog and my TpT account.

Christmas break was wonderful and exactly what I needed! My amazing parents came in and spent a week here in AZ. We worked on so many projects and finished my new office!  I now have a wonderful place to work on all my new TpT products!

 

 If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you already know this but one of the major reasons I am able to continue TpT and the blog is this brand spanking new computer!! I am in LOVE with this computer!! I got a new Dell All-in-One and it is sooo cool! Wireless keyboard and mouse and no clunky modem box!  I also got a much newer version of Microsoft Office and let me tell you I have been living in the dark ages with my 2007 Microsoft Office!


Besides all these home projects we also took a trip to Vegas! It was great to see some of my mom's family and play the slots! I walked away with a little more money than when I got there so I call that a success! The Christmas decorations were beautiful! They even had a real snow globe you could walk through to make it seem like to were actually outside playing in the snow!

We stayed at the Paris Hotel and as always it was wonderful! One of the days we ate the new Italian restaurant located right in the Paris.  Martorano's had amazing food and fantastic service!!
I'm already thinking of recreating this eggplant dish!

 





 

Hope you all had a wonderful break!

Weather & a Big Win ...Did you catch that Freebie??

So I dont know if you have been watching the news but ....

Ya that really happened! We got hit with a HUGE storm system. In case you don't know ..I live in ARIZONA -- the land of the sun, beautiful blue skies 350 days out of the year, the desert dry heat. We got slammed! It went on record as the wettest day EVER in AZ history. It was so bad -- SCHOOL was CLOSED! We got a rain day!! It has been almost a decade since my school district had to close for a weather/emergency related incident. This may seem like a silly thing but I live in a rural area and there was no way I could have gotten to work! CRAZY!

These pictures were taken right by the park in my development!

In other news both of my Fantasy Football teams came up BIG WINNERS!! 1-0-0!!

Did you catch the Flash Freebie?? If not make sure you are following me on TpT so you can grab the Freebies!!

Since BOTH of my teams won I put my ENTIRE store on sale for one day!!

The Sunday Scoop

http://teachingtrio.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

Hi Yall!

I'm linking up with Teaching Trio's Sunday Scoop!

This week should be really busy! Between admin meetings, IEP meetings, Parent meetings, Teacher Eval meetings my week should be jam packed!

Three Things I Need to Do:
I have a ton of house work that needs to get done this week. Laundry, dust, vacuum and organize my closets. I also need to organize my work calendar so I am ready for the week ahead.

Two Things I Hope to Do:

Fall is here - well not really but if I keep my house chilly enough it will kinda feel like fall :) Seems like a good time to start hanging all the fall decorations I have stored in the garage. I also need to sit down and meal plan for the next two weeks so I can grocery shop. 

One thing I'm happy to Do:
I bought a few new sellers products on TpT and have been having so much fun working on new stuff. I also have a blog post that I want to publish soon on our Extreme Book Resource Room Makeover!! I hope I can find the time to work on that!

Make sure you check back Tuesday Morning to see if one of my fantasy football teams won and collect your FLASH Freebie! 

Have a Great Week!!