
Proven Strategies for Creating a Classroom That Supports All Learners
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By: Brianna Lugibihl
Minimize classroom interruptions with these student self-advocacy techniques.
It’s fall 2020. My students have just finished dance class. As they enter the room, I’m bombarded by the needs of 25 students.
“Can I go to the bathroom?”
“I twisted my ankle, and it really hurts!”
“Last class period, Susie said something that hurt my feelings.”
These statements might remind you of specific students or instances in your own career when learning was disrupted. Classroom interruptions are one of the largest losses of learning time. When I began teaching, I found myself overwhelmed with decision and compassion fatigue. I kept wondering, how can we keep the focus on instruction while teaching students to advocate for themselves?
Teaching in fall 2020 created an opportunity for me to optimize my classrooms’ effectiveness and safety. Amid that challenge arose a joyful consequence—autonomous student self-advocacy and regulation. I incorporated emotion identification discussions, and we developed a hand-signaling system as a class to obtain the teacher’s attention without interrupting the learning process. Once the students received permission non-verbally, they addressed their needs independently.
Here are a few ideas that have worked for my students that originated with our hand-signaling and self-advocacy system.
According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, author of Whole Brain Living, a healthy brain only needs 90 seconds to process an emotion. Whether something is weighing on students outside of the classroom or they’re dealing with other internal distractions, taking 90 seconds to recalibrate at their desk maximizes their engaged learning time. I call these time-in breaks.
Okay: “Is it okay to feel _______? Yes!”
Need: “I need _______ to be able to learn right now.”
Trigger: “What triggered the emotion?”
Share: “Write down what happened for yourself, your teacher, or another staff member, and share what you need for the future.”
Sometimes students need more than 90 seconds to return their minds to learning. When that happens, my students can ask for a time-out break. These activities are meant to provide a short pause for students who need to get out of their seat or the classroom—physically or mentally—before they can continue learning.
My students know that taking time-out breaks may not always happen immediately. Once I establish boundaries with breaks, they understand that their requests may be accommodated later.
These self-care solutions wouldn’t be as effective if I was still fielding questions from raised hands all day. The purpose of teaching students to advocate for themselves is to empower them to identify and advocate for their needs, become engaged learners, and limit classroom interruptions. Each school year, I’m reminded of the importance of embedding self-advocacy and emotional work in our values, routines, and procedures from day one. Students depend on it, and it creates a more positive learning environment for all.
To hear more from Brianna, listen to this episode of the Extraordinary Educators™ Podcast.
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