Mrs. Lyons Teaches K

  Currently, I am going through the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) process with one of my Kindergarteners. Let me tell you, the first month of school hasn't been an easy one! While writing and preparing the FBA with my team, I decided to learn more about it. Instead of reading another article, book, or website, I listened to two podcasts from Education to the Core: Where the Primary Things Are . In two podcasts, Christopher Olson outlines 30 preventive strategies and 20 instructive strategies to do before and during a behavior. Chris Olson has a PhD in Special Education with a focus in young children with challenging behaviors. He has worked in Early Intervention and Emotional Support Classrooms.  Side note - For those of you who do not know what an FBA is, here are the basics: it is a process schools use to figure out what is causing challenging behavior from a student a team of school staff (school psychologist, guidance counselor, lead teacher, and possibly other s...

It's no secret that students and teachers across America have to play "catch-up" this year in school. Although we did our best teaching through the pandemic, children may have not gained all the necessary skills needed to advance in the next grade. Angela Snodgrass reached out to more than 50 Kindergarten teachers in the United States and posed the question, "What skills do you wish every incoming kindergartener would have mastered when they come to your classroom on the first day of school?" (Snodgrass, 2021) Of the 73 responses she received, only 9 of them were academic skills. 88% of the responses were related to life and social skills.  Of course it is important to teach the content we normally would during any other school year! However, being a little behind with the pandemic and learning at home, Kindergarten teachers would like to have more a focus on the life and social skills a child should know when they enter Kindergarten. Snodgrass mentions using th...

Reflecting on the article, What's in store for the post-pandemic classroom? by ESchoolNews, I believe all classroom experiences will improve with the benefit of technology use.  Educators have been through the ringer the past couple years! With virtual learning, hybrid learning, and now back to in-person learning, we have done it all. Research from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in an Educator Confidence Report, revealed "rising confidence in mastery and benefit of learning technologies"  ( Ascione , 2021). Teachers and students have had probably the most exposure in the least amount of time to educational technologies and how to use them. Both parties have absorbed and processed a massive amount of change moving through this pandemic. No wonder there has been a increase in confidence using technology in just one year, we have used it every day since being at home!  So how does that help us moving forward? Hopefully, more teachers and educators will continue to utilize the te...

Guess what?!  I'M HAVING A BABY! 💙   This is my first child and like all things new in my life, I wanted control over it. Well, that's not how life happens. My husband and I planned (LOL) on getting pregnant in August so I could start maternity leave in April. In a perfect world, I would get my 12 weeks, then go right on Summer Break! It would have been super convenient!  There is no "right time" to have a baby - I know that. However, being a teacher, I wanted to make the transition for my students the easiest I could. I never planned on going on maternity leave ONE MONTH after school started. My poor Kindergarteners; just starting to adjust to a new school, new teacher, new friends, then BOOM! A change in routine; a change in teacher. I am ecstatic about having a baby (I've never had one before 😉) but I feel guilty for leaving my new class a month into school. I know, I know.... I shouldn't. But all I can think about is sub plans, collecting data, starting ...