GenParenting

Parenting resources for all who love and care for children

Behavior Intervention Plans Ensure Student Achievement

Behavior Intervention Plans Ensure Student Achievement

A Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is a personalized and structured strategy developed to address and modify challenging behaviors in children. It is a proactive approach used in special education to promote positive behavior and provide support for children who may exhibit behaviors that interfere with their learning or social interactions.

Supports Improved Student Behaviors

A Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is a carefully designed plan that outlines specific strategies and interventions to address and improve a child’s behavior. It is developed based on the findings of a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and aims to create a positive and supportive environment that helps the child succeed academically and socially. The BIP is tailored to the unique needs of the child and focuses on promoting positive behaviors while addressing the underlying causes of challenging behavior. [Read more…]

Behavior Assessments Support Children’s Learning Successes

Behavior Assessments Support Children’s Learning Successes

A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a process used in special education (and sometimes in general education)  to understand and analyze the reasons behind a child’s challenging behavior. It’s a systematic and individualized approach that helps educators and other professionals identify the underlying factors contributing to a student’s behavior while at school and provide tailored support for their behaviors. An FBA is NOT completed for all students. [Read more…]

Mud Play Learning for Kids

Mud Play Learning for Kids

Kids of all ages love mud! Our class read the Magnificent Magical Mud story posted on this blog site. Then we planted flowers in flower pots as gifts for seniors and homeless residents. Students learned how to make mud while watering the plants in flower pots. We studied different types of potting soil to determine how much water it took to make mud in the flower pot. We also studied the ingredients of various mud solutions. Some mud samples had a sandy composition while others contained small rocks. The students were fully engaged while playing with their magnificent mucky mud. They were excited about learning. They were also curious and eager to learn about the composition and the many uses of mud throughout the ages. [Read more…]

How Teachers Support Students’ Unique Learning Talents

How Teachers Support Students’ Unique Learning Talents

I work primarily with kindergarten through 2nd grade students. Each student I work with has unique talents, skills, and needs to remediate or nurture. When working with over 20 students in a classroom, I must focus on creating curriculum for the greater good of the student population based on the grade-level common core standards mandated by California. Then I must adapt my curriculum to meet the needs of highly challenged students as well as gifted and talented students. When working with second grade students after the COVID school shutdowns, a few students are still emerging at the first-grade level in their reading and math skills while others are performing at the 4 through 5th grade levels. [Read more…]

Magnificent Magical Mud

Magnificent Magical Mud

by Mary Ann Burke

INTRODUCTION: GenParenting bloggers will periodically feature select children’s stories with educational and social-emotional growth themes. Magnificent Magical Mud was written to support second grade learners. Students will complete mud science projects and research online informational text to write a mud report.

Why do I love mud?

I have loved mud since I was three years old. I liked the way it squished through my fingers. It was fun to smush my feet in sticky, muddy puddles. Mud was my favorite ingredient for pies and sloshy rock leaf soup. My favorite activity was slinging mud balls at my irritating older brother. Maybe I liked mud because my mom hated mud. Perhaps it was because our backyard became flooded with lots of muddy puddles that I played in whenever it rained. Then my mom would make me change out of my muddy clothes before I stepped into the house.

What is mud?

I was excited when our teacher, Mrs. Hecklebee, asked our class, “What is mud and how do you make it?”

We learned that you can make different types of mud when you mix water with various types of soil. Clay soil is heavy, sticky when wet, and has very fine mineral specks. Sandy soil consists of small pieces of weathered rock and is light and crumbly. Loamy soil has clay, sand silt, and dead plants in it. I was amazed that there were different types of soil that could make mud. I must have used clay soil for great mud pies when I played in my backyard.

Sophia excitedly asked our teacher, “What is the difference between sandy mud and clay mud?”

Then Manuel exclaimed, “Does one type of mud take more water to make? Can you add leaves and branches to make the mud thick?”

My teacher responded to our questions by having us make a quart of clay mud. First, we scooped 4 cups of clay soil into a bucket. Second, we mixed it with a few cups of water to make it stick to our fingers. Finally, we added lots more water to make the mud roll off our fingers. [Read more…]