The Bethpage Union Free School District will be conducting in-services classes in all three of their elementary schools to train teachers the Responsive Classroom approach. Currently, thirty-three teachers are trained in the approach and the district is planning to reach more by piloting an in-service professional development class.
During the October 29, 2019 Bethpage Board of Education meeting, two trained educators from Central Boulevard Elementary School, Jeanine Ceccoli and Allison Robb, presented an in-depth demonstration on the Responsive Classroom approach. The evidenced-based approach focuses on creating an orderly learning environment that enhances students’ academic skills and achievements. With six guiding principles, Responsive Classrooms teach that social and emotional skills are as important as academic content and stresses that how an educator teaches is as important as what they teach.
“It’s all about mindset. I want my students to feel comfortable and confident and know it’s okay to make mistakes and take risks in the classroom,” said Robb. Ceccoli and Robb utilize online libraries of videos from themselves and colleagues to share and learn more about certain tactics.
Steve Furrey, principal of Central Boulevard Elementary School, believes the Responsive Classroom approach is the “single most powerful thing” he’s seen in classrooms in his forty years as an educator.
Two students from Central Boulevard, Amanda Schneider and Mizuki Hashimoto, were able to speak on their experience with the Responsive Classroom approach. “I feel energized, focused and like I get to know my classmates,” said Schneider. The students demonstrated a specific tactic in the approach known as an Energizer, a short, playful, and whole-group activity used as brain breaks for the students.
More information on the Responsive Classroom approach can be found on their website,
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/.