Tips and Strategies for School Bus Drivers

Tips and Strategies for School Bus Drivers

NEW!

A laminated Reference Card for all School Bus Drivers

School bus drivers are a critical element to virtually every school system. And with this new card from DayOne Publishing, school bus drivers will have new tools at their fingertips—tools to improve their effectiveness, promote safety, be ready in emergencies, deal quickly and fairly with difficult situations, and create a positive experience for their riders.

Contents of this Card

This full-color, two-sided laminated card from DayOne includes a broad range of useful and important topics.

·       How to deal with student behavior, including some general strategies and specific positive and preventive actions you can take.

·       How to build strong relationships with students so that they will respond better and more quickly to your instructions.

·       How to use rewards and consequences in ways that students value and that help you control student behavior.

·       What to do about serious discipline problems, including immediate steps and four things you should never do.

·       How to best work with parents that build relationships and make parents your allies.

·       Handling angry parents—seven techniques that help to dispel anger.

·       How to deal with bullies on your bus, including five strategies that will help you bring bullying under control.

·       Best ways of communicating with your students, including language for difficult situations, developing Teflon responses, strategies for backtalk, and extra tools.

·       How to work with students with disabilities, including students with:

o   Learning disabilities

o   Behavioral disabilities

o   Lower-thinking ability

o   Hearing loss

o   Severe autism

·        How to plan for emergencies on your bus—three tips you must know to prepare your students for the unexpected

All School Bus Drivers will benefit greatly from the wealth of information on this card!

About the authors:

Judy Dewey has worked with students of all ages.  While much of her career has been working with students with disabilities, she has also served as Principal and Vice Principal at an elementary and middle school.

She established—and still oversees—the alternative services program in the school district in her hometown.

While serving as a special education director, she was instrumental in establishing a program to teach self-advocacy skills to students with disabilities.  She has shared this knowledge with other educators by training at state and national conferences.

Judy graduated from Southwest Texas State University with a Master’s degree in Speech Pathology.  Since then, she has also earned certifications in

·        deaf education

·        diagnostics

·        mid-management

She has worked as a speech therapist both in public school and in rehabilitation.

She has also worked as

·        a deaf educator

·        a resource teacher

·        a diagnostician

·        director of alternative and special education services.

She currently lives in Texas with her husband of 35 years.  When she’s not at work with at-risk students, she is doing mosaic artwork, gardening or boating with her husband.

Cindy Jones has deep experience in both regular and special education as a teacher, diagnostician, Principal, crisis interventionist, consultant, and staff developer in the areas of behavior, at-risk students, improvement process, pre-school instruction and behavior, and educational strategies for special education.

She is currently president of Education Support Associates, Inc, producing pre-school through high school administrators and staff with training, technical assistance, and consultation in the areas of behavior, at-risk learners, special education , and research-based curriculum delivery.

Education Support Associates services include:

·        Give technical assistance, training, and modeling to improve school climate, instructional leadership, literacy, and parent involvement.

·        Work with early childhood programs to ensure appropriate instructional strategies and behavioral interventions.

·        Gather, evaluate and provide data to support instructional practices.

·        Train educators around the U.S. in best practices for special education students who are served in both regular education and special education settings.

·        Train counselors in strategies that best support at-risk students and their teachers.

·        Provide behavioral interventions for emotionally disturbed and behaviorally challenged students at all grade levels.

·        Assist alternative schools with innovative strategies that increase student success.

Cindy Jones is a TAP (Technical Assistance Provider) for the state of Texas, assisting schools with low TAKS scores, high drop-out rates, or poor attendance.

Cindy lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband and their golden retriever, Trusty.  Trusty works with students with behavioral problems and also performs flyball at the San Antonio Spurs half-time show.