We are now a few years into implementing the Addison Elementary Essential 55, and things are going very well!
Addison students are held to very high standards, and they are meeting those standards admirably. Addison students consistently impress visitors and community members with their manners and respectful behavior. We will continue to use the Essential 55 to guide us at school, and I would like to invite you to have your child practice them at home! Obviously, a lot are geared toward an academic setting, but there are some good ones that I am sure parents wouldn't mind seeing (Always showing appreciating, cleaning up after yourself at the dinner table, ETC.)! Below is a file which lists each Essential!
|
Classroom Policy
|
What I like to do is a combination of the reward and punishment approach, that I adapted from Dr. Harry Wong (one of the most brilliant education specialists ever!). Each week, students are automatically rewarded with a fun, 30 minute activity, that will take place on Thursday. However, any minor infraction will deduct time from the initial 30 minutes. I deduct time in 10 second, 1 minute, or 10 minute intervals.
10 sec. infractions include: Talking out of turn, not being prepared, not having homework turned in, failing to follow directions, ETC. 1 minute infractions include: Being disruptive in the hallway, blatant disrespect, talking during announcements or when the phone rings, wide-spread 10 second infractions, ETC. 10 minute infractions include: Unsafe behaviors, negative Substitute Report, disrespecting and/or damaging property, ETC. Last year, my class had weeks with the full 30 minutes, and at least one week with no time left. Usually they ended up with about 20 minutes. We would go to the Panther Pit, have extra recess if the weather was nice, play board games, or dance and sing. For serious offenses (listed below) I will write up a referral and you will receive a call from either myself, Mr. Williams, or Mrs. Wilson. Please know that calling you for negative reason is by far my least favorite thing to do. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think it was important. It is not to criticize or bad mouth you or your child. It is merely to inform you of what happened and discuss ways to try to prevent similar behavior in the future. I value parents' ideas and opinions and am willing to work with you any way I can to make your child be successful in all aspects of school. Serious Offenses: -Bullying -Lying -Cheating -Disrespecting others -Disrespecting property -Profanity -Unsafe/Harmful Behavior |
My Philosophy on Behavioral Issues
|
It has been my experience that common behavioral issues (not paying attention, side conversations, lack of engagement) are caused by three things:
1. Students not feeling a sense of urgency or importance in the lesson. 2.Confusion as to what they should be doing. 3. Fear of not being able to perform adequately. What strikes me about those three reasons, is how much of it can be avoided with proper care and preparation by the teacher. Here's what I mean: 1. Students not feeling a sense of urgency or importance in the lesson. This one is a no-brainer. If a child doesn't care, they aren't going to try. When I was a kid, I would constantly ask, "When am I ever going to need this?" If the answer wasn't something I cared about, I would tune out and, usually, act up. When I plan and teach a lesson, I try to clearly explain why the topic is worth using up some of our VERY precious school day, and relate it to other topics I know students like. I also fill the class period to the brim. We have A LOT of things to cover this year, and I don't intend to have much "down time." Students who are actively engaged in a task very rarely become a behavioral problem. This is what I call, "Learning with a sense of urgency." Parents can help reinforce the sense of urgency at home. Ask your child about specific topics that were covered that day and try to relate it positively to your life. A lot of time, the topics may not exactly match up with your job or daily life, but with some creativity, most broad concepts we cover could match up. Please never say, even jokingly, something along the lines of, "What are you learning that for?" This completely undermines the entire day of learning and will encourage your child to devalue their efforts. If you are really curious about why a topic is being covered, please send me an email or call. 2. Confusion as to what they should be doing. When a child doesn't understand directions, a concept, or a situation in general, they are likely to disengage and misbehave. To help avoid that, I try to maintain a consistent schedule. Students are creatures of habit, and become unsure and uncomfortable with unexpected changes. Even I hate when that happens. I have our schedule posted in the room, and will maintain that schedule to the best of my abilities. Whenever a task is given, I will repeat directions slowly and clearly multiple times. If there are multiple steps to the directions, I will have them written and posted on the board. Also, depending on the situation, I will either model a finished product, what a good answer would look like, or go over the grading rubric in detail. If a student is having a hard time understanding a concept, I will try to meet with them individually or in a smaller group. Parents can help me with this by not scheduling appointments during academic instruction time, not having your child out of school unnecessarily, and not having your child be tardy. When a child leaves or shows up in the middle of a lesson, they are understandably confused. Also, a whole day out of school will put them behind in everything, and should be avoided at all cost. This is also true of half-days of school. 3. Fear of not being able to perform adequately. When students are exposed to something difficult, sometimes they prematurely decide they wont be able to do it. It is an unfortunate phenomena where students think, "If I don't try my best, and I fail, then I have a reason." Another aspect of this is a student wanting to do well, but being to afraid of looking stupid, so they just nod and pretend to understand. I pride myself on creating a classroom environment where students feel safe to be themselves. We are all learners, and should be encouraged to ask questions and be curious. I tell students all the time that they should expect to be challenged. They should come to class knowing they are going to encounter things they don't yet know. That is the beautiful thing about going to school! If every student already knew everything, their would be no point! I ALWAYS admit when I don't know something, then use it as a teachable moment to demonstrate how to figure it out. Parents can help with this by being supportive of your child. Encourage them and let them know that it is perfectly acceptable to not know everything, as long as they are working on figuring it out. Model what problem solving looks like. Include your child in the process of trying to figure out what that rattling sound in the laundry room is. Show them how to call to ask someone for help, or how to safely use the internet for research, or how to navigate an instruction manual. Make your child a part of all the ways you figure things out. This will help them feel the joys of learning and discovering, and alleviate some of the discomfort in the classroom. All of that is to say: I don't typically encounter behavioral issues beyond what should be expected by high-energy 8-10 year olds. Typically, some small redirection corrects most problems. |