My co-op and I have been working hard on controlling the times when students need to listen and when they can whisper while doing work. We have made it clear that we should not have to ask two times to have their attention because it is important in case there is an emergency.
My co-op and I have also discussed with the children that if they need help or have any questions they can come to me for help. From the beginning she has had students come up to me so that they would feel comfortable talking to me. Now, some students come right to me instead of my co-op, which is a great feeling knowing that they trust and feel comfortable with me.
I took away that as a teacher I need to ALWAYS be aware of my surroundings, especially when on the move in the hallways. Holly and I went to a faculty meeting a little bit ago where Mr. Robinson, our principal, discussed ways in which the school was going to change things around to make the school even more safe. I think it is always important to think about ways to prevent things before they may happen and have a plan set. I have also learned some things that I will talk about with my co-op. I always think it is better to be safe than sorry!
I have been having the same situation with my students. Sometimes my co op had to work one on one with a student, so I would try to pull students who wanted help, but wanted to ask her, to come to me. With doing that I have had more and more students come and ask me for help if she is occupied and now about the subject/content that I am teaching. What I want to work on, is if the students have a problem either with themselves, home life, or another peer to come up to me and let me know. Reason for that is because I have a few students who have trouble controlling their anger or their attitudes need to be adjusted at points, sometimes that is an indicator that something is going on. I also strongly agree with you on your thinking about prevention. I think if we would concentrate on how to prevent serious events from happening, teachers would feel more prepared.
My classroom environment is positive in some ways already. One way for sure that I have observed and have started to use in my own instruction is the "Clip Chart". This chart has levels starting at the top with "Outstanding" going all the way down to "Parental Contact". With this system the students are motivated to move up their clip to Outstanding in order to receive more tickets which leads to more they could get at the prize store. Another way we try to keep the environment positive is to praise every chance we get, even for the littlest thing. We have a student with Autism that calls for constant redirection, so when he does something right/ or keeping up we give him a lot of praise, and we do that with almost all the class. Just by saying "I like the way you are sitting quietly waiting for me to start" or "I like the way your working" goes a long way. When starting to teach some of my classes, I like to show that I am having fun, because if the students see your excited and having fun they may get just as excited about the material. Of course there are limits to this, but you are the one that are the judge of when to be serious and when the class can handle a little looseness. With that, the content that is the most difficult and boring, if it needs that fun twist, students will understand the material a lot better and feel confident and better about themselves when they understand.
In reaction to tonight, I first off want to say that I enjoyed the speaker. I thought he brought up topics that are usually called in schools "the dumb drills". But in reality they are very important. We never know what is going to happen. We can't be under the stereotypical mind set that "nothing bad will ever happen". It may be rare that our specific schools have something serious happen like that but again we need to be prepared. I also took away more information about the Handicap. It's where I want to be in my career with those types of kids, I am going to check out more sources in order to find out more how to take precaution. I couldn't even fathom if CT had a life skills room and that would happen. What measures if any measure could have they take? Especially with all that equipment which some students need to be hooked up to, to survive. I also thought to it is disheartening that some of the schools in our state, let alone area, do not follow proper regulation.
The thing I took away most from tonight was to still stress to my students that school is a safe place. I know I personally was concerned after Sandy Hook because you don't think that anyone would want to take the lives of innocent children. When that happened, not only to you have to be there for your students so they can talk about their thoughts and feelings, you have to teach them what to do if something happens and trust that they will listen to you if that ever does happen.
Tomorrow, my students have a "Lockdown/Intruder" drill so Mr. Smith came to speak to us at the perfect time. I really like how he stressed that school is a safe place, but when we do these drills we are just going to the safest part of the classroom/school. It's so hard to predict how you'll react when something as tragic as Sandy Hook happens, but I would like to hope that if I myself practice the drill and my students know what to do, I could protect them from danger.
I agree with you Janis, we need to stress to students that school is a safe place. This idea of stressing that school is a safe place was the second main message I took away from the workshop. If we want students to come to school, we need to create a safe and welcoming classroom. I am going to use Mr. Smith’s explanation: “school is a safe place and sometimes we need to go to an extra safe place.” I think this is an appropriate way to explain to students why we need to go to the bathroom or coat closet if an intruder enters the school. Good luck in the lockdown drill!
I also agree that this was a really good way to explain to students about a drill. Often times schools don't explain things to students in a way that they can understand, or they tell them too much and scare them. I think that it would be interesting to test this method by telling them they are just being extra safe. The most important thing is making sure that all your students are safe and know the procedures, and I think that will all of the information we learned last night you should be ready for a drill!!
I agree with all of you. After we had our intruder drill, I know I was curious as to what happens if one of our students is in the bathroom and they come back and try to get in, then what? My co-op and I discussed that and then we also brought up issues at our faculty meeting about it because other teachers had the same concerns as well, and with our building having open bathrooms, it would not be very safe for the student to remain in. So, we talked about having a code knock or a safe word, and our principal is looking into all of that. However, after hearing what Mr. Smith said about not risking 18 lives to safe 1, that is still such an unnerving thing to think about.
Before coming into my classroom, my co-op had already set up a behavior management plan that holds students responsible for their own actions. They are on the rainbow system. All students start the day on yellow. If we see them making the right choices, they move their name magnet up the rainbow. If they end on the highest color, they get a scoop of money at the end of the day. If we see them making poor choices, they move their magnet down. This requires the students to be aware of their personal actions and choices. However, I want to begin creating a positive learning environment by starting a behavior plan that centers around the class working together as a whole. Starting tomorrow, the students will also be rewarded for working well as a class, helping one another, and being active listeners. I want to see whole class motivation rather than just individual motivation.
Aside from behaviors, I believe my co-op and I have done a great job at differentiating learning. The students are almost always divided into groups based on their ability. When the class is brought together in whole group, we will often partner more advanced kiddos with lower level kiddos. I really feel as if these differentiated groups are helping children learn at their own pace and in their own way. We are able to more easily find their struggles and develop learning experiences that may be more beneficial to them.
Tonight was extremely beneficial to me because my school has not discuss safety procedures very thoroughly with me. After this presentation, I will definitely be clarifying such procedures with my school so that I am better prepared for an emergency. I think the most valuable thing we can all learn is that if the situation allows us to be proactive, we should be. If we see something out of the ordinary, even it it looks harmless, we need to be proactive. This is the only way that tragedies like Sandy Hook could be stopped or at least lessened. We need to keep our eyes and ears open at all times. We need to question at all times. I'd rather look like a fool for reporting something harmless than put all my students in a dangerous situation.
My co-op and I work together to make our first grade class a positive learning environment. The students have clips to move up and down on the behavior chart. Having a behavior management system is an essential component needed to create a positive learning environment. When a student is on task or does a kind act, my co-op or I will tell the student to move his/her clip up. If a student fails to be on task, my co-op or I will tell the student to move his/her clip down. I believe it is important to have the student move his/her clip up or down on the behavior chart instead of the teacher moving the clip. Involving the students as much as possible is important because they become active participants in their educational journey and take responsibility for their own actions.
In addition to the behavior clip system, student sharing time also creates a positive learning environment. The students bring in special things (e.g. stuffed animals and books) to share with the class. During the sharing time, my co-op and I remind the class to be respectful and to give their full attention to their peer. I think it is important to allow young learners the opportunity to share special things with their peers because it helps to create a positive class community in which the members respect one another. The class also gets to know their peers; thus, contributing to a close community of learners.
The most important message I took away from the safety workshop is to work as a team with other teachers and develop a buddy teacher system. Before attending the workshop, I was unaware of the importance of establishing a buddy teacher relationship. I think it is a wise idea to develop a buddy teacher system. For instance, if I need the students to clear the room, they will know where to go (the buddy teacher’s room). It is necessary to work together with other teachers to ensure the overall safety of the students. One individual cannot create a safe school; the whole staff needs to work together as a team (Together Everyone Achieves More).
I guess since we're in the same school, we hold the same behavior management system. I think it works very well. Students know we mean business when we ask them to move their magnet on the board! Today during a lesson I asked a student to move their magnet. They looked at me in shock that I, a student teacher, would ask them to move their magnet up! Now they know I'm not messing around :)
My co-op and I have been working on a positive learning environment from the beginning. The first thing that I think needs to be established for this to happen is for the students to be able to trust the teacher. Finding time to get to know your students builds a community, and makes them feel more comfortable in the classroom. This also make them feel more comfortable answering questions in front of other students. The second thing that I have done to build a positive learning environment, is that at the end of each day the students have a behavior chart that is filled out and sent home to their parents. This builds a relationship with families at the same time. This also allows students to know if they had a good day or not.
Tonight was very beneficial. I wish that we would have this before we started student teaching. I would have asked my teacher a lot more questions about safety to make sure I understood all of the procedures. Now I think that it is most important to talk with my co-op and make sure that our students are prepared if a situation does occur.
My classroom management system is similar in the fact that when a student misbehaves or continuously remains off- task they write about it and sign it. They then take it home to be signed by a parent and then returned. This holds them accountable for their actions and just like you said it builds that collaboration between school and home. I think it is important that parents see these things because they then know why a consequence occurred and there is no discrepancy about what truly happened.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
My co-op and I have had many small meetings about creating an environment where I receive as much respect as the students' teacher just as my co-op does. So far we have worked together to come up with ways to interact with students when they are lining up, quieting down, and other things throughout the day. A lot of times I will be the one in charge of quieting students so they know to listen to me too. I want my students to know that I care about them and want to share stories and have fun, but at the same time we are in school to learn and we must get our work done and have fun doing it! Creating a positive classroom environment is really a collaboration between my co-op, me, and my students. So far, our classroom has been created into a positive environment and I know that working together, we will be able to keep improving that.
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop? Last nights workshop was an eye opener at how naive schools are about things that could happen. I think it is very important that when security is enhanced after an episode such a the Sandy Hook shooting takes place, the security practices should stay in practice and not get lost weeks down the road. I believe it is very important to know what to do when an emergency situation rises and know how to do it safely and efficiently. The most important job as a teacher is to keep our students safe. Knowing how to do that is extremely important.
Since day one, my coop and I have discussed creating a positive learning environment that stems from the Love and Logic theory of teaching. Over break, my coop gave me a book, Teaching with Love and Logic, to read. Once I delved into the many topics the book supported, I realized that there is a whole different perspective of teaching that I never knew about and instantly fell in love with. One of the main ideas of the book supports giving students the choice in learning. My coop and I have discussed this and I have been working daily on giving students choices to help them guide the learning process. The benefit of giving choices is that when you really need to make the choice for the class, you can! You give and give and give to students and when you need to take they are willing because they understand that they constantly take. Other love and logic ideals are used in the classroom too which allows me to continually build on exercising my authority in the classroom. I also work to build a relationship with each and every child in the classroom by engaging them in meaningful conversations. I allow ample sharing time during calendar/morning meeting period which allows a sense of community to be developed. And I engage students in following up on shared information. And my cooperating teacher supports students to ask me for help/questions/etc at any type, which all students do. My cooperating teacher and I have discussed using as much reinforcement, both positive and negative, as possible with the students. We do not have any type of behavior chart or system but when students are in jeopardy of being in trouble, choices are given. We have a “mudroom” in which students can choose to go to. When things are pushed pass the “choice” level, students are asked to visit the mudroom and come out when they are ready. This is very effective in the classroom.
I feel as though the safety lecture this evening was beneficial. I am very naïve about safety in schools and I feel that is because I have been placed in lax schools with little safety measures or precautions. In my current placement there is no badge or ID required and sometimes I don’t even have to sign out at the end of the day. I really appreciated the fact that Mr. Johnson supported the fact that schools are safe places and that we only practice such “drills” to make sure that we are in our safest place possible. I hope to instill this belief in my future classes. It’s our job to keep our students safe at all times and Mr. Johnson's lecture was very informative and helpful in allowing all of us to understand how to do so!
My school doesn't require me to wear any type of badge now because the school staff knows me. All other visitors are supposed to wear a little sticker, but that doesn't always happen. I also don't have to sign out. The secretary wants me to just sign in so they know I'm in the building. I personally don't think that this is a very safe practice. But nothing has happened so far, so I guess they are fine with it.
My school does pretty much the same thing. I am just wearing a visitors badge for the 8 weeks I am there. They said I could just keep the visitors tag until I leave. I also was told to just sign in and out at the same time. After the safety workshop I realized how this is not a very safe practice. Anyone could do this and you wouldn't know if they belong in the building or not.
The only type of badge that I wear is a piece of laminated paper that says "DIS Student Teacher" and it has a picture off of clip art from a word document on it. I realized that after the school safety session that anyone could go on their computer and make one of these, and the school staff wouldn't know the difference. I do still sign in and out but no one makes us do it or checks that we do. Megan Dodson and I still do it just because we feel like we should.
All faculty are required to wear the School District issued badge that has their picture and name on it. When I visited in December before going home on break, my teacher asked me to wear my Etown student ID badge. She said that the students are told that anyone with a badge are a safe person to talk to. Everyday, I am required to wear this badge (and it must be visible, but not necessarily on the torso). We are also required to sign in and out each day.
That is scary! Didn't he mention how police point their guns right at your chest and expect to see an ID? I could be wrong, but if I were you, I would wear a badge even if it was not required just to be safe.
After the Safety Seminar I realized how much schools can fail to fully follow safety regulations. Like Megan Jones said, we both just wear a laminated picture that says Student Teacher. At my mom's school they have the person entering the building identify themselves, through an intercom system. Once "buzzed" in, they are to report to the office. If this does not occur, the school goes directly into lockdown.
Every week in my weekly update to my supervisor, I always reflect on my classroom environment. My classroom has a pretty good positive environment. The students know that they can trust myself and my teacher and feel safe in the class. They feel comfortable enough to come and talk to us about anything, and I mean anything! As much as it may some frivolous to us, it means the world to them that you listen to them and want to know about their lives. During lessons, my students always raise their hands and take risks, even if they aren't too sure of the answer. This demonstrates the type of positive classroom community that my teacher has built and that I have continued to build. Most of all, the positive interactions and positive feedback to the students is one thing that really builds their confidence and trust in their peers and teachers.
The message I took away from the safety workshop was that we are in one of the safest jobs in the country. There is such a lower percentage that something will happen in the school that there is no reason to be paranoid. It is good to be prepared and know how you will protect yourself and your students in the event that something does happen. My school, I feel like they lack on some safety protocols. They told me after the second week I was there, I no longer had to wear the permanent visitor badge that I was given. Everyone in the school knows me, but if anything would happen, I don't have any type of ID or school badge on. Overall, I thought the workshop was very informative and I now feel more prepared than before.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom? Since day one I've made it known to my students that they can come to me if and when there is a problem, but also if they just want to talk. I feel that it is really important that my students know the latter part because I want my students to come to me for more then just when a problem occurs. I want them to feel comfortable in their learning environment and I feel that knowing that I am there to listen supports their feelings of safety. As the weeks have gone by the students come to me instead of my co-op, which is a great feeling knowing that they feel comfortable with me and trust me as their teacher. Part of having a positive learning environment is also about having a classroom management system in place. In my classroom we have a card system where students are asked to go flip their card if and when they misbehave or become off task. They then take responsibility for their own actions by writing down what they did and signing it. Students then take the paper home and get it signed by a parent/adult. This opens up the communication between home and school and serves as documentation for if and when it would be needed. Fortunately I haven't needed to use this system because my students are so well behaved. It is too good to be true! Before my arrival my co-op has worked to create such as positive learning environment that my students respect each other and get along so well.
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop? In light of the current tragic events that have occurred I felt it was good that we had a session on school safety to ease our minds and make us more prepared and aware. I found it to be very informative and I liked how he continuously brought up past occurrences that we can take and learn from. We will be having a drill in the near future and I'm glad that I received this information before it occurred. Although my co-op reviewed all of the safety procedures at the start of student teaching, I now have a greater awareness of what needs to be done. Overall,what I got from the session is that it is better to be safe then sorry. I also learned that I need to always be aware of my surroundings. If there is any suspicion don't hesitate because that could make all the difference. We need to take what has happened in the past and learn from it instead of forgetting about it and making the same mistakes later on down the road.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
The kindergarten classroom, which I am teaching in is a very positive learning environment. The students have magnetic names that move down the chart if misbehaving and can be moved up the chart if listening and displaying good behavior. By using this behavior chart it requires students to take responsibility for their own actions.
In addition to the behavior chart, students have classroom jobs. This allows students to build a classroom community. Also, each week there is a start of the week and a mystery bag person. The star of the week brings in pictures and shares what their favorite food, animal, book, subject, and hobby is and who is in their family. The mystery bag person brings in something to share with the class, along with three clues for the class to guess what is in the bag.
Tonight we had the session safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
The most important concept I took away from the safety workshop is how proactive we need to be about safety in schools. Being proactive about any situation that doesn't seem right can prevent tragedies from happening. When prepared for an emergency situations it can prevent dangerous situations from happening or lessen the danger of the situation when prepared.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
I am currently in a 4th grade classroom. My co-op and I consistently tell the students that if they have a problem with anything, that they should come to us. When I first started, the students would still go to my co-op for everything but now the students seem to understand that both of us are there to help them, and they have been coming to me more often as well. Something else that I have started doing is before every lesson just asking the students how their day is before jumping right into teaching. I feel that it is important just letting the students know that you care about them and how they are doing. It makes them feel relaxed and they are able to talk about how their day is going so far just as a little break before they start learning.
I have also implemented a behavior system into the classroom that allows the students to be rewarded for their good behavior in the classroom. The behavior system is called Class Dojo and it is an online behavior system that I observed in another classroom. My co-op allowed me to bring it into his classroom and the students have responded very well with it, which only increases our positive learning environment. The students already had a color coded behavior chart where they moved their clip for bad behavior and this is still being used along with Class Dojo.
The coteaching between myself and my co-op has also created a positive learning environment. My co-op and I do very well feeding off of one another and the students notice that. My co-op could be teaching one half of the room while I am teaching the other half of the room, and the students really seem to enjoy being taught in smaller groups. They accomplish more and pay attention because being in smaller groups allows us to take our time and reteach things if necessary in an efficient way.
Tonight we had the session safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
After the safety session, the most important thing that I took away from it was the need for continuous practice of school safety. Teachers and students need to be aware of what to do in any situation whether it is a fire, natural disaster, or intruder. I think it is normal for everyone to have that mindset that "it will never happen here," but the reality is that it could happen to anyone. The schools need to be equipped for any situation that they face. I actually just heard a quote the other day that said "accurate practice makes perfect." The schools can practice school safety as many times as they want or need to, but they need to make sure they are practicing it correctly in order for it to be effective if they were ever faced with a certain situation.
I definitely agree with you idea on "accurate practice makes perfect." I think it is very important to not only practice these drills but do them right as well. A lot of teachers think that nothing will ever happen to them. I do believe that schools are one of the most safest places but yet bad things still do happen, so it is important to be prepared.
Positive Learning Environment: I believe that my classroom has a very positive learning environment and sense of community. Students know what it expected of them, and they work together to make sure all students are doing the right thing. Each morning, we all meet at morning meeting and discuss what our day is going to look like. This is also a good time for students to share anything new! I believe building this sense of community within the classroom helps students feel safe to share ideas and take risks without feeling nervous of "not succeeding."
I also LOVE the two behavior management systems my teacher established before me coming into the classroom. They are Class Dojo (individual) and the 120 Chart (whole class). Class Dojo is an online management tool that each student creates their own "monster" and students earn and lose points based on their choices. Positive points are: teamwork, participation, on task, persistence, following directions, being kind, turning in homework (Fridays), Level 1 voices, completing a task and using a robust word. Negative points include: No homework (Fridays), off task, not following directions, talking out of turn, and using unkind words. Both my teacher and I have the Class Dojo app on our Iphones so we have consistent access to this behavior system. Students are able to see how many points they have on my teachers computer, who turns her laptop around on her desk. Students are working to earn 12 points for the week to participate in Fun Friday. The students respond so well to Class Dojo, and get so excited when they are given a point.
For a whole class reward, my teacher has a 120 Chart on the front board of the classroom. If my students are given a complement from a teacher about their behavior or if they work together to complete a task, they will get to pick a number on their 120 chart. They are trying to get a bingo (either horizontal or vertical). When the students get a bingo, they will vote on a prize that they will get as a whole class. Recently, they voted for having a stuffed animal day. The students were able to bring a stuffed animal to school to go throughout the day with them.
Safety in Schools: After Sandy Hook, I believe a lot of people began to question the safety of schools. However, I agree with Mr. Smith in which I believe schools are one of the safest places to be and work in. Our schools doors are locked at all times, and you must be buzzed in by the secretary. Once in the office, you must sign in and wear a badge saying "Visitor" and once again buzzed out of the office before being let in the actual school. All teachers are required to wear a badge with their picture. I was told by my co-op (when I visited in December) that I must wear my Etown ID card that shows my name and picture. She told me that the students are told that people that are wearing badges are safe people to talk to.
On my first day of student teaching, my co-op sat down with me and explained to me what to do if there was an emergency. She showed me which doors we were to go out if there was to be a fire and to grab the emergency packet that is located on the door for easy access. This coming week, we are practicing an intruder drill. We discussed together what we will do and where in the classroom we will go during the drill and if we ever need to use it.
Reflection: How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom? I feel that the second grade classroom I’m in is a positive learning environment. We take some time to share each day, and my co-op and I are always open for students to talk to. From the very beginning, I got the impression that the students feel safe going to my co-op to talk and share stories with her, and they are now approaching me as well, which is great! We also spend extra time sharing on Monday mornings to allow students to share about their weekends. The students in my class are also always very eager to help their classmates and with classroom chores as opportunities arise (there aren’t assigned chores), and my co-op and I encourage their want to help by creating many opportunities for helping others. While there isn’t a reward system for random acts of kindness, the students are always looking for ways to help their neighbors, and my co-op and I let the students know that we see and appreciate the behavior by thanking them, and relating what they did to how the other person might feel after being helped. We do the same for inappropriate behavior, by asking questions such as, “Do you think it was a good choice to laugh at that? Why?” The students respond really well to thinking about others’ feelings, so we talk about it often. In terms of disciplinary systems, our class has a card system. Green is “good to go”, yellow is “warning”, orange is “half-recess owed”, and red is “whole recess owed”. The students start every day on green, and if they stay on green all day, they earn a point, which is like a dollar to spend at school store. If the students get to orange or red, they are allowed to move back to yellow once they have owed their recess time. The students respond well to the card system, and my co-op makes sure to give very specific expectations at the beginning of every lesson so there is no confusion as to what the students should be doing. After the expectations are given, students are given a formal warning before they have to go move their buses. I do my best to give explicit directions at the beginning of each lesson as well – the classroom functions much better when the kids know exactly what’s expected of them!
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop? I felt that the safety workshop was interesting, and it made me realize that I had not talked to my co-op about a single emergency procedure. I didn’t even know where our fire drill route was. I was aware that multi-colored emergency folders were near the door, though I couldn’t have explained what they were for. Following the workshop, I asked my co-op about safety procedures, and talked about them with her some. What I mostly took away from the workshop was that school personnel need to be aware – aware of surroundings, aware of the possibility of an emergency, and aware of how to respond to an emergency should it happen. While schools are generally really safe, and the likelihood of something happening is little, this workshop drove home the point that the time to realize you never read the emergency plans is not during a dangerous emergency situation.
The Dogo app is a great idea, but it is very grade and location specific. For some ages, they would not respond to trying to get points or that is all they would focus on. I'm glad to see that it works so well for you!
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
I am currently teaching 3rd grade. Since day one I made it known to my students that they can come and talk to me about anything. One way that I establish a positive relationship with the students was creating a “Me Bag.” In this “Me Bag” I put items into a bag that described me. The students really enjoyed this because, they can learn more about the teacher and it opens up opportunities to learn about one another. Another way that I built a positive relationship with the students was interacting with them in the morning as they were getting ready to begin the school day. I will walk around the classroom and talk to the students, asking how they are doing, if they need help with anything, or simply seeing if they have any questions. A major part of having a positive learning environment is also incorporating a classroom management system. In my classroom we have two reward systems. The first type of reward system, is individual based, this is the Color System. These colors include green, blue, yellow, and red. Green is being on your best behavior, blue is a warning, yellow is a “Think Sheet,” and read is a referral to the office. While I have been there I have not seen any student on red. The students each have a velcro smiley face that all begin at green, each day. For all students who stay on green all month, they get to be in a classroom picture at the end of each month. The other system is the Hundred Point System. This is a group reward. The goal is to receive a hundred points as a class. The way they can earn these points is receiving compliments from other teachers, behaving as a class during instruction without any interruptions, or none of the students forgetting their homework. When first entering the classroom there was already a positive learning environment established. The students respect one another and any adult that is in the classroom. Honestly, the students are wonderful!!
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
The most important concept that I took away from the safety workshop, is how we always need to be prepared for emergency situations in schools. Teachers and administrators should never take things for granted when it comes to ensuring the safety of the students. After learning about various ways to ensure the safety of the students, I realized now that schools have a need for much improvement to do in safety protocol. However, after this workshop I feel much more prepared if anything were to ever happen.
To create a positive classroom environment, I began by having students create an "About Me" poster so that I could get to know them better. I also shared the poster that I made with them, so they would feel more comfortable with me. My co-op was also kind enough to remind students to inform me of things like if they were leaving the room, in the beginning and now they come to both myself and my co-op. We also use the moving up/moving down rainbow clothespin system with students to monitor behavior. I make sure to move students up if I catch them doing a kind gesture for someone, if they are working hard and are on task, and I make sure to share those good deeds with others. If students get moved down, we discuss privately why they were moved down. The colors then correlate to a Dojo point system and I have students tally them up before the beginning of each day. The students feel like they are a part of the classroom because they have jobs and are constantly asking if they can erase the board after lessons or do anything else. We also have a "Smarties Board" where students work gets displayed for positive reinforcement. For example, each week I have been picking out a few of their spelling sentences to be displayed based on their creativity and other things like if they used great descriptions, similes, etc. They take great pride in that.
We also take the time to share things as a class. For instance, my one student brought in his mineral collection the other day (we were doing a science unit on rocks, weathering, and erosion) and shared them with me in the morning and I asked him if he would like to share them with the class (and this student has Autism and his TSS told me later on that he never shares) and he did, so obviously he felt like he was in a safe environment to do so. I also had two students come to me saying that they wanted to share their writing examples, but they asked if I could read it for them (again, another example that students feel safe confronting me). I also try to be sure to remind students of their voice level in the classroom, depending on what activity we are working on to respect the learning of the rest of their classmates. I also take the time to stop and learn more about each of them as students (during reading workshop time, I always go around and have a mini conference conversation about where they are in their book). In math, I always make sure to have them gesture to me if they understand the content or if they are confused, and a lot of them will let me know if they are confused, so I can take the next step and talk them through whatever it is that may be stumping them.
We have also had a lot of culture/respect/diversity/bullying lessons so far in the classroom where students have felt open to sharing information that betters them all as respectful people. For example, we had a student share how she felt when people talked about her culture and we had a culture day so students could learn about the Chinese New Year, and the other day we also had a high school student come in and talk about bullying. The students are also very willing to come to us if there is ever a problem (and we've had some issues so far with stealing other people's stuff, or hurting someone else's feelings, etc.).
I really enjoyed the speaker and learned a lot from him. I had an intruder drill and an unannounced fire drill prior to this, so I was aware of some of these procedures and safety issues. The most memorable thing for me was him saying that we must always be prepared and aware of our surroundings. I also like how he explained safety/emergency procedures to students which is that "we are going to go to our extra safe place." I also like how he reiterated that we are responsible for our students and "Can only run as fast as [our] slowest student." Our jobs as teachers never end, especially in those types of situations.
My teacher and I are constantly making sure that there is a positive environment in our classroom. We have jobs that the students in my morning group complete and they rotate every week. This gives them a sense of community, and the students love to help. Our team of teachers has a stamp system to monitor behaviors and it works well because it is used between all four teachers, and all four teachers have the ability to take away and give stamps. This creates a positive team atmosphere because the teachers are all on the same page. We have classroom meetings to discuss any issues and go over our classroom rules and responsibilities, and the students get to share how they have been feeling about the classes behavior, and they get to hand out compliments to one another. I love when we do this activity because you can immediately see the positive effect the compliments have on the students. A lot of what the presentation was about connected with the A.L.I.C.E. training I went to on Martin Luther King Day. The message I got from both was be prepared and practice, practice, practice.
I have always been a big believer in anyone can learn, but it has to be achieved in a positive environment. There's only so much positivity that can come out of the teacher, the students need to learn to support each other as much as they support themselves. This starts earlier than kindergarten, but we are working on it. These kids all have older siblings and they copy what their siblings say and do without thinking about the meaning. My co-op and I take the time to explain why what they said or did was wrong and how they can change that to make it positive. This makes the classroom as much of a kindergarten classroom as it is a lifeskills room, but in the end it is worth it. We also ask the students to compliment each other which they are working on because they are still so focused on themselves.
The message that I took away was that you can never be too prepared and everyone needs to take the time and energy to do so. There are many people we are responsible for and we need to keep the peace and stay as far away from chaos as possible.
How To Create A Positive Learning Environment: In our classroom, our students have a reward and discipline program using the school's mascot of a knight. Students are expected to "wear their armor" at all times during the day, meaning they stay respectful, attentive, motivated, responsible, and organized. Throughout the day, students "armor up" or "armor down" clothespins on a classroom chart showing their level of wearing their armor throughout the day. Students move their clothespins multiple times throughout the day, showing them that the teachers do notice both positive and negative behavior. Our classroom is also very accepting and we often do activities requiring group work and partner projects. This way, students interact with others and learn how to carry out positive conversations and exhibit positive problem solving skills. I am continuing to enforce these procedures and be a friend to students during morning routines and end of the day free time so that they feel comfortable with my full time teaching and know that I am not just there to discipline them. I want my students to know that school and learning can be fun and not just hard work.
Safety in Schools: I took away from this presentation that although this is a big issue in schools, it is not as major as I thought it was. I often worry about what I would do if a situation like that came up, and now I know how to prepare and how to prepare my students. Although it is scary to think about, I know it has to be thought about in order to save the lives of my students. It also made me evaluate the safety of the school I am student teaching in, and making me realize that they are doing some things that are really beneficial to the safety of the students, like keeping doors locked and having procedures in place that I was aware of from day 1. I think no school can ever be fully prepared for an emergency, but I think that if people keep raising awareness in others then hopefully we won't have anything to worry about in the future anymore.
I think it is very important to establish a positive learning environment in the classroom in the classroom. I believe I tried to create a positive learning environment in my classroom from the very beginning. I learned all of the students names by the second day of student teaching! Little by little, I am learning more and more about each student and they are willing to share more with me. My co-op and also addressed the student and made sure they knew that I was here to help and that they could ask me anything. We also try to specific praise with each child to help motivate them and to encourage them to do their best.
I learned many things from the speaker the one night. The main thing I took away from the presentation was to always be prepared. I think it is very important to be prepared for any situation that could occur in the school. It is our job to keep the students safe, so we should be able to know how to do for this. After the Sandy Hook, tragedy I learned that it could happen to anyone. I definitely learned what to do in case of emergency situations in order to protect my students, though I hope I never am put in any of those situations.
I think a positive learning environment is so important! It's nearly impossible to learn when you're in a realm of negativity. For starters, I always greet each student every morning with a smile and welcoming remark. Throughout the day, I strive to compliment students and the whole class when they do something nice, like work quietly or think outside of the box. We have a job chart, in which every student has a job; this gives the students a sense of belonging, that we need them and that we appreciate them. I try to be positive all the time, giving the students choices when I can. My co-op rarely raises her voice, and I've never heard her yell. I've been doing the same. When I talk in a low voice, the students usually hush down so that they can hear me. Finally, I try to make learning fun! When learning is fun, it's easier to keep a positive attitude.
I wasn't able to attend the speaker, since I had the flu, but we talked in a faculty meeting about having a lockdown drill and using the magnet system on doors to keep doors locked at all times. We always think, "It can't happen here," but it can, which is a very scary thought. I've also been more conscious about when students leave the room, whether to go with a specialist, to the nurse, or to the bathroom. I keep track in my head of who is out of the room, just in case something were to happen.
I also try and great everyone everyday. I greet them by name so it is individualized. My students also have a job chart. These are simple job like the mail boxes, lights, line leader, ext. The problem I have is that some students don't want to do their jobs. What do you do if a student does not want to do their job? What kind of activities do you do to make learning fun? I try and play games and do activities with my students but they have trouble handling it. They are very chatty and tend to get off task very easily. I am having trouble with making learning fun. Do you have any suggestions of things I could do with them?
A positive learning environment is key in the classroom. I feel that if this is not established, nothing can be achieved to its highest capability in the classroom. On my first day, I walked into the classroom determined to learn about each and everyone of my students to the very best of my ability. I obviously can't learn everything in one day, but I wanted to know their name and one thing about them. I was excited that I was able to do so. This holds so important to me because I want to make learning fun for each one of them and I want to know ways to connect with my students. I am a firm believer that my attitude in the classroom and the relationships I build with my students will allow everything else to fall into place. Each day I welcome the students into the classroom and greet them. When they come up to check in, I ask them how they are doing. I strive to give my students compliments throughout the day and congratulate them on work that is well done or appropriate behavior. I ask students to clip up when they are working hard. I also give students high fives when they are proud of their achievement or work extremely hard on an assignment to reach their goal. Positive reinforcement and encouragement motivate my students to give their all throughout the day in each and every assignment. I want my students to know that I believe in them and in turn they should believe in themselves. I establish relationships in which students feel comfortable talking to me and asking questions. I do this by also telling them about myself or making connections with students and myself. They love to know that I am just like them! :) I felt that the discussion about school safety was extremely beneficial. It was eye opening to know about the little things that no one really mentions and the reasons behind those little things that make a huge difference. I experienced a lockdown drill with my students shortly after the discussion and felt that I was better prepared to talk to my students about school safety. I felt more comfortable discussing situations with students because I felt more knowledgeable and aware.
I was wondering how the students responded to the lockdown drill in your school. Our principal mentioned that he wanted to have an intruder drill one school day while the students are in, but I feel like it might be traumatizing to some of them. Any input?
I am really trying to create a positive rapport with my students. I choose a few students each day to focus on. I talk with these students individually at the beginning of the day about making good choices. Throughout the day I try to check in on these students and ask them how they think they are doing. The past couple days has been a little bit crazy because we have had a sub. I have been checking in more frequently with these students and really reminding them to make good choices. I am also trying to give each student respect. I use my manners with them and encourage them to do the same thing. I have often had to remind the class about being respectful. In result of the safe schools presentation I have tried to take measures to create a safe classroom. First off I have put my badge on a lanyard. This actually helps me to remember to put it on in the morning. I have also found our to go back and read through our classroom safety plans.
--Reflection: How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
I have come into a classroom environment that is already positive. Rather than trying to create a positive environment, I have been working hard to maintain one. The students seem to like my co-op and I. I have a genuine rapport with them and I make an effort to get to know them. Another thing that I think helps to maintain our positive environment is our monitoring of behavior. My co-op is fairly strict and very good at making sure that students follow the rules and respect others. If a student disrespects a classmate/teacher, we have them write an apology letter to that person.
We also do star of the week in our classroom. I think this also helps to spark students interest in one another in the classroom.
--Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
The main thing that I learned is that although these school safety issues are rare, you can never be too ready or too prepared for an emergency.
Mr Co-op has done a great job creating a positive classroom environment for the students and I have made sure that I continue that same feeling when I am teaching. I think being positive and making the students feel comfortable is the most important element to a successful classroom. I take time throughout the day to talk to each student and ask about their lives so they know I am genuinely interest in how they are doing that day. I take time to work one on one with students who are struggling with a lesson in order for them to succeed. I use positive feedback during my lessons through verbal praise and am sure to add a positive comment to all of the students worksheets. I have implemented a "gold star" behavior plan for the whole class. For each time the students are quiet in the hall, behavior at special, or are just doing exactly what they are asked, they earn a gold star. Once they receive 30 gold stars they recieve a class prize. I believe that community and team work is essential to a classroom and this allows the class to work together to reach a certain goal.
I realized after tonight session that I have not gone over the safety procedures with my co-op, however, I have looked at the plans of all the evacuations. I think it is important to practice all of these procedures but I have yet to see that in my school. At my school, they have a problem with facilitating who comes to pick up students at the end of the day. Typically the students need to bring a note if they are being picked up but that doesn't always happen and then it is a judgment call to see if the parent is really the parent.
My co-op and I have been working hard on controlling the times when students need to listen and when they can whisper while doing work. We have made it clear that we should not have to ask two times to have their attention because it is important in case there is an emergency.
ReplyDeleteMy co-op and I have also discussed with the children that if they need help or have any questions they can come to me for help. From the beginning she has had students come up to me so that they would feel comfortable talking to me. Now, some students come right to me instead of my co-op, which is a great feeling knowing that they trust and feel comfortable with me.
I took away that as a teacher I need to ALWAYS be aware of my surroundings, especially when on the move in the hallways. Holly and I went to a faculty meeting a little bit ago where Mr. Robinson, our principal, discussed ways in which the school was going to change things around to make the school even more safe. I think it is always important to think about ways to prevent things before they may happen and have a plan set. I have also learned some things that I will talk about with my co-op. I always think it is better to be safe than sorry!
I have been having the same situation with my students. Sometimes my co op had to work one on one with a student, so I would try to pull students who wanted help, but wanted to ask her, to come to me. With doing that I have had more and more students come and ask me for help if she is occupied and now about the subject/content that I am teaching. What I want to work on, is if the students have a problem either with themselves, home life, or another peer to come up to me and let me know. Reason for that is because I have a few students who have trouble controlling their anger or their attitudes need to be adjusted at points, sometimes that is an indicator that something is going on. I also strongly agree with you on your thinking about prevention. I think if we would concentrate on how to prevent serious events from happening, teachers would feel more prepared.
DeleteMy classroom environment is positive in some ways already. One way for sure that I have observed and have started to use in my own instruction is the "Clip Chart". This chart has levels starting at the top with "Outstanding" going all the way down to "Parental Contact". With this system the students are motivated to move up their clip to Outstanding in order to receive more tickets which leads to more they could get at the prize store. Another way we try to keep the environment positive is to praise every chance we get, even for the littlest thing. We have a student with Autism that calls for constant redirection, so when he does something right/ or keeping up we give him a lot of praise, and we do that with almost all the class. Just by saying "I like the way you are sitting quietly waiting for me to start" or "I like the way your working" goes a long way. When starting to teach some of my classes, I like to show that I am having fun, because if the students see your excited and having fun they may get just as excited about the material. Of course there are limits to this, but you are the one that are the judge of when to be serious and when the class can handle a little looseness. With that, the content that is the most difficult and boring, if it needs that fun twist, students will understand the material a lot better and feel confident and better about themselves when they understand.
ReplyDeleteIn reaction to tonight, I first off want to say that I enjoyed the speaker. I thought he brought up topics that are usually called in schools "the dumb drills". But in reality they are very important. We never know what is going to happen. We can't be under the stereotypical mind set that "nothing bad will ever happen". It may be rare that our specific schools have something serious happen like that but again we need to be prepared. I also took away more information about the Handicap. It's where I want to be in my career with those types of kids, I am going to check out more sources in order to find out more how to take precaution. I couldn't even fathom if CT had a life skills room and that would happen. What measures if any measure could have they take? Especially with all that equipment which some students need to be hooked up to, to survive. I also thought to it is disheartening that some of the schools in our state, let alone area, do not follow proper regulation.
The thing I took away most from tonight was to still stress to my students that school is a safe place. I know I personally was concerned after Sandy Hook because you don't think that anyone would want to take the lives of innocent children. When that happened, not only to you have to be there for your students so they can talk about their thoughts and feelings, you have to teach them what to do if something happens and trust that they will listen to you if that ever does happen.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow, my students have a "Lockdown/Intruder" drill so Mr. Smith came to speak to us at the perfect time. I really like how he stressed that school is a safe place, but when we do these drills we are just going to the safest part of the classroom/school. It's so hard to predict how you'll react when something as tragic as Sandy Hook happens, but I would like to hope that if I myself practice the drill and my students know what to do, I could protect them from danger.
I agree with you Janis, we need to stress to students that school is a safe place. This idea of stressing that school is a safe place was the second main message I took away from the workshop. If we want students to come to school, we need to create a safe and welcoming classroom. I am going to use Mr. Smith’s explanation: “school is a safe place and sometimes we need to go to an extra safe place.” I think this is an appropriate way to explain to students why we need to go to the bathroom or coat closet if an intruder enters the school. Good luck in the lockdown drill!
DeleteI also agree that this was a really good way to explain to students about a drill. Often times schools don't explain things to students in a way that they can understand, or they tell them too much and scare them. I think that it would be interesting to test this method by telling them they are just being extra safe. The most important thing is making sure that all your students are safe and know the procedures, and I think that will all of the information we learned last night you should be ready for a drill!!
DeleteI agree with all of you. After we had our intruder drill, I know I was curious as to what happens if one of our students is in the bathroom and they come back and try to get in, then what? My co-op and I discussed that and then we also brought up issues at our faculty meeting about it because other teachers had the same concerns as well, and with our building having open bathrooms, it would not be very safe for the student to remain in. So, we talked about having a code knock or a safe word, and our principal is looking into all of that. However, after hearing what Mr. Smith said about not risking 18 lives to safe 1, that is still such an unnerving thing to think about.
DeleteBefore coming into my classroom, my co-op had already set up a behavior management plan that holds students responsible for their own actions. They are on the rainbow system. All students start the day on yellow. If we see them making the right choices, they move their name magnet up the rainbow. If they end on the highest color, they get a scoop of money at the end of the day. If we see them making poor choices, they move their magnet down. This requires the students to be aware of their personal actions and choices. However, I want to begin creating a positive learning environment by starting a behavior plan that centers around the class working together as a whole. Starting tomorrow, the students will also be rewarded for working well as a class, helping one another, and being active listeners. I want to see whole class motivation rather than just individual motivation.
ReplyDeleteAside from behaviors, I believe my co-op and I have done a great job at differentiating learning. The students are almost always divided into groups based on their ability. When the class is brought together in whole group, we will often partner more advanced kiddos with lower level kiddos. I really feel as if these differentiated groups are helping children learn at their own pace and in their own way. We are able to more easily find their struggles and develop learning experiences that may be more beneficial to them.
Tonight was extremely beneficial to me because my school has not discuss safety procedures very thoroughly with me. After this presentation, I will definitely be clarifying such procedures with my school so that I am better prepared for an emergency. I think the most valuable thing we can all learn is that if the situation allows us to be proactive, we should be. If we see something out of the ordinary, even it it looks harmless, we need to be proactive. This is the only way that tragedies like Sandy Hook could be stopped or at least lessened. We need to keep our eyes and ears open at all times. We need to question at all times. I'd rather look like a fool for reporting something harmless than put all my students in a dangerous situation.
My co-op and I work together to make our first grade class a positive learning environment. The students have clips to move up and down on the behavior chart. Having a behavior management system is an essential component needed to create a positive learning environment. When a student is on task or does a kind act, my co-op or I will tell the student to move his/her clip up. If a student fails to be on task, my co-op or I will tell the student to move his/her clip down. I believe it is important to have the student move his/her clip up or down on the behavior chart instead of the teacher moving the clip. Involving the students as much as possible is important because they become active participants in their educational journey and take responsibility for their own actions.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the behavior clip system, student sharing time also creates a positive learning environment. The students bring in special things (e.g. stuffed animals and books) to share with the class. During the sharing time, my co-op and I remind the class to be respectful and to give their full attention to their peer. I think it is important to allow young learners the opportunity to share special things with their peers because it helps to create a positive class community in which the members respect one another. The class also gets to know their peers; thus, contributing to a close community of learners.
The most important message I took away from the safety workshop is to work as a team with other teachers and develop a buddy teacher system. Before attending the workshop, I was unaware of the importance of establishing a buddy teacher relationship. I think it is a wise idea to develop a buddy teacher system. For instance, if I need the students to clear the room, they will know where to go (the buddy teacher’s room). It is necessary to work together with other teachers to ensure the overall safety of the students. One individual cannot create a safe school; the whole staff needs to work together as a team (Together Everyone Achieves More).
I guess since we're in the same school, we hold the same behavior management system. I think it works very well. Students know we mean business when we ask them to move their magnet on the board! Today during a lesson I asked a student to move their magnet. They looked at me in shock that I, a student teacher, would ask them to move their magnet up! Now they know I'm not messing around :)
DeleteMy co-op and I have been working on a positive learning environment from the beginning. The first thing that I think needs to be established for this to happen is for the students to be able to trust the teacher. Finding time to get to know your students builds a community, and makes them feel more comfortable in the classroom. This also make them feel more comfortable answering questions in front of other students. The second thing that I have done to build a positive learning environment, is that at the end of each day the students have a behavior chart that is filled out and sent home to their parents. This builds a relationship with families at the same time. This also allows students to know if they had a good day or not.
ReplyDeleteTonight was very beneficial. I wish that we would have this before we started student teaching. I would have asked my teacher a lot more questions about safety to make sure I understood all of the procedures. Now I think that it is most important to talk with my co-op and make sure that our students are prepared if a situation does occur.
My classroom management system is similar in the fact that when a student misbehaves or continuously remains off- task they write about it and sign it. They then take it home to be signed by a parent and then returned. This holds them accountable for their actions and just like you said it builds that collaboration between school and home. I think it is important that parents see these things because they then know why a consequence occurred and there is no discrepancy about what truly happened.
DeleteHow are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteMy co-op and I have had many small meetings about creating an environment where I receive as much respect as the students' teacher just as my co-op does. So far we have worked together to come up with ways to interact with students when they are lining up, quieting down, and other things throughout the day. A lot of times I will be the one in charge of quieting students so they know to listen to me too. I want my students to know that I care about them and want to share stories and have fun, but at the same time we are in school to learn and we must get our work done and have fun doing it! Creating a positive classroom environment is really a collaboration between my co-op, me, and my students. So far, our classroom has been created into a positive environment and I know that working together, we will be able to keep improving that.
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
Last nights workshop was an eye opener at how naive schools are about things that could happen. I think it is very important that when security is enhanced after an episode such a the Sandy Hook shooting takes place, the security practices should stay in practice and not get lost weeks down the road. I believe it is very important to know what to do when an emergency situation rises and know how to do it safely and efficiently. The most important job as a teacher is to keep our students safe. Knowing how to do that is extremely important.
Since day one, my coop and I have discussed creating a positive learning environment that stems from the Love and Logic theory of teaching. Over break, my coop gave me a book, Teaching with Love and Logic, to read. Once I delved into the many topics the book supported, I realized that there is a whole different perspective of teaching that I never knew about and instantly fell in love with. One of the main ideas of the book supports giving students the choice in learning. My coop and I have discussed this and I have been working daily on giving students choices to help them guide the learning process. The benefit of giving choices is that when you really need to make the choice for the class, you can! You give and give and give to students and when you need to take they are willing because they understand that they constantly take. Other love and logic ideals are used in the classroom too which allows me to continually build on exercising my authority in the classroom. I also work to build a relationship with each and every child in the classroom by engaging them in meaningful conversations. I allow ample sharing time during calendar/morning meeting period which allows a sense of community to be developed. And I engage students in following up on shared information. And my cooperating teacher supports students to ask me for help/questions/etc at any type, which all students do. My cooperating teacher and I have discussed using as much reinforcement, both positive and negative, as possible with the students. We do not have any type of behavior chart or system but when students are in jeopardy of being in trouble, choices are given. We have a “mudroom” in which students can choose to go to. When things are pushed pass the “choice” level, students are asked to visit the mudroom and come out when they are ready. This is very effective in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the safety lecture this evening was beneficial. I am very naïve about safety in schools and I feel that is because I have been placed in lax schools with little safety measures or precautions. In my current placement there is no badge or ID required and sometimes I don’t even have to sign out at the end of the day. I really appreciated the fact that Mr. Johnson supported the fact that schools are safe places and that we only practice such “drills” to make sure that we are in our safest place possible. I hope to instill this belief in my future classes. It’s our job to keep our students safe at all times and Mr. Johnson's lecture was very informative and helpful in allowing all of us to understand how to do so!
My school doesn't require me to wear any type of badge now because the school staff knows me. All other visitors are supposed to wear a little sticker, but that doesn't always happen. I also don't have to sign out. The secretary wants me to just sign in so they know I'm in the building. I personally don't think that this is a very safe practice. But nothing has happened so far, so I guess they are fine with it.
DeleteMy school does pretty much the same thing. I am just wearing a visitors badge for the 8 weeks I am there. They said I could just keep the visitors tag until I leave. I also was told to just sign in and out at the same time. After the safety workshop I realized how this is not a very safe practice. Anyone could do this and you wouldn't know if they belong in the building or not.
DeleteThe only type of badge that I wear is a piece of laminated paper that says "DIS Student Teacher" and it has a picture off of clip art from a word document on it. I realized that after the school safety session that anyone could go on their computer and make one of these, and the school staff wouldn't know the difference. I do still sign in and out but no one makes us do it or checks that we do. Megan Dodson and I still do it just because we feel like we should.
DeleteAll faculty are required to wear the School District issued badge that has their picture and name on it. When I visited in December before going home on break, my teacher asked me to wear my Etown student ID badge. She said that the students are told that anyone with a badge are a safe person to talk to. Everyday, I am required to wear this badge (and it must be visible, but not necessarily on the torso). We are also required to sign in and out each day.
DeleteThat is scary! Didn't he mention how police point their guns right at your chest and expect to see an ID? I could be wrong, but if I were you, I would wear a badge even if it was not required just to be safe.
DeleteAfter the Safety Seminar I realized how much schools can fail to fully follow safety regulations. Like Megan Jones said, we both just wear a laminated picture that says Student Teacher. At my mom's school they have the person entering the building identify themselves, through an intercom system. Once "buzzed" in, they are to report to the office. If this does not occur, the school goes directly into lockdown.
DeleteEvery week in my weekly update to my supervisor, I always reflect on my classroom environment. My classroom has a pretty good positive environment. The students know that they can trust myself and my teacher and feel safe in the class. They feel comfortable enough to come and talk to us about anything, and I mean anything! As much as it may some frivolous to us, it means the world to them that you listen to them and want to know about their lives. During lessons, my students always raise their hands and take risks, even if they aren't too sure of the answer. This demonstrates the type of positive classroom community that my teacher has built and that I have continued to build. Most of all, the positive interactions and positive feedback to the students is one thing that really builds their confidence and trust in their peers and teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe message I took away from the safety workshop was that we are in one of the safest jobs in the country. There is such a lower percentage that something will happen in the school that there is no reason to be paranoid. It is good to be prepared and know how you will protect yourself and your students in the event that something does happen. My school, I feel like they lack on some safety protocols. They told me after the second week I was there, I no longer had to wear the permanent visitor badge that I was given. Everyone in the school knows me, but if anything would happen, I don't have any type of ID or school badge on. Overall, I thought the workshop was very informative and I now feel more prepared than before.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteSince day one I've made it known to my students that they can come to me if and when there is a problem, but also if they just want to talk. I feel that it is really important that my students know the latter part because I want my students to come to me for more then just when a problem occurs. I want them to feel comfortable in their learning environment and I feel that knowing that I am there to listen supports their feelings of safety. As the weeks have gone by the students come to me instead of my co-op, which is a great feeling knowing that they feel comfortable with me and trust me as their teacher.
Part of having a positive learning environment is also about having a classroom management system in place. In my classroom we have a card system where students are asked to go flip their card if and when they misbehave or become off task. They then take responsibility for their own actions by writing down what they did and signing it. Students then take the paper home and get it signed by a parent/adult. This opens up the communication between home and school and serves as documentation for if and when it would be needed. Fortunately I haven't needed to use this system because my students are so well behaved. It is too good to be true! Before my arrival my co-op has worked to create such as positive learning environment that my students respect each other and get along so well.
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
In light of the current tragic events that have occurred I felt it was good that we had a session on school safety to ease our minds and make us more prepared and aware. I found it to be very informative and I liked how he continuously brought up past occurrences that we can take and learn from. We will be having a drill in the near future and I'm glad that I received this information before it occurred. Although my co-op reviewed all of the safety procedures at the start of student teaching, I now have a greater awareness of what needs to be done. Overall,what I got from the session is that it is better to be safe then sorry. I also learned that I need to always be aware of my surroundings. If there is any suspicion don't hesitate because that could make all the difference. We need to take what has happened in the past and learn from it instead of forgetting about it and making the same mistakes later on down the road.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteThe kindergarten classroom, which I am teaching in is a very positive learning environment. The students have magnetic names that move down the chart if misbehaving and can be moved up the chart if listening and displaying good behavior. By using this behavior chart it requires students to take responsibility for their own actions.
In addition to the behavior chart, students have classroom jobs. This allows students to build a classroom community. Also, each week there is a start of the week and a mystery bag person. The star of the week brings in pictures and shares what their favorite food, animal, book, subject, and hobby is and who is in their family. The mystery bag person brings in something to share with the class, along with three clues for the class to guess what is in the bag.
Tonight we had the session safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
The most important concept I took away from the safety workshop is how proactive we need to be about safety in schools. Being proactive about any situation that doesn't seem right can prevent tragedies from happening. When prepared for an emergency situations it can prevent dangerous situations from happening or lessen the danger of the situation when prepared.
How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI am currently in a 4th grade classroom. My co-op and I consistently tell the students that if they have a problem with anything, that they should come to us. When I first started, the students would still go to my co-op for everything but now the students seem to understand that both of us are there to help them, and they have been coming to me more often as well. Something else that I have started doing is before every lesson just asking the students how their day is before jumping right into teaching. I feel that it is important just letting the students know that you care about them and how they are doing. It makes them feel relaxed and they are able to talk about how their day is going so far just as a little break before they start learning.
I have also implemented a behavior system into the classroom that allows the students to be rewarded for their good behavior in the classroom. The behavior system is called Class Dojo and it is an online behavior system that I observed in another classroom. My co-op allowed me to bring it into his classroom and the students have responded very well with it, which only increases our positive learning environment. The students already had a color coded behavior chart where they moved their clip for bad behavior and this is still being used along with Class Dojo.
The coteaching between myself and my co-op has also created a positive learning environment. My co-op and I do very well feeding off of one another and the students notice that. My co-op could be teaching one half of the room while I am teaching the other half of the room, and the students really seem to enjoy being taught in smaller groups. They accomplish more and pay attention because being in smaller groups allows us to take our time and reteach things if necessary in an efficient way.
Tonight we had the session safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
After the safety session, the most important thing that I took away from it was the need for continuous practice of school safety. Teachers and students need to be aware of what to do in any situation whether it is a fire, natural disaster, or intruder. I think it is normal for everyone to have that mindset that "it will never happen here," but the reality is that it could happen to anyone. The schools need to be equipped for any situation that they face. I actually just heard a quote the other day that said "accurate practice makes perfect." The schools can practice school safety as many times as they want or need to, but they need to make sure they are practicing it correctly in order for it to be effective if they were ever faced with a certain situation.
I definitely agree with you idea on "accurate practice makes perfect." I think it is very important to not only practice these drills but do them right as well. A lot of teachers think that nothing will ever happen to them. I do believe that schools are one of the most safest places but yet bad things still do happen, so it is important to be prepared.
DeleteHow do you implement the Class Dojo? How often do you show the students their scores, and do you find that it's distracting?
DeletePositive Learning Environment:
ReplyDeleteI believe that my classroom has a very positive learning environment and sense of community. Students know what it expected of them, and they work together to make sure all students are doing the right thing. Each morning, we all meet at morning meeting and discuss what our day is going to look like. This is also a good time for students to share anything new! I believe building this sense of community within the classroom helps students feel safe to share ideas and take risks without feeling nervous of "not succeeding."
I also LOVE the two behavior management systems my teacher established before me coming into the classroom. They are Class Dojo (individual) and the 120 Chart (whole class). Class Dojo is an online management tool that each student creates their own "monster" and students earn and lose points based on their choices. Positive points are: teamwork, participation, on task, persistence, following directions, being kind, turning in homework (Fridays), Level 1 voices, completing a task and using a robust word. Negative points include: No homework (Fridays), off task, not following directions, talking out of turn, and using unkind words. Both my teacher and I have the Class Dojo app on our Iphones so we have consistent access to this behavior system. Students are able to see how many points they have on my teachers computer, who turns her laptop around on her desk. Students are working to earn 12 points for the week to participate in Fun Friday. The students respond so well to Class Dojo, and get so excited when they are given a point.
For a whole class reward, my teacher has a 120 Chart on the front board of the classroom. If my students are given a complement from a teacher about their behavior or if they work together to complete a task, they will get to pick a number on their 120 chart. They are trying to get a bingo (either horizontal or vertical). When the students get a bingo, they will vote on a prize that they will get as a whole class. Recently, they voted for having a stuffed animal day. The students were able to bring a stuffed animal to school to go throughout the day with them.
Safety in Schools:
After Sandy Hook, I believe a lot of people began to question the safety of schools. However, I agree with Mr. Smith in which I believe schools are one of the safest places to be and work in. Our schools doors are locked at all times, and you must be buzzed in by the secretary. Once in the office, you must sign in and wear a badge saying "Visitor" and once again buzzed out of the office before being let in the actual school. All teachers are required to wear a badge with their picture. I was told by my co-op (when I visited in December) that I must wear my Etown ID card that shows my name and picture. She told me that the students are told that people that are wearing badges are safe people to talk to.
On my first day of student teaching, my co-op sat down with me and explained to me what to do if there was an emergency. She showed me which doors we were to go out if there was to be a fire and to grab the emergency packet that is located on the door for easy access. This coming week, we are practicing an intruder drill. We discussed together what we will do and where in the classroom we will go during the drill and if we ever need to use it.
Reflection: How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI feel that the second grade classroom I’m in is a positive learning environment. We take some time to share each day, and my co-op and I are always open for students to talk to. From the very beginning, I got the impression that the students feel safe going to my co-op to talk and share stories with her, and they are now approaching me as well, which is great! We also spend extra time sharing on Monday mornings to allow students to share about their weekends. The students in my class are also always very eager to help their classmates and with classroom chores as opportunities arise (there aren’t assigned chores), and my co-op and I encourage their want to help by creating many opportunities for helping others. While there isn’t a reward system for random acts of kindness, the students are always looking for ways to help their neighbors, and my co-op and I let the students know that we see and appreciate the behavior by thanking them, and relating what they did to how the other person might feel after being helped. We do the same for inappropriate behavior, by asking questions such as, “Do you think it was a good choice to laugh at that? Why?” The students respond really well to thinking about others’ feelings, so we talk about it often.
In terms of disciplinary systems, our class has a card system. Green is “good to go”, yellow is “warning”, orange is “half-recess owed”, and red is “whole recess owed”. The students start every day on green, and if they stay on green all day, they earn a point, which is like a dollar to spend at school store. If the students get to orange or red, they are allowed to move back to yellow once they have owed their recess time. The students respond well to the card system, and my co-op makes sure to give very specific expectations at the beginning of every lesson so there is no confusion as to what the students should be doing. After the expectations are given, students are given a formal warning before they have to go move their buses. I do my best to give explicit directions at the beginning of each lesson as well – the classroom functions much better when the kids know exactly what’s expected of them!
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
I felt that the safety workshop was interesting, and it made me realize that I had not talked to my co-op about a single emergency procedure. I didn’t even know where our fire drill route was. I was aware that multi-colored emergency folders were near the door, though I couldn’t have explained what they were for. Following the workshop, I asked my co-op about safety procedures, and talked about them with her some. What I mostly took away from the workshop was that school personnel need to be aware – aware of surroundings, aware of the possibility of an emergency, and aware of how to respond to an emergency should it happen. While schools are generally really safe, and the likelihood of something happening is little, this workshop drove home the point that the time to realize you never read the emergency plans is not during a dangerous emergency situation.
The Dogo app is a great idea, but it is very grade and location specific. For some ages, they would not respond to trying to get points or that is all they would focus on. I'm glad to see that it works so well for you!
DeleteHow are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI am currently teaching 3rd grade. Since day one I made it known to my students that they can come and talk to me about anything. One way that I establish a positive relationship with the students was creating a “Me Bag.” In this “Me Bag” I put items into a bag that described me. The students really enjoyed this because, they can learn more about the teacher and it opens up opportunities to learn about one another. Another way that I built a positive relationship with the students was interacting with them in the morning as they were getting ready to begin the school day. I will walk around the classroom and talk to the students, asking how they are doing, if they need help with anything, or simply seeing if they have any questions.
A major part of having a positive learning environment is also incorporating a classroom management system. In my classroom we have two reward systems. The first type of reward system, is individual based, this is the Color System. These colors include green, blue, yellow, and red. Green is being on your best behavior, blue is a warning, yellow is a “Think Sheet,” and read is a referral to the office. While I have been there I have not seen any student on red. The students each have a velcro smiley face that all begin at green, each day. For all students who stay on green all month, they get to be in a classroom picture at the end of each month.
The other system is the Hundred Point System. This is a group reward. The goal is to receive a hundred points as a class. The way they can earn these points is receiving compliments from other teachers, behaving as a class during instruction without any interruptions, or none of the students forgetting their homework. When first entering the classroom there was already a positive learning environment established. The students respect one another and any adult that is in the classroom. Honestly, the students are wonderful!!
Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
The most important concept that I took away from the safety workshop, is how we always need to be prepared for emergency situations in schools. Teachers and administrators should never take things for granted when it comes to ensuring the safety of the students. After learning about various ways to ensure the safety of the students, I realized now that schools have a need for much improvement to do in safety protocol. However, after this workshop I feel much more prepared if anything were to ever happen.
To create a positive classroom environment, I began by having students create an "About Me" poster so that I could get to know them better. I also shared the poster that I made with them, so they would feel more comfortable with me. My co-op was also kind enough to remind students to inform me of things like if they were leaving the room, in the beginning and now they come to both myself and my co-op. We also use the moving up/moving down rainbow clothespin system with students to monitor behavior. I make sure to move students up if I catch them doing a kind gesture for someone, if they are working hard and are on task, and I make sure to share those good deeds with others. If students get moved down, we discuss privately why they were moved down. The colors then correlate to a Dojo point system and I have students tally them up before the beginning of each day. The students feel like they are a part of the classroom because they have jobs and are constantly asking if they can erase the board after lessons or do anything else. We also have a "Smarties Board" where students work gets displayed for positive reinforcement. For example, each week I have been picking out a few of their spelling sentences to be displayed based on their creativity and other things like if they used great descriptions, similes, etc. They take great pride in that.
ReplyDeleteWe also take the time to share things as a class. For instance, my one student brought in his mineral collection the other day (we were doing a science unit on rocks, weathering, and erosion) and shared them with me in the morning and I asked him if he would like to share them with the class (and this student has Autism and his TSS told me later on that he never shares) and he did, so obviously he felt like he was in a safe environment to do so. I also had two students come to me saying that they wanted to share their writing examples, but they asked if I could read it for them (again, another example that students feel safe confronting me). I also try to be sure to remind students of their voice level in the classroom, depending on what activity we are working on to respect the learning of the rest of their classmates. I also take the time to stop and learn more about each of them as students (during reading workshop time, I always go around and have a mini conference conversation about where they are in their book). In math, I always make sure to have them gesture to me if they understand the content or if they are confused, and a lot of them will let me know if they are confused, so I can take the next step and talk them through whatever it is that may be stumping them.
We have also had a lot of culture/respect/diversity/bullying lessons so far in the classroom where students have felt open to sharing information that betters them all as respectful people. For example, we had a student share how she felt when people talked about her culture and we had a culture day so students could learn about the Chinese New Year, and the other day we also had a high school student come in and talk about bullying. The students are also very willing to come to us if there is ever a problem (and we've had some issues so far with stealing other people's stuff, or hurting someone else's feelings, etc.).
I really enjoyed the speaker and learned a lot from him. I had an intruder drill and an unannounced fire drill prior to this, so I was aware of some of these procedures and safety issues. The most memorable thing for me was him saying that we must always be prepared and aware of our surroundings. I also like how he explained safety/emergency procedures to students which is that "we are going to go to our extra safe place." I also like how he reiterated that we are responsible for our students and "Can only run as fast as [our] slowest student." Our jobs as teachers never end, especially in those types of situations.
My teacher and I are constantly making sure that there is a positive environment in our classroom. We have jobs that the students in my morning group complete and they rotate every week. This gives them a sense of community, and the students love to help. Our team of teachers has a stamp system to monitor behaviors and it works well because it is used between all four teachers, and all four teachers have the ability to take away and give stamps. This creates a positive team atmosphere because the teachers are all on the same page.
ReplyDeleteWe have classroom meetings to discuss any issues and go over our classroom rules and responsibilities, and the students get to share how they have been feeling about the classes behavior, and they get to hand out compliments to one another. I love when we do this activity because you can immediately see the positive effect the compliments have on the students.
A lot of what the presentation was about connected with the A.L.I.C.E. training I went to on Martin Luther King Day. The message I got from both was be prepared and practice, practice, practice.
I have always been a big believer in anyone can learn, but it has to be achieved in a positive environment. There's only so much positivity that can come out of the teacher, the students need to learn to support each other as much as they support themselves. This starts earlier than kindergarten, but we are working on it. These kids all have older siblings and they copy what their siblings say and do without thinking about the meaning. My co-op and I take the time to explain why what they said or did was wrong and how they can change that to make it positive. This makes the classroom as much of a kindergarten classroom as it is a lifeskills room, but in the end it is worth it. We also ask the students to compliment each other which they are working on because they are still so focused on themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe message that I took away was that you can never be too prepared and everyone needs to take the time and energy to do so. There are many people we are responsible for and we need to keep the peace and stay as far away from chaos as possible.
How To Create A Positive Learning Environment:
ReplyDeleteIn our classroom, our students have a reward and discipline program using the school's mascot of a knight. Students are expected to "wear their armor" at all times during the day, meaning they stay respectful, attentive, motivated, responsible, and organized. Throughout the day, students "armor up" or "armor down" clothespins on a classroom chart showing their level of wearing their armor throughout the day. Students move their clothespins multiple times throughout the day, showing them that the teachers do notice both positive and negative behavior. Our classroom is also very accepting and we often do activities requiring group work and partner projects. This way, students interact with others and learn how to carry out positive conversations and exhibit positive problem solving skills. I am continuing to enforce these procedures and be a friend to students during morning routines and end of the day free time so that they feel comfortable with my full time teaching and know that I am not just there to discipline them. I want my students to know that school and learning can be fun and not just hard work.
Safety in Schools:
I took away from this presentation that although this is a big issue in schools, it is not as major as I thought it was. I often worry about what I would do if a situation like that came up, and now I know how to prepare and how to prepare my students. Although it is scary to think about, I know it has to be thought about in order to save the lives of my students. It also made me evaluate the safety of the school I am student teaching in, and making me realize that they are doing some things that are really beneficial to the safety of the students, like keeping doors locked and having procedures in place that I was aware of from day 1. I think no school can ever be fully prepared for an emergency, but I think that if people keep raising awareness in others then hopefully we won't have anything to worry about in the future anymore.
I think it is very important to establish a positive learning environment in the classroom in the classroom. I believe I tried to create a positive learning environment in my classroom from the very beginning. I learned all of the students names by the second day of student teaching! Little by little, I am learning more and more about each student and they are willing to share more with me. My co-op and also addressed the student and made sure they knew that I was here to help and that they could ask me anything. We also try to specific praise with each child to help motivate them and to encourage them to do their best.
ReplyDeleteI learned many things from the speaker the one night. The main thing I took away from the presentation was to always be prepared. I think it is very important to be prepared for any situation that could occur in the school. It is our job to keep the students safe, so we should be able to know how to do for this. After the Sandy Hook, tragedy I learned that it could happen to anyone. I definitely learned what to do in case of emergency situations in order to protect my students, though I hope I never am put in any of those situations.
I think a positive learning environment is so important! It's nearly impossible to learn when you're in a realm of negativity. For starters, I always greet each student every morning with a smile and welcoming remark. Throughout the day, I strive to compliment students and the whole class when they do something nice, like work quietly or think outside of the box. We have a job chart, in which every student has a job; this gives the students a sense of belonging, that we need them and that we appreciate them. I try to be positive all the time, giving the students choices when I can. My co-op rarely raises her voice, and I've never heard her yell. I've been doing the same. When I talk in a low voice, the students usually hush down so that they can hear me. Finally, I try to make learning fun! When learning is fun, it's easier to keep a positive attitude.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't able to attend the speaker, since I had the flu, but we talked in a faculty meeting about having a lockdown drill and using the magnet system on doors to keep doors locked at all times. We always think, "It can't happen here," but it can, which is a very scary thought. I've also been more conscious about when students leave the room, whether to go with a specialist, to the nurse, or to the bathroom. I keep track in my head of who is out of the room, just in case something were to happen.
I also try and great everyone everyday. I greet them by name so it is individualized. My students also have a job chart. These are simple job like the mail boxes, lights, line leader, ext. The problem I have is that some students don't want to do their jobs. What do you do if a student does not want to do their job? What kind of activities do you do to make learning fun? I try and play games and do activities with my students but they have trouble handling it. They are very chatty and tend to get off task very easily. I am having trouble with making learning fun. Do you have any suggestions of things I could do with them?
DeleteA positive learning environment is key in the classroom. I feel that if this is not established, nothing can be achieved to its highest capability in the classroom. On my first day, I walked into the classroom determined to learn about each and everyone of my students to the very best of my ability. I obviously can't learn everything in one day, but I wanted to know their name and one thing about them. I was excited that I was able to do so. This holds so important to me because I want to make learning fun for each one of them and I want to know ways to connect with my students. I am a firm believer that my attitude in the classroom and the relationships I build with my students will allow everything else to fall into place. Each day I welcome the students into the classroom and greet them. When they come up to check in, I ask them how they are doing. I strive to give my students compliments throughout the day and congratulate them on work that is well done or appropriate behavior. I ask students to clip up when they are working hard. I also give students high fives when they are proud of their achievement or work extremely hard on an assignment to reach their goal. Positive reinforcement and encouragement motivate my students to give their all throughout the day in each and every assignment. I want my students to know that I believe in them and in turn they should believe in themselves. I establish relationships in which students feel comfortable talking to me and asking questions. I do this by also telling them about myself or making connections with students and myself. They love to know that I am just like them! :)
ReplyDeleteI felt that the discussion about school safety was extremely beneficial. It was eye opening to know about the little things that no one really mentions and the reasons behind those little things that make a huge difference. I experienced a lockdown drill with my students shortly after the discussion and felt that I was better prepared to talk to my students about school safety. I felt more comfortable discussing situations with students because I felt more knowledgeable and aware.
I was wondering how the students responded to the lockdown drill in your school. Our principal mentioned that he wanted to have an intruder drill one school day while the students are in, but I feel like it might be traumatizing to some of them. Any input?
DeleteI am really trying to create a positive rapport with my students. I choose a few students each day to focus on. I talk with these students individually at the beginning of the day about making good choices. Throughout the day I try to check in on these students and ask them how they think they are doing. The past couple days has been a little bit crazy because we have had a sub. I have been checking in more frequently with these students and really reminding them to make good choices. I am also trying to give each student respect. I use my manners with them and encourage them to do the same thing. I have often had to remind the class about being respectful.
ReplyDeleteIn result of the safe schools presentation I have tried to take measures to create a safe classroom. First off I have put my badge on a lanyard. This actually helps me to remember to put it on in the morning. I have also found our to go back and read through our classroom safety plans.
--Reflection: How are you trying to create a positive learning environment in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI have come into a classroom environment that is already positive. Rather than trying to create a positive environment, I have been working hard to maintain one. The students seem to like my co-op and I. I have a genuine rapport with them and I make an effort to get to know them. Another thing that I think helps to maintain our positive environment is our monitoring of behavior. My co-op is fairly strict and very good at making sure that students follow the rules and respect others. If a student disrespects a classmate/teacher, we have them write an apology letter to that person.
We also do star of the week in our classroom. I think this also helps to spark students interest in one another in the classroom.
--Tonight we had the session on safety in the schools. What message did you take away from this workshop?
The main thing that I learned is that although these school safety issues are rare, you can never be too ready or too prepared for an emergency.
Mr Co-op has done a great job creating a positive classroom environment for the students and I have made sure that I continue that same feeling when I am teaching. I think being positive and making the students feel comfortable is the most important element to a successful classroom. I take time throughout the day to talk to each student and ask about their lives so they know I am genuinely interest in how they are doing that day. I take time to work one on one with students who are struggling with a lesson in order for them to succeed. I use positive feedback during my lessons through verbal praise and am sure to add a positive comment to all of the students worksheets. I have implemented a "gold star" behavior plan for the whole class. For each time the students are quiet in the hall, behavior at special, or are just doing exactly what they are asked, they earn a gold star. Once they receive 30 gold stars they recieve a class prize. I believe that community and team work is essential to a classroom and this allows the class to work together to reach a certain goal.
ReplyDeleteI realized after tonight session that I have not gone over the safety procedures with my co-op, however, I have looked at the plans of all the evacuations. I think it is important to practice all of these procedures but I have yet to see that in my school. At my school, they have a problem with facilitating who comes to pick up students at the end of the day. Typically the students need to bring a note if they are being picked up but that doesn't always happen and then it is a judgment call to see if the parent is really the parent.