Classroom Management
Growth Mindset
When students believe they can learn new things, they understand their efforts will help them learn.
Research has shown when students change the way they think about things that are hard for them, they understand that it doesn't need to feel so hard and they work harder to reach their goals.
Examples:
Mistakes are proof you are making progress.
All things are difficult before they are easy.
You only have failed if you have given up.
Life Skills To Work On
We are working on building positive behavior by acknowledging the choices we make and working to prevent that from happening again. We are working on learning from our mistakes to become a better citizen!
Each time a student disrupts the class by breaking one of our rules, they pull a stick that coincides with what they've done. This way, students and parents know what to work on.
For example, if a student pulls a handful of T’s, then we know they have a difficult time knowing when to talk and we need come up with a plan for the talking. If they are pulling U’s this means they are playing and this is probably affecting their academics so we need to set new goals to focus on staying on task to complete their work.
I will keep record of the sticks pulled and will deal with students on an individual basis. Sticks are recorded on their monthly behavior log in their daily folder. We look at the month to work on finding patterns and creating good habits.
One or two sticks are not bad at the beginning of the year. If a student is still pulling 5 or 6 sticks a week, the student is not learning from their mistakes and a new plan may be needed.
Notes will be sent home and recess time will be used as a time to discuss new goals to create positive behavior. If this continues, a parent conference and/or referral will be given.
4 Essential in our classroom
Students deserve to be recognized when they go above and beyond the normal expectations. Below are the 4 Essential sticks students could pull if they display such traits.
#1 – Be respectful
#2 - Work to your potential
#3 - Have empathy for others
#4 - Lead by example
Students aren't rewarded for pulling these sticks. However, the verbal recognition that they stood out as doing something great is enough to make this positive behavior contagious for others to step up to.
Houses
Everyone at Gateway is being placed in a house. Students will work as a house/team with K4-5th grade students to earn house points each quarter. Students will work together but will also learn to cheer for others and build a stronger community at school. More details will come.