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Character Development -
Character Development -
At Clopper Mill E.S. we use a holistic approach to educating scholars through character development to transform our school into a supportive and empathetic environment where scholars gain the tools necessary to thrive in a diverse society. We focus on character development by providing peace & wellness support (PAWS) and teaching our scholars the six character counts pillars to ensure our scholars feel supported and valued.
Our “Cougar Nation” principles are:
Trustworthiness Respect Responsibility Fairness Caring Citizenship
Clopper Mill Elementary staff and scholars use the phrase " show your cougar pride" as a tool for character building and maintaining a respectful and safe school community. Our character counts themes change every six weeks to enhance cougar pride principles. Additionally, these themes are promoted during morning announcements, highlighted in classroom lessons, and celebrated through the distribution of PAWsome tickets, grade-level incentives, and quarterly school-wide celebrations.
CLASSROOM IMPLEMENTATION:
Guidance
• Counselor reinforces the monthly character value, including a mindful message, and an exercise to promote a health-conscious approach to student well-being
• Counselor teaches guidance lessons and incorporates Character Counts language and themes
• Counselor meets with individual scholars based on student/stakeholder requests to teach personal and group lessons
• Classrooms have CALMING spaces to include ZONES tools to remind scholars to proactively self-regulate and maintain a leadership posture throughout the day
• Keeping the peace results in class DOJOś, and the teacher provides incentives when scholars are caught in the act of maintaining peace around the building.
Teachers
• Teachers engage scholars in Peace Circle to develop community agreements and address classroom concerns
• Teachers record class DOJO points and the lines of communication open with parents
• Select scholars are invited to participate in leadership opportunities around the building regularly
SCHOOL -WIDE IMPLEMENTATION:
• Every six weeks we highlight a different 'character counts pillar'
• Each day the entire school engages in fifteen minutes of SEL skills-building
• Bulletin boards display our cougar pride, and students take photos with adult PEACEKeepers, along with having an opportunity to have their hand and signature painted on the character counts pillar when they receive a minimum of one hundred Pawsome tickets
• School hallways display students' achievements and other objects relating to maintaining an inclusive school climate
• Bulletin boards recognize adults and scholars, and certificates are awarded to individuals for showing exceptional leadership skills
What Are The Zones?
What Are The Zones?
The Zones is a systematic, cognitive behavioral approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete colored zones. There are four zones to describe how your brain and body feel: Teachers ask, "How are you feeling today or what Zone are you in today?"
BLUE is the REST Zone – Your body is running slow, such as when you are tired, sick, sad or bored.
GREEN is the GO Zone – Like a green light, you are “good to go.” Your body may feel happy, calm and focused.
YELLOW Is the YIELD Zone – This zone describes when you start to loose control, such as when you are frustrated, anxious, worried, silly or surprised. Use caution when you are in this zone.
RED is the STOP Zone – This zone is for extreme emotions such as anger, terror and aggression. When you are in this zone, you are out of control, have trouble making good decisions and must STOP!
What Are The Zone Tools?
What Are The Zone Tools?
The Zones framework provides tools to teach students to be more aware of and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs, and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts. Teachers ask: "what Zone tools will you use to stay in the green zone?"
BLUE Zone – Take a break, think happy thoughts, talk about feelings, ask for a hug, draw a picture.
GREEN Zone – Complete your work, listen to the teacher, remember your daily goal, think happy thoughts, help others.
YELLOW Zone – take a break, talk to the teacher, squeeze a stress ball, go for a walk, take three deep breaths.
RED Zone – take a break, squeeze a stress ball, take three deep breaths, count to ten, talk about my problem.
School-wide Mindfulness Practices
School-wide Mindfulness Practices
Scholars can request a visit to the mindfulness station located in each classroom where they have access to fidget tools such as: Rubik's cubes, stress balls, rubber noodles, and writing materials for calming reflection. Scholars log their visit by writing their names on a sign-in sheet and use a sand timer to take a five minute break. After that break the scholar returns to their desk and classwork.
Teachers may set aside "pause" time in the classroom to practice mindful breathing, walking, or meditation for students before transitioning from one activity to another.
Restorative Practices-
Restorative Practices-
Restorative practices represents a mindset that helps guide adult and youth behavior and relationship management in schools with processes that proactively build healthy relationships and a sense of community to prevent and address conflict and wrongdoing to promote self-care. It allows individuals who may have committed harm to take full responsibility for their behavior by addressing the individual(s) affected by the behavior. Taking responsibility requires understanding how the behavior affected others, acknowledging that the behavior was harmful to others, taking action to repair the harm, and making changes necessary to avoid such behavior in the future.
Under the umbrella of restorative practices are evidenced-based restorative justice practices used to reduce suspensions, expulsions, and disciplinary referrals such as:
Community conferencing
Community service
Peer juries
Circles
Preventative and post-conflict resolution
programs
Peer mediation
Informal restorative practices and
Mindfulness practices
The goal is to place value on relationships and focus on repairing relationships that have been injured. The victim and the wrongdoer have the opportunity to share with one another how they were harmed, as victims, or how they will work to resolve the harm caused, as wrongdoers.
Check In Check Out (CICO)
A scholar is recommended by their classroom teachers to participate in our CICO program. The classroom teacher works with the counselor or the wellness teacher, Ms. Smith. Together they work to provide clear academic and behavioral expectations for a scholar. The scholar checks in daily with the wellness teacher for encouragement and to receive their daily goal sheet. The scholar carries the goal sheet. All classroom teachers provide feedback on the goal sheet throughout the day. The scholar checks out at the end of the day with the wellness teacher. The wellness teacher helps the student reflect on the day and provides praise for meeting the goal or encouragement if the goal was not met. The goal sheet is taken home for parent review and signature.
If you feel your child could benefit from the CICO program, please discuss this possibility with your child's homeroom teacher.
Restorative Justice (English)
Restorative Justice (English)
Restorative Justice (Espanol)
Restorative Justice (Espanol)
Montgomery County Public Schools
Rockville, MD
Last Update: September 2024
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