In my lego-themed classroom, my Master Builders develop and practice skills to become self-aware, life-long learners. Through a classroom economy (desk & job applications), collaborative learning activities, and digital Reading Workshop/Daily 5 rotations, students practice responsible decision-making and self-management. Master Builders build relationship skills as well as social and self awareness by engaging in Growth Mindset and Multiple Intelligence lessons. They learn that mistakes are expected, inspected, and respected.

Master Builders gain ownership for their learning to become life-long learners by analyzing their own quantitative assessment data, setting social/learning goals, creating structured plans to reach those goals, and utilize data/student work to assess their growth. They create a portfolio of their best work each Trimester and email their parents on how they would like to be supported at home.

Master Builders learn that mistakes are expected in order to learn and grow. They practice building a growth mindset by inspecting their mistakes in a safe and supportive environment. After inspecting mistakes, students celebrate their growth and learn that mistakes are respected.

At the end of every trimester, students celebrate their hard work surrounded by family, friends, and district administrators. These publishing parties provide a real-world context and audience for producing writing. Master Builders also learn to organize their work on their Google Drives to digitally share with a wider audience.

I have created a variety of graphic organizers to incentive student behavior. I consult with each student to ascertain what their extrinsic and intrinsic motivators are. I try to mostly utilize intrinsic motivators as rewards. I confer with students, parents, and administrators to design a behavior plan that will best meet the needs of each student.

I am blessed to have prior students assist material preparation on Wednesday mornings. My job list helps me organize and prioritize what I need completed for the next instructional week, empower the middle schoolers to independently work, and enable me to support my current class.

Google Forms pushed out through Google Classroom help me collect student data on a variety of topics swiftly and in an organized manner. This data then drives class meeting discussions to determine consequences.