A few days ago, I had my heart broken. That happens time to time in life, I know. It happens at home and at school. Having dealt with a myriad of discipline problems in my career, it takes special circumstances to tug at heart strings. This situation did. Though I can't go into great detail, I can say that I saw a father truly struggle for words and to put down emotion as he spoke to his son about behavior. This is a father who doesn't get a chance to see his son much and as he hugged his child and spoke softly, I found myself deeply moved by his love for his son.
We need more of this in the world :)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The Power of Greeting and Hope
First off, I love the Morning Meeting concept. If you're a teacher or administrator, who reads this blog occasionally, I would offer than you need to check this book out. The power behind MM is simple yet elegant and it's giving me hope.
This year, we started MM and I'm seeing the positive results of our behavior plan with some of our toughest, at-risk students. I never really understood the power of greeting, of being recognized and genuinely appreciated, but it is POWERFUL and all of us like to be greeted and appreciated as human beings, especially students!
Kudos to the Outlook staff for choosing this work and adding to a plate already full with new curriculum and training. I am very curious to see what our results look like each month as we track the data.
This year, we started MM and I'm seeing the positive results of our behavior plan with some of our toughest, at-risk students. I never really understood the power of greeting, of being recognized and genuinely appreciated, but it is POWERFUL and all of us like to be greeted and appreciated as human beings, especially students!
Kudos to the Outlook staff for choosing this work and adding to a plate already full with new curriculum and training. I am very curious to see what our results look like each month as we track the data.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Increasing Potential
Week 2 into school and I'm very happy with progress, especially in student behavior in comparison to last year. Though it's still a honeymoon period, I'm already starting to see the proactive side of helping kids pay off. Our behavior intervention program, though just forming, is starting to show promise. As well, Morning Meeting is off and running. Though I haven't been able to get into many classrooms to watch this (because I have my own MM group) it is showing increased potential in the students of my MM group.
There's such a need for students to be validated and appreciated and to have the opportunity to share and express themselves. MM also provides me with time to reinforce classroom behaviors and talk about expectations.
Adios!
There's such a need for students to be validated and appreciated and to have the opportunity to share and express themselves. MM also provides me with time to reinforce classroom behaviors and talk about expectations.
Adios!
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