The Coyote Howl: February 2013

Friday, February 1, 2013

In-House Professional Learning

I appreciate our facilitators giving us an update on what they've learned from the content coordinators. I felt like Lynn's presentation on CLOSE reading was a great way to provide more in-depth learning on something we all need to know about. If this is a good model, I would like to continue to look at having more in-house professional learning. If you review my Belief Statements on this blog page, you will see that I believe we have more to learn from each other than any other source.

My Education Belief Statements

I believe that people perform at their best when their life has balance. I believe that people are motivated by purposeful work and compelling vision. I believe that the quality of the teacher is the most important variable in a child’s academic success. I believe that excellent classroom management is essential to academic success. I believe that we are obligated as educators to create meaningful and purposeful experiences for students. I believe that strong work ethic, initiative, and self-discipline can be learned. I believe that continued success in any endeavor depends on the ability to learn new things. I believe that we have more to learn from each other than any other formal means of professional development. I believe that students are constantly watching us; that they learn more from what we do than what we say

My Philosophy of Discipline

Understand your beliefs and the culture of the school: Know what you want your scholars to do or not do. Establish clear expectations for yourself first and then for your scholars. If your expectations are ambiguous, behavior will be erratic. Be clear and follow through with your beliefs and expectations. Be consistent!

Disciplining a scholar is always an opportunity to teach and build the teacher/scholar relationship: Never assume a scholar knows what appropriate behavior is or isn’t; teach it. The mark of a truly great teacher is the ability to connect and work with scholars who often exhibit obnoxious or disruptive behavior. Loving challenging kids is a skill that can be learned when you invest in the relationship.

Teacher/parent relationships have tremendous influence on your ability to teach responsibility and self control: Make positive contact with your parents early in the year. Your chance of success will increase dramatically if you have already established a relationship of trust and respect.

Never discipline out of anger or reaction: If a scholar sees you blow up, you’ve lost – game over.

Discipline Referrals: Think carefully before writing a referral. The more you handle in the classroom, the more authority you maintain, and the stronger your relationship with your scholars will be. However, some incidents need official documentation, and campus administration needs to be aware of these incidents. If in doubt – ask an administrator or colleague. Getting an objective opinion about a situation is always a good idea if you are not sure which way to go.

The best discipline is prevention: Establish and consistently practice routines and procedures. When you value and model routines and procedures, your scholars will follow your lead. Supervision – If we want our scholars to develop character, responsibility, and integrity, we sometimes have to give them freedom to make decisions. Balance freedom with supervision. Scholars who are unattended too long will find ways to entertain themselves. The areas where supervision is most important.

Playground: many discipline issues stem from playground disputes. Be aware of what your scholars are doing and who they are with.

Hallways: scholars should have excellent hallway routines that are respectful of the school and the learning of other scholars.

Bathrooms: Why scholars pick the bathroom as a quality place to play, I do not know; but they do. Some scholars need many reminders about appropriate bathroom behavior.

Schedule: Dropping off and picking up scholars on time eliminates many potential problems. Respect the clock.

More Eyes = Fewer Problems

The Coyote Howl

Friday, February 1, 2013

In-House Professional Learning

Walker Creek Elementary

The Principal's Office YouTube