Week 1 - Getting Started

 Fast Llamas,

Week 1 is done and I have some things to share.  I am lucky that my principal laid out week 1 dedicated to procedures and routines.  There were a few presentations that my content shared with students - going over school wide expectations and routines, think, dismissal, lunch, how to's etc.  This gave me a lot of time to focus on my class routines.  Here's what I taught in the time I had left.

1.  Character  - My students loved the video "The Empty Pot".  It is a story about a boy who was faced with a problem.  By handling it well he earned a great prize.  He showed principals of integrity, failure leads to success, speak with good purpose, making the most of every moment that we call - This is IT, commitment, ownership, flexibility and balance - were we put energy toward our goals.

2.  Social Contract - we created a social contract between my students and I, students with one another and the classroom environment.  The social contract was aligned with "Living Above the Line" in which we choose how to respond (especially when things don't go our way) that leads to ownership, freedom, power and trust.  Below the line lies Laying Blame, Justification, Denial and Quitting.  Our new mantra is "Where ya Living?  Above the Line"! 

3.  Call to Attention - I have to say, using a novel call to attention coupled with a story worked!  Our call to attention ties with a rock climbing and we use the response climbers and belayers use.  The kids are receptive and it is working.

4. Voice Levels - Students are understanding 0, 1 and 2 voice levels well.

5. SLANT - I am coupling this with the call to attention.  The students learned a little bit about their Hippocampus and attention.  They are responding to "show me SLANT", after the call to attention.  

S-Sit up

L - Lean in

A - Ask and Answer questions

N - Nod

T - Track the teacher

All of these strategies and routines need attention, patrolling, and reinforcement. Students are not yet ready to perform them without careful and mindful practice and review. In fact, there are fundamental reasons for this:

1. students don't hold the value of our routines as much as we do

2. they are not inherently interesting

However, we must remember that routines and teaching procedures make life in the classroom better, but not necessarily easier.  And continual practice and reinforcement will only make the routines, just that routine.  

Coming up - 1) adding the character keys mentioned to daily lessons 2) adding social skills 3) continual practice and reinforcement 4) smile and learn names.

See you next week!