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Showing posts with label strategies for success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strategies for success. Show all posts

The Most Important Thing Teachers (and Parents) Can Do to Help Children Be Successful

As teachers and parents, we want our children to be successful.  

There's one thing we can do to help them!

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.

What's that one thing? Model the behavior you want to see!

Do you want your students to be kind? Show them kindness. Let them see you showing kindness to others. 

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.


Do you want your students to show perseverance? Let them see you sticking with something, even when it's tough!

Do you want your students to be open? Be open with them. Share personal information with them. Share something you're struggling with.

Do you want your students to be friendly? Be friendly with them. Let them see you being friendly with other adults in the building. Show them how to be friendly.

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.

Do you want your students to be honest? Be honest about yourself. Be honest in your dealings with each of them. 
 

Do you want your students to be lazy? Be lazy in front of them. Don't get their papers corrected and don't be organized for lessons.

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.

Do you want your students to be greedy? Expect everything from them, without giving them anything in return.

Do you want your students to be arrogant? Insist you are always right. Don't consider the thoughts of others.

Do you want your students to be rude? Be rude to them. Let them see you being rude to others.

Do you want your students to be quick to anger? Lose your temper with them easily. Explode over little things.
The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.

Well, I know you won't do some of those negative things, but my point is that they are watching. Whatever you model for them, they will do the same.

Have children of your own? Substitute the word "children" for "students" in the above statements. It works the same.

My dad was an amazing role model. 
Here's a post I wrote about what he taught me!

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.


If you want your students to behave a certain way, show them!

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.
Keep smiling, keep on teaching, and show them the best way to be successful! By being a successful person yourself!

The most important thing teachers (and parents) can do to help children be successful! There's one thing we can do to help them.


Six Strategies for Success in School: A Classroom Management System and More!

I had a very challenging class a few years ago!

I admit, I loved each and every one of them, but the combination of kiddos really was exhausting. I had behavior challenges, learning challenges, and a whole lot of kiddos who needed to talk and who needed to move a whole lot! They needed plenty of attention, and plenty of opportunities to let off steam. 
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!

I've had all these challenges before, but I never had so many challenges all in one group!

After that year, I made sure I enjoyed these luxuries during the summer:

-extra cups of coffee - while they're still warm
-relaxed conversations with grown-ups
-reading books written for adults
-eating breakfast in my jammies
-going to the gym, with the energy to work out
and most of all... 
-peeing when I need to!

But I also spent a lot of time thinking about that group, and trying to come up with ideas that I could start at the beginning of the year that could prevent some of the issues I had.

My dad always taught me: 

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

and that's just what I planned to do!

After much thought, I decided on the most important strategies I wanted to focus on in my classroom.
Strategies for Success: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be a Team Player, Be Mindful, and Be an Active Learner

I decided to spend a whole lot of time at the beginning of the school year teaching these strategies for success!

I made posters with an explanation for each strategy. 

I made one for each of the six strategies, and made strategy response booklets for the children to write their thoughts. 

Be safe


6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!
Be respectful! 
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!
Be responsible!
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!
Be a team player 
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!
Be mindful! 

6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!
Be an active learner!

 
As you can see, the posters are available in color as well as black and white for the kids to color and think about.
 
Plus, there are other items to share with the children:
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!
These posters for bulletin boards, student "strategy response booklets, and bookmarks help internalize the concepts of each strategy!
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!

I have students complete self-assessments quarterly, usually just before report cards or parent conferences. If their assessment doesn't match mine, we have a talk!

These pages could also be used in interactive notebooks.

My plan was to take a day or two discussing the meaning of each strategy, listing the children's ideas, giving examples and non-examples, and making sure the children really understood what each strategy meant before they completed that page in their strategy response booklets. 

The Mindfulness strategy took a little longer, especially those who came from classes that didn't do any mindfulness activities in the past.

I did manage to find a few websites with some awesome explanations and activities for helping children understand and practice Mindfulness.



What Happened Next?

After much discussion, we decided on a gesture for each strategy. Every morning, after the Pledge of Allegiance and the school chant, my students would recite the 6 Strategies for Success, complete with the gestures we created together. My plan definitely had a strong influence on the classroom community! They were safe, respectful, responsible, team players, mindful, and active learners!
 
6 Strategies for Success in School: after a difficult year, I developed these strategies to share with my new students to help build a classroom community!

Since I started using this system, confidence in my students has increased, and their awareness of the social/ emotional climate in themselves, as well as their classmates, has soared!
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