Beginning of School Letter

Want a letter to send out to parents at the beginning of the year to establish contact with them in a positive way?  Use this one as a template.  Below is the letter that I used to send to parents, just save a copy to your files and fill in your specific information to make it your own.  (please excuse the wide spacing, I can't seem to fix that.)

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a new school year! 

I’m writing to ask you to help me become a partner with you in your child’s education.  I will only have your child for a short time and I want to make a contribution that lasts.

To ensure a successful, happy year for you and your child, we must keep the lines of communication open.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the Holland Center, 232-0551.  I’m a part time teacher and will be working each morning and all day on Friday.  My office hours will be Friday afternoon from 12:30-4:00.  If I’m unavailable, please leave a message and a phone number, I will return the call as soon as possible.

I’m looking forward to a successful year with your child!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Gnau

ED Itinerant

Attention Grabbers

Choose one of the below attention grabbers to use in your class tomorrow as we welcome all the excited new students into our rooms!  I found this first fun idea on the blog, Adventures in Teaching, over the summer. Scroll down to view examples for middle and high school age students...




 Kathy Morlan, a high school teacher, has used this idea with her English class:

She uses her iPod touch's clock feature. (This feature is also available on the iPhone, and iPad).  I'm guessing all smart phones have some version of a timer.  Kathy says, "I set the timer for 1 minute, and set the sound for crickets chirping or a duck quacking. When I set the timer, the kids hear this weird sound, I tell the class to finish their thoughts, and a minute later here's this "quack, quack" and we wrap up." 

View this 1 min. video clip to see an easy example used in a middle school.  This would also work great at any grade level.
 

*Guidelines For Setting Limits

1.  Be sure that your statement is enforceable.

Unenforceable Statement:  Be nice to each other.  Quit fighting.
Enforceable Statement:  You guys are welcome to come back as soon as you work that out.  Good    luck.

2.  Know how you plan to enforce the limit before you state it.

3.  Avoid "Fighting Words."  Fighting words are a call to battle, and include:

a. Telling the student what to do.
    "You get to work right now!"
b.  Telling the student what you will not allow.
     "You're not going to talk to me that way!"
c.  Telling the student what you won't do for him/her.
     "I'm not letting you leave for recess until your work is done!"

4.  Use "Thinking Words."  Thinking words include:

a.  Telling a student when he/she can do something.
     "Feel free to go out to recess as soon as your work is done."
b.  Telling the student the conditions under which the adult will do something.
     "I'll be glad to help you with your work when you go to your seat and raise your hand."
c.  Describing the choices a student has.
     "Feel free to participate with the group, or do the assignment on your own time."

*Adapted from Jim Fay's Love and Logic

Big, Medium, and Little Problems

Have you ever had a student overreact to a situation?  Do you have students who seem to do this repeatedly?  If so, today's blog can help.  Sometimes we just need to have a better perspective on events to realize if they are a big, medium, or little problems.  I found the perfect tool to help teach this perspective from Jill Kuzma's Social & Emotional Skill Sharing site.

The colorful visuals can be hung in your room to refer to once the skill is taught.  There are 2 graphics to choose from.  They are similar, however, one provides some actual examples of the different levels of problems.

Big, Medium, Little Problems Chart 1
Big, Medium, Little Problems Chart 2

Tracking PBIS in your school

In a previous post, I gave some examples of ways to incorporate PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) into your classroom or school by teaching expected behaviors that are respectful, responsible and safe.  Today's post will cover how one school tracks violations of those behaviors.

Colman Elementary, in St. Joseph MO, uses a system of minor and major discipline referrals.  To view examples of these forms, check out these links:
Minor Referral Form
Major Referral Form
A student's 3rd minor write up, becomes a major.  A student receives a major on their first offense, if the behaviors are such that are outlined on the referral form as being major.

These forms make it very clear to teachers and students what behaviors constitute a referral.  They can also be used to track the effectiveness of PBIS interventions that are used either by certain classrooms or school-wide.  Check out these graphs that show how you can use the information to collect data.

Students who display  positive behaviors, that fit with the school's definition of expected behaviors, can earn a PAWS slip.  The schools mascot is a cougar, so they chose the word PAWS to define their expectations of Practice Safety, Accept Responsibility, Work Hard, Show Respect.

Coleman Elementary PBIS brochure  

Thanks to Mike Otto, Coleman Elementary Principal, for sharing his school's PBIS materials with me!

More Examples of Referral Forms:

Positive Discipline Referral
Positive Discipline Referral 2
ODR Elementary
ODR Secondary
ODR Wanamaker Elementary
ODR With Follow up 
Referral Form Definitions