Catching and Recognizing Students Doing Good

Excellence in Education: Catching and Recognizing the Student Doing Good

As educators we must purposefully try to connect with each of our students. With some, the bond occurs almost effortlessly--the hard-working, charismatic, teacher-pleaser, the student with whom we have much in common. Connecting with others, however, proves much more difficult. It is with these students that we must initiate more purposeful actions such as catching and recognizing their strengths. 

To connect with all students, requires you to use the tool you know best--yourself. When I took over a very unsuccessful girls basketball team at Fauquier High School, during every practice I spent five minutes talking to one student-athlete. The previous coach and the players were disconnected, so I promised changes. Included in the promise was that I would meet with one player for at least 5 minutes during practice and these conversations could not be about basketball. For the first week or so, many of the conversations fell flat, especially with students with whom I didn't know. The conversations were superficial and uncomfortable silences. 

If I hadn't promised or committed to the athletic director, parents, and the players that I was going to do this all season, I may have stopped. I prepared questions (I committed them to memory, thinking that if I had written them down and referred to them during the conversation, it would be more like an interview) and shared my own personal stories. As the season progressed, the conversations became more natural but for 1 or 2 players, they still seemed forced. Not content, I began focusing more on student strengths--even seeking information from their teachers, teammates and families. The focus was always on building connections. By the end of the season, we were a tightly-knit team. 

Undoubtedly, these conversations made me a better coach, and it made us a better team and--I hope--helped each player become a better person. Additionally, I realized I needed to build better relationships with some of my students with a particular focus on positive attention. 

Here are some action steps that I took: 

1. I created a spreadsheet for each class with each student's name. Every week, I looked over the list and jotted down student strengths. I challenged myself further to think about each student without looking at the list; believing that the students I forgot were the ones I needed to most focus on. I'd review the list before classes to ensure I focused on student strengths and would take purposeful and deliberate actions to connect with these students. 
2. Catch the good behaviors and draw attention to these. Sometimes this would be done privately and other times it would be recognized in front of the entire class.
3. I set a goal to make more positive phone calls to families. 
4. Every week, I committed to writing one positive letter to a student. 
5. I set daily praise goals for myself. Today, I will provide genuine positive praise to at least 10 students in each class. (I often videotaped my classes, so I would also pay attention to this as I reviewed the video, paying specific attention to which students received positive interactions, who received negative interactions, and who received neither.)

What are some ways that positively interact with students? How often do you comment on the positive versus the negative? Does this differ from student to student? What would explain the differences? What are some strategies you could use to increase positive interactions?

Tasks, Important Information, Upcoming Events

Wednesday, December 4: Curriculum Expo 
I'm in the process of organizing our annual Curriculum Expo.  The Expo will be held on Wednesday, December 4th from 6-7pm in the gymnasium.  The Expo provides an opportunity for 8th grade students, current MoHS students, and families to explore course offerings at Monticello.  In the past, each teacher will set up a table to advertise or explain their class and a representative is there to answer questions from students and families.  Feel free to make it your own by bringing visuals, student work, handouts and student representatives to help attract students and families to your table.  Please take a moment and fill out this form so I can get the layout set up.  For those heading to the game either tonight or tomorrow afternoon, STAY WARM!  Goodbye, fall & hello, winter!  ~Laura Massey

Friday, December 6: Interim Period Ends; Grades in PowerSchool by 9am 

Hour of Code 
Hour of Code is coming up the week of December 9^th-13^th.
The Learning Technology team will be curating resources for this event. Our goal this year is for students to engage in 5000 hours of code throughout the week. If you pre-register through ACPS for this event we will send swag for your students and the chance to win amazing prizes for your school!
Link for registration 
For more information click here 

Golden Apple Awards: Read more from this post 

Field Trips

Birthdays
12/4: Matt Pearman

Useful Information

Bell Schedules http://bit.ly/MustangBells 

Seeking volunteers? ACPS is attempting to expand volunteer outreach and help teachers find volunteers. Here’s a form that takes a minute to complete.

Morning Announcement Stream: http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/links.htm

Announcement Request

Athletic team schedules, rosters, etc.

Teacher Manual

Want something included on the Monticello Outlook Calendar, the Monticello website, in the PowerSchool Daily Bulletin, schoolwide Schoology accounts, or the student newsletter (viewed by parents, students and staff)? Please use this link https://goo.gl/forms/bIjfJLKokWPcEHx33 

Worth Your Time

A means to support black boys in high school...This is interesting; lots of things that make you go mmmm. 

Grades vs Comments: Research on Student Feedback...Gold Star work regarding Standards-Based Learning