One of the cornerstones of brain smart practices is the importance of building strong relationships with our students! Traditional discipline focuses on the violation of rules, brain research focuses on caring relationships that adults foster with students and students with each other; working to keep and repair those relationships.
What are the best ways to build relationships with our students? "Better than Carrots and Sticks" gives us some great ideas for how to do this:- Know Student's Names: In our small, rural school, this doesn't seem to be as difficult to do, but it is still extremely important! This is a great way to communicate with students that you care about them as individuals.
- Bring the Right Attitude to School: Students can tell when we are in bad moods and they notice snide comments and sarcasm. It doesn't mean you have to hide your emotions, but sharing with students and choosing to take a proactive approach is key.
- Greet them at the Door: One of the best ways to build relationships is a door greeting. Conscious Discipline calls this Joy Juice! Giving a smile and face-to-face interaction is powerful!
- Get to know your student's interest: Getting to know students beyond their academic profile is a way to humanize our classrooms. Finding out about interests, hobbies, aspirations and family lives are topics to learn about. Giving your student quick surveys can get an easy way to gather information. "If you had $25 to spend on anything, what would it be and why?"
- Communicate with Parents: Positive parent relationships are powerful - especially if you can send a happy gram!
- Extracurricular Activities: Taking time to attend events such as student performances, dances, music concerts, games, etc. can be a great time to speak with students and parents to build relationships. Students always notice when you are there!
As the saying goes, "To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world." or as Piglet says of love in Winnie-the-Pooh, "You don't spell it. . . you feel it."
Thanks for always working to build strong relationships with our students!
Important Information:
Laurie Desautels' Sunday Moment: Adversity & Brain Development #1 Youtube Video
Commodore Manufacturing Visit: Over 50 visitors from southern Indiana schools and Toyota Manufacturing will be at Perry Central from 9:00 - 1:00 on Tuesday. The library will be closed this day. Thank you to our students and Mr. Craney's leadership for creating such a powerful program!
Classroom Visits: Part of the Principal Leadership program that I am a part of requires me to participate in a small action research project. The purpose of my project is to see if we can increase the amount of formative assessment strategies in our classrooms. Mike Schmoker calls Formative Assessment (Checks for Understanding), which informs ongoing adjustments to instruction, one of the most important pieces of learning in the classroom. It is my goal to increase my visits to the classroom by at least 3 hours a week (this will be beyond the required SFS observations) to observe and find ways to support you, the teachers, in your classrooms. I appreciate you always being open to my visits and I look forward to learning from all of you! The first day I will be able to start will be Thursday this week! :-)
Faculty Meeting: Just a reminder we will have a faculty meeting on Tuesday, November 27th at 7:20 a.m.! Looking forward to seeing all of you there!
Important Dates:
Tuesday, November 27th - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m./Commodore Manufacturing Visit 9:00 - 1:00/Boys Varsity Basketball @ PC vs. Cannelton 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 29th - Girls Varsity Basketball 5:30 @ home vs. Crawford County
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