Language
Instead of saying "Remember no running."
You should say?
"Remember to walk at all times."
This can help keep your students motivated each day.
Incentive Programs
Avoid ____ ____ and speaking over students
Power Struggles
A two-person game involving noughts and crosses where each player takes turns marking the spaces in a grid.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Andrew is playing soccer out on the blacktop and slips and falls on the ground and hits his head. He shakes it off and tells you he is fine and goes back to playing.
What do you do?
Send him up to the ESS building, let a Supervisor/Lead know and give him an ice pack. You must also write up an incident report for the parent and give out a head injury notice. Parents must also be called and informed.
Instead of saying: "Sit alone or next to someone you won't be tempted to talk to....."
You should say ____ to help prompt them to remember for themselves what they should be doing.
"Think about what you can do to help yourself concentrate."
Something that can help you when students finish homework early or there's a rainy day.
Filler activities and materials.
Be ____ and ____ every day
Prepared and Organized
A game where one player takes a role and issues instructions to the other players, which should be followed only when prefaced with a specific phrase.
Simon Says
A parent comes talk to you about an issue that happened between their child and another student. They ask you if they can speak to the other student since they know them from class and several play dates.
What do you do?
You ask the parent to share the issue with you and let them know that you will personally speak with the other child and their parent's if necessary. You also let them know that you will get back to them with any extra info you get or a possible solution. You do not let them confront the student themselves.
This type of language helps build students' strengths, highlights their skills, positive efforts and quality work.
Reinforcing Language
This is a tool that you can use to help keep your students responsible for their classwork and keep the parents and/or school teachers informed of what they are working on.
Homework Contract
You should be walking around and teaching from different points in the classroom in order to keep students engaged and prevent issues that can lead to ____ ____
Disruptive Behavior
A game played by two teams lined up opposite each other, no more than 30 feet apart. The first team agrees to call one player from the opposite team with a chant and the person called runs to the other line and attempts to break the chain formed by the linking of hands.
Red Rover
John got upset with Carlo during recess and threatened to bring a gun to school and hurt him. Sally heard the boys talking and runs over to tell you.
What do you do?
You pull the boys aside and talk to them separately to hear their stories and try and find any witnesses of the incident. You also talk to your Supervisor/Lead so they can help you with the process and consequences.
This type of language comes handy before students start a possibly challenging task, when they first make a mistake or to help them stay on task.
Reminding Language
What are the ABC's of Powerful Programming Practices?
A = Autonomy
B = Belonging
C = Competencies
Establishing rules with your students is important to make sure everyone is on the same page. But you are responsible for _______ them daily in order to keep _______ in the classroom.
Enforcing, consistency
This game is played in a group with one designated person and an empty cylinder placed on an open surface. With eyes closed, this person counts to an agreed upon number, and the other players run and hide. Then the designated person tries to find and tag each of the players, always keeping a watchful eye on the empty cylinder.
Kick the Can
It's recess and you are supervising the students outside when you notice a man walking by the gate taking pictures of the playground and/or students.
What do you do?
First let your Supervisor/Lead know what is going on. If one of them are not close enough to help immediately, approach the stranger with another staff and ask them nicely to please not take pictures. Also have another staff move any kids that are near the gate to the opposite side of the playground without creating suspicion. You then leave the management team in charge of the situation.
When students are doing something harmful to themselves or others, are too far into a mistake to correct themselves or are too emotional to think reasonably about what they should be doing, you should use this type of language.
Redirecting Language
Giving options to help students with resolving conflict resolution on their own can be very empowering.
Name 3 options that you can offer:
1. Wait and cool off
2. Make a deal
3. Join a different activity
4. Talk it out
5. Share and take turns
6. Apologize
7. Ask them to stop
8. Walk away or ignore
A ______ ______ should outline expectations and how the students can meet these expectations. It also should state specific consequences and personalized rewards for the student.
Behavior Contract
This game consists of a programmed number of frames. Each frame is complete once all spheres have been pitched and all points have been bestowed. It can be played by two, four, or eight players on two teams and each team pitches four spheres per frame.
Bocce Ball
Susie is having a rough day and has been spoken to several times about following directions and participating in the group activities. She gets very heated after an hour with her group and begins to complain, says she hates ESS and that she is going to kill herself. This is not the first time she makes this comment.
What do you do?
First you try and calm her down and walk her over to the Supervisor/Lead to take a break. Make sure you share specifics of the conversation and the incident in private with the management team and then let them evaluate the severity of the situation and share it with parents. You might be asked to write a statement that will be kept on file and will be confidential.