Values in Action! School Report
Better Choice Chair
Thank you for the Better Choices Chair. I used that today with a student who
was disrespectful to me. It allowed me to respond to her without feeling angry
and gave her time to figure out a better way. Frequently, “Can you find a
better way to do that?” is a response I use to correct inappropriate actions,
so a Better Choice Chair is a logical next step.
Anything adults do for kids we take away an opportunity for children to learn Responsibility!
After you told us that anything we did for students that they could do for
themselves taught irresponsibility, I started thinking about classroom
routines. I initiated a “Class Secretary” and a “Lunch Clerk”. The secretary
takes attendance for me each day, records it on the attendance slip and brings
it to me for my signature. It takes me just a second to scan the room and
double check since it is an important document. The Lunch Clerk takes lunch
money to turn in, records it, records lunch count and turns those in. Children
turning in lunch money are responsible to see that the clerk records
their money correctly.
Each Friday, a new secretary and clerk are selected and the old ones train the
new ones. The children take the jobs very seriously and it has freed me up
first thing in the morning to greet students, spend a few minutes listening to
them, and celebrating their arrival. The children have been incredibly
accurate in the paperwork making fewer mistakes than I do. In an odd way this
seems to have added to the children’s sense of ownership of the class.
Reinforcing Responsible Behavior
It started by accident. One day when a student did something terrific, I put
both my hands up in the air to slap his hands, our
fingers intertwined, and we drew a large circle with our hands. The kids
loved it and now are much more impressed by receiving that attention than any
sticker, note or anything I could GIVE them.
Levels of Responsibility Chart
I posted the Levels of Responsibility Chart from your Book the Big “R” on my
chalkboard. We discussed each level and my students really seemed to
understand. Throughout the day we check where we are on each of the levels.
When a student said, “I didn’t have time to do my homework,” we went to the
chart and discussed that level. Now many of the students will check
themselves and actually change the language they use to work at being at a
higher level of responsibility.
Student Poster If it needs to be done I’ll be the one!
I introduced your poster “If it needs to be done, I’ll be the one.”
Immediately, my students began to do things such as stack chairs and pick up
trash without being asked. I even went so far as to make large signs to post
in the hallways for all students to see because I believe that statement is so powerful.
I have posted many of the reminders from the Values in Action! Program
on the chalkboard. I am convinced that the children absorb what they see. I
had several of them posted before you came to train us. When our music
teacher went home the
night after training, she was telling her family about it and her son who is
in my class said, ” Oh, Mrs. Cottle has that up in her room,” and even added
to what she was saying. We refer to these signs often.
Code of Ethics- Storybooking
We have begun teaching the Student Code of Ethics I also tried a technique
called “Storybooking” with a 5 year old who had kicked another child. It
involved my sketching her actions, feelings and the victim’s feelings with
stick figures and labeling those actions and feelings. Then I drew the
better alternative she told me, how she would have felt and how the victim
would have felt had she made a better choice. She then took the paper and
explained it to her teacher and the victim and apologized. It was very
powerful.
Character’s Character
We discuss the character’s character in the books we read, class novels, read-
a-louds and stories from our anthology. One novel by Gary Paulsen titled
Danger on Midnight River included compassion, perseverance, and initiative.
The students used mapping techniques to explore the changes in the characters’
ethics and decision making. We also looked at which characters would make
good friends and which ones we would not choose as friends. With each book, we
read it becomes easier to relate Values in Action to character’s traits and ethics.
– Michelle Cottle Anderson School Spring Texas