Behavioral Expectations


Behavioral Expectations

 

“What a jerk! And there’s another one. And another. Oh my, this is ridiculous.”

Over break, I was in a mini-traffic jam that closed 1 of 2 lanes. The construction crews had marked the lane merge and closure but the lane that was being taken away was still open for cars making a right turn. The open lane, the one I was in, was backed up for more than a mile. But every 30 seconds, a vehicle zoomed past, bypassing the traffic and merging at the last minute. 

 

I was going to be late for an appointment and that had me on edge. As vehicles snuck past, I became increasingly frustrated, muttering to myself, ““What a jerk! And there’s another one. And another. Oh my, this is ridiculous.”

The driver of the truck behind me was more aggressive and vocal. He blew his horn at the offending drivers, and as we neared the merge point, he positioned his truck on my bumper and straddled both lanes, preventing cars from merging at the last minute. Looking in my mirror, the cars behind him inched up. A blockade. 

Of course, the open lane drivers didn’t take kindly to this. Within seconds dueling car horns blared; followed by windows being rolled down and pleasantries being exchanged. Their anger became almost comical to me. My mood lightened as I was entertained by the absurdity of everyone’s actions. 

With no place to go, I reflected. Perhaps one of the lane runners did not realize the lane was closed? Maybe they were unfamiliar with the area? Could the traffic be preventing them from an appointment? An emergency? Do the various parties not understand the social contracts and the unwritten rules of the road? 

Here’s the thing, this is similar to our students who struggle with behavioral expectations. As a teacher I never got mad at a student when they didn’t meet my academic expectations. I examined my teaching, their learning and developed a plan based around reteaching, new learning and reassessing. But, when a student misbehaved, I assumed the worst and took disciplinary action. 

Why the disparity? 

The student who struggled with the content lacked the academic knowledge and skills to demonstrate mastery. For the student with the challenging behaviors, the expectations eclipsed their skills. There’s really no difference. 

Now I have no clue how to teach road manners. But I do know that we must be explicit in teaching our students behavioral expectations and we need to tier our supports accordingly. I know our elementary teachers excel at this and I’m sure many secondary teachers do better than I did as a teacher. Through explicit instruction, modeling and practice students will learn our behavioral and social expectations. When a student misbehaves we must get to the root of the problem and identify the lagging skills, remain calm and analyze the situation, and develop a plan often with the help of others.  

I’m reminded of what child psychologist and author Ross Greene maintains, “Kids do well when they can and when they can’t, it’s because they are delayed in the development of the necessary skills.” 

How do you explicitly teach an model behavioral and social expectations in your classroom? 

 

Office Hours 

I have updated the office hour spreadsheet and did my best to assign any student with a D/F to your office hours. Please see the tab “Use this tab.” I’ve created a filter so you can filter it for your classes. 

 
  1. Please review the list and make sure that students have the correct Zoom link. 
  2. Share with your first period classes 
    1. Changes to Office Hours
    2. No advisory
  1. Mark students who are absent by clicking the appropriate checkbox (starting in column Q). 
  2. Add students (add student first and last name and the class/teacher in the appropriate column. I will resend this on Friday mornings for the following week. 
  3. Delete (remove your class and name) any students whom you do not need to see.

 

Tips 

The primary purpose is to provide learning supports for students. This is an opportunity for us to use a more structured system to meet the students’ academic needs as they work towards mastery. To ensure this occurs, this time must be strategically targeted and instructional for the students. 

For some students this might mean they need a time/place to be held accountable for completing work. Others might require a little guide by the side. And some are in need of more intensive support to include re-teaching in a different manner, pre-teaching vocabulary, or creating more visuals/graphic organizers, etc.

The below message was sent to students on the list at 11:30ish on Sunday.  

 

Assigned Office Hours

Welcome back! I hope you had a good spring break.

It’s hard to believe that we’re in the homestretch for this school year. To help you finish strong, we have revamped office hours to ensure we are providing you with additional time and support.

Office hours occur every day from 10:00am-10:30am. They provide students with more intensive support than can be offered in class. To support your academic progress, you have been assigned to the following classes/teachers for office hours. We believe that this will help you achieve academic success.

Mondays: «Monday» «MondayTeacher»

Tuesdays: «Tuesday» «TuesdayTeacher»

Wednesdays: «Wednesday» «WednesdayTeacher»

Thursdays: «Thursday» «ThursdayTeacher»

Fridays: «Friday» «FridayTeacher»

If you have any questions, please reach out to the teacher. For most teachers the Zoom link is the same as it is for your class. Of course, on days that you are not assigned to a specific teacher, you are welcome to attend office hours for other classes. 

Report Cards

While grades are not averaged with Marking Periods, we want students and families to have an accurate understanding of where they stand academically. Please have 3rd quarter/marking period grades updated by next Sunday, April 17. 

 

Announcements

Monday: https://youtu.be/nlQJwS3zPLM 

Tuesday: https://youtu.be/Su2eWCDgiIo 

Wednesday: https://youtu.be/6Ge2reOgaH

Thursday: https://youtu.be/C1ZLBPqRJWg 

Friday: https://youtu.be/z9AFSMAhpYk  2 notes about Friday: 1st, I was a week early with Easter (Honestly I thought Easter was on April 10 when I made the announcements several weeks ago for before spring break. I decided not to redo the Easter info. But I do talk about Passover on Friday’s announcements, so it’s a little long). 

 

Mindful Messages 

Mindful Message

Prompts 

Monday

A mind is like a parachute, it doesn’t work if it doesn’t open. 

~Frank Zappa

Can you think of a time where you had to open your mind to new ideas? 

What does it mean to have an open mind? 

I am always learning from reading, new friendships, work. What are some ways that you are always learning? 

Tuesday

Visualize success, then take action. 

What does success look like for you? 

Why is it important that you define success in your terms? 

Why is it important to visualize success? 

Sometimes when I’m struggling it’s hard to visualize success, why is it really important at those times to visualize it? 

Wednesday

We are all a work in progress, so forgive others as you would wish to be forgiven.

It’s also important that we forgive ourselves. 

Do you find it easier to forgive others for their mistakes or to forgive yourself? 

What are you working on? 

Why is forgiveness important? 

Thursday 

See something, say something. 

If you see something wrong, don’t just walk on by. Pause and consider what you can do. Don’t just look away. A little kindness goes a long way. 

I will always pause and be kind. 

Why is it always important to speak up 

What is the role of a bystander when something bad is going on? 

Why is it sometimes hard to speak up? 

Friday 

Live life with no regrets. 

Why is this important? 

How can you make this happen? 

 

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