Lessons for Learning, from Lego (Movie)

This year, I'm using "The Lego Movie" as a theme in my classroom.

Sure I have a couple little posters I made that I think are pretty fun, but there are also profound messages that I hope will motivate and inspire my students.

Check out this page from my class website, where I have embedded some of the more poigniant clips.

Class Dojo Intro Presentation & Videos

Here is a Presentation that will walk you through what Class Dojo is, and what you can do with it.

This video does a great job explaining how Class Dojo can help you emphasize positive behaviors in your class.

Parents love Class Dojo, too! Watch this video to see how CDJ can help you communicate with parents.

Class Dojo in my Classroom

We use PBIS in my district, which stands for Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports.
This is a great movement that seeks to use more positive means to affect students' behavior than merely punitive/negative ones. Here's how I connect those behaviors to my Class Dojo behaviors.

PBIS?
The way this works is that a school generally comes up with some sort of acronym (often having to do with their mascot), and uses each letter to list a behavior, or category of behaviors, that we are looking for from students. For example, "Give Respect" is one of ours. Giving Respect will look different in the classroom, the cafeteria, and the playground. So, several different posters are developed to very specifically teach students exactly what Respect, Excellence, and so forth all look like in those different contexts.

Tie Class Dojo behaviors to your school's behavior expectations
I set up my Class Dojo so that I could tie in to those school-wide PBIS behaviors on a daily basis, rather than just having my own set of behaviors. It really didn't require much adjustment at all, actually.

PBIS "Eagle Expectations" for my school
First, here are our what we call our "Eagle Expectations" (our mascot is...you guessed it...the eagle!):

Eagerly Learn
Act Responsibly
Give Respect
Listen Attentively
Exhibit Excellence

My Positive Class Dojo behaviors
Here are my positive behaviors. In some cases, the phrase I use is one of the descriptors of one of the main behaviors. I put the letter E, A, G, L, or e in front of the behavior so I could easily, verbally tie it more explicitly to the specific school-wide expectation, if it seems necessary or appropriate.

E- Eager to Learn
     An attitude thing. "Participate" is one descriptor for this school-wide one. I also look for that.

A-On Task
I use this one a lot by telling the class what to do, and then randomly choosing a student. If they are doing what I asked, the whole class hears my phone go "ding!", and they know someone is getting a point! Sure beats nagging those that are not yet on task!

G-Respectful
    Very versatile. Fun to give this one out. Easy to find situations where this is appropriate.

L-Listen Attentively
     Sometimes it's a toss up between this one and "On Task".  If they're doing what they're supposed to, they obviously were listening in the first place. When a student is sitting quietly when those around them are talking & making noise, I make a big deal out of this one.

e-Excellence
     I weighted this one double, so that if I randomly call on someone, and they are not only prepared with an answer (On Task), but have a correct answer, I can give them a point, essentially, for both with one tap.
     I also made it a lower-case "e" to avoid confusion with "Eager to Learn".

Math Practice Standards:
Be ready to affirm them when these qualities show up in your classroom!
I also included several of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. These are qualities of a mathematical conversation that I wanted to be ready to affirm. The "Justify/Critique" one is a bit of a crossover - it's also useful for during a Language Arts conversation, and students are defending their answer, giving textual evidence for their observation, and such.

MP1-Perseverance
MP3-Justify/Critique
MP5-Tools
MP6-Precision
MP7-Structure
MP8-Patterns

My Negative Class Dojo behaviors
Here are the negative behaviors I use. In the case of Act Responsibly,  I needed more than one negative behavior to specify just how they were being irresponsible.

E-Not Trying

A-Irresponsible

A-Off Task

A-Unprepared

G-Disrespectful

L-Not Listening

e-Disobedient

No Glasses 
     I added this one so I would have a way to track when a student that had glasses, needed glasses, and didn't bring them. I didn't penalize students if they were broken, truly lost. However, if the glasses were lost, I might give them a very pointed, clear expectation for "homework": look for them with your parents. I had them write this down in their planner. Then, the next day, if they have no glasses, and they tell me that they didn't look, I would assign a negative point here.


Any thoughts or questions on this? Leave a comment!

Do you connect your PBIS school-wide behaviors with your Class Dojo behaviors? Leave a comment explaining how!

Complete Message / Complete Apology

In the corner of my classroom, I have two small posters. One lists the parts of a Complete Message. The other lists the parts of a Complete Apology.

Early in the year, I thoroughly teach my class what each of these mean. Then, when there is a conflict between students, I am able to send them to that corner of the room for a bit of privacy and time, with these reminders of how to rebuild their relationship.

It has met with great success, and brings greater relational health to my classroom. It is also beginning to have an impact on the adults at my school site. 

Here is an explanation of both.

Complete Message

1. When you…

2. I felt…

3. I thought…

4. I need…

1. When you…

         This is a statement of fact. Describe the situation as impartially as possible. No judgements about motive, intentions, or hidden agendas.

If “Presuming Positive Intentions” may be difficult, but at least try to “Presume NEUTRAL Intentions”.

2. I felt…

3. I thought… (These could be in either order: “I thought”, then “I felt”)

         Own your own feelings and thoughts. No “you made me feel…”. Just a description of what you experienced. Since these thoughts and feelings occurred “when you…”, the suggestion is that the event played a large part in those thoughts and feelings.

         This stage might be tricky. “I felt that you…” might not be received well. You’ve lapsed into accusation at this point.

4. I need…

         Without this piece, the listener to this “complete message” might wonder, “What’s the point?” Perhaps you’ll need an apology, or some discussion about how things could be better next time. Perhaps there’s a way that things could be repaired. This step is where you describe what you think could help heal the relationship.

Complete Apology

1. I’m sorry…

2. That I…

3. because________.

4. Here’s how things will be different next time.

1. I’m sorry…

         Or, “sorry.” This is where we DON'T want students to stop. Adults don’t want to hear this word alone, either. By itself, this is pointless and without real meaning.

2. That I…

         Mention exactly what you did that caused hurt. It will be meaningful to hear you own your actions.

         Don’t say “I’m sorry that you felt hurt…” This might be perceived as avoiding responsibility, and will not be very meaningful.

3. because________.

         You need to mention why this was not OK for you to do. What’s wrong with what you did? This will be extremely meaningful to hear.

4. Here’s how things will be different next time.

         Most of the time, the person being apologized to needs to know that you won’t do it again. Here is an opportunity to explain what you will try to do differently next time.

Many thanks for teaching me about these ideas goes to:

Ron Claassen, from the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific University

and

Delores Friesen, PhD, Profesor Emerita of Pastoral Counseling at Fresno Pacific University

Thanks to Edutopia for stimulating the conversation, which prompted me to write this up as a blog post! 

Best Practices for Bringing Your Best

The other night, in the class I am teaching at Fresno Pacific University, I and my students were all struck by a particular passage in our textbook, "What Connected Educators Do Differently", by Whitaker, Zoul, and Casas.

We reflected on what the authors refer to as "best practices for bringing our best to our job every day". I hope this list challenges and inspires you as much as it did us.

•They bring their best to their organization every day, whatever their best may be that day. They are grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact on a child every day.

•They are intentional with their time and make the effort to connect personally with students and staff on a daily basis and then follow up with a quick word or note. They realize that even the smallest gesture of kindness can make all the difference to the person to whom it was extended.

•They are empathetic. They take time to understand, share, and be sensitive to another person’s feelings in order to foster a culture of trust. They recognize that every student and staff member will face some sort of personal and professional challenge at some point in time and they are sensitive to this fact. 

•They value mistakes and failure as learning opportunities. When they themselves make a mistake, they own it, apologize, and work to make sure it does not happen again. When they fail, they reflect on the experience as a way to see what they can learn for future attempts. 

•They model forgiveness—they are sincere in accepting apologies and moving on. They believe that most people’s intentions are good. 

•They understand they will not always see immediate results when working with kids. They are patient and think long term. They do not take things personally. They have figured out that many kids are just testing a system which had failed them long before that particular teacher came into the picture. 

•They have high standards for all kids every day. They do not make excuses for kids based on race, socioeconomic class, environment, or poor parenting. They truly believe in all kids all of the time and, more importantly, they love them as though they were their own. 

•They acknowledge inappropriate behavior of kids. They understand that by not doing so, they are sending a message that the misbehaving student is not worth their time or that they have given up on them. They have come to learn that if they hesitate to correct poor behavior, they have become part of the problem. 

•They bring positive energy every day. They know that complaining and talking negatively about kids, staff, or the work environment without offering a solution says more about them than it does about who or what they are complaining about. They take time to smile and laugh and encourage others to have fun.

These are traits that we hope to exhibit (on our good days!), which have very little to do with technology, a PLN, or anything in the course. However, working on a PLN is all about relationships, and this list is all about relating to each other in a healthy way. It is about healthy relationships, a healthy school site. It is a great list of ways that we can love our neighbor as ourselves, with deep respect... our neighbors being our students, our school-site colleagues, and our PLN-colleagues... ways we can do this with respect for ourselves, as well.