Fostering A respectful learning environment at cottage lane

Fostering A respectful learning environment at cottage lane elementary school

Theory Of Action If we continue to build a strong community both within our classrooms and school then students will learn to be empathetic responsible citizens who feel safe and respected. Our Goal is to create a warm and meaningful classroom and school environment where every child feels safe, welcome and successful. ü Morning Meeting ü Word and Book of the Month ü Monthly Assemblies that promote character education that help to ü ü create a positive school climate for everyone Monthly activities which give students opportunities to demonstrate the word of the month in the classroom, the school and the world Communication with families about the Character Education Program Code of Conduct meetings with Each Class Form connections

Staff

Character Education

Character Education Sharing Research: ü Making Caring Common Project at Harvard University ü Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence Partnered with Facebook ü The Price of Shame Ted Talk – Monica Lewinsky

Adults. . . Can Grow Too ü As adults we need to see ourselves as growing also… how can we reflect and become more empathetic? ü We need to work on listening to understand- not just listening to reply. ü We need to model empathetic behavior.

How We Can Help ü Praise hard work and kindness rather than achievement. ü Be a compassionate role model – lead by example. ü Express gratitude ü Remind kids about those in need ü Teach students to take the perspective of others.

Parents

Fostering a Respectful Learning Environment Focus on Empathy ü 96% of parents say “we want caring kids!” ü 80% of kids say “achievement or happiness is my top priority!” (From Making Caring Common Project) ü HOW CAN WE MAKE IT BOTH?

What can we do to help our children be happy and caring? ü Remind your children through conversation and actions that caring for others can make us feel good. ü Help your children deal with age appropriate stress and adversity. ü Help your children to honor commitments and relationships with others. ü Help children find daily ways to practice caring and being helpful.

Data

Character Education. Establishing Expectations ü Code of Conduct ü DASA ü Introducing the team to all students ü Collecting information and baseline data

Student Survey Data Empathy Questions: What does empathy mean? How can you show empathy? Egocentric Question: What makes you happy? What words would you most want people to use to describe you? Have an Adult Question: Is there one adult at Cottage Lane who you feel comfortable talking to about a problem? Who is it? Feelings Question: How do you feel most of the time? How safe do you feel in school? (* Not safe at all, *I feel safe sometimes, *I feel safe in some places and not in others, *I feel safe most of the time, *I always feel safe)

Respectful CLE School psychologists Mrs. King and mr. jones

Learning CLE technology teachers Mrs. Guzas and Mr. tanenbaum

Clubs at Cottage Lane Club Number of Participants Debate Club 28 Students Video Production Club 55 Students Word Masters 45 Students Math Olympiads 90 Students Chess Club 122 Students Lego Robotics 47 Students Competition Robotics 30 Students Instrumental Music Lessons 450 Students

1 2 Environment CLE GT Teacher Mrs. Mcbride

Our Character Education Program in Numbers ü 235 – students who put leaves on our gratitude tree (showing that they expressed gratitude to someone) ü At least half of our staff members passed on a gratitude card to a colleague ü 275 – pairs of socks donated by students ü 25 large boxes of food were collected for local families ü 273 - number of students who showed gratitude to a veteran in November ü Together with William O. Schaefer School, 31 boxes of candy were collected for troops overseas ü 139 - number of students who passed on a gratitude card to a classmate

Recommended Next Steps: ü Meet with PTA Monthly starting in December ü Reevaluate the effectiveness of our work using the survey ü Increase Support ü Revisit screening survey