Building Good Citizens by Jamie Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a Wolfpack family, we take a positive and proactive approach to student management. Our primary goal is to provide every student with a safe learning environment that will allow them to thrive. The Wolfpack Way pledge is used on our campus to teach and promote positive behavior choices that will lead to success. Every morning on the announcements, we say the pledge together as a school community.: “ Every student at TWE pledges to Act Responsibly, Work Hard, Be Nice and Expect Success. It is the Wolfpack Way”. Each part of the pledge is multi-faceted and can be related to many situations students may face or decisions they will make throughout the day and school year.

We start the beginning of every year teaching and practicing the expectations for different activities in the classroom as well as different areas of the school. To help set the expectations throughout the year we use CHAMPS (C- Conversation, H- Help, A- Activity, M- Movement, P- Participation, S- Success). In Kindergarten and First Grade, we use a simplified version of CHAMPS called Mr. MAC (M- Movement, A- Activity, C- Conversation). When we set clear expectations with CHAMPS, it takes out all of the guess work and puts students at ease. We believe that with clear expectations all of our students can be successful. Below you will find some pictures of CHAMPS being used around the school. If you would like more information on CHAMPS please visit the safe and civil schools website: http://www.safeandcivilschools.com/

 

Once the expectations have been set and practiced, teachers use a variety of positive reinforcement tools including table points, pebble jars, warm fuzzies, and Leader of the Pack Tickets to reward students for making good decisions and following the expectations that have been set. We challenge teachers to give three positives for every negative/redirection given. You know the old saying, “You get more with honey”. It is true with students as well. Many times we can change student behavior through the use of positive reinforcement rather than consequences.

We know that no one is perfect and students may need consequences every now and then. Expectation cards are used in all grade levels to communicate behaviors that may be exhibited in the classroom or other areas of the school. The expectation card goes home every day so that you as the parent can stay informed about what happened at school that day. We recommend that parents use the expectation as a talking point to discuss the choices their student is making at school. The expectations at the bottom of the expectation card are related to the Wolfpack Way pledge. The number of marks a student receives on their expectation card will determine their citizenship/work habits grade for each nine weeks.

 

At the end of every nine weeks, we have a citizenship party for each grade level. Every student who has less than 4 marks on their expectation card will join Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Gilder, Miss Brown, and Mrs. Ratliff for a fun activity to reward their good behavior. We want to spotlight the good choices students are making and promote the importance of the Wolfpack Way. Our hope is that students will leave TWE with a motto for life that they will act responsibly, work hard, be nice. Our goal is successful citizens!