This+We+Believe,+This+We+Know-The+Research

=This We Believe=


 * 1) Education has changed. The job we are asked to do today is not the same job we were asked to do a decade ago. The focus has changed from //learning for some// to //learning for all//, and then to //learning for all, whatever it takes//.
 * 2) Relationships are the cornerstone of classroom management for sure and, are at the heart of what educators do every day.
 * 3) Confessing the Sins of the Student: In the confines of the staff room, teachers will sometimes vent frustrations by competing for the "worst student" story. It's a dangerous game to play because by repeating the stories, we can start to believe that most of our kids are bad. In fact, the opposite is true. Most of our kids are good, and they all have potential.
 * 4) Parents send us the best kids they have. They don't keep the good ones at home.
 * 5) Teacher must stand before their students with a firm rooted belief that every student can be successful.
 * 6) If you are going to work with kids, you have to remember what it's like to be a kid!
 * 7) Philosophy examples
 * 8) Catch 'em being good.
 * 9) Have a plan, work the plan.
 * 10) Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
 * 11) I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized. Ginott, H. (1976). //Teacher and child//. New York: Avon.

=This We Know - The Research=
 * Complex Change Chart
 * 1) Research shows that universal interventions can be effective with as many as 80 percent of a school's student body (Colvin, Kame'enui, & Sugai, 1993; Taylor-Greene et al., 1997). In other words, those students adapt to the behavior expectations and may not need more individualized, intensive secondary or tertiary interventions.
 * 2) I have read in several sources that "behavior occurs for one of two reasons: to __get something__ or to __avoid something__." I would add two additions. Inappropriate behavior can occur because the __student doesn't know__ the behavioral expectations. If this is the case, then the student needs to be taught the expectations. Inappropriate behavior can also be the result of the __student not being able__ to behave in accordance with expectations. This could be due to a learning or behavior disorder for example.
 * 3) Teaching behaviors to our kids should be done the same way we teach academics.
 * 4) The behavior and commitment of adult role models are critical to the success of any school improvement plan. (Malcolm Gladwell (2009), in a summary of teacher effectiveness research, clearly showed that the difference between good teachers and poor teachers is vast. If we are to be successful in making a difference in the lives of kids, then we must model what we want to see. If we want our students and our school community to improve, change, grow, and learn, then //we// must be willing to change and improve. DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker (2008) refer to this as //collective commitment//: When educators clarify and commit to certain shared values, they are engaged in the essential ABC's of school improvement - identifying the actions, behaviors, and commitments necessary to bring mission and vision to life. (p. 148).
 * 5) How we conduct ourselves, the choices we make, and the behaviors we model will be reflected back by our students. Gladwell (2009) estimates that the difference in student learning between a good teacher and an average teacher is equal to a year's worth of learning in a single year of school. According to Gladwell (2009), "Your child is actually better off in a bad school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher" (p. 317). Gladwell, M. (2009). //What the dog saw: And other adventures//. New York: Little, Brown.
 * 6) marzano's effective tchr chart link
 * 7) If our goal is to have all student learn and grow, we must begin to make a difference at the most basic levels first. Student behavior is key. The research on effective schools (Hulley & Dier, 2008; Lezotte, 1997) points to the importance of safe, orderly, and caring school environments. At the school-wide level, there must be plans and systems in place to support a positive learning environment. Plans and systems are only as good as the people implementing them. Adult behavior must demonstrate commitment to the plan. At the classroom level, that safe environment starts with the teacher.
 * 8)  Brain-based research supports this notion that students learn very little academically if their social-emotional needs are not met first. It gets right back to Abraham Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of basic needs: we must feel safe and cared for before we can effectively concentrate on higher-level thinking. It does not matter how knowledgeable the teacher is about her subject area if she does not make an emotional connection with her students. It does not matter how well the teacher has planned his lesson if he has not created a safe, caring environment in his classroom. This point is emphasized by the high school senior who told us, "I want to get to know my teacher, and I want my teacher to know me." Hierck. T, Coleman, C, & Weber, C (2011). //Pyramid of interventions: Seven keys to a positive learning environment//. Solution Tree Press