Behavior TOOLS

If you haven't listened to Rita Pierson, you are certainly MISSING OUT! I play this video for my staff at least once a year. Her words are so powerful. If you have never seen this video, it is well work the 7 and a half minutes this will take.

Rita Pierson was a revolutionary because she understood the deep connection that was required of a teacher, especially when teaching children that are sometimes DIFFICULT to teach.

Have you ever walked into a room or maybe even your own home and been greeted daily by someone who was less than pleasant? Even a restaurant or a store, for that matter. When you walk in and someone is less than inviting, are you likely to WANT to return to that place? Are you likely to want to walk through your front door if you are nagged daily about every little thing? Probably NOT.

Guess what ...our students feel the same way ... We cannot NAG them into submission regardless of how badly we want it ... actually, it often has the opposite affect on students. Students need to feel loved, valued, respected, appreciated and heard. I mean ... you don't have to do these things, but if you make it a habit to not engage authentically and in a loving manner with students, that is up to you, but I guarantee your work is going to be much more difficult than it has to be. This is NOT to say that you cannot be strict or highly structured with the highest of expectations. For some reason, many teachers think these two notions are mutually exclusive. They are not. You can be strict and loving. Children just need to be understood and cared for. Even the most challenging kiddos will rise to the challenge for adults that they know love them. I am also not coming to you from a Utopian perspective. Remember, my work for 16 of the last 20 years has been completed in TITLE I (100% minority and 100% poverty.) During this time, all of my schools were in state corrective action. I have served for the Teenage Pregnancy Program, Drop Out Prevention, Alternative Schools, etc. I'm not saying the work is easy and I am also not saying it happens over night. However, if children believe we are coming from a place of love with consistent and fair expectations, they will be able to appreciate the structure and expectations.

Below is a Professional Development that I do with staff ...