What’s New in Room 2?

Behavior

Many of the students were not on their best behavior this week. Please check in with your student and discuss their behavior in class. Ask them about their conduct. One way to get a correct response out of  your student is to ask them, “If I asked Mrs. MacDonald about your behavior, what would she say?”

Areas of concern include:

• Blurting out during discussions instead of waiting to be called on
• Talking over the teacher or other students when they participate in classroom discussions or give responses
• constant attempt to go to the bathroom during direct instruction
• talking off-topic during independent work time
• treating others with disrespect

While many students in the class have outstanding behavior, it is always helpful to reinforce your expectations of your child at school. I appreciate your support and would be happy to speak further with you regarding this issue at anytime.

FOCUS

Another concern I have with several of the students is their ability or willingness to pay attention to classroom learning. I assess students throughout the day and ask for verbal feedback and physical cues (individually, group or whole class)  to let me know they are listening and following along during instruction. I watch and listen carefully because just because a student is quiet and well behaved, it doesn’t mean they are paying attention. There does seem to be quite a few students in our classroom that fall into this category, so I am focusing hard in this area and following up frequently, so students will see they are held accountable for the information I am teaching.

I also work hard to get students to be active learners. While students are eager to share, they do not do a good job at this age listening to each other. I continue to instill in them that they can learn by listening to each other and that I am not the only teacher in the room.