THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009

Happy Summer Break!

I truely hope that you get the opportunity to relax and and enjoy some great summer weather. Have a great Break.

If you are ever bored and want to start thinking about next year...please visit www.pbis.org and browse through the information available on this website on positive behavior support and interventions. We will be talking a lot about this next year...and developing a plan to implement a PBIS model at Marinette Middle School.

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009

TORNADO DRILL - please post any comments or questions you may have about today's drill.

For more severe weather fact. Read, Print or Download the following document:

THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2008

What is PBIS? Click the link below to view a video highlighting a school-wide positive behavior and intervention support model.

"Creating the Culture of Positive Behavior Supports"
A film by Gray Olsen and Paula Baumann, Produced for The University of Oregon and the OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009

COOL WEBSITE

Check out www.funnelbrain.com for a cool website that allows you to create online flashcards. You can create your own or search through the hundreds of shared flashcard sets created by educators.

Do you want to practice your presidents? Click here to try out "Presidents of the United States" Flashcards.

On a completely different subject - it's been a very active week so far. The office averaged 28 students being sent to the office out of classrooms each of the past two days. This time of year seems to bring the worse out in everyone. Let's continue to try to be proactive in preventing as many student issues from arising as possible.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2009

STRATEGY FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE CLASSROOM

What do you do with that student who never raises his or her hand? Are they unmotivated or just afraid that they might answer wrong in front of their peers? What about the student who is practically jumping out of their seat eager to answer every question you put to the class? Here's a simple strategy you can start using today to address both the unmotivated, shy learner and the super motivated class know it all.

8 Raised Hands

When posing a question to the entire class...ask the question...pause... and do not continue until at least 8 students raise their hands. Once 8 students raise their hands...individually call on each student who raised their hand...instruct them to give their answer...and say "thank you". Do this for all students who raised their hands. Do not acknowledge a right or wrong answer. After all students have answered...reveal the correct answer.

This strategy can engage the unmotivated or shy learner and build a sense of community in the classroom. The celebrity status of getting the answer right or wrong is lessened which in turns, reduces the attention on the student who always answers.


HAVE A GREAT 4 DAY WEEK!!!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2008

Last week I attended the Association of Wisconsin School Administrator's Annual Associate Principals Conference. Over the the 2 1/2 day event I met many AP's from around the state. The opportunity to network and establish contacts was invaluable, however I also came away from the Conference with many, many great ideas that are being used in schools just like ours and with great success. Over the next several months I will share what I learned and how we can use it to make Marinette Middle School an even greater place than it already is.

Here's a strategy for Motivating Reluctant Learners that you can start using today.

THE 2 X 10 STRATEGY (not the 2 X 4 strategy)

Have you every had a student whose very presence in the classroom causes disruptions and brings down others which results in a less than enjoyable experience for both teacher and student? I know we all have. Recently, I have heard more complaints of students who cause this very thing to happen. Research by Dr. Raymond Wlodkowski shows that if you talk with "one of those" students for 2 minutes each day for 10 days... that student's behavior and overall success will improve in the classroom will improve 85%. Let the student talk about anything he/she wants. Show your interest. Great them daily and restart the conversation. Think about this. If every staff member at MMS tries this strategy with their most challenging student, there is the potential to improve the behavior and success of 50 plus students. This would undoubtedly have a wide-reaching impact on the entire building. It's simple and it's worth the 2 minutes it takes.

Have a great week!!!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008

Have you ever had a student who just refused to do what you asked them too? I'm sure we have all experienced this at some point in our carreers. I can say that I've been experiencing all to much recently, especially in the past two week. What do you do? What do you say? We are all human and our initial reaction is probably to "throw the book" at the kids and slap him or her with a bunch of punitive punishments. Did you know there is a name for this behavior displayed by some of our mostchallenging students...it's call PUSHBACK. The article below is taken from the Winter edition of "Developmental Designs...A Middle School Newletter". In this article, two middle school educators discuss "PUSHBACK" situations they have experienced and how the handled them. Click below to enlarge the article or simpley print it out. You may even want to read it as a Team and discuss how you have handled "PUSHBACK" situations. After reading the article, please feel free to post a comment to this blog with your comments and experience with "PUSHBACK".

Have a great week!!!