Talking Points-Collaboratively Conveying Expectations
Our character committee had long churned out lessons. And yet, our office referrals remained stagnant. The problem? Our method of conveying expectations lacked collaboration and the necessary personal connection. So, we created Talking Points. We modified our schedule to begin each day with a 20-minute Home Base class; this is a nonacademic setting focused on making student connections, and we set aside every Wednesday for Talking Points. Before school began, we set out a Talking Points schedule and asked each area to adopt two weeks; this included office staff, bus drivers, our parent organization, custodians, teacher -- literally everyone! Our directives were simple: On Monday, email out Talking Points addressing specific behavioral issues they saw that were incongruent with our core values. Then, every Wednesday, our Home Base teachers will cover the Talking Points in a manner that best fits their class. While the bus drivers talked about safety, the English teachers talked about academic honesty, the cafeteria workers talked about manners, parents talked about the power of derogatory words. Every area of our school was given a voice, and our students are listening!