A post with a whole lot of pictures!

The beginning of a new school year is reserved for getting to know each other better and learning the expectations, routines and procedures of the classroom.  We have been spending lots of time practicing, practicing and practicing following directions and thinking about the expectations.  We wanted to share some of the language and visuals that are being used in the classroom.  These may provide a starting point for conversation with your child!

We Know.  We Do.  We Feel.
Here is our school mission or pledge:

We recite this mission during announcements each morning.  The words "know", "do" and "feel" are also incorporated when talking with students about choices they are making (i.e. What do you know about listening?  What do you do when you listen?  How do you feel when you listen).

Check out Hoot the Wise Owl...

Hoot reminds us that rules are important--rules tell us what we need to do so we can be the best we can be!  The rules in our classroom are quite simple: Be Safe.  Be Respectful.  Be a Problem Solver.  We reflect on this words frequently.  Students work to make smart choices with these rules in mind.

We may earn a brownie point when we make really smart choices by following directions the first time!  This is a whole class effort!  As you can see, we have already earned three!  Once the cookie tray is full with ten brownie points, the class votes on a special reward.

We usually use call and response chants to get the attention of the class.  It may sound something like this, "I say hip, you say hop...hip...hop, hip...hop.  I say hocus, you say pocus...hocus...pocus, hocus...pocus.  I say ALL SET, you say YOU BET...ALL SET...YOU BET."  The students are working very hard to stop, drop everything, look and listen when the last part of the chant is said. 

We also spend a good amount of time practicing lining up and walking in the halls.  The reminders are simple:

We have chatted about appropriate voice levels.  The yellow finger moves to give a visual reminder of what our voices should sound like.  

Lastly, we have practiced and practiced what it sounds like and looks like to show Whole Body Listening.  This is not always an easy task for first graders, but it is certainly a necessary one!

It is our hope that the extra time and effort spent learning and practicing these routines, procedures and expectations at the beginning of the year will allow us to be the best learners we can be to succeed!