Quote of the Day

Do you agree with our quote of the day from Josie, a reader from the original stoplight post?

“When the teacher purchases or makes a stoplight, labels sticks or cards with each child’s name, and publicly displays this system in the classroom, the only member of that classroom who has had any input is the teacher.

When classroom management systems like the one described in the original post rely upon shame and humiliation to create obedience, a community is formed, but it is a community where children have no voice, no power, and no respect.

All children deserve a classroom community where they feel safe, where they aren’t constantly and publicly compared to their peers, and where they have been honestly included in establishing the rules they are forced to live by.

The stoplight system as originally described does none of that.”

Link of the Day: There is no such thing as a bad kid

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Link of the Day

Encouraging news from Spokane: “To make school what it’s supposed to be – a safe place to learn – instead of a place that metes out sentences to a damaged life… the six elementary trauma-informed schools in Spokane are well on their way in their quest to reverse the epidemic of adverse childhood experiences.”

Imagine if our schools all took this approach to healing children and giving them what they need.