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
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.
Link of the Day
“I recently had the pleasure of spending two full days at Garfield Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia, a school that has been using the Responsive Classroom approach for close to ten years. After that visit, I am fully convinced that the best teachers teach love.”
Do you agree?
privacy matters
Radical Idea of the Day: If your child is in a stoplight classroom and it isn’t going to change any time soon, respectfully request that his/her name be taken down and that the feedback be shared privately with you and your child.
While teachers keeping the information private is our #1 alternative to the stoplight, this simple idea of the parent requesting privacy for their own child came from a wise friend. Please let us know if it works for you/your child.
photo of the day: code of cooperation
This is Frannie Gay’s first year w/o a stoplight or similar system. Check out the ‘Code of Cooperation’ she created with her class… I especially love the last two!
quote of the day…
Quote of the day: “My son, now 24, was that kid who was always the one who “made a poor choice”. At 24 he is the most lovely kind and empathetic person, and currently in grad school, respected by his peers and his professors alike. But as a child, he was hard work. When your kid is always the kid whose name is on the wall, because he’s the one who is taking a little longer to learn those sorts of skills that come naturally to other kids, well, it breaks your heart as a mother. When your 5 year old says he hates school, it breaks your heart. When your kids says he wants to put his own name on that chalkboard just to “get it over with” it breaks your heart. Just because real life is shaming doesn’t mean the classroom has to be. That is false logic, and we need to create a better world for our kids, starting in the classroom.” – comment from Pat, left on the original stoplights post.
