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.”

“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?

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!