CBH at Triangle Teacher tagged me to help create a "teacher's passion quilt" by posting an image that "captures what you are most passionate for kids to learn."I thought about it for a while, and I decided that at the core of everything I want to teach my students is the notion of RESPECT. When you respect your teachers, you don't talk back, you listen, you give your best effort. When you respect your classmates, you keep your hands to yourself, you use kind words, you make an effort to help them. When you respect classroom property, you treat things gently and carefully. When you respect yourself, you try your hardest to make positive choices.
I fervently believe that what's missing from my students' curriculum right now is socialization: how to get along in a world with other people and treat them with respect. I really wish we could make that a scheduled part of our school day.
3 comments:
thanks for participating in the passion quilt! i love your square/philosophy and i have sent the link to saitseester so she'll post it on the quilt. you can see your square and all the others at:
http://saintseestersays.saintseester.com/2008/PassionQuilt/passion.html
I added your block to the quilt. Thanks!
Please forgive my time-travelling...
I'm just catching up on the quilt, and wanted to say I identify big-time with your overarching concept of respect.
I had a sign visible from both sides of my classroom door's window, in two languages:
"Respect Zone" and "Zona De Respeto."
I taught the students that the zone extended wherever they went, not just my classroom.
That one concept, taught, discussed, and practiced, eliminated one heck of a lot of classroom management challenges, and was part of my formative assessment strategy. I rarely had late assignments even though there was no grading penalty.
Respect is key, for sure.
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