Tuesday, April 28, 2015
How can we make YOKA's community for students and staff even stronger?
Does the YOKA DRAGON PACT embody the "Guiding Principals and the Rules and Expectations for Common Areas" that is already part of the YOKA school-wide expectations? What is next? What do we need to do to build a stronger YOKA community for students and staff?
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We need full participation from all teacher at all levels
ReplyDeleteI remember in Elementary School the morning announcements where every class was out on the blacktop and everyone did the pledge of allegiance together really made us feel like a community. What could we do that might be sort of like that? More Pep Rallies? The kids love those. Lunch time events that are fun and inclusive of everyone. Maybe the teachers could come out at lunch once a month and do some sort of contest or event that the kids could either watch or participate. I think community is built through shared experiences. We need more shared experiences as a school - like YOKAMMUNITY
ReplyDeleteYES! I love the idea of a monthly lunch time event. I say a group of us get together and discuss possible activities and start setting up for one activity before the year is through and a calendar of events for next year. I am in!
DeleteLove the Dragon Pact, can we get banners?
ReplyDeleteMore consequences both good and bad, fun activities, how about sports during lunch?
ReplyDeleteAlong this idea:
DeleteBe in contact with Luis when the students have a game or competition (saturday mornings) and have a "pep rally" for the competitors the Friday before during lunch.
This past saturday the boys had a soccer game, and this coming saturday, May 2, the girls play (not sure where yet).
I do like the idea of the pact, but we'll need to be sure to make it a big part of the school culture rather than just another page in the planner that is pointed out once at 6th grade orientation. I also agree with "hicxell," in that some sort of regular pep rally, theme day, or competition could really help to build a more cohesive feeling of community here.
ReplyDeleteAlso, YES on cell phone, electronics and tardy policy. Can we begin confiscating earphones?
ReplyDeleteI agree on the tardy and electronic policies. Consistency is key, especially when it comes to the use of electronics in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhat if we established a student court , where students apply the rules acting as judges. Student led justice.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a neat Social Studies project!
DeleteWhy do we send students to the office to get blue slips if the students are not being marked tardy in the office? Either the office should record the names of the students and then enter the names of the students as tardy or there is no reason for the students to spend 10 minutes missing instructional time getting a blue piece of paper.
ReplyDeleteYES on all the suggestions for change. However, it will be great to have EVERYONE on board EVERYDAY. I loved the suggestion of having an adult supervising our students are in uniform and ready to learn at the entrance of building. This will minimize struggle with difficult kids.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of teachers recording tardies is a great idea, particularly in the morning. It clears the hallways faster and we can focus on getting students in classes. But, this does require full participation. Teachers would have to have students in the room by the time the bell rings and be accurate with marking those tardies.
ReplyDeleteI do like the tardy sweep idea with an immediate consequence for that. Something that is handled right away. I'm excited about school wide implementation of agreed upon policies.
Community building and solidarity among staff is critical:
ReplyDelete-For example, last Monday's 7th grade field trip lacked strong communication between all the adults; we were not on the same page on what it would look like to take 300 7th graders. Students are very cognizant and know when we don't have it together/are not in communciation with each other, so they took advantage of the situation, resulting in the outcome of being asked to leave early. Staff should've talked before about what expectations (e.g. academic or behavior standing,e tc.)
-another example is just connecting more with each other as a staff. Every site has its "politics" and challenges, and so there's always room for doing better. However, if we cannot be well with each other, it's contradictory to ask that of our students. They know when we're not being real... Aside from after school get togethers, we should have built in community-building in our PD or staff meetings (outside of the team building examples).
-Like Mr. Ramos' idea of sports during lunch (with staff).
Stronger culture around our subs:
-having next door teachers help with accountablity so that students know the next door teacher or across the hall is keeing an eye out.
-consistent follow up with classes if there was weak academic productivity, bad behavior, vandalism, etc.
-parent/community involvement: getting more parent or community involvement (parent volunteers in classrooms or supervision?)
-like Mr. Lerer's idea of staff/adults monitoring at all entrance points in the morning
-agree with Mr. Mendez that participation from all teachers is critical
I like that we are opening the conversation about school wide expectations and consequences.
ReplyDeleteWe should be clear of when we are starting implementation to make sure we all enforce it together, so perhaps set up a date of when this will begin.
Sweaters: I think it would be better if we say no non-yoka sweaters on campus.
> The inside/outside the building policy creates inconsistency.
Restroom: I think as a school we should also have the same restroom policy. This way we can make sure no teacher is sending two students at the same time and we should agree how many passes they receive.
Grades: The seventh grade team agreed to require parent signature on their report card every grading period, and I think it is something all advisories can do. I also have the students calculate their GPA, which we can do to increase college/financial aid awareness. We can make sure all teachers understand how to calculate a GPA and its effects on college/financial aid.
I agree: clarity is key.
DeleteRe: sweaters—let's establish a policy for all sweaters/jackets inside the classroom, e.g., no wearing sleeves only; nothing in laps; sweaters not being worn should be "stored" (like warm coats, according to the dress code) in lockers or backpacks, not on tables.
Re: hall passes—pass page must still be in Agenda, not ripped out; no Agenda, no pass. period.
Re: report cards & GPA—make signed report cards a HW assignment; emphasizing GPA is a great idea.
I agree that we could skip blue slips and have teachers enter students as tardy to avoid missed instructional time. I think one concern with this, again, would be making sure teachers are consistent in recording tardies. It is time consuming to have to record them, no matter who is responsible for marking students late.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that monitoring students upon entry to the hallway would help support expectations and policies regarding uniforms and technology. Mr. Cortez does an excellent job of checking students at the gate in the mornings, but it is a challenge to maintain this throughout the day.
I agree that blue slips create missed instructional time. However, it is also documentation that I keep when parents question why I marked a student tardy.
DeleteI support all of the policies. It would be great if we could have more people/staffs monitor students before they enter the building. I see less students wearing non-YOKA sweater now. I'm sure if we are all consistent with the policies, students will change.
ReplyDeleteIn the library, I remind students often to remove their non-YOKA sweaters and put them in their backpack. It seems like they just wear them as long as they can till a staff member makes them put it away. Ideally, students should automatically put them away when indoors if they want to keep this privilege.
ReplyDeleteRegarding hall passes, I think the YOKA agenda planner pass works well as long as the student actually fills out the pass info before for leaving the class, carries the planner in their hand, and is by himself/herself unless both students have a valid reason to leave class.
On a side note, it would be really helpful if all students had their YOKA student ID with them daily. It makes a huge time difference in the library circulation procedures, especially with larger classes and limited time.
I think community-building between students, staff, and students & staff is always a good idea! :)
I really like the Dragon Pact I know that we speak about Respect but can we add an S for self-respect. Students with self respect don't participate in activities that would lead to them disrespecting their bodies, don't use offensive/foul language, and participate in activities that empower them. Just a thought
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ReplyDeleteI think we need to continue to do the things we are doing, with a continued emphasis on our philosophy which would permeate throughout the school through things like banners,assemblies and other relevant activities.
Delete1. It's Breakfast in the Classroom, not Breakfast in the Hallway. Let's cut out the daily free-for-all between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Students are finishing breakfast outside their rooms; yelling to each other; wandering around in packs. Are we just turning a blind eye to this and what it says about our focus as we begin each day of learning? And I don't think any food from outside should be eaten, except for religious reasons.
ReplyDelete2. I try to enforce every rule the school and district have established, but enforcing the ban on non-YOKA sweaters and outerwear in the building is exhausting and seems to be having no effect. Is it time to throw in the towel? I'd rather see the offending apparel being worn properly than spread across their laps. That brings me to my next point...
3. Let's have a consistent policy about all apparel: no sweaters worn "sleeves only"; nothing in laps; either worn correctly or stowed away in backpacks, not on tables; no long-sleeve undershirts of any color.
4. Backpacks should be hung over the backs of chairs. They are not to be used as bolsters or pillows. Students here refuse to follow this simple procedure; a lot of them leave their backpacks in aisles where they present a safety hazard. If theft is a worry, maybe we should require students to line up backpacks on the floor along one wall.
5. If you're not IN your ASSIGNED seat when the tardy bell rings, you're tardy. Who's letting students check in and head for the bathroom or water fountain, thinking they can return when they fell like it with the excuse "I was here"?
6. A hall pass is no longer a hall pass if it's torn out of the Agenda. We can't monitor the number of so-called emergencies unless the pass belongs to one student. No Agenda, no pass; no borrowing agendas; write the students name at the top of the hall pass page; pen only, no pencil.
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