...work on behavior management from the office perspective. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I handle a lot of discipline in my role as an Assistant Principal. At times, I feel like it is a great opportunity to help guide students in making more positive choices. Then there are those days when I see the same kid two or three times in one day, and I don't feel like I'm making an impact.
Regardless of the day, I've always had some go-to items in a folder for me to use. Two of these things are a Think Sheet and blank paper for an apology letter.
However, many students don't know how to write an apology, and my frustration grows deeper when I go to check on a 4th graders letter to his/her teacher or classmate and see one sentence that states, "I'm sorry."Therefore, this year, I'm going to use this as another opportunity for learning, and high expectations, and I have created some templates for apology letters to use. I wrote some mock apology letters and have the guidelines included so that my older students can be independent in this task. There are also times when I am in a meeting and my secretary checks them and copies them for me to reference later. This will give her something to reference when checking the letters. Whether I like it or not, some students, even when in the office, don't put forth their best effort.
I would also like to be better about communicating the steps I have taken with students with their teachers. I want to make copies of these forms and share whether or not I contacted home more consistently.
The forms I have used in the past are bland and boring. The apology letters were just written on blank notebook paper (for all grade levels!). So, I've put together some of these resources in a bit more user friendly format with this new pack. I have it on sale for just $1.50 right now! Hop on over to grab a copy and make your own folder for your classroom.
Don't forget to check out the linky with LOADS of other behavior management posts and products!
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend. We're off to celebrate the great dad's we have in our life! Gotta run!
1 comment:
Mary Beth,
I appreciate your post being from an admin perspective. As a teacher I often find that when I do FINALLY kick a kid out of my class nothing is done. I would LOVE to have something done similar to this in our school and might bring it up to our admins at my school. I rarely send a kid out of my classroom, as I believe that they need to be in my class, but when it interferes with the learning of others, they are out. Typically when this happens the student is sent back in 10 minutes and no changes, no note of what was spoken about, and no follow up. I would LOVE it if my student came back with an apology letter and the communication letter you are working to be better at.
Thank you,
I will be sharing this with our leadership team this fall.
Cheers,
Jameson
Lessons With Coffee
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