Twenty Percent

As the season noticeably turns from Summer to Fall this week, fall sports wind down and the boilers fire up, we cross the line of 20% completed for our school year.  Twenty percent of a student's freshman, sophomore, junior or senior year is over.  This blog post is my reflection on that time and an opportunity to refocus us on the thought of urgency. 

I have been impressed by the staff here and by their collective dedication to making sure students have a positive experience at Lincoln Park High School.  We have begun some challenging work on improving the efforts that we make in promoting social and emotional health for our kids, including a positive start with our full PBIS Committee and significant efforts in incorporating the Responsible Thinking Center in to our every day.

While all of this is going on and improving our school, I want to highlight the fact that the greatest impact we are going to have on our students happens inside your classrooms.  At the 20% mark or almost halfway through the first semester, are you where you want to be with your students and your goals for the school year?  Are your students where you wanted them to be at this point?  How are we addressing the ones that are not? 

The one major point I would like to discuss is the idea that behavior is communication.  We use this comment over and over again in regards to our students, as we try to decipher their behaviors to figure out what is happening in their lives and how we can help them.  But the behavior that is most important in our building is our own.  As adults, are we leading by example?  Are we building the sense of community that we would want our own children to experience in their school?  Based on my observations, I think we are giving this our best effort.  There is room for improvement in some areas though. 

Some things that I would like to see communicated a little more clearly is a big part of CKH, where we are greeting students at the door and welcoming them to our classrooms and setting the tone for the day.  This does not happen enough in our building and is a district initiative, so please be sure to make an effort at each passing time to be stationed at your door and communicating this to our students.  It's your first opportunity to gauge student moods and to begin to assess how you will move forward with each hour. 

The last communication that I would like to see made more clear is the value of each minute in your room.  We don't always think of what we are communicating to our students during "down time" in your classroom, but it can often show that we aren't valuing student time or our time with them.  As we continue to move forward, please take advantage of every minute that you have these students in your room. Start on time and teach them the importance of being in your room promptly.  Engage them for the entire hour, every hour.  Our kids need structure and engagement constantly and we know that.  Just five minutes of "down time" in each hour loses 15 days of instruction for those kids.  They can't afford that. 

Finally, as the weekend approaches and we get ready to turn the calendar to November, take the time to reflect on what is happening in your rooms.  Celebrate the successes you've had to this point, there have been plenty in our building!  But set a goal moving forward for how you are going to improve and remember that is ultimately our number one goal.  We must always improve!