It's easy to let the grind of this time of year get to us and dip our energy and motivation levels - it's easy to let slide those "moves" we know work especially when winter is still in full swing and as relentless as this one has been - this is especially true for our students, as they are kids and their brains are still developing.
This edition is dedicated to doubling down our commitment to the Capturing Kids' Hearts moves and key points of emphasis to teach our students what Respectful, Responsible, and Resilient Learners looks like.
We need strong leaders and role models now more than ever in our world to guide our students toward responsible citizenship.
Here is a review of the keys to Capturing Kids' Hearts to help us all reconfirm our collective commitments -
1. We will Strive to Excel and bring the passion daily; I naturally default to "average" , which is pretty typical for most, but our kids deserve our very best every single day.
2. We commit to EXCEL which is defined by the Flippen Group as -
- Engage - Meet and greet every student positively at the door every single day; shake each and every student's hand. This is the foundation for strong relationships. Be sincere.
- X-Plore - Share "Good Things" every day for 3-5 minutes to start each and every class; through this process you can discover what kids' needs are that day and get in touch with where the students are personally, emotionally, and academically. Kids must feel safe! Build a solid, safe and positive classroom culture where kids can have fun!
- Communicate - a. that we care about the students, what they are learning and it's importance b. the purpose of the day and the day's lesson; communicate the content and connection to real-world benefits. Bring the energy! Why is this important to know and learn?!
- Empower - Empowerment occurs when students gain the ability to "use and do" the things they have been taught. Possessing the same skills as experts is the goal of education. When students can DO/Demonstrate what has been taught, then we have truly empowered them. Practice and Apply. Create an atmosphere of trust and collaboration. Create social contracts to guide behaviors and guide the community in your class; social contracts help create a self-managing team!
- Launch - Launching has to do with the way we, professional educators, "end and send". It is the way teachers end a classroom experience and the way they send their charges forth through their kids to face the future. This is vastly different from just having students rush out the door when the bell rings. Webster's Dictionary definition of launch is - a. To send forth with force! b. to start a person on some course, career, or enterprise. Send the students away with momentum driving them forward toward a clearly-defined destination. End on a powerful and empowering note.
Commit to begin and end our time with students with passion and a caring message, and rely on these ideals to help us stay strong during hard times.
- Capturing Kids' Hearts, Flippen Group, 2020; www.flippengroup.com
Recommit and re-energize with the keys behind this powerful model and utilize its many features in our positive approaches with students daily. Continue to use these approaches when we have to redirect students or reteach them our expectations and revisit social contracts and the citizenship rubrics as needed.
They must know we care first and foremost before we expect high levels of learning.
Remember we must capture a child's heart before we can ever fully capture their mind.
