Bingham Elementary
News and Notes Weeks of February 19
Weekly Schedule
Monday
- No School - President's Day
Tuesday
- Pledge - on canvas
- 3rd grade to Peter and the Wolf
- PTA Meeting
Wednesday
- Pledge - Ellison
Thursday
- Pledge - Ellison
- I will be out in the morning.
Friday
- Pledge - Ellison
Crazy Doc's rant and raves...
Teacher Spotlight
Stephanie Willoughby was recognized by a fellow staff member for helping take care of the class while she has been out sick.
Do you have a idea for a person in the spotlight? Please let me know.
From Jessica
I found this information about creating a Safe Place in your classroom from the Conscious Discipline Facebook Page. I thought it was great information and I recommend you check this page out as an additional resource.
Safe Place Rules:
- You can go to the Safe Place on your own.
- The teacher can suggest you go to the Safe Place.
- If someone else is in the Safe Place, you can make your own by moving a pillow to another location in the classroom.
If you decide to set a time limit on using the Safe Place, you would need to include that in the Safe Place rules or agreements, and make the rule the same for all children. Post written and visual representations of your rules in the Safe Place and teach/model/practice them regularly.
At the same time, we strongly encourage you to explore this child's behavior as useful information to you. When you say she "pretends to cry to stay in the special place," you might be feeling frustrated with her behavior (your buttons are pushed). If this is true, reframe this statement from "the child is misbehaving" to "the child is asking for my help." With this new perspective, you might ask, "Why does she feel the need to be in the Safe Place so much?" Ultimately, there is a skill this child is missing or some problem in her life that is urging her to act out in this way. Maybe transition time or a certain subject is overwhelming. Perhaps she is having social issues or has an ill relative. Her behavior is a signal to you that she needs your help coping; she needs a new skill set. Once you know why she is crying to stay in the Safe Place, you can better determine how to help her/what skills to teach.
Years ago one of our long-time teachers had a young girl in her class who spent a large amount of time sleeping in the Safe Place. Instead of seeing a child as trying to avoid her schoolwork, the teacher saw the little girl's overuse of the Safe Place as an important clue that said, "This is a call for help. Something is going on with this child." In 99% of cases, that "something" is anxiety, upset, a skill issue, etc. In this particular case, it was something much greater. Upon further exploration, the teacher discovered that a family member was molesting the child at night, causing this little girl to come to school exhausted. The teacher called in a professional for assessment, and the child was removed from this dangerous situation. The teacher's ability to see the behavior as a call for help rather than misbehavior was the key that unlocked a positive ending to this difficult story.
By all means, set up your Safe Place rules so you are comfortable with the way children use the Safe Place, and remember that seeing a child's behavior as a call for help rather than misbehavior is a powerful shift that will help you to teach children the coping, social, academic and other skills they are missing.
On-Going Reminders
- If you send a student to the focus room please do so with one of the tickets Casey has provided, that way she knows why they are there. If they do not have a ticket they will be sent back to class.
- Please remember to give yourself credit for the events you attend. Each teacher is expected to attend 3 after school events. Next year we will move to a model where each grade level and department is represented at each PTA meeting. Here is the check in for our events so far: https://docs.google.com/a/sps.org/spreadsheets/d/1xru7fuenf01e2mb01wCoQhbrDw_zVEI_wImMFI7wA1g/edit?usp=sharing
- Please remember to only send emergencies to the nurse's office during breakfast and lunch. Please use a blue note when you do. Nurse's lunch time is 12:50 - 1:20.
- If you send a student to the office for a phone call or any other reason please make sure they have a pass.
- Please make sure you are not sending large printing jobs to the basic printers, please send these to the copiers.
- Lunch counts and attendance need to be entered by 9:20, or Terri will start calling.
Recycling
- K-1 will be Monday and Thursday
- 2-3 will be Tuesday and Friday
- 4-5 plus Mrs. Slover, the office and stage will be Wednesday
Bingham Elementary
Email: ameador@spsmail.org
Website: http://bingham.spsk12.org/pages/BinghamES
Location: 2126 East Cherry Street, Springfield, MO, United States
Phone: (417) 523-3400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/400030176727396/
Twitter: @MeadorAdam