Bailey Bear News
August 2017
Welcome Back!
Our keyword for this year is "Engagement"! We want to engage our students in learning and find ways to make learning more responsive to the needs of our students! The pictures below are of the faculty during inservice week.
Please call on me if you need anything! My email is ctesreau@colliervilleschools.org and the school number is 901-853-6380.
To a great school year!
Cindy Tesreau
Growth Mindset In The Classroom
Why are we talking about growth mindset with our students? It is so important that we start to dismiss the myths about learning with our students. Too many of our students believe that they are NOT smart! As teachers and parents, we can fall into this type of thinking and make assumptions about a child's ability based on perceived deficits or because of race, low-income status, language acquisition and a variety of other factors. We have to put a stop to this type of thinking because it closes the door for so many students that if given the proper tools and the proper attitude could do anything they put their mind to.
We are reading the book, Growth Mindset In The Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci this year as our book study. One quote from this book sums up what we hope as a faculty we will embrace for every child at BSE. "The focus of a growth mindset is on learning, not looking smart. An educator with a growth mindset believes that with effort and hard work from the learner, all students can demonstrate significant growth and therefore all students deserve opportunities for challenge. Add to this belief an effective teacher armed with instructional tools that differentiate, respond to learner's needs, and nurture critical thinking processes, and you have a recipe for optimum student learning." (Growth Mindset in the Classroom)
There is so much to talk about on the subject of Growth Mindset! This year we will offer Coffee Chats in October and November on Growth Mindset for those parents interested in learning what they can do at home to foster a growth mindset. Once I have the dates set, I will let you know and hopefully, you will have an opportunity to be a part of this discussion.
I will talk about expectations for children and how we should and should not praise our children as it relates to academics in the September Bailey Bear News! Stay Tuned!
"Choices" - An Interactive Discipline System
Here are a few of the tenets of this system of discipline:
1. Discipline is teaching, not punishment.
2. Different behaviors merit different responses.
3. Goals are to remove negative emotion from interactions, focus on the issue, not the student, move toward responsibility and away from obedience, don't dwell on what happened "this time", and help students develop strategies for dealing with the situation "next time."
4. William Glasser states that students have five basic needs which are to be loved, have fun, be safe, and have some power and freedom in the classroom. When a teacher meets these five basic needs it promotes involvement, increases achievement, and reduces the negative climate of the classroom.
In the September Bailey Bear News, I will talk about ways to help your children in the classroom as it pertains to behaviors!