Factors to Consider When Implementing the Supportive Classroom
Posted on February 9, 2006
At last weeks meeting of the Swanton Elementary School's SCOPE Steering Committee meeting we spent time identifying those factors that seem important for a school to consider when implementing a new program within the school. These are the factors that have made the Swanton Elementary School so successful in their implementation of the Supportive Classroom. The seven factors are:
1. The school identified issues related to school climate & safety of concern and identified a team of representative staff and community members to analysis the problems and possible solutions. From this process the team identified the Supportive Classroom as a program to implement within the school and set measurable goals for program implementation.
2. Strong administrative support for program implementation which includes the creation of a steering committee and adaquate planning time for staff.
3. Teachers organized into instructional teams to provide support for each other as they implement the curriculum.
4. A staff member identified as having a leadership role to work with instructional teams.
5. Training, coaching and follow-up to instructional teams on the Supportive Classroom curriculum.
6. On-going assessment of the program goals. Data used to inform the next years implementation.
7. Family / community involvement in the program including the creation of a Community Advisory Council.
Inservice Training in Hinesburg and Swanton
Posted on January 24, 2006
This past week I facilitated two half-day sessions for new faculty at Swanton Elementary School and a half-day session for paraeducators at the Hinesburg Community School. I want to thank everyone who participated. I was very pleased by the participation and thoughtful discussions by the participants at both schools even though the topics and formats were very different.
In Swanton I reviewed the Supportive Classroom curriculum and we talked about how the curriculum could be used and supported by the new staff members. We also spent time talking about what we see, hear and feel as we walk around the school. This led to some very interesting discussions and insights into aspects of the school climate.
In Hinesburg, we spent the afternoon playing games and making plans! I purchased a set of eight Cafeteria Games developed by the Growing UP FIT program at the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute (http://www.ncagromedicine.org/fit.htm). The games include trivia games on health and nutrition facts which we found to be fun and interesting. Participants decided to try the games out during lunch for grades K - 6. I will let you know how it works once the children have a chance to try the games out!
Gary Dulabaum Works with Swanton Students
Posted on January 23, 2006
Gary Dulabaum, a singer/songwriter, recently worked with several classrooms at the Swanton Elementary School. Each class of students put their classroom experiences to popular tunes and presented to parents, students and staff. This was a great opportunity for students to share their skills of demonstrating the four ways, respect, cooperation, and caring as they shared this wonderful gift of words and music.
Hinesburg Community School Norms
Posted on January 7, 2006
The Hinesburg Community School's Program Council has completed their new and improved set of school wide norms. As you will notice, it is based on the Core Concepts! Great job!!
Posted on November 4, 2005
Mary Wood, the Swanton Elementary School SCOPE Coordinator, Marty Waldron, principal, Kristen Belrose, sixth grade teacher and Dorcus Suitor, first grade teacher, receive their Finalist Award at the Character Education Partnership 2005 National Convention in Atlanta, GA.
Swanton a 2005 Finalist for the National Schools of Character Awards
Posted on October 31, 2005
The Character Education Partnership (www.character.org) presents yearly awards for National Schools of Character. Last Spring the Swanton Elementary School submitted an application along with almost 90 other schools across the country. In May they were determined to be one of 20 schools selected for a site visit from the Character Education Partnership (CEP). The winners were announced at the CEP Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA last week. Swanton Elementary School sent a team to the conference to receive their award. They have been added to the publication "2005 National Schools of Character: Award Winning Practices" which is available for free download at the CEP website at the bottom of the page listing the 2005 winners. Click on the link below to view a .pdf file of Swanton Elementary School's award winning practices!
Swanton Students Help Dedicate Wildlife Refuge
Posted on October 17, 2005
On Friday, October 14th students from Swanton Schools helped to dedicate the new $2.5M Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters and Educational Center. A representative from each classroom was invited to take part in the celebration. Students donned red, white, and blue scarves adorned with an American Eagle as they welcomed people by opening the ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Swanton Schools have had a long association with the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. Though the partnership with Eileen Nunez, the Wildlife Refuge's Educational Consultant, and Project SCOPE the Swanton Schools research, plan and teach activities each year to honor the environment through their Earth Day Celebrations.
Project SCOPE and the Swanton Schools will continue to explore opportunities to be involved in the use of this exceptional community resource as an opportunity to demonstrate the core concepts of belonging, caring, respect, responsibility and trust for our environment.
Students Donate Quilts
Posted on October 14, 2005
Mrs. Marsh's 7/8 grade Living Arts class at Hinesburg Community School, in Hinesburg, VT has been busy creating works of art, quilts, for children. The quilts will be donated to ABC Quilts - a charitable organization which distributes quilts to children across the nation.
These quilts will go to children coping with catastrophic illnesses or have been placed in SRS custody. Currently Vermont has many heroin addicted infants who also benefit from ABC Quilts.
Nineteen quilts will be donated to Hurricane Evacuees through ABC Quilts.
Great job! to Mrs. Marsh and her caring students at HCS!!!
Supportive Classroom Surveys
Posted on October 7, 2005
I have added copies of the student, family and teacher surveys we have developed for use with the Supportive Classroom. The pdf. files are now located on the sidebar with the other form downloads. These surveys have been used by several schools to informally keep track of how well they are doing with the curriculum. We also use the standardized evaluation instruments published by the Cooperating School Districts CHARACTERplus™ program for our model schools. These instruments include surveys for parents, students, teachers, and administrators as well as a semi-structured interview.
My Second Visit to Ambrose Elementary School
Posted on September 27, 2005
Last Tuesday I spent a very long and rewarding day. I drove to Winchester, MA to visit with a group of 2nd graders and their teachers (see the Classrom Area for details) and I spend three hours after school with Lisa McManus and the classroom teams that are implementing the Supportive Classroom with their children. I heard from the teams as they shared with each other the activities they have been doing with their students to introduce them to the Core Concepts of Belonging, Trust, Sharing and respect. Wow, what a talented, creative group of teachers!
We also talked about ways to integrate the core concepts into the fabric of the classroom and on-going activites. We finished up the afternoon by taking about selecting and teaching Collaborative Skills.
I can't wait for my next visit. It won't be until December 13th, but I know it will be an exciting visit.
I finished off my day by driving back to Vermont, a tired but happy man.
Katrina Relief Activities in Swanton
Posted on September 18, 2005
Through the efforts of Project SCOPE and the Swanton Elementary Schools, the town of Swanton and other Franklin County communities have been working on several Katrina Relief Activities. Members of our community were invited to drop off items for Project SCOPE's work with the Second Harvest collection. They dropped off paper plates, paper cups, plastic utensils, paper towels, power bars, granola bars, diapers, and personal care items. Students in Mrs. Hubbard’s classroom have collected, organized and packed about thirty-eight boxes at this date.
Mrs. Hubbard's, and Mr. Creelman's fifth grade classrooms along with Mrs. Coiffi's and Mrs. Pelkey's second and third grade classrooms are also holding food sales during the weeks of September 11th and 18th to raise money to send to the Red Cross and the Humane Society. If you would like to donate money for their sales, please call Swanton Central School at 868-5346.
The Community is invited to participate in a Backpack for Katrina Children Project.
Families, organizations, or individuals, may purchase a backpack and fill it with school supplies for a child in the Katrina Relief area. Community members are invited to write a note of encouragement for the child who might receive your backpack. If you would like to send in school supplies, we have several new backpacks that were donated by families or Payless Shoes that need to be filled. Special thanks to Mrs.Goslin's class for offering to make cards and write letters to include in the backpacks.
Project SCOPE: Working to build a SAFE, CIVIL, ORGANIZED and POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT for learning.
Swanton Teachers Are Heading to Atlanta
Posted on September 18, 2005
Last Spring, Mary Wood, the SCOPE coordinator at Swanton Elementary Schools in Swanton, VT, applied to the Character Education Partnership to be a "National School of Character" for 2005. Around 90 schools from across the country met the criteria for application and applied. Swanton was selected to be one of 18 finalists. Two judges from the Character Ed. Partnership did a site visit to Swanton and made their recommendations last June. On October 18th, at a special luncheon at the Character Education Partnership 12th National Forum in Atlanta, Swanton will receive its award.
Mary Wood, Marty Waldron (principal), Kirsten Belrose (6th grade teacher) and Dorcus Suiter (1st grade teacher) will all attend representing the staff, students and families of the Swanton Elementary Schools. Congratulations!!! We look forward to hearing about the award ceremony and the trip.
Hinesburg Community School
Posted on September 9, 2005
Yesterday I spent the day at the Hinesburg Community School. What a pleasure for me! HCS is beginning the second year of implementation of the Supportive Classroom curriculum. I met with Debi Price, the "new" principal and heard about all of the great things they have already begun and it is only the second week of school. The faculty and staff kicked off the first day of school with all grade level assemblies throughout the day. They played group games to help the students get to know each other and to start off school in a fun, welcoming manner. Ms. Price and Ms. Stebbins, the assistant principal, also presented several shot, fun skits demonstrating the Core Concepts. Students had to guess which Core Concept they were trying to demonstrate. By all accounts the day was a great success!
I spent most of the day visiting classrooms and observing on the playground and in the cafeteria. Visit the Classroom Area of this blog and read about a few fun activities I observed. I also met with the support staff who supervise the students at recess and in the cafeteria. I will be leading four half day in-services days for the support staff this year so we began the process of deciding what we would do that would be helpful to them. I will have more on this when our planning is complete.
HCS is off to a great start to the year.
Ambrose Elementry School In-service
Posted on September 2, 2005
My trip to Winchester, MA earlier this week was fantastic. I spent several hours with seventeen teachers, grades K to 4, and their principal, Lisa McManus. What a great group of people! Ambrose is a spanking brand new school. It is a great opportunity for the administration, faculty, staff, students and families to work together to create a caring, supportive school environment.
The teachers identified some fun entry routines for their students and began creating lesson plans to teach their students about the Core Concepts of belonging, respect, trust and sharing. We had a very nice dinner break provided by the families of Ambrose students. Following dinner, I had the opportunity to share the curriculum with the families and answer their questions.
When I return on September 20th, the teams will share their initial experiences, successes and challenges with implementing the Supportive Classroom. We will then plan for identifying class norms based on the Core Concepts, integrating the Core Concepts into the adademic curriculum and learn how to identify and teach collaborative skills. I am looking forward to our next session!
Tim's First Up-Date
Posted on August 28, 2005
Welcome to the Supportive Classroom Blog for the 2005/06 School Year. Pre-service programs for staff have begun and schools are getting ready to open. I heard from Mary Wood, the SCOPE Coordinator at Swanton Elementary School. A pre-service day with paraeducators was very productive and resulted in lots of ideas for improving services for students.
I attend the Williamstown Elementary School preservice Tuesday morning. We had a nice staff breakfast, welcomed each other in a fun way (of course) and shared our ideas for implementing the Supportive Classroom this year. I introduced the staff to this Blog and to Podcasting.
On Tuesday, I will travel to Winchester, MA to begin an inservice program with the staff of the Ambrose School in Winchester, MA. This will be the first of 4 days I will spend with them this year. I am really looking forward to working with this new site. One of the teachers, Anne Harrison, is an old friend that worked in Isle La Motte Elementary School when I taught the Supportive Classroom course in Grand Isle a couple of years ago. She has since moved to Winchester and is using the Supportive Classroom with her students. She has gotten everyone excited about the curriculum and the training so my hope is that I can live up to expectations!!
I will let you know how it went next week. Have a great start to the school year.
Welcome to the School Area
Posted on May 1, 2005
This is the place where School Teams can share school-wide and community activites to highlight and reinforce the Core Concepts and Collaborative skills. These activities and projects cut across classrooms and serve to involve a set of classrooms (e.g., the primary wing, the middle school) or the entire school community.
