On January 13th we began our study of the Fundamental 5 by Sean Cain and Mike Laird:

• Framing the Lesson
• Work in the "Power Zone"
• Recognize and Reinforce
• Frequent, Small Group, Purposeful Talk (FSGPT)
• Write Critically

This week we will be looking for these strategies in practice in the classroom. Stay tuned for pictures in a future blog!

We will be digging deeper into the Fundamental 5 during upcoming professional development. For today's blog, I would like to focus on Recognize and Reinforce. When reading Kevin Parr's blog on celebrating student success (read it here http://inservice.ascd.org/teaching/celebrate-success/) I thought about this piece of the Fundamental 5 and how critical it is to celebrate even the smallest of successes in order to break the failure cycle and create a culture of success. I was reminded of a specific time when I observed this process of recognize and reinforce make a difference in the life of a particular student - I'll call him Mr. C. Mr. C had the reputation of being a handful and he lived up to it every day; frequently hitting the office before lunch on red and still full of energy. Like a 5 year old tornado turning over everything in his path. Mr. C did not respond to the typical disciplinary action - loss of recess, detentions, counseling visits, even suspensions. It got to the point where Mr. C was in the office more than he was is class due to extremely dangerous and disruptive behaviors - not the way to have a successful Kindergarten year. Enter the point sheet. We began celebrating every success Mr. C had, no matter how small. As the green smiley faces began to pile up and Mr. C earned time playing PBS Kids in my office, we began to see an increase in positive behaviors. Mr. C still had his moments but he no longer went to the extreme frequently and actually began to experience success in the classroom. Thanks to the patience of his teacher, consistently rewarding good choices, Mr. C ended the year stronger than he ever had. Celebrating successes worked!

This got me thinking about how we celebrate our student's successes at Daggett: Read, Lead, Succeed Like a Boss reading incentive, AR parties, and PAW Pride Board and celebrations. All  excellent ways of celebrating student success but all over long intervals of time. How are we celebrating our students daily? How are we turning those small victories into an infectious "Can Do" spirit? How are we turning around our Mr. C's so that they are able to be successful in the classroom? How are we Recognizing and Reinforcing every day?

 Please share your thoughts.