Final Stage 2

Here is a link to my final stage 2.

Bullying

My school does not have an anti-bullying program specifically.  There are some loose ideas that go around out there (there has been a "design an anti-bullying t-shirt" program and other minor things,) but there is not over-arching program to speak off.  There is a paragraph, or two, in the student handbook that describes, in generalities, that bullying is not allowed, discouraged, etc.  If bullying does arise, it is the responsibility of the teacher or staff member that sees any sort of bullying occur to report the incident to the office.  What the office might do from there is dependent upon the incident that occurred and the severity of the offense. 

In order to try to prevent bullying in my room, and hopefully then in the building as a whole, I demonstrate through my words and actions that each student is deserving of respect and should not be subject to any sort of emotional distress, of any degree.  I show them that they are in a climate in which they can feel safe and know that the belong.  I try to make myself as visible as possible in the hall ways and during lunch time when things such as bullying can occur. 

Dots and Have Nots Part Deux

Unfortunately my student, previously identified as "Voltron" has left our building for the alternative learning center in our district.  So, it was pretty tough to complete the second portion of this blog entry.  However, I am happy to think in terms of hypotheticals, so I have answered the questions below in a hypothetical sense.  If "Voltron" was still in the building and I was still having interactions with him or her on a regular basis, here's what I think would probably be happening.

• What actions are you taking?
• At this point I have upped the ante, so to speak, and started putting more pressure on "Voltron". As previously mentioned "Voltron" is not a strong math student and is one that is prone to doing little during any time possible.  Now that "Voltron" and I are on a more friendly level, it is easier for me to be more forceful when it comes to getting "Voltron" to do the work. 
• What impact are you having?
• It's going great because I'm such a great teacher/person/individual in this great hypothetical world that I've created for myself!
• What questions are being generated?
• If this world is hypothetical, what's even real any more?  Am I real?  Does "Voltron" even exist?  Are we all "Voltron"?

Vision/Missions/Values

The group I have selected to go through this process with my math department which is also my PLC.

• Vision:  Create unified approach to our curriculum.
• Mission:  Work together in a profession manner.
• Values:  Cooperation, communication, understanding that it won't happen right away, respect for others' ideas.

Which parts of the process were easy?  Difficult?  How did your embrace these parts? 
     We do not always teach the same way, but for the most part we have similar beliefs about what is important to teach our students.  We are also all on the same page in the sense that we do not have to do everything exactly the same, but that the broach strokes should be the same for all of us. 

What did you learn about yourself during this process?
     I can be both the person that thinks outside of the box and the person that is very set in his ways. 

What did you learn about others?
     There are some members that came up with ideas that I never would have thought of myself.

What were missed opportunities?
     Due to the constant scheduling and requirements that our administration puts on our PLC time we don't have as much time as would like (or need) to complete what we would like.

How would you amend (change) the process in the future?
     With more time I know that we can get closer and closer to our goals!