Note to my readers - I know I said in my last blog that I would discuss Logical Consequences in this blog. But I needed to talk about CARES first. Stay tuned for blog number 4 in the series for Logical Consequences.
Elementary teachers often talk about the Summer Slide - the effects on academics because of children not being in school for two months over the summer. And teachers often spend one or two months at the beginning of the year just reviewing what should have been learned at the end of the previous grade. Of course, year round school would eliminate the Summer Slide. But so would children reading and writing over the summer months. But, for many of us, neither of these situations actually occurs.
For me, I relished the review time. Why? I needed that time to teach something more important than the given curriculum requirements. Because, at the beginning of every year, I spent one or two months teaching my students about CARES. What is CARES?
I spent time at the beginning of each year teaching - really teaching - each of these words and meanings. We watched videos that demonstrated CARES. We blogged about which CARES term we were working on. We spied on each other looking for examples of CARES. We wrote each night about examples of CARES. We looked for examples in books, on tv, in the news, in the cafeteria, during lessons. My CARES bulletin board stayed up all year as a reminder of the meaning of these terms.
Why does this matter? Why did I spend so much time each year on it? Because I truly believed, and still do, that my primary job was to teach my students to be better members of society. And the society we were working in was the classroom and school society, first and foremost. Also, by spending time at the beginning of the year on CARES, the rest of the year went very smoothly, since, when something went wrong, they would just need quick reminders to get back on track.
I remember one child, Robbie, (not his name) who struggled all year to learn these concepts. He was a complainer and worked hard to attack and blame his classmates. His seat was moved often, since no one wanted to sit with him for any length of time. His parents encouraged his behavior, saying he was standing up for himself, even though I repeatedly demonstrated that this was not the case.
At the beginning of the year, as Robbie caused problems, we would have class meetings to solve these problems he and the other children were facing. The children would speak to him about their difficulties, using our CARES vocabulary. He started out being defensive and then, began to listen. Eventually, Robbie learned a bit more self-control. In fact, he asked the children to help him when he forgot. They would walk up to him while he was ranting and simply say, "S-C." He would stop in mid-sentence, and breathe.
Robbie didn't completely stop complaining about others. But he did recognize that empathy and self-control were his difficult concepts. And the class sincerely praised him at the end of the year for working so hard to be someone who CARES.
Robbie was my struggle that year but I'm glad I got to work with him. We need to teach our children about CARES and all that those concepts imply. We need to heal this society and improve it. And it all starts with being a society that CARES.
Want to know more about CARES? Look into Responsive Classroom. Even if you can't afford the training, which I HIGHLY recommend, the books are amazing. I especially recommend The First Six Weeks of School.
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