District Developments
News to Know related to D75 & D120
What's an example of building positive relationships?
PreK-2 Classroom: Morning greetings are personalized - students choose how they'd like to greet the teacher (high-five, wave, handshake, or hug). The teacher learns about each child's family, interests, and home language. During circle time, students share weekend stories while classmates practice active listening by asking follow-up questions. The teacher models kindness by saying things like "I noticed Maya helped Andre find his crayon - that's being a good friend."
3-5 Classroom: Students participate in "Compliment Circles" where they give specific, genuine compliments to peers. The teacher holds brief one-on-one conferences with each student monthly to check in on academic and social-emotional wellbeing. Class meetings include shout-outs where students recognize each other's efforts and kindness.
6-8 Classroom: The teacher greets students at the door and asks about their interests, sports, or weekend plans. Students work in rotating partnerships throughout the year to build relationships across friend groups. The teacher uses student surveys to learn about their lives, goals, and challenges, then references this knowledge in conversations. Peer feedback protocols teach students to critique work respectfully while honoring the effort behind it.
9-12 Classroom: The teacher creates space for informal conversation before class starts, learning about students' jobs, post-secondary plans, and interests. Students engage in Socratic seminars where they build on each other's ideas respectfully. The teacher acknowledges the full humanity of students - their struggles, victories, and lives outside school.
Responding to Expectations , A Book Review of THE FOUR TENDENCIES by Gretchen Rubin
“How do I respond to expectations?”
A book review by Rebecca Plaza, Mundelein High School Librarian
I hate labels. Specifically, labels that categorize people. For example, GenZ or INFJ. But here I am, telling you about a book that helped me tremendously, and it is exactly about labeling people–in this case, by their response to expectations. As educators, we well know which students will be voicing questions, who will be regularly checking with you to see if they “did it right,” who is quick to a “no.” We don’t necessarily need another framework. But I hope this quick review will nudge you to consider this framework from the book, The Four Tendencies, by Gretchen Rubin.
Gretchin Rubin is a beloved podcaster, author, and helpmeet of the 21st century. She wrote The Four Tendencies from exploring questions she’d asked her blog subscribers.
By asking questions like, “Do you keep New Year’s resolutions?” she found the variety of responses indicated a clear framework, illustrated above, that could be applied to how humans respond to expectations. The chapters go deep into understanding the four tendencies and then offer tips on how to deal with each one. Rubin also addresses the fact that no one is just one thing, one tendency, all the time.
As co-workers and members of families, we are aware of patterns but we have adjusted to them. Reading in depth about these four tendencies led me to greater understanding of my own behaviors and those around me. When it comes to harnessing expectations for positive outcomes, I have grown as a parent, a partner, and a teacher from the insights this book provided.
So, who are you according to this framework? Take a guess or better yet, take the quiz included in the book (or available online). Happy Reading!
Would you be interested in sharing a leadership book review with our staff? If you've read a good book or article related to leadership, we'd love to hear about it. Please fill out this google form to be considered for a future issue of District Developments.
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Answer:
I should be honest with you - I can't actually list all the days in February because there are literally hundreds (possibly thousands) of observances, awareness days, and unofficial "national days" that various organizations, companies, and groups have created. Many are very niche or region-specific, but here's a short list of days that are relevant to us!
- School Counselor Appreciation Week - Thank you, Counselors!!
- Black History Month
- American Heart Month
- Random Acts of Kindness Week
- National Engineers Week
- International Polar Bear Day
