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Dear SAS Families,

In an effort to help our parents learn more about the principles and practices of our school-wide approach to foster a learning environment where our children thrive academically, socially and emotionally, we would like to share this information with you to clarify key ideas.

The Responsive Classroom is a school-wide approach to teaching and learning that develops safe, challenging, and joyful classrooms and schools. It consists of practical strategies for bringing together social and academic learning.

The basic principles underlying this approach are:

• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.
• How children learn is as important as what they learn.
• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
• There is a set of social skills children need in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
• Knowing the children we teach – individually, culturally, and developmentally – is as important as knowing the content we teach.
• Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential to children’s education.
• How the adults at school work together is as important as individual competence.

The Responsive Classroom approach includes such teaching strategies and elements as:

• Morning Meeting: A daily routine that builds community, creates a positive climate for learning, and reinforces academic and social skills. (see description below)
• Rules and Logical Consequences: A clear and consistent approach to discipline that fosters responsibility and self-control. The teacher and children create rules for the classroom that allow everyone to do his/her best learning. When children break the rules, there are clear and non-punitive consequences that help them learn from the mistake.
• Guided Discovery: A structured format for introducing materials that encourages and teaches children to care for materials and the school environment.
• Classroom Organization: Strategies for arranging materials, furniture, and displays to encourage independence and positive social interaction, promote caring, and maximize learning.
• Academic Choice: An approach to providing children with some choices in their learning to help them become more invested, self-motivated learners in certain subjects or aspects of their work.

These strategies are helping our faculty and staff to increase student responsibility and learning while we continue to foster a safe and supportive learning environment.

Yours truly,

Daria Murphy, Principal & Melissa Lawson, Assistant Principal

Morning Meeting Description

To start Morning Meeting, children greet each other. Next, children have the chance to share some news of interest to the class. Usually three or four children will share each day. In the conversation that follows, children learn much about each other, especially respect for someone else’s ideas! After sharing, there is an activity for the whole class. Some days it might be singing or learning a poem. Some days it might be a math or language game. The activity time helps the class feel their strength as a whole group. They find out they can cooperate and solve problems. The last part of Morning Meeting is called News and Announcements. The teacher may challenge them with interesting written messages on the News and Announcements Chart. The teacher may take this time to teach a reading or spelling or punctuation skill. Morning meeting lasts about 20 minutes.

Morning Meeting is great for learning cooperation, self-worth,responsibility for a job and a sense of community.

When children greet each other, they learn courtesy, how to respond politely when someone speaks to them, how to care for their classmates. When children are greeted they hear their name and feel proud and important. Likewise, when children share, they feel that their ideas are valued and that their classmates are interested in them. They learn how to ask good questions and to make respectful comments. They learn how to be good listeners.

In Morning Meeting children learn to value themselves and their class. They increase their self-confidence and respect for others. They learn how to make good use of information. They learn how to solve problems and heal hurt feelings.