GO TEAM: Achieving and Celebrating Academic Milestones

In my four years of teaching Kindergarten, I have come to realize that no matter how well I teach a lesson to a student, their fellow student has this "magic power" which helps the information stick better. Because of this, I too try to build a successful classroom using the four stages: commit to a goal, develop teamwork, dedication, and passion.

Teamwork:
I begin every school year by telling the students that, "We are a Team: The best Kindergarten Team in the whole building." These simple words really seem to motivate students. Instead of focusing on individuals I treat the students as a group. Then I lead them into a month long lesson on how I expect them to treat their teammates. We discuss feelings, privacy, touching, sharing, and conflict resolution. I also continuously make the statement that we are only as strong as our weakest player.

Commitment to Goals:
After we have developed a level of respect, we come together to set some classroom goals. Once we decide on our goals, we spread the word. We post them Everywhere, we make posters, we tell the Principal, we announce it on the morning Broadcast show-Oh, we spread the word.

Dedication:
We constantly revisit our goal. This shows the students that I am dedicated to making our goal a reality. Sometimes when students begin making progress, the goal falls to the back burner, but that's when a student will ask: "Mrs. Sutton, how far are we from our Goal?" I love it! Nothing warms my heart more than seeing a student selflessly assist another student. Often a student will yell my name to ask for help but before I can answer, another student will volunteers to help out. This shows me that in the classroom, everyone is not simple dedicated to themselves but also care about how others are doing.

Passion:
I believe that showing students how passionate you are about them and their success is what puts a smile on their face. When I discuss our goals, I always smile. When another student achieves success: we cheer, we dance, we tell anyone who is in our area. Nothing makes a student feel better than knowing that they have a team standing behind them and they are not alone. They smile so hard as they place their sticker next to those who have also reached the GOAL.

So as the article stated, it doesn't matter how you choose to celebrate students success (pompous or pile ups) as long as you celebrate. But if you are a student in my classroom, WE party like we just won the Super Bowl!

Reference:
Achieving and Celebrating Academic Milestones: Pomp and Circumstance or High Fives and Dogpiles | Edutopia