Using Precepts in the Classroom

     Wow! These last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I have gotten 5 new students, and with each one the dynamic changes in the room and we basically have to start all over. I feel like I have just had the first week of school stuck on a 5 time loop. My friends tend to come in hot, test the waters, establish the hierarchy, test the waters, test the waters, test the waters, and then realize that I'm not so bad, the class is not so bad, and everything is going to be great. And then test the waters a few more times just to make sure....  If that process could only take as long as it did to type it... but alas, not. so. much........  :)
     One of my favorite things that I do in the classroom involves precepts. I have mentioned it before and anyone who ever comes into my room asks about them. I got the idea from the book Wonder by RJ Palacio. (PS: Read the book if you haven't. Maybe even after you finish this post....) In the book, a teacher gives the students a quote that they are to interpret. He eventually defines it for them, relates it to them in some way, and has them do a written response to it. If they bring him one he uses, he gives them some kind of extra credit. I am addicted to quotes and words of wisdom that I mostly stumble across on Pinterest, and I use them with the students a lot. I have a whole "Words of Wisdom" board. (I did a post on that back in 3/10/13 which has lots of pictures showing how I used them in the elementary classroom. If you have some time, check it out! It's one of my favorites.) I needed to change it up in the high school classroom and when I read the system the teacher used in Wonder, I decided to tweak it a little and give it a try.
    Now you know I went straight to IKEA and bought me some black frames. They are cheap, cheap, CHEAP! I then bought some scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby for the backing. I actually removed all of the glass and just wrapped the paper around the cardboard backing of the frame. I mean, I don't feel as if I need the glass in my tiny classroom full of water being tested. Just a thought.... Anyhoo - I decided to do the precepts monthly, so I printed the dates, cut them out, had them laminated, and stuck them to the tops of the frames. It looks like this:

     When I first started this, the students were very literal. The August precept was: What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say. Well, my students almost all reflected on how the guy must be deaf and couldn't hear who was talking to him. This prompted a whole lesson on literal/figurative language and explicit/implicit meaning. They do understand it now and tend to be pretty good at it. After they make a prediction and then we define it, we refer back to it often. On introduction day, they just add the precept to their journal and make a prediction about the meaning. We then define and discuss it. Here are two Journal entries from introduction day.

     I try to relate them to either current classroom happenings or topics we are going to cover. In August we talked a lot about body language so that one was perfect. The one for October is something one of my students says his grandmother told him often. I used it and because it basically relates to them all and consequences of actions is an ongoing theme. Here are the three we have done so far.

   

     I also have the definition of precept mounted next to the frames. We discussed this at the very beginning of the year. 

     To hang all of these on the wall, I used those 3M velcro things (sorry to be so technical....) that you can remove easily from the cinder block. The ones I used have the two sides you velcro together once you stick a piece to the wall and then the frame. They won't remove the paint when I take them off, and the frames have not moved at all.

I do push on them every once in a while just to make sure they aren't going to fall off. So far, so good though. 

     This is the final product as it is on the wall. At the end of each month, I have the students do a journal response about the precept. They are required to give me at least three examples of how this precept either has applied or could apply to them personally. They may also give examples of a time when it may have applied to someone else. These are by far the most reflective and well written responses they do for me. I had a class just last week ask when November would get here so we could have another precept. What? Success. 

     That's all for now. Thanks all of the encouraging emails about the blog! I wish I had more time to devote to posting. It isn't like there is a shortage of material. Busy, busy, BUSY as you ALL know and appreciate. And...our new principal was announced yesterday. I have high, high hopes for him and our school.
     Now I get to write an eligibility, a re-eval, and plan for the week. Happy weekend, friends!

Mrs. Beck