Grade-Level Meetings
Yesterday, Mrs. Cizek and I held separate grade-level meetings with students from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade to review behavior expectations for the remainder of the school year. Here are a few of the topics we covered:
- Lunch Room – We reminded students to clean up after themselves. We have four lunch periods with only about 5 minutes between each, so it’s important to keep the cafeteria as clean as possible for the next lunch. We also reminded students not to play around in the restroom during lunch.
- Bathrooms – We reminded students to keep the restrooms clean for their classmates. We have had a few altercations between students in restrooms this year, so we also warned students about fighting.
- Physical Altercations – We informed students that if they planned to fight with another student and carried through with it, the consequence would start with a 5 day suspension. This consequence could be greater depending upon the specifics of the altercation. We also warned students about gathering to watch and instigate an altercation. We let students know that if they are encouraging other students to fight they will also receive a consequence of a suspension. Stout Middle School has been implementing Restorative Practices over the past year and a half and we expect students to solve conflicts in a productive non-physical manner. Attempting to solve a problem through physical force does not solve anything and typically makes things significantly worse.
- Bus Conduct – We reminded students to listen to their bus driver and to sit down while the bus is in motion. We asked students to board and exit the bus in a more orderly manner. We also asked students to respect their neighbors who live near the bus stop, by keeping noise to a minimum in the morning and by staying off of lawns.
- Attendance – We reminded students that they need to be to class on time and also warned them that there would be “tardy sweeps” throughout the semester. When students reach their fifth tardy in a marking period, they will receive a detention.
- General Expectations – We gave reminders about running in the hall/cafeteria, keeping noise in the hallways during passing time to a minimum, following directions the first time they are given, keeping hands to oneself/no horseplay, and being nice to one another. We asked students to support one another and avoid negative comments at school or negative postings on social media.
The students did a nice job listening throughout our presentations and I made sure to note that we have many students who do meet our expectations regularly. We are looking forward to a great second semester.
Mr. Oke
