CARES

We all know that children need to be taught basic social skills if they are to be successful in any situation. In a Responsive Classroom, children are taught Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control each day during Morning Meeting. These basic social skills become part of daily discussions and activities. Children are explicitly taught proper social skills in a classroom environment. It is not assumed that the child already knows how to behave in a classroom.

Because our home environments vary so much, many children do not have a chance to actually see or practice some of the behaviors above. Children need to see each of the behaviors modeled throughout the school year and they need to practice each of the behaviors in a safe environment before they become automatic.

A digital camera can be used to capture the behaviors as a reminder of what we expect in our classroom each day. Children would be encouraged to take pictures of the behaviors as they see them in the classroom or throughout the school. The images would then become part of our classroom bulletin board and part of a morning slide show. The students can be reminded each morning as they enter the classroom what proper behaviors look like. The pictures can change throughout the year as students take more and more pictures.

This is a great way to foster a feeling of community in a classroom. Students can feel proud of getting "caught" doing the right thing.