F.R.O.G.S

What Great Teachers Do Differently? pg 15-20

Although this chapter is one of the most basic chapters, I feel as though it is one of the most important chapters. Setting expectations in your classroom is key to establishing a cooperating and focused environment. When I say focused I do not mean all students are sitting up straight, on task 100% of the time, and silent for all 8 hours of the day. Focused in my mind means that students are engaged in learning and on the tasks at hand.
In the chapter there was a short story about how a middle school principle came on the loud speaker and told students to “ Stop Thumping”.(Thumping, apparently is when a students pulls their middle finger back and flicks it onto someone’s chest, causing pain.) I thought this was really funny because as I read it, I started to try and “ thump” since I had no idea what it was. Well the author continutes to write how right when the announcement came on students started “thumping” too. So was the announcement really effective?
In my practicum classroom as well as the whole entire school, there are a set of expectations that students are to follow. It goes with the acronym F.R.O.G.S. ( my school’s mascot are the tree frogs)
Follow Directions
Respect yourself and others
Observe personal space
Give it your best
S how responsibility
This is really neat because not only are they classroom rules, they are school-wide rules. Therefore every single child is on the same page in terms of what is expected. When a child moves up to a new grade the next year they already know what the class norms are. I see it as the school working together toward a common goal.