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My name is Steve Reifman, and I am a National Board Certified elementary school teacher, author, and speaker in Santa Monica, CA.
SteveReifman.com is a resource for elementary school teachers and parents. My mission is to teach the whole child—empowering students to succeed academically, build strong character, learn valuable work habits and social skills, and take charge of their health and wellness.
Blog
Discover over 100 posts filled with teaching tips, links to YouTube videos, and other useful ideas and strategies for teaching the whole child.
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Teaching Resources
Explore these print books, e-books, courses, and other resources that offer effective, proven ideas and strategies that improve student learning.
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Chase Manning Mystery Series
Each book in this award-winning mystery series for kids 8-12 features a single-day, real-time thriller that takes place on an elementary school campus.
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Workshops
Looking for a presenter for your next conference or workshop? Check out these engaging, innovative sessions that address a wide variety of topics.
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During this three-week period I describe the most powerful move that we, as teachers, can make to establish a sense of purpose in our rooms - creating a Class Mission Statement with our students and referring to it throughout the year for guidance. After introducing the concept of a mission statement in Part 1 and outlining the steps you and your students can follow to create a mission statement in Part 2, I conclude by explaining how you can use the document as a consistent reference point throughout the year.
Using the Class Mission Statement as a Reference Point for Support and Guidance
Using the Class Mission Statement as a Reference Point for Support and Guidance
During this three-week period I describe the most powerful move that we, as teachers, can make to establish a sense of purpose in our rooms - creating a Class Mission Statement with our students and referring to it throughout the year for guidance. After introducing the concept of a mission statement in Part 1, this week I outline the steps you and your students can follow to create a founding document that brings together the ideas of everyone in the room.
The Teaching Tips for this three-week period follow the sequence shown below.
The Teaching Tips for this three-week period follow the sequence shown below.
This week I continue to present ideas that connect to the four beginning-of-the-year priorities introduced in Teaching Tip #1. This tip addresses the third priority: establish a sense of purpose in our classrooms so students understand why it’s important to come to school each day and work hard.
The most powerful step that we, as teachers, can take to establish a sense of purpose in our rooms is to create a Class Mission Statement with our students. The process of writing the class mission statement generally takes one week and produces a phenomenal reference point that helps children understand the many purposes of their learning, improve their behavior, work with greater motivation and enthusiasm, and find greater meaning in their work. I simply cannot imagine myself teaching without this tool.
The most powerful step that we, as teachers, can take to establish a sense of purpose in our rooms is to create a Class Mission Statement with our students. The process of writing the class mission statement generally takes one week and produces a phenomenal reference point that helps children understand the many purposes of their learning, improve their behavior, work with greater motivation and enthusiasm, and find greater meaning in their work. I simply cannot imagine myself teaching without this tool.
This week I continue to present ideas that connect to the four beginning-of-the-year priorities introduced in Teaching Tip #1. This tip addresses the second priority: begin to build a cooperative classroom culture through icebreaking and team-building activities so students feel safe and comfortable and see one another as friends and assets, not rivals.
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Below you will find the names and descriptions of four of my favorite icebreaking and team-building activities.
1) Compliments - In this activity students brainstorm a list of compliments to use throughout the year. During this process we are helping the kids build the type of positive vocabulary we wish to promote in our classrooms. (Time: approximately 15-20 minutes)
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