Dots and Have Nots, as well as Bullying Prevention.

I continue to strive for connection for all students who pass through my classroom, although it is indeed a tough goal for which to strive, as we all know that some students / teachers / people are not meant to co-mingle / enjoy one another's company. I still strive to make sure that my learning environment is conducive to learning and conversation, however, and I feel as if I'm still getting better at establishing this through demonstration and practice every week. 

Relationship Reflective Practice:

While I couldn't find a (legal) version of it, this clip is from the new movie "Man of Steel." In this scene, a high-school-aged Clark Kent is bullied by other, bigger "athlete types" in letter jackets, but doesn't retaliate physically against them. After they leave, his father emphasizes that, even though even he wished that Clark would've hit those kids, that he made the right choice in the struggle of deciding who he wants to be, and that, because of who he is, the person that he becomes will change the world, and that his example matters more than anyone else's. This is a great scene to help illustrate that another of Man of Steele's theses is true and relevant - that every person has the power to be a force for good in the world. 

As far as bullying goes, our school, honestly, doesn't do a good job. We pay it a bit of lip service in the form of having a 9th grade "Respect Retreat" where we call in a guest speaker for an all-day inservice with Junior- and Senior-level mentors, but the mentors receive only an hour of training, don't have an avenue for follow-up or continuing to monitor the things for which they are working to prevent. That is not getting the job done, and is contributing to what I think is an apathetic environment for the high school when it comes to supporting one another, school spirit, etc. I personally try to eliminate the problem (which is futile, on a wider scale, I think) by being good to everyone, reminding students to be good and accepting to everyone, celebrating the things that make students unique, and hanging up a sign in my room that says "Be Nice or Leave."