Welcome to your child’s “MAKE YOUR DAY” School … where we believe that:
“NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO INTERFERE WITH THE
LEARNING, SAFETY, AND WELL BEING OF OTHERS.”
Carrollton Farmers-Branch
Independent School District
Tom Landry Elementary
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Welcome to your child’s “MAKE YOUR DAY” School … where we believe that:
“NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO INTERFERE WITH THE |
**View a Power Point presentation about Make Your Day**
Make Your Day: Self-Discipline – We are SERIOUS about EDUCATION
The Make Your Day Program is a school-wide self-discipline program that allows staff to teach and students to learn in a safe and focused learning environment. It is based upon the premise that “No one has the right to interfere with the learning, safety, and well-being others.” We are developing a school-wide culture which fosters self-discipline and self-evaluation to develop the whole child for lifelong learning. Consistent and predictable expectations and consequences allow students to make informed choices to achieve their full potential every day.
| Highlights of the
Make Your Day Program |
Commonly Asked
Questions from Parents |
Where to Find More Parent Information |
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In order to earn points, your child will be asked to… “Do what is expected, and do the best that he/she can.” |
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As a parent, you can expect the staff at this school to follow through with consequences that will provide your child with a productive and on-task learning environment. Our focus is on effective teaching and setting clear expectations for children to academically participate and behave appropriately in order to have the opportunity to learn. |
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Commonly Asked Questions from Parents: How will I know if my
child chose Steps? How will I know if my child chose Steps? You will not be contacted when your child chooses steps, other than a Step 4. Your child's planner (or "Landry Log") will reflect a daily behavior grade each day. Click here for more information about daily grades and planners (shown below). Why can’t my child be in class while on a Step 4? When a child has chosen a parent conference (“I need my parent’s help.”), he has chosen to remove himself from the learning environment until a successful conference has occurred at school with parent and child. Most teachers allow any work or tests to be made up upon return to the classroom following the conference. Do I have to leave my job or home and come right down to school to conference? No. You are in control of when the conference will occur. The office staff will facilitate a convenient time for the staff member and you to meet with your child. It is sometimes best if a child is allowed more time to think about his choices while waiting for the conference. It also may help a child think about what choices in the future might be more appropriate. Once the conference is declared successful by the parent, the child returns to class. Why can’t I have a phone conference? Your child’s behavior is asking for your help here at school. The behavior happened at school and is best resolved at school with the parent’s help. The philosophy behind having the parent involved at school is the same as for the academic parent/teacher conferences. It also sends a message to the child that his behavior at school is as important as learning is to his success. It helps a child in the future when faced with making similar choices. A child may think through, “If I do this… then I will be asking for my parent to come to school to talk with me.” This has a powerful effect on future choices. Only a small percentage of students choose parent conferences repeatedly. For most, one will do. How will I know if my child made his/her day? Check your child's planner to see if his/her points have been recorded. If your child does not make his/her day, a communication form will be sent home (see below). What am I supposed to do if my child comes home with the “I didn’t make my day” communication? This is simply a communication between school and home. Your signature indicates that you are aware that your child made choices that day that interfered with his success at school. Your child did not fail. It is your opportunity to talk to your child about his behavior and appropriate choices for tomorrow. On the fifth day your child does not make his/her day, you will be contacted for a Step 4 conference. Why does my child face away from the class while on steps? When your child chooses steps, he has made a choice that has interfered with the learning/safety/well being of others. When a student chooses a step he is given the opportunity to earn his points again. Facing away from the learning environment helps your child re-focus his behavior to learning once again. How long will my child be on steps? If a child does what is expected on step, then he will be there no longer than five minutes. However, the time on step might be longer due to an activity that may keep the teacher away longer, and then this is communicated in advance by the teacher. If points/concerns are done at least six times a day, how much time do points and concerns take? Points and concerns are a valuable lesson for students each time children participate. They are learning to reflect on choices made, take responsibility, and appropriately state a concern to another student. Practically speaking, points and concerns normally take about 1-2 minutes. This can occasionally run 5-10 minutes (but very rarely) if there are numerous concerns in the classroom. If teachers do not allow students to express concerns, it might begin to interfere with learning, and possibly the safety/well being of students. In their own way, children find a way to communicate their concern, sometimes inappropriately. This then takes away from instructional time. Allowing time for points and concerns actually increases the amount of instructional time in class because there are fewer disruptions during instruction. Why is my child stating his points in front of everyone? Children are given the opportunity to first self-assess their points. When taking responsibility for not doing what is expected, your child is also giving information to other students about behavior that might have interfered with learning/safety/well being. Other students then do not have to bring up a concern later. It is also a celebration for students taking responsibility for behavior for which they earned points. Concerns sounds like tattling; how is it different? Student to student concerns are designed to help a student understand from another student what is directly interfering with his ability to learn or feel safe. It is not supposed to be a tattling or policing concern. Teachers facilitate concerns so that they may monitor the possibility that a student may be using concerns to tattle. If concerns are used inappropriately the offending student would be “off concerns” until he is able to articulate to the teacher why students do concerns. |
| Your Child's Planner It is imperative that you check your child's planner each and every day. The planner is a tool used to organize your child's homework as well as a communication tool between school and home. How will I know if my child chose Steps? Unless your child chooses Step 4, you may or may not hear from your child
during the day. Your child's planner (or "Landry Log") will reflect a
daily behavior grade each day. The scale for this daily grade is as
follows: How will I know if my child made his/her day? |
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Find more parent information on the “Make Your Day” parent site at www.makeyourdayparents.com. Home and School… the key to your child’s success! |
