Students Ready to Learn: A Welcome that Never Wears Out
2 MIN READ
In our first blog in this five-part series, we showed how measuring student well-being across four data domains gives students a voice in their learning. The data (academic, social, behavioral and belonging) informs what classroom and system responses might be used to meet all students where they are now.
Building on the 2 x 10 strategy from this blog series, there is another super strategy you and your school staff can implement tomorrow .
The 4 x 4 strategy, or Warm Welcomes, promotes a sense of acceptance and belonging. Learn more about how the community of Tacoma, WA implemented warm greetings.
This simple to implement plan of action ensures each student receives four warm welcomes by four different people (staff or students) each morning. Imagine a student stepping on their school bus and receiving the first warm welcome by name from the driver. When they exit their bus and approach the school doors, they receive another warm welcome from staff, or a student. As they pass through the school’s doors, a member of the staff or another student provides another warm welcome by name. By the time the student enters their homeroom class, the teacher is waiting to provide the fourth warm welcome prior to the start of the school day.
What if every student started off this way, every school day? Imagine the impact on youth and staff alike. What would it look like if that same student received an optimistic closure at the end of each school day?
Let’s apply some simple math: In a school of 500 students, if each student received 4 warm greetings a day, that is 2000 warm greetings per day, 10,000 warm greetings per week. And just like that, we’re talking about 360,000 warm greetings in a school year! All achieved, in 5 minutes per day. Implementing the book ended optimistic closure doubles these positive interactions. This small, yet intentional shift in behavior adds up to a lot of positive interactions, which is invaluable for both students and the adults they share their school community with. As a development tool, all can learn, take part, and practice this strategy. We know the world changes for the better, one positive interaction at a time.
A study, reported in an Edutopia article by Youki Terada (2018), shows how spending a few moments welcoming students promotes a sense of belonging, giving them social and emotional support that helps them feel invested in their learning.
Tuscaloosa, AL County Schools’ commitment to the Whole Child is another illustration of the practical steps and benefits of implementing warm welcomes in a school campus setting. Learn more here.
Curious about other effective and easy to implement strategies that might be helpful across one or more of the data domains? Find out more here. Stay tuned for our next blog in this Whole Child Series.
Erich Bolz erich@effectiveness.org, VP for Research and District Engagement with CEE, has worked in all levels of education for the past 30 years.
Dr. Greg Benner, Helen and Pat O’Sullivan Professor of Special Education, Implementation Science, University of Alabama
David Tudor david@effectiveness.org, Director of K-12 Systems Change & Implementation with CEE, specializes in Whole Child, SEL and instructional equity systems leadership.
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