>>Darren: The swine-flu snake greeting, Morning, Morning, Morning,
Morning, Morning, Morning.
>>Narrator: At Carrithers Middle School, the day begins
with goofy games, which are often followed by serious discussions.
>>Darren: We've been discussing bullying all week long.
What are some ways that we can stop the bullying?
>>Narrator: The 20 minutes spent
in this daily morning meeting is a critical component
of Jefferson County, Kentucky's, district-wide CARE
for Kids initiative, which seeks to build positive,
caring learning communities.
>>Darren: Humor?
That's always good, right?
What do you think humor takes away from bullying?
>>Student: If you make somebody laugh,
then they won't be as angry as they were.
>>Sheldon: It takes skill to lead a class meeting,
an effective class meeting, takes the ability to not intervene too soon...
>>Darren: Or should we maybe let Mr. Atkinson know?
What should we do about that?
>>Sheldon: ...to not impose one's own values and one's own thoughts
on the situation and let students engage and discuss
and struggle for a while.
>>Darren: I think that's a good idea.
>>Narrator: Fortunately, there is support for teachers
who lead these difficult discussions.
They receive a binder of instructions and activities and two days
of training in the summer, followed
by five follow-up sessions throughout the year.
>>Teacher: One of the challenges
for me was changing how I saw consequences
and the proactive approach.
>>Teacher: And, I mean, I think that's what I see you all -
if you struggle with anything, it's the language,
because it is so different than corrective language.
It's all the negative of "don't do that," "don't do this,"
"this is what you did wrong," whereas the language and care
and developmental designs is all about self-regulation,
about acknowledging what you've done.
It's all in a positive.
It's non-confrontational.
So, is that what you all see as the language
as probably the biggest change?
>>Alicia: Some teachers, the CARE for Kids might come naturally for them.
For others it might be more of a struggle.
The framework is there.
They can pick up the book and structure their morning meeting
and afternoon meeting using the resources,
and so it's helped everyone quickly be able to implement it successfully.
>>Teacher: There are some things that're already in place in the book
that we may want to consider instead of some
of these levels that we currently have.
>>Narrator: Every school has a CARE for Kids leadership team,
usually comprised of the principal
and a representative from each grade level.
>>Teacher: Mr. Atkinson, would you like to join our circle?
>>Darren: Sure, I'd love to, thank you.
>>Narrator: As the Care team leader at Carrithers, Darren Atkinson acts
as a sounding board and mentor for his colleagues.
>>Darren: Well, I think your circles go well.
The kids all seem to interact very well.
They communicate.
>>My job is to find out if they have any kind of issues at hand,
and then if I can help them solve that, then that's where I try
to either suggest the advisory books or a Web site or something
that we found successful in another school.
Whatever I can do to alleviate their issue
and whatever problems they're seeing at the time, that's kind of my role.
>>I would have a fix-it plan and just explain to him,
"This is what I'm seeing.
Please help me to understand why that this is happening."
>>Narrator: Breckenridge-Franklin Principal Alicia Averette uses a Care
for Kids evaluation form to note what goes on in the classroom.
>>Teacher: What needs to happen when we're working
in a group or with a partner?
>>Student: Level 1.
>>Teacher: Very good job, you are working together; Jermaine?
>>Jermaine: Help them if they need help.
>>Teacher: Help them if they need help.
>>I use the CARE for Kids walkthrough tool,
so when I go in the room I'm looking for respective interactions
between students and teachers, a student-centered environment,
student work posted, but then I'm also looking
at instructional practices and I provide the teacher
with a copy of the walkthrough tool.
And then we have an opportunity to debrief.
>>I'm seeing the morning meeting and the afternoon meetings
and everything, they're being fit in.
You all...
>>Narrator: Since it is part of the mandated curriculum,
discussion of the CARE for Kids initiative is a big part
of weekly teacher meetings.
>>Alicia: The sample schedule we received
from the district has helped plan it,
but it does not allow for wiggle room.
>>Robben: We can't possibly fit every single thing that we're expected
to cover in a day along with the CARE for Kids stuff.
And some teachers get hung up on it, but at the end of the day,
the moments with the kids sharing out,
the moments of you diffusing a problem
or letting kids diffuse the problem on their own, that's the kind
of stuff that's going to have the more lasting effect on them.
>>Teacher: Do not let CARE for Kids be something that's cut out.
If you have to knock 10 minutes off math,
if you have to knock 5 minutes off science, social studies,
if you embrace the CARE for Kids and allow that to be one
of the core things, then everything else falls into place so much easier,
because the students know the expectations.
They work together well.
They are able to respect each other, and I was so glad
when our school adopted that, but now it's mandated and, yay.
>>Narrator: For more information about what works
in public education, go to edutopia.org.