A Draft of the VHS ROP Contract

Well, here we are, folks, with a draft of a VHS ROP Contract, which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on its link in the Links section to the right.

Let me know what you think.

I'm excited to think about our having a strong, unified disciplinary policy to support our teaching next year, and for years to come.

The Vintage ROP Contract

Other than the disciplinary policy that underpins the student/parent/teacher contract, the most important work we can do ahead of next year is the contract itself.

Here are the important points to consider:

The name of the contract

The "mission statement"

The definition of "work ethic"

The essential obligations of a good worker/student, a helpful parent, and an effective teacher

An agreement implicit in the contract to honor the disciplinary policy as a necessary component of practicing a good and true work ethic

An explicit expression that the consequences of a good work ethic is success in school as in life, and the consequences of a poor work ethic is failure in school as in life, or somewhere in between, according to our efforts and our strength of character

"We show up, every day, on time, with our developing skills, to do our work, in a way that helps the entire team succeed"

We want the contract to be no longer than two sides of one piece of paper. We want the contract to say just what we mean to say, in a way that is clear. We want the contract to be a positive statement of how we will work in our workspaces, but we have to talk about - or at least refer to - the consequences as laid out in our disciplinary policies.

I will be working on writing a coherent and effective contract. I hope others might do the same if possible, or at least weigh in with advice and concerns. I will place a working draft of the contract in the links section when one is ready.

The best way to organize our input is to add a comment on this particular post when you want to share or add ideas.

I believe the contract is the key to setting up compliance - and success - with our disciplinary policy.

Is it time to think about school already????

Hi Calvin and Everyone,
It's been just a few short weeks and I'm just beginning to relax and let down. The opportunity presented itself to get a kayak at a VERY GOOD PRICE, $649.00 for the entire package. It's a Women's kayak package offered thru LL Bean. So, soon I'll be out paddling around the local waterways. I've worked a bit pouring wine for the tourists; great fun!

Ok...School thoughts. I like the idea of tying our disciplinary plan to 'work ethics'. I'm concerned that tracking all the attendance to enforce the policy, however. Am I missing something about how we can track this without spending hours counting and recording each week? Giving this policy a heavy weight for final grades is important. I'm all for making it count 50%. I divide the grades in my class by 50/50 classwork and storework, anyway. This will transition well into my program.
Thank you, Calvin, for setting up the blog and recording all the ideas. I look forward to hearing everyone's contribution.
~Susan~

New, Exciting Project: A Unified Disciplinary Scheme

Hello, everybody. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Mine has started out very mellow.

When we last met as school was getting out, many of us VHS ROP teachers agreed that we'd had a rough year and that part of the problem was the deteriorating disciplinary situation at Vintage. For whatever reason, our kids just didn't care, and we thought it might have been because there weren't real and timely consequences for their actions.

I instituted a pretty tough "self-reponsibility, self-respect" scheme in which kids started each 1/3 semester with 105 points and lost 5 points for every uncleared absence, each tardy, each wasted work period and each behavior infraction. I felt the toughness was needed. Some of my kids really responded and some didn't.

Discussing this with my colleagues, it seemed that everyone liked my ideas but felt they needed to be softened a bit so that we didn't have kids just give up with a "I can't catch up anyway, I'm going to get an F, so why even try?"

But everyone agreed that having a uniform ROP Disciplinary Policy that all of us could sign on to and implement would help us not only to better manage our classrooms, help teach our students the value of a good work ethic, but also to present a viable model for the rest of VHS to test and utilize.

I've listened to ideas from Susan, Chris and Wayne, and I've come up with an scheme that blends them all and maybe could work for everybody. Here it is:

Each student can earn a 100 points a week for their "Work Ethic" assessment.

Each week students can earn 25 points for no uncleared absences, 25 points for no tardies, 25 points for good work periods, and 25 points for good behavior.

Uncleared absences, tardies, wasted work periods and behavior infractions cost 5 points.

A student can blow it for a week and end up with a low score, but they get a clean slate each week. They can turn the corner anytime they like.

A student can clear any lost points by doing an hour-long extra credit assignment at home. This assignment can add points back for any week a student wants during a progress-report period (six weeks).

A student's Work Ethic score for a grading period is an average of the student's weekly score for the period.

This assessment, known by the name "Work Ethic," can be any percentage we like. I'd probably prefer 50% for the Work Ethic score, with the other 50% divided between projects and tests/assignments. We don't have to agree on that: each teacher can decide what value to place on the Work Ethic score. But it may be important to have uniformity, so that all ROP students know they get a fair shake from each teacher, with no "soft" teachers for the kids to prefer. A clear, uniform message is the best message: We are a jobs program, and we favor self-responsibility and self-respect. It will lead to success in life.

I welcome more input, more participation. Any thoughts? Any recommendations? Put them in the Comments section.