POSITIVE Behavior is Not A DREAM...IT'S A PLAN!
FEATURED TEACHER For this Featured Teacher column, I decided to go to the source: the students. They answered two questions on a questionnaire. The first one was: What is one positive thing you can say about Mrs. Jauregui? Here are some of the responses: "She brightens our day with the nice things she says." "...maybe the best teacher I've had so far. Since she has kids of her own, who also go to school, I think she understands us as students." ...(she) teaches us carefully" "...explains everything step by step." "...is very nice, caring, funny, and sweet." "...calm and friendly." "...kind to everyone." "...fun teacher." "...super positive, even when she's having a rough day." "Mrs. Jauregui is actually my favorite teacher. She is really kind and funny. I love how she comforts us." Are we starting to see a pattern here? Mrs. Jauregui connects with students with her kind, caring, personal touch. Out of more than 70 responses, these were typical. The second question was a little rougher: What happens in Mrs. Jauregui's class when a student breaks the rules? Here are some common responses: "She says, 'You're going to be in trouble.' So basically, she warns us." "I'm not really sure what happens because in this class we don't realy get into trouble." "Mrs. Jauregui simply and politely says to stop and if he/she doesn't stop, she thinks of a good seat for him/her." "She reminds the student of the rule and rarely, just rarely, gets angry." "She would talk to us nicely." In conclusion, the words that most appeared on the student responses were: nice, caring, funny, sweet, calm, and friendly. It would seem by these student testimonies that Mrs. Jauregui has found the recipe for a successful PBIS class. | STAR STAFFLaura Valenzuela, our LAMS Parent and Community Liaison, deserves praise and recognition. While the school’s main function is to educate the students, Laura is busy educating their parents, and thereby making everyone’s job more doable. Laura can be found daily doing a plethora of duties. She coordinates with the district Child and Family Services Department, the Department of State and Federal Programs, and the Youth Helpline Parent Workshop. She conducts parent computer classes. Teaches nutrition classes on sugar and fat in food and prevention of diabetes. She plans and leads the monthly ELAC Meetings (English Learner Advisory Committee), including organizing speakers, invitations, fliers, calls, refreshments, agenda, coordinating with district/school administration, providing refreshments, setup, and tear down. Additionally, Laura coordinates the LAMS mothers in a Ballet Folclórico troupe, which performs yearly at our Open House. As part of her duties in the front office, she translates written/oral communications with our Spanish speaking community. She collaborates with administration, works with parents to support students, including computer logins, classes, grades, teacher communication. She solicits donations from the Norwalk community so that we have prizes for our students and merchandise for our student store. Laura is a positive force in our school community. The relationships she forms with our parents and families are the oil without which our machinery would not run. Laura Valenzuela is PBIS at its best. |