Do you let them know?
We had discussions in my classroom Thursday about student behavior. Our school reports Social-Emotional Character Development scores of respect and responsibility weekly (4 is exceptional, 3 is mastery, 2 needs improvement, 1 . . . ). Most of my students are 4s, and a few are 3s, weekly. If a student drops, it's usually in responsibility. They are middle schoolers. These determine eligibility for extra-curriculars; a student who isn't at mastery level also spends some time making a plan to get there. Let me interject here that I'm not a pushover in the classroom. I'm talked about in the halls as demanding, tough, having high expectations - and mean. The last one bothers me, but I'll be honest - I understand it. I mentioned to each class that I'd put in their quarterly scores for grade cards coming out next week. I got the typical middle school response - "Oooooh, (fill in name of a kid who is ornery), you better watch out." I laughed and said I had...