Xtranormal Behavior Xpectations

Our campus had our introduction to Rachel's Challenge recently.  One of our amazing teachers worked with our KC Club (Kindness and Compassion Club) to create a very meaningful video about becoming a change agent and being kind to others.  I really loved seeing all of the students listen so intently to the message and I have been actively looking for examples of students being kind to others so that I can reinforce the message. All of our students signed a banner saying they will follow Rachel's Challenge so I do a lot of asking, "Is that what Rachel would do?" when I see a student making a "bad" choice.
I wanted to take this one step further so last night I created an Xtranormal clip with two superheroes recognizing a student for being kind to a classmate. I chose a student who hasn't always made the best choices to reinforce the positive decision that he made.  I haven't linked the clip here because I mentioned his name and his teacher's name and I don't want to invade his privacy. I am hoping to create a new clip at least once a week to keep the kids engaged and working to earn their way into the superhero clip. I will use students who really had to work hard to be caught doing something kind but I will also recognize students who consistently make good choices and those that are middle of the road and often overlooked. I will keep you posted on how well this works.  What creative ways are you managing behavior?
If you haven't used Xtranormal, check it out. It comes in free and paid versions and it's less expensive for teachers. I used the free version but I think I might upgrade. It's also an awesome program for PBL (Project Based Learning.)
Today at TCEA13 I attended a session by Carl Hooker, which, amongst many other powerful ideas, shared a video students at his campus created to combat cyber bulling. It's an amazing video featuring a little girl with the voice of an angel.  You can watch the video on YouTube here. It's called, "Lend a Hand," and we'll be showing it to every student on our campus. We also want to take it a step forward and let our students create a project to help solve some of the problems we have on our campus.  What a powerful way to help students own their problems and create a campus where everyone feels valued. Allow students to actively participate in problem-solving creates a true sense of Community and in CISD, that's what we' all about !
Tomorrow, I'll be discussing another idea we had for flipping--sort of.

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One of the best presentations I went to--Carl Hooker, 10 Things Not to do with an iPad Roll Out.  Follow him on Twitter, @mrhooker

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