The Cooper School Daily
January 26, 2024
No…No…No…
“Ms Lindsay can I….?” My response, “No, no, no.”
“Should I say this ridiculous thing out loud? Again, my response, “No, no, no.”
Run in the halls? Response, “No, no, no.”
To be frank, I have been trained to refrain from no! Positive discipline encourages explaining what you want the child or adolescent to do instead of just flat out saying, “NO!” For example, “Put your feet on the ground, “ instead of saying “NO! Stop climbing the fence!” As much as I do practice this positive vernacular to guide behavior that is expected, I am finding a new respect for just a plain, direct, and affirmative NO!
Starting out as a friendly inside joke in one of my classes, before I knew it, the phrase “no, no, no” was not just implemented by me, but the kids too. It was heard in a British accent, slow, fast, silly, and even very sternly. If someone was being loud, unkind, disruptive, I could just look at them and they knew what three word phrase was about to come. It became the hip phrase of the week somehow and honestly, behavior was noticeably better.
Why? According to Psychology Today, there is a lot of power in the word “no,” which is easily misunderstood and sometimes difficult to engage because it is confused with negativity. Where negativity is an attitude, “no” is an affirmation of a very clear choice. It is a clear boundary between the person stating it and the influence of others, which is why it can be challenging to say, specifically in social situations. However, when the kids clearly heard “no,” they knew what they were doing was not ok. They may not have known what to do to replace the behavior, but they at least knew to stop what they were doing.
I played with “No, no, no,” in my out of school life too last week. “Linds, do you want to …?” If it wasn’t a heck ya, my response was “no, no, no.” I noticed that giving myself permission to use the phrase did indeed affirm a clear boundary, which seemed to be received respectfully because I was blatantly honest and concise, maybe because I said it in a British accent. LOL
Why do we say it three times? Ask Amy Winehouse 😀
-LD
Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:
What’s happening in Science?
This week seventh grade worked diligently on their science fair projects. They finished up their background research, formulated their procedures, gathered materials, and set up their experiments. Some students have already collected data and they will continue to collect data over the next few weeks. As they work on their projects, the seventh graders are learning about the scientific process and how to utilize its methods.
What’s up in Math?
This week, 7th graders learned what system of equations are, how to solve them, and how to write them based on real life scenarios. Next week, we’ll explore scatter plots, lines of best fit, outliers, trends, and associations/patterns in data.
What’s happening in ELA?
This week, 7th grade transitioned back to vocabulary and began a deep study of The Watsons Go to Birmingham. We spent a day building up background knowledge on the Civil Rights movement that builds the foundation of this historic fiction. Within the first few chapters, students tracked character development and compared significant novel settings. They also deepened their understanding of the text with thematically similar short stories such as Sandra Cisneros’ “Eleven.” Remind your readers to keep close track of their novel packets – responses in this packet will be collected for a grade when we finish the novel!
Next week, 7th grade will finish Watsons and consider specific themes the story proposes. With additional historic information mirroring the climax of the novel, we will respond to longer form questions about what the novel wants to emphasize about its historical context.
What’s going on in Social Studies?
Seventh graders worked through their studies for their midterm assessment. Students took their midterm on Friday.
Next week, we will be diving into the Westward Expansion of the United States! We will begin by diving into Jackson’s Presidency and creating a Presidential Diary Entry. Afterwards, we will discuss the conflict with the natives during this push west.
Important Dates:
Saturday, January 27 5:30pm-9:00pm – Family Fun Outing – Carolina Stingrays Game
February 14th- Valentine’s Day Book Fair, Bake Sale and Bingo!
February 19th & 20th- February Break
“Should I say this ridiculous thing out loud? Again, my response, “No, no, no.”
Run in the halls? Response, “No, no, no.”
To be frank, I have been trained to refrain from no! Positive discipline encourages explaining what you want the child or adolescent to do instead of just flat out saying, “NO!” For example, “Put your feet on the ground, “ instead of saying “NO! Stop climbing the fence!” As much as I do practice this positive vernacular to guide behavior that is expected, I am finding a new respect for just a plain, direct, and affirmative NO!
Starting out as a friendly inside joke in one of my classes, before I knew it, the phrase “no, no, no” was not just implemented by me, but the kids too. It was heard in a British accent, slow, fast, silly, and even very sternly. If someone was being loud, unkind, disruptive, I could just look at them and they knew what three word phrase was about to come. It became the hip phrase of the week somehow and honestly, behavior was noticeably better.
Why? According to Psychology Today, there is a lot of power in the word “no,” which is easily misunderstood and sometimes difficult to engage because it is confused with negativity. Where negativity is an attitude, “no” is an affirmation of a very clear choice. It is a clear boundary between the person stating it and the influence of others, which is why it can be challenging to say, specifically in social situations. However, when the kids clearly heard “no,” they knew what they were doing was not ok. They may not have known what to do to replace the behavior, but they at least knew to stop what they were doing.
I played with “No, no, no,” in my out of school life too last week. “Linds, do you want to …?” If it wasn’t a heck ya, my response was “no, no, no.” I noticed that giving myself permission to use the phrase did indeed affirm a clear boundary, which seemed to be received respectfully because I was blatantly honest and concise, maybe because I said it in a British accent. LOL
Why do we say it three times? Ask Amy Winehouse 😀
-LD
Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:
What’s happening in Science?
This week seventh grade worked diligently on their science fair projects. They finished up their background research, formulated their procedures, gathered materials, and set up their experiments. Some students have already collected data and they will continue to collect data over the next few weeks. As they work on their projects, the seventh graders are learning about the scientific process and how to utilize its methods.
What’s up in Math?
This week, 7th graders learned what system of equations are, how to solve them, and how to write them based on real life scenarios. Next week, we’ll explore scatter plots, lines of best fit, outliers, trends, and associations/patterns in data.
What’s happening in ELA?
This week, 7th grade transitioned back to vocabulary and began a deep study of The Watsons Go to Birmingham. We spent a day building up background knowledge on the Civil Rights movement that builds the foundation of this historic fiction. Within the first few chapters, students tracked character development and compared significant novel settings. They also deepened their understanding of the text with thematically similar short stories such as Sandra Cisneros’ “Eleven.” Remind your readers to keep close track of their novel packets – responses in this packet will be collected for a grade when we finish the novel!
Next week, 7th grade will finish Watsons and consider specific themes the story proposes. With additional historic information mirroring the climax of the novel, we will respond to longer form questions about what the novel wants to emphasize about its historical context.
What’s going on in Social Studies?
Seventh graders worked through their studies for their midterm assessment. Students took their midterm on Friday.
Next week, we will be diving into the Westward Expansion of the United States! We will begin by diving into Jackson’s Presidency and creating a Presidential Diary Entry. Afterwards, we will discuss the conflict with the natives during this push west.
Important Dates:
Saturday, January 27 5:30pm-9:00pm – Family Fun Outing – Carolina Stingrays Game
February 14th- Valentine’s Day Book Fair, Bake Sale and Bingo!
February 19th & 20th- February Break