SETTING AND CONTEXT

Culture and Community Context 

Polaris is an expeditionary learning school so it is all very hands on. Students at Polaris go on roughly 70 field trips  throughout the school year, where they learn multiple view points before developing opinions; for example when students went to Yellowstone they talked to the mayor about why wolves are allows on the land and why they beneficent the land and then they talked to the local ranchers to learn about how wolves effect their land and livestock. Polaris tries to create a friendly and safe environment by providing students a variety of seating options to move as they sit and students are even on a first name basis with all of the staff at Polaris. 

Support Structure

Students are nurtured on all unique learning habits to prepared them for life outside of school. Polaris has a climate that is characterized by safety, kindness, joy in learning, and positive leadership by staff and students.  Students who may fidget and move a lot in class have resources they can use such as seats, silly putty, etc. to fidget and learn at the same time. Polaris also has teachers who specifically go outside when students do to support safety and structure.   

Polaris has a full-time Health Technician on staff as well as a school district Registered Nurse who visits weekly to address student health care as needed.  To read more about the medical aspect of Polaris click here. 

Demographic Characteristics

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Classroom Environment and Students 

From the doorway of Alicia's 4/5th grade classroom you can see a Smart-board to the right of you as well as three blue futons for kids to sit when joining "circle" for group discussions. There are multiple tables with all non-traditional chairs for students who may need to fidget during classroom activities. The class is full of bookshelves at least four and Alicia did talk about the want for another bookshelf so there will be more books to come. To the left of you in (when entering the doorway) is a sink and a vocabulary board, the sink is used for washing hands, getting a drink, and sometimes for filling the kettle for warm tea for class time. The vocabulary board is where students learn new words from books and demonstrate their new found knowledge by drawing and writing what that word means. Attached here is a quick sketch of the classroom on one of my first days there:

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School-wide Policies for Management, Safe Schools, Conflict Resolution and Student with Special Needs 

The Discovery Model is what Polaris uses in their Conflict Resolutions. It gives the idea that each person needs to be treated with safety and respect in mind. Daniel and I saw it being used through out our 4/5th grade classroom.

Refocus Protocols:

1st Refocus – This is a gentle reminder to the student during class that his/her behaviors are not in line with building or classroom expectations.

2nd Refocus – During this step teachers will approach the student and identify their off-task behavior then ask if the student needs any additional support in order stay on task for the remainder of the class.

3rd Refocus – During the third Refocus students will be asked by the teacher to join them in the hallway to discuss the off-task behavior(s), the process should go as follows:

• Teacher names the behavior(s)

• Teacher asks if there is anything going on outside of class that is preventing the student from staying on task

• Teacher gets feedback from the student

• Teacher ends the conversation with an encouraging statement

In our classroom students were aloud to get to a 4th refocus which involved a referral or problem solving contract:

Problem Solving Contract – A Problem Solving Reflection Form may be issued under a two circumstance.

• Student asks for some time to reflect during the hall conference

• The student’s “off task” behavior(s) persist after the hall conference