Pick the "Phrase that Pays!"

Your mom has it. Politicians have it. Some teachers have it. They all have phrases and go-to ideas that are repeated again and again. They found an idea that resonates with their audience, and they drive it home.

Could we do the same as a team or even as a Freshman Academy?

We all entered education to teach more than content. We wanted to teach students. We wanted to inspire a love for and an approach to content. We wanted to teach them about thriving, thinking, and being decent.

We are trying to find that one thing, one theme, or one mode a team can unify around and deliver it regularly to their freshmen. We call it Content Plus One.

I opened our meeting a couple of weeks ago with this prompt: If you could give your students your content and one idea that you believe would help them succeed as a student, what would it be?

Here are some big ideas teachers would tackle:

• Integrity

• Respect

• Growth Mindset

• Believe

• Grit

• Self-control

• Attend

• Self-Advocacy

As you can see, teachers have a variety of PLUS ONEs.

Here is what teams are leaning into as we head into second semester:

9A

"Do the right thing!"

As questions come up and students make missteps, teachers will challenge students to do their thinking by using this phrase.

9B

"Dig deep!"

The team will challenge students to step up their game, dig deep to complete tasks, and finish what they started.

9C

"What are you going to do about that?"

The question highlights the student's responsibility and moves toward holding them accountable for the work that they know they are supposed to take care of.

9D

Identify and highlight acts of empathy. When a student demonstrates empathy, the team will make obvious those actions.