School Culture and Climate

Our organization provides each district with system level planning and a custom design aimed to provide cultural proficiency in the learning environment.  An interactive staff training model and accompanying teacher directed lessons provide staff with a consistent approach throughout the building or district.  Participants will gain an understanding of the active role adults play in the culture of the classroom and become proficient in the use of specific tools that will provide evidence of building an inclusive and culturally responsive classroom.  This model will equip educators and students with 21st Century strategies and techniques to be understanding, accepting, tolerant and respectful of people from all cultures, religions, sexual orientation and gender identification.

The biggest strength of the Generation Text Online approach is the simplicity of the program.  The Gen Text approach will guide your staff in shifting your school culture and climate and help you to address many of the mean, negative, hurtful, disrespectful and intolerant behavior your school community is experiencing.  It is our goal at Gen Text to equip these teachers with strategies to understand how to address these situations in an appropriate, positive and flexible manner.  While the Gen Text approach is really common sense for most teachers, it is not commonly implemented in the classrooms.  If all school staff were consistently implementing this approach and doing it uniformly, we would have much higher attendance, much higher graduation rates and much higher student achievement from all students!

There are three concepts that power the Generation Text approach:

1. Generation Text Online is SIMPLE. (This one of the key things we appreciate about PBIS; it is simple and easy to implement!)

S – Strategic.  Gen Text allows your school community to be intentional in providing a learning environment that is accepting, tolerant, respectful and supportive.

I – Implementation.  Our approach has a very specific train the trainer implementation plan that was designed around creating a positive and supportive school culture that is sustainable and systemic.

M – Modeling.  Gen Text provides administrators the common vocabulary and strategies to implement with their staff in order to allow staff to model this approach to their students.  We believe in the motto, “Don’t tell me, Show me and Involve me.”

P – Proactive. We must take a proactive approach to providing a culturally proficient school culture and provide learners with the tools to successfully communicate and collaborate with others. Prevention of school dropouts, absenteeism and violence requires and depends upon a proactive approach that can be infused into every day teaching and learning.

L – Learning is a constant.  We must provide our students with consistent learning opportunities that address their everyday problems.  Unlike more complicated systems, you will see results of learning and shifting of culture on day one of implementing the Gen Text program.

E – Evidence based.  The Generation Text Online provides each teacher a system that works not just in a controlled environment but in a real life classroom.  Our approach provides immediate evidence which supports teacher buy in.

2. While the Generation Text Online approach seems like common sense the approach is powered by equipping teachers with a common vocabulary and common strategies in order for successful student outcomes. If multiple teachers and adults in a child’s life are equipped to approach existing problems in the same manner, students have a chance at learning how to approach problems with tolerance, acceptance and respect.   When students are exposed to this language and a reflection process guided by the 8 essential questions, students are better able to internalize these strategies and apply that knowledge in a real life situation. Charlotte Danielson’s teaching framework guides us in an understanding that learning is done by the learner.  Of ALL the research conclusions, this one is profoundly simple, “Learning is done by the learner”.   In order for learning to take place and to change how one thinks and makes choices, the instruction has to be simple, repetitive and consistent.   Gen Text provides a framework that is simple and common enough for every teacher, not just advisory teachers.  Typically teachers are good at focusing on classroom culture in the first month of the school year but by month 4, 5 and 6, these exercises and routines have fallen by the way side.

3. The Gen Text approach equips staff with 21st Century teaching and learning strategies and best practices. The key to unlocking those 21st century global skill sets in our students (which enables them to be prepared to lead and compete in a global world) is to incorporate these 21st teaching strategies into our instruction.  The 21st century teaching and learning strategies used in the Gen Text framework enables student to engage in their learning, think at a deeper level, use critical thinking skills and think their way out of problems rather than reacting. However, if we are not intentional about providing our teaching staff with these strategies and techniques teachers will keep talking at kids rather than engaging them to think and talk for themselves.  The simplicity of the approach allows for student participation, making learning relevant and providing strategies that are realistic.