How's Your Engine?

Hey Jackman Families!

In all of our kindergarten and primary classes, teachers are working on the idea of self-regulation with our students. 

Students are being asked to “check in” on their engagement level to make sure they are consistently calm, focused and alert.  They will check in on a regular basis using our “Engine Chart”.

The engine chart shows a car going through three different levels. 

Level 1 – Low or “Idling”

At this stage, students aren’t causing a distraction to other students, but they are not attending to the task at hand. 

Level 2 – Just Right or “Running Well”

Here, the students have engaged their minds to the task at hand and are actively and productively participating in the classroom environment.

Level 3 – High or “Out of Control”

At this point, students are over-stimulated and are focused on something other than our lesson in a way that takes other students off task.

Our class will be creating criteria for each one of these levels over the next few weeks.  We will be using the above language on a daily basis and parents are encouraged to use the same language at home for reinforcement.  For example;

"How's your engine?"

"Is your engine running too high right now?"

"I think your engine is a bit low."

The end goal is to have students actively thinking about how they are doing through the day and for them to be able to recognize when they need to get their engine running properly (and how to do it!)

Thanks folks!  Talk to you soon!