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Community 2007 California Promising PracticesThink It Through Sheet Download Charles Mack's "Think It Through" Sheet This tool was created and implemented for students who are referred to the office for a behavior infraction. Students who are referred to the office complete the “Think it Through” sheet form prior to meeting with a member of the administrative team. The intention behind this document is to allow students to put in their own words what they perceive was the situation or incident that brought them to the office, and to think of some possible solutions. At the same time, it provides the administrative team with a starting point from which to “work through” the situation or incident with the student and allow for some very “teachable” character education moments. The rationale, goals, and objectives surrounding the creation of this document are to use effective character education that strives to develop students’ self-motivation. In this practice, the “Think it Through” sheet acts as a tool for the school’s approach to student conduct, which emphasizes core values within constructive discussion, explanation, and consequences. In addition, it also allows the student to see at each level of the incident or situation what the direct cause and effect of their actions were. The “Think it Through Sheet” is used by the administrative team including the principal, vice principal, or teacher in charge. It is also a helpful tool for administration and teachers to use when talking to parents about the results or cause of their child’s referral to the office. The document is used on a daily basis as it was created by the prevention intervention specialist in coordination with the character education advisory committee and the vice principal in support of the school wide implementation of the “Second Step Violence Prevention Program”, and the school wide behavioral support matrix for discipline. The practice of using the “Think it Through” sheet
contributes to character education development in that it allows
students the opportunity to immediately reflect on their actions,
to express and identify their feelings along with the feelings of
the other people involved in the situation, to think about alternative
solutions to their problems, and it gives them an opportunity to
think about other solutions that they can use if they should find
themselves in another situation that requires positive conflict
resolution. Since the inception of the “Think it Through Sheet” in 2003, over 2,500 sheets have been used to begin the dialogue between student’s actions and the consequences of their actions. In addition, over the past three years, the school has seen a decrease of 50% in suspensions and office referrals as reported by the vice principal. Furthermore, in the past year the school’s API score increased a total of 42 points, one of the biggest gains in the district, to reach a total score of 700! Students who have used the “Think if Through Sheet” have said, “I have learned to count backwards from 10, sometimes 20 before I act,” “when you get angry you need to stop and do whatever you can to make yourself happy and stop the anger,” and “I know what I need to do to make better choices and I will keep trying to make good choices.” Staff that have had their students use the “Think it Through Sheet” have said, “students are more conscious of what they say; they look to what they do and correct problems; they don’t automatically blame others,” students are verbalizing the language and character education vocabulary,” and “when students have the skills and language to identify and express their feelings they are able to be proactive and preventative when conflicts arise.”
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