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Breaking Down Wolf Lingo

A Guide To Understanding Wolf-isms

It’s a new school year and for many of our families – a brand new school! It can be hard enough to start the school year at a new school with so much to learn – new routines, new faces, new directions. But new words?!

At Wolf, there are a handful of terms that we use school-wide. These “Wolf-isms” help convey meaningful Wolf specific messages to students and staff. But for new staff, new students, and new families – there can be a lot to learn! To help our new friends, Room 8 put together a list of definitions of key Wolf phrases and shared them at this week’s All School Assembly. But oftentimes parents can be just as confused – what exactly does it mean to “read the room”?  So we’ve put together a list of definitions just for you. Check them out below!

The Wolf Way:

The Wolf Way is the Wolf School motto – be safe, be kind, and follow directions! This is something we try to follow throughout the day in all that we do. 

Following the Group Plan:

Following the group plan means following the instructions and directions that have been given to the entire group. 

Clarifying Question:

Asking a clarifying question can help you understand something you’re confused by. For example, if a teacher has shared that your history essay is due on Thursday, a clarifying question could be whether it’s supposed to be typed or written. Or if you find out you’re going to Greenlock Stables next week, you can ask your teacher a clarifying question of “Where is Greenlock Stables and what will we do there?”

Whole Body Listening:

Whole body listening is how we show the speaker that we are actively and respectfully listening to them. This means eyes are on the speaker, ears are listening, you’re not talking to a friend, hands might be using a fidget, and legs are turned to the speaker.

Thinking Thought:

To stay true to the “Be Kind” portion of the Wolf Way, we only share kind thoughts aloud. Thinking thoughts are unkind thoughts that shouldn’t be shared or thoughts that aren’t directly connected to what is being discussed in the classroom. 

Flexible Thinking:

Flexible thinking is what we practice when the expected plan or outcome has changed. For example, if you were supposed to play soccer outside but it starts to rain, we’re practicing flexible thinking when we pick a new activity to do indoors. 

Expected Behavior:

Expected behavior is how you are expected to act in different situations. While running might be normal expected behavior during Move to Learn, we are expected to walk when we’re walking down the hallway back to our classroom. 

Drops of Kindness:

A Wolf School tradition, our drops of kindness help to celebrate all of the incredible acts of kindness that take place here every day. Students and staff can submit a drop of kindness online to thank someone at Wolf (staff or student) for something they did that was kind (big or small!). Each week, Anna reads a selection of drops at All School Assembly!

Read the Room:

When entering a new room, we can read the room to help understand what’s happening and what’s expected of us. Reading the room consists of quietly looking at what everyone else is doing and acting accordingly. If we still need help, we can look for more clues or ask a teacher what the plan is.

Give Feedback:

Feedback helps our teachers and friends know that we’re listening and have heard the message. Feedback can be a thumbs up, a nod, or even a double thumbs up.

Make a Connection:

We can silently let a friend know that we share a connection with them by raising our hand in front of us with our thumb pointing at us and our pinky pointed at our friend, folding down the pointer, middle, and ring finger, and moving our hand back and forth. For example, if a friend is sharing what they did this weekend and you also saw the same movie, instead of interrupting with your voice, you can do this silent hand gesture to share your connection.

What’s your favorite Wolf-ism? Share it in the comment section below!

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