The Mountain of Trust is a student motivational program that we will be using this year in 4th grade at Belleview Elementary.
Healthy and trusting relationships between teachers and students are key to student success. The Mountain of Trust motivates students to be trustworthy and to perform at the “peak” of their abilities by recognizing and rewarding positive choices, while removing student privileges for poor choices during the school day.
Here’s how it works:
1. Every student has a hiker that begins each day at “basecamp” on the Daily Mountain of Trust in the child’s homeroom. Every student also is given a "Weekly Trust Card" on the first day of every week. They need to be responsible for this Weekly Trust Card every where they go in school for the whole week, so it's best if they keep their card in a safe place.
2. During the course of the school day, the teacher may recognize a student who has made a positive choice to “climb” their hiker up the mountain. Similarly, if a child has made a poor choice behaviorally, or if they have not shown responsibility for their class or homework, they may be asked to “rappel” down the mountain.
3. There are 6 levels on the Mountain of Trust. The chart below outlines these levels, and their corresponding rewards or consequences that are given daily:
Moving Mountains: Full Privileges, Stamp Weekly Trust Card and receive Peak Performer Card
PEAK: Full Privileges, Stamp Weekly Trust Card and receive Peak Performer Card
CLIMBING: Full Privileges and Stamp Weekly Trust Card
BASECAMP: (all kids start here every day) Full Privileges
RAPPELLING: Loss of 10 Minutes of Recess, and Stamp Weekly Trust Card with Trust-Losing behavior
TRAILHEAD: Loss of all recess time, and Stamp Weekly Trust Card with Trust-Losing behavior
4. If the teacher notices a student engaging in trust-building behavior, not only will a student climb to a higher level on the Daily Mountain, but they'll also stamp their Weekly Trust Card with the specific trust-building behavior they've demonstrated. For example, if a student is recognized by the teacher for paying attention well, they might get to put a stamp on their Weekly Trust Card that says, "Respect" or "Caring." The more positive stamps a student receives on their Weekly Trust Card each week, the better. On the other hand, if a student engages in trust-losing behavior, the teacher will ask them to rappel their hiker, and stamp their Weekly Trust Card with one of the Trust-Losing behavior words: disrespect, disregard or dishonesty.
5. Before Extreme Friday each week, the child’s teacher will have a brief "Friday Conversation" with every student. The purpose of this conversation is to analyze the student's Weekly Trust Card to see if they've had primarily a trust-building or trust-losing week. Each of these conversations will be unique, but the idea is to motivate students to meet our high expectations for trustworthiness and academic achievement.
6. If the teacher feels that the student has primarily engaged in trust-building behaviors that week, the student receives the Extreme Friday privilege, and they will get to add a puzzle piece to their "Mountain of Trust" puzzles that they are building. If, on the other hand, the student has lost a lot of trust that week, they will miss this privilege of Extreme Friday, and they will not be able to add a puzzle piece to their mountains. In fact, they may be asked to remove a piece of the puzzle.
7. Students who consistently build trust, after several weeks, will have built an entire Mountain of Trust out of their jigsaw puzzles. To continue motivating these students after their Mountain is built, they will have the opportunity to earn special "Got Trust?" certificates that will form a decorative frame around their Mountain of Trust puzzles.
8. We have spoken to the students in detail about how they can climb their teacher’s Mountain of Trust this year. They can do this by engaging in the trust building behaviors of having a positive attitude, showing caring behaviors, having integrity, respecting themselves and others, and being responsible. , and losing their teacher’s trust.
PARENT SUPPORT IS KEY!
You, as parent, are KEY to the success of the Mountain of Trust motivational system. When your child brings home a PEAK PERFORMER card, please praise them! A PEAK PERFORMER card means that your child has made very positive and productive choices in their behavior that day. Some parents even choose to provide special privileges to their children for being PEAK PERFORMERS. Keep in mind that simply spending some extra time with your child reading or playing a game is often the best reward!
On the other hand, if your child should bring home a TRAILHEAD card, it means that they have made some very poor choices in their behavior that have resulted in the teacher losing a degree of trust for your child on that particular school day. If such behavior happens repeatedly over time, your child is at risk of losing many school privileges and their teacher’s trust. Again, your response to this card, as a parent, is crucial! The teacher will almost always call home if a TRAILHEAD card has been sent home. For certain offenses, an at-home consequence may also be appropriate. This is something you can discuss with your child’s teacher.
This will be our fourth year climbing the Mountain of Trust in 4th grade, and students have never been so motivated to do their best!
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US AND YOUR CHILD AS THEY REACH FOR THE PEAK IN 4TH GRADE!
