"Good!" Isn't Good Enough!

"How are you today?" This simple question is a common way to greet someone, even if you really don't have time to listen to their response.

At Emerson, this question is more than just a greeting. "How," you may ask, "is such a simple question, such a big deal?" Why should we elevate the most simple question in human interaction to be a school-wide focus?

In an academic setting (even in an elementary school) we should expect students to be able to respond to questions using more sophisticated, precise and descriptive language. If we only expect complete and correct responses to questions in the classroom, we deprive students of the opportunity to develop their verbal communication skills.

At Emerson, we don't want our children to respond using single-word (or inaccurate) responses. We want to start over, from the beginning, teaching students that replying "Good!" is not acceptable for a student. Aside from being an inaccurate response to the question ("good" would answer more about your actions than your temporary condition), "Good!" just isn't good enough.

When I greet students, parents and staff in the halls, I will be asking "How are you today?" I hope to hear responses in complete sentences. An example would be, "I'm fine!" An even better response would be "I'm well today, Mr. McCombs. How are you?" This level of response includes a name, a reply that actually answers the question about your well-being, as well as a polite inquiry about my well-being.

Greeting each other used to be easy. "Good!" was good enough. But if we fail to use sophisticated and accurate language in the most common greetings with our students, we will deprive them of the opportunity to becoming more advanced in their communication skills.

So, here's my next question, "How's it going?"