January 23, 2020
That Mr. Arias in the background helping out Caroline.
Avari was so proud of her art work!
1. You may have noticed our new lunch detention system. Gary and/or Alex have and will continue to come around prior to lunch, gather up the lunch detention students and and escort them to room 115 where they eat and sit for 30 minutes. Carina and I are taking on the lunch detention so that students in ISS are only with Terri. The goal is to make lunch detention so uncomfortable and boring they won't want to come back. As I am typing this, I am reminded of the movie 'Breakfast Club.' I am trying not to laugh at some of the thing students are doing because all they get to do is sit and stare at the wall.
2. Appreciate the activity day feedback. Have received some good suggestions. Please sign up for bball and/or soccer. You don't have to know the sport or have played it to sign up.
3. As your team works through the CFA cycle document and the data for Promise Standards please remember this is not a 'gotcha.' If your team has questions or wants to talk about either document, Carina and I are here to help. Please ask.
4. iReady data is one data point in the realm of the assessments your team is giving. While it is one data point, it is a data point that should be examined. Have you compared fall to winter data? Where have your students increased and/or decreased? The GC team attended an iReady training yesterday evening in which we dug deeper into the data. Carina and I will be working with Core ELA and Math on strengths and stretches.
5. The last two days we have had a couple incidents with students fighting. In debriefing and reflecting with Carina, it's not all bad. Its' hard sometimes to remember there is so much good and so many good behaviors. I'm not saying the students involved are 'bad' it's their behavior that is clouding my vision right now. Keep being vigilant in the hallways, greeting students as they come into your classroom, and building those relationships. THANK YOU!!!
6. We will be handing out new schedules tomorrow. I'm not sure exactly at what time but we will communicate with you first.
7. Yesterday, we had a situation where a student passed out in class. Paramedics did come to the school but the student went home with his parents. I bring this up because what is your classroom procedure if a students faints or needs assistance? Better yet what are the systems in place if you faint or need assistance? We will be coming up with a unified approach in case something does happen.
8. In thinking about the end of the day when all students exit the building through the two front doors, could there be multiple exits students could access at 3:30? The reason I am asking is because at the end of the day, it is a huge cluster in the front of the building and makes both entering and exiting near impossible. I'm planting a seed so we can possibly have a conversation about this at a later date.
SOMETHING to PONDER
As we begin a new semester, I think of starting over, clean slate, fresh, re-boot. Those are of some of descriptors that come to mind. Reflecting on a new semester might cause us to pause and think, "New semester I am going to do really with "x, y and/or z." "This semester I'm going to make an additional effort to connect with so and so." I bet if you were asked what your biggest struggle was/is you might say, "I have some students who just don't care and I can't get them to do anything; student motivation."
This is a podcast by Jennifer Gonazalez from "Cult of Pedagogy." She is a former middle school teacher. You can listen or read the transcript. There are five questions to ask yourself, and this is not limited to just classroom teachers. WE, as a school -admin, paras, counselors, cooks, teachers, etc., need to ask ourselves these five questions. My answers, as I reflect, wow! I have work to do! I'm thinking of some interactions with students this week. I missed the mark and I need to do better.
Here are the five questions. Again, my hope is this causes you to reflect on your role as a staff member here, how we can grow and share with one other that positive mindset that so many of you have!
1. How is your relationship with student students, really?
2. How much choice do your students actually have?
3. Are you relying heavily on carrots and sticks ...or Jolly Ranchers?
4. Do your words contribute to a a growth mindset or a fixed mindset?
5. What are you doing to make your content relevant to students' lives?
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