Wacky Wednesday aka Thursday Thriller
November 24, 2021
Shout out to new paras working with our students!! Cody Bell and Ian Moffitt work in our RISE program. Ian is also going to work two days in the Study Spot with students. Fahima Grant is our new para in the SEL program. WELCOME TO THE TROOPER FAMILY!!!
Fahima Grant
Nuts-n-Bolts
1. ENJOY your break!!!!
2. January 5th we are extending our staff meeting until 4:15 so please plan accordingly. I'm trying to give you advanced warning. LOL
3. Spirit Week December 6th-10th. The 10th is an early dismissal for students. Amy K and Counselors already have a skeleton plan for that morning. 10th is also our staff get together at Quirk from 3:00-5:00
4. Please keep pumping up iReady. All the encouragement is needed. 8th is a tough sell since the lessons have not been re-done like they have been in 6th-7th. THANK YOU for your help.
5. Wednesday, December 1st we will have our staff meeting with rotations. More information to come.
6. Have received feedback that having GNN five days a week keeps the consistency and routine in place. Starting Monday, November 30th we will continue with GNN 5 days a week. Will H will continue to upload the links to the GST calendar.
Something to Ponder
Whenever I see 'middle schooler' in an article, I zoom in. This Edutopia article resonated with me because it reinforces to an extent the discussion strategies GC presented. Have you tried 1 of the 5 strategies on the pink card? Have you tried a new strategy? How are you leveling the playing field in your classroom?
Hope you find a gold nugget.
Which Students Get More Teacher Attention?
“My teacher doesn’t like me,” said a middle-school student to Maurice Elias (Rutgers
University) during one of his school visits. In this Edutopia article, Elias says he was skeptical
because he knew the teacher and thought that couldn’t be true. But observing the class a couple
of times, Elias noticed that the student who had spoken to him sat on the right side of the room
and the teacher focused almost exclusively to the left side. Informed of this, the teacher was
surprised – it was an unconscious tendency – and addressed it with the student and the class.
With this awareness, he made a point of looking toward all parts of the classroom.
Elias says all teachers have quirks like this – they might be called biases – and some
students take them personally, participate less in class, lose self-confidence, and achieve less
well. British researcher Michael Fielding suggests that teachers delegate students (on a rotating
basis) to give them private feedback on where they tend to face, who gets called on more, in
what areas of the room, and which students are called on by name. In addition to providing
valuable insights to teachers, this job can increase students’ awareness of how they believe
they’re treated by teachers, administrators, lunch aides, bus drivers, and other adults in their
school.
Teachers can also self-monitor on who they speak to informally, who’s prodded to
participate, who gets to be the teacher’s helper, and which students are encouraged to take part
in clubs and other extracurriculars.
“Class participation involves a number of social and emotional competencies,” says
Elias, “as well as character attributes such as courage, persistence, and confidence.” Teachers
can level the playing field by:
- Being explicit about the class norm of equitable participation;
- Providing focus questions for discussion up front and giving students a few minutes to
gather their thoughts and write them down;
- Having students meet in pairs or small groups to share ideas before an all-class
discussion;
- Making a point of creating achievement- and interest-diverse groups and having
students work with as many different classmates as possible over time;
- Rotating which students are called on to report their group’s ideas.
“Who Do You Call On? Rooting Out Implicit Bias” by Maurice Elias in Edutopia, May 21,
2021; Elias can be reached at melias@psych.rutgers.edu .
QUOTE
"When you are tired, learn to rest, not quit." -Bansky
Little Humor
Thurs/Fri Nov 25-26 Rest and Recharge
Wed, Dec 1st Picture Re-takes, Staff Meeting 2:45-3:45
Fri, Dec 3rd GC Meeting at 7:30 in Agnes' Room
Dec 6-10th Spirit Week
Wed, Dec 8th School Vaccine Clinic from 9-10:30am
Fri, Dec 10th 1/2 Day, We All Belong Training, Quirk 3:00-5:00
