Thursday Thriller
January 5, 2022
Photos from the Field
Today was a great day being out in classrooms! Conor had his students "get one, give one" in a different way that was fun to observe! Students did the heavy lifting!!!
Beth's 6th grade students set up their 'restaurants' in the cafeteria. They were so excited to share their themes, the food they made and how they went about creating their restaurant and/or cafe.
Nuts-n-Bolts
1. Welcome to Lenore Curtis! She is subbing for us in the office (Yajara made the transition to WA HI). Lenore will be with us through the end of next week. We do have some applicants for the attendance secretary's position. Interviews will be soon.
2. TVs are up! Scott is learning how to program slideshows on them. The goal is to have announcements, shout outs, etc on a running slide show for families, students and community members to view when coming into the school. The larger TV in the cafeteria will be for March Madness of course LOL. Soccer, March Madness, etc will be for student viewing during lunch times.
3. Students who are excluded from class or have reached their 3rd class tardy will have this form to complete during either the classroom exclusion time or lunch detention. The teacher or referring staff member will receive a copy of the form the student completes. Here is the form.
Repair Plan for Behavior
Name:______________________________________ Date:_________ Grade: 6
7 8
Class period: Circle one 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lunch
1. Explain what happened
2. Which
rule was broken? Please put a check mark next to one of the 3R’s that was
broken.
● Respect(ful)
●
Responsible
● Do the Right Thing
3. What damage was done based on your choices? Who was affected by your choices?
4. Do
you need help from anyone else? Yes___ N0_____
If yes, what support do you need and from whom?
5. What actions do you need to take to repair this situation between you and those affected? Is there any repair needed for things that were damaged?
6. Is
this the first time you have had this problem with the specific teacher?
Yes____ No___ If yes, what happened before and how was the
damage repaired?
Student Signature_____________________________________ Date____________
SSR (Student Success Room)
Teacher_______________________________
5. Friday, January 13th is a half day. We will meet in the library at 1:00. PLEASE BRING YOUR CHROMEBOOK.
6. Friday, January 13th at 2:15 all paras -Reggie, Babett, Tobi, Nathan, Krystal, Meg, Cody, Ian, Rigo, Matt, Fahima will meet with Scott and Kim in the library.
7. Group picture day is tomorrow, January 6th. This will be clubs, groups. band, choir, jazz band, orchestra, etc. Our apologies for the short notice but Dorian gave us two days to choose from. Thank you in advance for your flexibility.
10. As stated on GNN today, students will complete their 8 iReady math lessons. I want to follow through on this. Therefore, students will be in lunch detention until Jan. 12th. If students finish before the 12th, great!! Students who do not finish, will stay after school with transportation provided. Nancy will run reports and the counselors, Yaneth, Scott and I will be calling home to let parents know their child is staying after school. Friday, a Parent Square will go out to students and families letting them know they have until next week to complete the iReady lessons before after school is required. I'm kind of a 'dog-on-a-bone' with this. I don't want students giving up and blowing this off thinking we, the adults, won't follow through on our end.
We will continue recording lessons on blue sheets. When blue sheets are completed students can turn them in at the office to be placed in a drawing. When a student completes a lesson, please continue giving them a ticket. Tickets can be redeemed for a Jolly Rancher. I will continue to draw weekly for a prize.
After the iReady Diagnostic (Math is Jan 17-19, Reading 24-26) we will alternate reading and math for iReady Wednesdays. There will be a schedule and reminders.
11. As the end of the semester is approaching, students who are failing need communication home. Whether it's the weekly progress report sent via Skyward that many of you do, email, parent square, phone call some sort of communication must be made with families especially if a student is on an IEP. Case managers and classroom teachers need to be communicating. Chad P has SEL, Michelle has RISE, Nate F has 8th grade, Brooke has 7th grade and Nate C has 6th grade. If a student is in a class with the option of P/F and the student is failing, there better be a meeting that will take place between case manager and classroom teacher with one admin invited because we need to go through the student's accommodations to make sure we are following those accommodations and figure out what case managers can do to further support the student in their WIN class. Then the parent needs to be brought on board. I guarantee you not one parent regardless of who they are wants to open a report card and see an F. If you have tried reaching the parent and cannot get a hold of them, just document somewhere the date, time and way you tried to communicate with them. As I always say, "Put me in a position to defend you."
12. Math and reading teachers will start having 1:1 data/goal chats with their students prior to the diagnostic. Scott will be putting this in the parent newsletter. We want parents to be involved and know this assessment is a big deal. We will ask parents in the newsletter to ask their child what their math and reading iReady goals are. Non-ELA and math teachers please ask students during iREady Wednesday what their goals are let's pump the students up!
13. Discipline meeting on the 18th at 3:45. This is a time to meet with Scott, see the data and share concerns if you have any.
Something to Ponder
During break I had the grand idea to clean out a cupboard that had school stuff from previous years as well as books and articles from my superintendent credentials classes. A lot of shiz that needed to be thrown away! However, there were a couple of articles that caught my attention which derailed my cleaning session LOL. Can we say, "Squirrel!"
"Back-to-Basics" is where my thoughts went after reading "Three Key Beliefs about Instruction." While we are in the "age of technology" we will NEVER replace the value of in person teaching. COVID taught us this and so much more.
Over the next three weeks, I am going to share one key belief with you; PD via Thursday Thriller.
KEY BELIEF #1 My job is to increase student learning in the most efficient way possible. Our time is limited per period so how do we make the most of each period or if we are working with a small group how do we maximize our time?
**The quality of a lesson comes down to not only what you teach, but how you teach it. Sticking with basics, no-frills and using them to push student learning through careful questioning, practice, and feedback will always be a higher yield plan than working with an incredibly complex lesson that has all the bells and whistles.
Be precise with the basics. Are your plans precise? Are you crystal clear on what you want students to learn? Every class period students should be demonstrating in some way, shape or form what you taught them during that class period. Do you have questions prepared ahead of time when planning your lesson? Some questions can definitely be prepared ahead and some questions of course come up through discussion with students.
Hope you find a gold nugget in reflecting up 'back-to-the-basics."
QUOTE
“There are teachers who without much fanfare take the students who others say “can't”—can't read great literature, can't do algebra or calculus, can't and don't want to learn—and turn them into scholars who can.”
― Teach Like a Champion 2.0: 62 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College
Little Humor
