Thursday Thriller
February 8, 2024
Nuts-n-Bolts
1. Bowling tomorrow morning! We will call students down at 9:30 and load the bus at 9:45. Students will return at 12:00 and head back to class before lunch.
2. Tuesday there was an arrest made for brining marijuana to school. Today, marijuana was found on another student but no arrest was made. However, the student will have a court date and is suspended. We know there is more marijuana floating around. Up hoodie sleeves, in places we don't search, etc. stay vigilant. :D I guess there was a group text among certain students that said, "Don't bring anything tomorrow." That means a couple of things. 1) Attendance will be low tomorrow and/or 2) Students probably won't ask to go to the bathroom much. LOL. We stay the course, remain consistent and be visible. Keep fighting the good fight!!!
2. Students are under the impression that if they 'slap' each other while fighting it is not as serious as when fists are used. We consider slaps and fists the same when we are talking about fighting. FYI if you are having casual conversations in class spread the word. 😆
3. Best of luck to Caleb this Saturday. He is taking orchestra students to the Solo and Ensemble Festival in Pasco!
4. The NAEP test will be on Tuesday, February 13th in room 203. Nate F is graciously allowing us to use his room. There will be a group in the morning and a different group in the afternoon. Parents and students have been notified. NAEP brings in their own people to administer the assessment.
5. Please don't forget to vote. No stamps are needed for ballots. Just drop them off.
6. ELA and MATH teachers~ don't forget to schedule your two remaining IAB. The tentative SBA schedule won't begin until May 20th. If you want to schedule one IAB (Interim Assessment Block) before Spring Break and one after that's okay.
7. Friday, Feb. 16th we will have an all staff picture! Probably around 8:15. We would gather in the gym and smile pretty! The time may change. This is the day that club, group and winter sports pictures will be taken.
8. Have you completed the EES survey? Please make sure you have taken the survey. We do look at the feedback.
9. One our Garrison Collective Commitments is teaching bell to bell. It is often heard, "Our class periods are so short! We don't have enough time!" I have observed students waiting at the door in various classrooms and even out the door before the bell rings. That means students would have had to pack up their bags in order to get to the door. Therefore, maybe 3-5 minutes have been lost, times 4-5 days a week; that is upwards to 16-20 mins lost.
Reasons we do not have students stand by the door are 1)This is where stuff happens that teachers don't know about because they are at the back of the clump and don't hear or see what is happening. Today-students standing at the door, smack talking, bell rings, students are now in the hall and one slaps another hard. 2) When students are clumped at the door, believe it or not they head into the hallway dysregulated which created chaos in the hallways. These are the TWO main reasons our staff created created the Collective Commitments, GC made a video and made posters for the classrooms. The third important reason was so we collectively used every minute of every class period.
DO NOT HAVE STUDENTS STAND IN A GROUP AT THE DOOR WAITING FOR THE BELL TO RING. This is a hard DO NOT! Thank you
Something to Ponder
We know relationships with students is key! We've been taught to ask, "How was your weekend?" "How was your game last night?" "Heard your mom was. How is she doing?" This helps us to understand a little bit more about our students and to let them know we genuinely care. But what happens with the relationship when the grades fall, students may not have agency for choice or voice, we don't help them because 'We talked about that yesterday. Use your notes. You know how to do this. Ask your partner."
Tom Schimmer asserts that building relationships with students comes THROUGH their LEARNING, not before. 7:24 to 17:32 was mind blowing and a 'duh' moment for me. I have reflected and replayed these few minutes several times learning something new each time. I hope you find a gold nugget like I did!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
