Thursday Thriller

 Thursday Thriller

February 22, 2024 The date Jack Joseph Hallowell was born.💙

Photos from the Field

You can't take yourself too seriously.  This is a video to make yourself feel better about who you are!

Stephanie P, you may have to purchase either Get Well or Sympathy cards for Reggie and Christy.

Just wait for it is all I can say. :D

Wardrobe Malfunction

If anyone needs a slip, it's hanging in my office.😅

Nuts-n-Bolts

1.  WIDA Testing begins on Monday the 26th.  Please review Sara's email from Feb 20th for details.

2.  Erin Jones is visits GMS on Monday. We will be on assembly schedule.  Students will report to 7th period, please take attendance, students leave backpacks with phones in backs and wait to be called to the gym.  The assembly will last 40-45 mins.

Here is the schedule.  The only change is we will add 6th grade girls basketball players to the 7th and 8th grade bball players.  All groups will meet in room 165.  

Lists of students for each group will be sent out by Monday morning. 

3.  The WWOnline teacher has been hired. Rob Ahrens, Pioneer Admin, Chris Gardea, Nicole and I are meeting next week to iron out the details and land on a starting date.  The purpose of the MS WWOnline teacher is to accommodate students who are needing half days.  The goal is to have students be 'shared' between Garrison and WWOnline.  Instead of completing course work at home through WWOnline, students will be housed in room 117.  Students will be strategically placed throughout the different periods in room 117 to meet virtually with their teacher and work on assignments.   This is NOT a program that you SUGGEST to students.  Students are PLACED in this program for various reason.  Two examples would be-  1. Students want a half day.  We will give students half of day in person and half of their day through WWOnline.  2. Students who are behavior in a class with multiple exclusions and there isn't room in the schedule to move them to another teacher or class  3. Students who need 8th grade math instead of Algebra but have a scheduling conflict with a core class or needed elective.  We are thankful for this opportunity and shout out to Wade and Chris for making this happen!

4. I will be speaking on GNN about the incident that happened Tuesday in regards to what the school district and law enforcement will do to aggressors, bystanders and those that record and share videos.  In addition, I will speak about illegal substances.  If you bring them and you are caught with them, police will come and you will be arrested.  Students need to know that we are taking a stance and they are safe!  We need them to share with a trusted adult if they see something or hear something.  The video of the assault went viral.  Of course the comments on WW Scanner with Kevin about the incident were "fire the principal, she's a joke. The school never stops bullying..."  One of our 6th graders made this comment.  YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in our students' lives. :D

5.  Conferences are right around the corner.  The counselors and admin are going to set up meetings with families on Thursday.  If there is a student that your team feels needs a group conference (teachers, counselor, admin), please add their name to this list.  Stephanie will work to get these scheduled.

***A parent should not first learn about their child's concerns during a group conference.

Something to Ponder

Yesterday, co-teaching teams (Sydney, Agnes, Katelyn, Nate F, Robin, Colin (Robin's student teacher), Nancy, Jami P, Nate C and Nancy participated in an PD workshop with KC Knudson on Inclusionary Practices. How do we engage all learners? There are many layers to this question. However, yesterday the focus was on how do we, educators, design learning that engages all learners? Engagement is:

Sense of Purpose-

    I know what I am doing and why I am doing it.

Sense of Place-

    I am a part of a community that supports me and vice versa.

Sense of Possibility -    

    I believe that I have the ability (or a way to get it) and agency to make it happen.

Sense of Progress-

    I know if I am moving forward toward my goal.

Linear progression isn't necessary for all individuals. Maybe for some, feeling a sense of purpose or belonging to a community requires knowing they're making progress toward their goals. Consider a personal scenario. Whether it's trivia nights on Thursdays, your book club, or your Pitch group, can you affirmatively respond to the following four statements? What about your workplace, your PLC team? Can you answer yes to all four there? If not, what's lacking? How can we cultivate inclusivity in our school and classrooms, ensuring both students and staff feel a sense of purpose, belonging, potential, and advancement?

Setting the Purpose

85-Teacher clarity will accelerate learning. Click on 85 to view the extent of the change. Are you sharing and reviewing learning objectives? Are you clearly stating, "Today's focus is..." and specifying how I will assess your understanding? Be transparent. This doesn't need to be lengthy; just clarify why and how I can confirm students have grasped it.

64-Success criteria - Provide a clear response or feedback to the query, "How will I know they learned it?"

Establishing the purpose of your lesson and informing students upfront about how their learning will be evaluated will produce results. We must be transparent and explicit. Most of us appreciate knowing the agenda, the purpose of having a speaker, and how it relates to us. If adults expect this, why shouldn't students? Hope you find a gold nugget and valuable insight in today's Something to Ponder.

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Wise Words

Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they're doing it because they care about the team. 

                                                                                -Patrick Lencioni