Thursday Thriller January 10, 2025

 Thursday Thriller
January 9, 2025

CELEBRATE!

PAC members having a little bit fun at lunch today. :D

Stephanie agreed to play "Trouble" with AB during lunch a couple of days ago. AB won but had some unconventional rules only she played by🤔😁  

NUTS-n-BOLTS

1.  From Carrie Laroy: "Does your Voice Lift system not power on even after you have charged the battery? Did you leave the device off the charger over break? Do you accidentally wear it home most nights? If you forget to charge your neck device and the battery completely dies, it will not charge again on your charger! You must take it to your building Tech Coordinator to exchange it for a newly charged battery. They have superchargers that will zap the dead ones back to life."

"Thank you for continuing to use these as they make a huge difference for all of our students but especially those with auditory processing and hearing challenges."

2. EOM-Your new best friend😆  End-of-Message

3. January 17th -Half day-Advisory day.  We will have grade level assemblies as well as lessons for 6th and 7th while 8th works on HSB-High School and Beyond. 1:00-2:15 Principal Directed, 2:25-3:45 Teacher Directed

4.  iReady Diagnostic- We will begin with reading next week -13-17 and math the following week -21-24, 27-31st make sups

5.  On Monday, you will receive an email from Nicole with all of the details and information about i-Ready math lesson tracking and incentives. The tracking spreadsheet is also located on the HUB.

Next week (January 15), during the advisory we will be having an evacuation drill.

The following week (January 22), during advisory, we will be having a secure building drill and the SEL team will have another activity for you to do with your students. 

This should allow all students to complete the diagnostic.

6. 🎯 Time to Schedule Your Formal Observations! 🎯

Please start scheduling your formal observation with your evaluator. If you're FOCUSED and have already had your formal observation, feel free to skip this message (lucky you! 🙌).

If you're not sure which category you fall into, no worries—we'll need to spend some quality time together to figure that out! ⏰💬     

2nd Semester of the 2024-2025 School Year

Provisional 1 – 1 formal observation within 90 days, along with drop-ins totaling 60 minutes throughout the year.
Provisional 2 – 1 formal observation, plus drop-ins totaling 60 minutes throughout the year.
Provisional 3 – 2 formal observations, along with drop-ins totaling 90 minutes throughout the year.
Comprehensive and Focused – 1 formal observation, plus drop-ins totaling 60 minutes throughout the year.

We look forward to scheduling your formal observation. In addition to the formal observation, we will need to arrange a pre-conference meeting and a post-conference meeting. These can take place before school, after school, or during your planning period.

Please share with your evaluator a few dates that would work best for your observation, along with which class period you would prefer them to observe. Also, let them know your preferred times for the pre- and post-conference meetings. 

The goal is to complete formal observations by the end of February (of course if this doesn't work out don't sweat it) so the informal and drop-ins can take place the remainder of the school year.

7. Last year, we had two advisory days that gave us the opportunity to meet with our advisory classes and set goals for the diagnostic assessment. This year, ELA and Math teachers are taking the lead in setting goals with all students. Let's continue to support our students, encouraging them to do their best and explaining why it's important. Assessing students is a shared responsibility, and it’s up to all of us to encourage and support them. Let’s keep the momentum moving forward and stay committed to all of our students!

8.  Walla Walla Online will continue to serve middle school students, with a change in staffing. Hannah Slominski, the WWOnline teacher, will now be stationed at the high school full-time, rather than splitting her time between Garrison in the mornings and Pioneer in the afternoons. This change will enable her to support a greater number of middle school students. Students who currently attend WWOnline for three periods in Luciano's room will remain in the program, and there will be coverage for these students.

Something to Ponder

Choosing to face tough challenges strengthens your resilience and enhances your ability to cope with daily obstacles. Both personal and professional struggles can make some days feel difficult, but think about a time when you took on something truly hard and saw it through to the end. The sense of accomplishment and success that follows is incredibly rewarding.
I mean this when I say, "You Got This!"

DO HARD THINGS

The thing about hard things, especially the hard things you don't have to do but CHOOSE to do is that you can just bail anytime. That's when you start to question yourself. What even is this? This video follows Casey Neistat preparing for the NYC marathon, highlighting the challenges and rewards of pursuing the difficult goal of running a sub-3-hour marathon.

Research shows that people who willingly engage in challenging tasks develop resilience and better cope with daily difficulties. Key findings include:

1. Growth Mindset (Carol Dweck) – Believing abilities can improve with effort helps people embrace challenges and persist in the face of setbacks.

2. Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) – Choosing challenging tasks fosters autonomy and competence, enhancing perseverance in daily life.

3. Stress Inoculation – Regular exposure to manageable stressors builds psychological hardiness, increasing resilience.

4. Grit (Angela Duckworth) – Passion and perseverance in difficult tasks lead to greater success and resilience.

5. Cognitive Behavioral Strategies – Overcoming challenges strengthens problem-solving and coping skills.

6. Delayed Gratification (Walter Mischel) – Enduring discomfort for long-term rewards builds self-control, helping individuals face daily struggles.

In short, voluntarily facing challenges strengthens key psychological traits that improve resilience and success in everyday life.

Little Humor

Yes, these are just random photos. After the holidays, I’m hoping if you snapped a family picture and it didn’t quite turn out as planned, it won’t be making its way to the internet 20 years from now! 😆