Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*I heard about a number of different conversations that teachers had with students after completing the PreACT at the high school--about how students felt they did, what they realized they need to learn more about, etc. It's these types of conversations that help students to have ownership of their learning and use assessments to move their learning forward. Thank you!
*Several different staff members helped cover for others during absences and even develop a plan for a long term coverage. You all are so amazing for your colleagues and our students!
*Classcraft magic. I mean kids were learning, they were so focused, so quiet, so on-task and having fun at the same time. I don't even understand Classcraft yet, but those kids were as hooked as I've seen them get hooked on Minecraft and Fortnite!
*After the weekend homecoming dance I had a parent reach out and share that her child had something negative happen with their date, but several other students went out of their way to make the evening a positive experience, including students that had previously been unkind at school. It was such a great story to hear the good that our students can do for one another, just by showing empathy and being kind!
Events Next Week:
I will be out of the building Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday.
Wednesday - Picture Retake Day (this will be on the elementary side of the commons)
Thursday - if no rain: before school is the bus evacuation drill-this means all buses will drop off students behind the elementary after the drill so students will enter from the backside of the building and be later than normal.
*PM-Senior/Community Job Fair taking place in the commons/hallway. We have 17 businesses/companies that will be set up 2:00-5:00.
*Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:30 (see my details in "Nuts & Bolts" Notes) If you'd like to support FBLA and eat pasta to fuel up for conferences you only need to pay $4 and can eat as early as 3:15.
Friday - PD Day 7:30-3:00 Agenda coming out soon (it will include target based work, ACP/Xello and DPI school report card data).
"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*P/T Conferences - all staff will be in the gym. This has been most favorable by parents to be able to connect with teachers.
Do's: Start with a positive, welcome the parent, listen actively, share examples, be objective when describing behavior, give suggestion of how to support at home.
Don’ts: show gradebook of all students, get emotional (stay calm), complain, etc. Please let me know of any parents that you might be concerned about and I would be happy to keep my eyes out for them to join you when they arrive. Or give me some sort of signal that you'd like me to join. ;)
*Please remind students to use their final 5 minutes of 8th period to check emails. Mrs. Modaff, Mr. Dunn, myself and others are using email to communicate with students to try to minimize the amount of times students are called out of class.
Tech Tip of the Week:
Resource Week: QR Codes! Even easier for students to use now that we don’t need a seperate app to scan QR codes. Life has gotten one tap easier. Using the camera app, a student can walk up to a QR code and wait for the prompt to open a document or a web site. Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything, literally has everything and this page has QR code videos, book suggestions and tons of fun with QR codes! Sometimes we just need an idea...
Do you like free online learning? Maybe you'd be interested in the Teacher Success Summit: https://teachersuccesssummit.com/
Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:
*15 Tips for Leading Productive Parent-Teacher Conferences
*Have you listened to Ted Neitzke's podcast? He is always so inspiring and it's so easy to listen to it while I'm getting ready in the morning or while I walk my dog. I loved listening to this episode recently and can't stop thinking about mindset, what we get to do and how we can even let the weather decide our day! 102: Meteorologists, Astrologists, and Hope'rs
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