Friday Focus - February 26, 2021

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*We had several Juniors who spent late evenings every night this week focused on learning through an ACT Prep course...several of them after sports and other meetings...talk about dedication!  I can't wait to compare their ACT scores to their PreACT to see how much of an impact this had on their test-taking skills! (I have to confess, I did practice questions with them and most of them beat me on the amount of questions right!)

*Students in study hall creating kahoots to practice with each other for an upcoming assessment. It is fun to see students taking it upon themselves to study together and in a fun way!

*A quick ice breaker at the start of class asking students opinions related to what they have been learning by having them give a simple hand single to show their opinion. Students were given a few seconds to think about their answer before all flashing it at the same time for the teacher to see. 

*While reviewing answers for an in-class assignment, the focus of the class discussion was on why answers were wrong and what common misconceptions were to lead students to the wrong answers.

Upcoming Events: 

Wednesday - Workout Wednesday
HS Faculty Meeting - ACT Training (this was previously scheduled as combined MS/HS, but is just for HS ACT now)

Thursday/Friday- Good luck to Academic Decathlon at state! (They are pretending to travel away for this from our IMC!)

Seals-on-Wheels will be here March 5, 8-10 to provide dental cleanings/sealants to students who signed up. 

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Middle School teachers - Forward testing will still be happening this spring (no dates identified yet), but the good news is the test has been shortened during this COVID year! If you're curious to see the estimated time for testing at each grade/subject, go HERE. 

*Mrs. Westphal is due to have her baby any day now.  When baby Westphal decides to arrive, Mrs. Schulte will be taking over her classroom. While this is good news for our 7th graders to be ensure to have solid instruction for the remainder of the year, it does mean she will no longer be available for instructional coaching for the remainder of the year. 

*To get ready for renovations to start, we have several teachers who are moving to different classrooms. Those moving already know. I'll have a detailed list emailed out in the near future so you know where to find people. There are several dominos of moves that need to happen so that the renovation work in the IMC and STEAM addition can start right after spring break. I am so grateful for those of you impacted (whether you are moving or a class is using your room during a prep) to working positively through the hassles because in the long run, we will have some incredible new spaces!

Blogs, Quotes and Tweets:

*The Workload Dilemma - how are you at estimating the amount of time for your work, meetings and then of student work? I admit, I struggle in this area! This teacher shares some great reflections and questions. 

Friday Focus - February 12, 2021

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Many of our 6th graders were on a mission to spread kindness via email. :)

*Great student leadership for CTSO week and the upcoming food drive. Our student leaders never cease to amaze! 

*Many teachers in the hallway before school greeting kids and during passing periods. Not only does this mean making connections with kids, but also preventing some hallway shenanigans that tend to happen when there's no adult around (or come quickly when it does happen...thank you!)

Upcoming Events:
Monday - online PD day 

Tuesday - online course registration in 4th hour for 9-11th graders

Wednesday - MS Faculty meeting

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*You should be receiving an email Friday (today) with your schedule and zoom links for Monday's PD. Please enjoy these great sessions from the comfort of your home...unless you need to be in the building for our wifi. There will be about 40 people in the building from different companies inspecting the areas of the building that will be renovated, so if you're here there may be distractions depending on where you are at. 

Please see Ms. Lee's email from Feb 10 with Zoom directions. If you had any issues with zoom for our last PD day I would recommend connecting with Ms. Lee, Mr. Modaff, or Mr. Kjornes before Monday. 

We are at mid-February...the armpit of the school year. The freezing cold is here, some student behaviors, cell phones, hats, tech violations, all while teaching in person and blended...there's a LOT going on right now. It's the time of the year that we hit that slump and countdown the days until spring break...IF we let ourselves get lost from our why. Do you remember YOUR why? Why you do what you do? When you feel yourself getting lost in your to-do list, behaviors, all the minutia....go back to your purpose.  I'll admit, I often have to pull out my card I wrote for my why, because the days can get long, but my why always brings me back!

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*Need Inspiration Designing Station Rotation Lessons for your Math, English, History or Science Class? Post by Catlin Tucker

Friday Focus February 5th, 2021

 Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Students creating memes to go along with the current unit to add some humor and creativity to what they have been learning. 
*As students have been working on their course selection forms, I have continued to hear conversations between students and teachers about career/college aspirations and SO appreciate how some of you have really helped students to make course choices to help them with their goals!

*A student stood up for and reported a conversation that was culturally insensitive and offensive. 

*While how the above incident started was a frustration this week, I won't let it overshadow the multiple moments of kindness I witnessed from our students this week: a student emailed another encouraging words of support to another student (something in the email triggered the flag for me to be able to see this), a high school student going out of her way to pick up another student for school because she knew she had missed a lot of school, a few students were scraping windshields of others' cars as the snow fell on Thursday. 

Upcoming Events:

This Saturday - Wrestling Sectionals is taking place with the top wrestlers from 27 schools. We are NOT allowing spectators, but will be livestreaming on our Dodgeland Youtube channel. We ask that you NOT come into school on Saturday to not take the risk of anyone trying to sneak in the door with you. 

Workout Wednesday - HS Faculty Meeting

Friday - Middle school Hat day for American Heart Association

Feb 15 - PD Day

Nuts & Bolts Notes:

*HS Course registration - we are still waiting on course registration forms to review in the office We originally planned for students to register in 4th hour starting on Monday, but we will NOT be ready for that quite yet. I plan for the information about that step to be a part of our Wednesday HS faculty meeting.

*Check out the latest referendum update HERE.

*Just a reminder of the expectations that were sent to students/parents about blended learning. Please let me know if you have a student not meeting the expectations and should be receiving a letter from the office. Better yet, email the student/parent and cc me...then both parent and I know at the same time (and we will still send out a letter).  

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*Ok, this one isn't a blog, but a video of inspiration...Be a Mr. Jensen! Do you see weaknesses or can you help students identify strengths?