Friday Focus - February 25, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*After a snow day and then missing a whole class period, I'm sure some of you may have been frazzled to have a lockdown drill, but you certainly didn't show it.
*A student who has been disengaged for years has been getting back on track. Not only have I seen him engaged in learning multiple times, this week I got to see him helping another student who was struggling. This is a student that I was worried was on the path to dropping out...sometimes the seeds we plant take years to sow.  Don't give up on them!
*Towards the end of a lesson, the teacher referred back to the lesson objective on the board and had students turn and talk for 30 seconds to share how they met that objective (quick moment of closure) and then had 4 students share out. I confess closure to a lesson was always an area of growth for me so this was a great way to stay focused and have students a part of the process!
*Some of our high school student leaders have been busy brainstorming additional ways to give back and support students in need in our school community. It is so rewarding to hear the young leaders we have amongst us who have been mentored by incredible staff to help them learn how to be leaders!
*As we always do...

Upcoming Events:

Monday - Bandorama concert 7:00pm
Wednesday - HS Facutly meeting (see my email on 2/22 for the 2 different agendas/locations)

Mark Your Calendars - District-wide staff meeting (for certified and paraprofessional staff) onWednesday, March 9th regarding technology. (No IEP meetings should be scheduled during this time)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Did you see Dr. Thompson's message about our new Dodgeland Store? Check it out: https://www.ez-promotion.com/sr/2139209 

*Continuing next week: Juniors will need to remain in their Junior Advisory groups for ACT Preparation.  The ACT is on March 8th and we are going to utilize their aspire time (not taking away from class time) for ACT Prep/Test-taking strategies. 

*Here's the HS IEB/Advisory Doc for next week: Week of February 28

*Do you have a grade for Employability Skills or Work Habits for your students yet? If not, you should!

Friday Focus - February 18, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*A student's email reply to a staff member said, "Thank you for not giving up on me."
* I overheard a student telling a classmate that she just wanted to go home for the rest of the day. He replied to her, "You made a decision to get up and come to school today, so you already won the first battle of the day. Don't go back on that, you can make it the rest of the day!"  He had such wise words of encouragement!
*Students were meeting with book club partners to discuss character traits that collided to develop life lessons from the book they were reading. 
*Students practicing writing with different types of transitions, with topics of their choice.

Upcoming Events:
Today: No Fun Friday for Middle School due to lack of gyms. Today's aspire is for MS locker cleaning! 

In case you are planning to come in to work this weekend, we are hosting Wrestling Sectionals on Saturday so the parking lot will be packed. 

Wednesday - Workout Wednesday

Thursday - I will be out of the building at a conference

Mark Calendars - District-wide staff meeting (for certified and paraprofessional staff) onWednesday, March 9th regarding technology. (No IEP meetings should be scheduled during this time)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*For the next 2 weeks, Juniors will need to remain in their Junior Advisory groups for ACT Preparation.  The ACT is on March 8th and we are going to utilize their aspire time (not taking away from class time) for ACT Prep/Test-taking strategies. 

*Here's the HS IEB/Advisory Doc for next week: Week of Feb 21

PD and Motivation:

This is a repeat for those that attended the Mentors/Mentees meeting...Mrs. Huelsman shared tips on how to Thrive through winter (because February is such a blah month!) and I wanted to share with all to help you get through...

Stress is a normal part of life, however, there are different types of stress:

A helpful factor to decide between if stress is felt to be tolerable vs toxic is RELATIONSHIPS. We know that have students who are able to be supported by relationships from supportive adults at school. WE each need to have people to help support each of us as well.  Who is your thinking partner to talk thorugh things at school?  Laughter really is the best medicine...who do you go to for a good laugh each day? Don't be afraid to ask someone for help when you need it! 

Friday Focus -February 11, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Students in deep discussions in their small groups about possible themes/motifs in the short stories they read. 
*Students analyzing song lyrics (choosing a song of their choice, which was highly motivating) to analyze for poetic devices such as theme, author's purpose, figurative language, symbolism, etc. 
*I've been included on several teacher emails to inform parents about students they are concerned about. Communication to parents is key so they can help team with us to help their child be successful!

Upcoming Events:

Monday - Mentors/Mentees meeting 3:15 in IMC for year 1, 2, and 3 teachers and mentors (Topic: How to Thrive (not just survive) the Winter)

Wednesday - HS Advisory is for course registration
HS Staff meeting at 3:15 in IMC - Main topic - supporting our ELL students in the classrooms

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Here's next week's High School Advisory/IEB Doc Week of February 14

*Just resharing Mr. Modaff's email regarding virtual meetings moving forward:

As of January 1^st 2022 BlueJeans is only available for the districts Special Education Teachers. Moving forward Regular Education teachers are able to use Google Meet for virtual meetings. Directions on creating a Google Meets Meeting can be found here. When using Google Meets you will need to use the Chrome browser for everything to function properly. Please ensure you are logged into your district google account and not your personal account. For additional information on how to use Google Meets you can visit their website or stop by the Tech Office for assistance.

*Sanitizing Reminder - we've been seeing an increase in pink eye and stomach flu bugs..please continue to encourage desk sanitizing and hand sanitizing. 

*Reminder about Parent/Teacher Conferences: just a reminder that we did not schedule an evening for February conferences this year, rather giving you flexibility in using your time to communicate with parents.  Here are my expectations for this:

• Make sure to communicate with parents of any students that you currently have concerns with.  
• Advisors - please check through your advisess to see if they are struggling in mulitiple classes. These are students that we should be coordinating setting up parent meetings so that all teachers that the student is struggling with can be a part of the parent/student meeting to help set up a plan of support. Please let Marcia or I know if you need help coordinating. 
• I also encourage you to send out any positive messages that you can

*Following up to Dr. Thompson's detailed message about upcoming renovation work, if your room is impacted and you want to get a headstart on any packing and need boxes, please email Mrs. Vitale (she saved a bunch when she unpacked) and then Kimi Pasewald when those run out. This is also a good reason to purge materials that are no longer needed. I know I will be doing some deep cleaning of my files/cabinets during spring break to pack up in preparation for the busyness that the end of the school year will bring as we prepare for more amazing things to happen to our building!

*If you plan to come into the building this Sunday or next Saturday, February 19th please know that we are hosting wrestling tournaments that will likely completely fill the parking lots.

We are at mid-February...the armpit of the school year. The freezing cold is here, some student behaviors, cell phone addictions, tech violations, snapchat and tik tok drama, new students...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 do 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. That's what brings you back and keeps you going even when the day throws challenges your way. 

Blogs, Quotes & Tweets:

*Teacher Engagement: Emotional Engagement

Friday Focus - February 4, 2022

 

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Students discussing the question "Can you show respect to a person you don't respect?" 
*Vox Choir students listening to song choices and then having discussion about whether or not the song is well suited for their upcoming performance in Memphis, considering the song's history, lyrics, tone, mood, and harmonies.  
*Students analyzing a political comin to identify the meaning of what the artist/author intedended to convey and why.
*Several students have been working on a math rap that they are excited to present to their class to demonstrate their understanding in a fun way.
*We had several students stand up for another student during a difficult incident and following it to make sure the student was ok and send the message to others that what happened was not ok. 

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday - Workout Wednesday and MS Faculty Mtg

CTSO week at the high school...

Monday- color day - with a quizzizz about our CTSO's in advisory

Tuesday- Camo Day (FFA)/ relay activity in gym during advisory

Wednesday- Worker/career day (Skills)/ relay activity in gym during advisory

Thursday- Country vs. Country Club (FBLA)/ tug of war activity in gym during advisory

Friday- Chapter t-shirts/purple pride

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*The HS IEB/Advisory Doc can be found HERE.

*Please plan ahead for your personal days. As a reminder, I'm sharing from the Employee Handbook:

Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time/Flex Time by Hour may not be used to extend a holiday or school recess/break period.  Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time/Flex Time by Hour may not be used during the last two weeks of the school year.

 

Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time/Flex Time by Hour will not be granted on parent-teacher days or professional development days unless an exception is made by the building principal.

 

Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time must have prior approval from the building principal/ supervisor.  Employees must complete a Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time Form at least five (5) days prior to the absence. Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time requests will be granted in the order in which they are received.  Only two (2) requests for certified staff and two (2) requests for para-professionals that require substitutes will be granted for the same day for the use of Personal Leave/Full-Day Flex Time.  Once approved, these absences will be entered in the absence management system by District Office staff.

Blogs, Quotes and Tweets:

*7 Clever, Teacher Tested Tech Hacks