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 1st 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
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