The Reds Tale
November 10, 2016
Newark High School
Email: thomas.roote@newarkcsd.org
Website: http://newarkcsd.org/Domain/84
Location: 625 Peirson Avenue, Newark, NY, United States
Phone: 315-332-3240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nhsreds
Twitter: @Newark_HS
From the Desk of Mr. Roote
My recent conversations have included challenges you experience in addressing all learners in your classroom when your formative assessment work identifies a deficit. Take for example Mr. Buckgrunt. Mr. Buckgrunt sets his classroom up into six clusters of four desks. At each cluster of desks is high, medium and low students when considering academics and behavior. During one lesson you ask each small group to complete a problem set and to report a summary of their work on a piece of chart paper posted near their work area. The independent work time lasts twelve minutes so you feel you have plenty of time to move from group to group to take the temperature of student understanding. As is typical, the lower students in each small group are struggling so you spend a few minutes each with these students. You are able to reach three out of your six lowest students. Unfortunately, three students are left to fend for themselves. The activity closes with the latter three students in a bit of a fog. The preceding scenario plays out regularly leaving you to question how you can get to everyone that is struggling.
My answer lies in how you utilize your upper-middle and high functioning students in your classroom. Additionally, there are some solutions that may live in your planning. Let's start with the former and consider what happens at the very moment the high functioning student in each group realizes, "I got this." and the low functioning student realizes, "I can't get this." Typically, the high functioning student will socialize quietly, start some other work etc. while the "other" student begins to grumble or at the very least, transfer their burden to the teacher with incessant requests for immediate assistance. My recommendation when the preceding plays out is to have a protocol in place that allows the proficient peer to model their process for completing the problem. Naturally, you want to be cognizant of the reality that the proficient peer may just give away the answer. That is why it is important to focus heavily on the process and not the product. As a result, one must consider their planning. In the case of Mr. Buckgrunt, he should be aware of the areas of his curriculum that are "must haves" and be prepared with an alternate problem set that can be deployed to the proficient peer to be completed with the deficient peer for the purposes of understanding process and not worrying too much about product.
Before I close, I want to make mention of the importance of pre-teaching topics and concepts. As you near difficult areas in your curriculum consider asking AIS teachers and using 2:30-3:00 pm to pre-teach, thereby smoothing out some of the wrinkles that will no doubt arise in a future lesson.
From the Desk of Mr. Wagner
A few weeks ago the article Ten Key Ideas for the Social and Emotional Learning and School Climate Community came through my Twitter feed and caught my eye. The ten key ideas identified in the article are:
- Focus on Equity
- Be Systemic. Be Holistic. Be Practical.
- Create a Unified Message
- Spread the Word
- Invest in Professional Development
- Incorporate Student Leadership
- Involve Families and the Community
- Identify What We Know and Don’t Know
- Improve Assessment
- Act Quickly and Strategically
There is a lot out there on what it means to be a great school and what characteristics make schools successful. If you are like me, after you read one of these articles you think about how our school compares. The ten ideas listed above resonate with me and after thinking about how our school compares, I concluded that our initiatives are directly aligned with these ideas. For example, the three Big Rocks of our Strategic Plan show up throughout the list including investing in PD, involving families, and increasing student voice. In addition, our tenants in our Building Plan for Excellence are in there as well such as increasing student voice and improving assessment to name a couple. The reason I wanted to share this with you is because I find it validating knowing that the hard work we are doing is the right work to improve our school and felt that you may appreciate that as well.
Mash Up
Effective Monday, November 14 students will no longer be allowed to use bedding in classrooms (blankets and pillows). Since members of the Insect Kingdom can proliferate in our homes and then hitch a ride to school this is a common sense position for the school. If you see an issue ask that it be corrected, when it is not write a referral for insubordination.
Lil’ Reds Playschool began on November 8. The children will be in the building from 10:00-11:30 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Room 180.
There will be no AHLC on November 16.
Plan for 11/16 Half Day Staff Development for NHS:
- 10:30-12:00 pm for teachers: Assessment items that evaluate higher order thinking
- 10:30-11:30 pm for teacher assistants: Provide support to teachers/building assignments
- 11:30-12:30 pm for teacher assistants: Lunch
- 12:00-1:00 pm for teachers: Lunch
- 12:30 pm until end of work day for teacher assistants (or until 3:30 pm for those who need CTLE credit and wish to extend their work hours): The Power of Our Words with Robin Uveges in the cafeteria
- 1:00-3:00 pm for teachers: Office 365 training options
November 22 assembly schedule:
- Period 1 7:30-8:08 AM
- Announcements 8:08-8:16 AM
- Period 2 8:19-8:57 AM
- Period 3 9:00-9:38 AM
- Period 4 9:41-10:19 AM
- Lunch 5 10:22-10:52 AM, Period 6/7 10:55-11:33 AM, Period 8/9 11:36-12:14 PM
- Period 5/6 10:22-11:00 AM, Lunch 7 11:03-11:33 AM, Period 8/9 11:36-12:14 PM, Period
- 5/6 10:22-11:00 AM, Period 7/8 11:03-11:41 AM, Lunch 9 11:44-12:14 PM
- Period 10 12:17-12:44 PM
- Period 11 12:47-1:14 PM
AM BOCES will miss period 8/9 as they will be required to take lunch 9. PM BOCES will get a double lunch (lunch 5 and lunch 7).
Early Release Day Schedules
November 16
- Period 1: 7:30-8:07 AM
- Homeroom: 8:07-8:15 AM
- Period 2: 8:18-8:55 AM
- Period 3: 8:58-9:35 AM
- Period 5/6, 6/7: 9:38-10:15 AM (PM BOCES students do not have this class in their schedule and as a result will be provided a studyhall until their departure at 11:30 am)
March 16
- Period 4: 7:30-8:07 AM
- Homeroom: 8:07-8:15 AM
- Period 7/8, 8/9: 8:18-8:55 AM
- Period 10: 8:58-9:35 AM
- Period 11: 9:38-10:15 AM
April 4
- Period 1: 7:30-8:07 AM
- Homeroom: 8:07-8:15 AM
- Period 2 8:18-8:55 AM
- Period 3 8:58-9:35 AM
- Period 5/6, 6/7 9:38-10:15 AM
Social Emotional Learning and the Plan for Excellence
Calendar Share
Friday, November 18 AM. Tom Out: Principal Meeting. Contact: T Roote.
College Wear Wednesday: December 14.
Tuesday, November 22 in the afternoon. All School Assembly: SAC and Pause Before you Post. Contact: A principal.
By 3:00 pm: December 1, January 10, February 14, March 22 and May 2. ↓65 Infinite Campus Grade Reports. Contact: T Roote.
Save the date: Special Olympics will be May 12 at North-Rose Wolcott CSD.
Friday, November 18. The Great American Smoke Out: Wear Red, White and Blue.
The Newark High School Mission, Vision and Values
The Newark High School Mission: We are a school community with deeply held hometown pride, committed to readying young people to be life-long learners with experiences aimed at continuously motivating us to hone our skills in the complex tasks of teaching and learning. Our community is devoted to providing supports for the aspirations of our adolescents as they mature into adults with ambitious plans for college and careers.
The Newark High School Vision: Staff embody the school values and impart confidence while providing an inviting classroom environment with clear expectations and specific academic and behavioral goals. Students embody the school values through intellectual and emotional perseverance. Families embody the school values while remaining actively involved as advocates for their children and supporters of the school programs and staff.
The Newark High School Values: Safe, Responsible, Trustworthy, and Respectful.
Email: thomas.roote@newarkcsd.org
Website: http://newarkcsd.org/Domain/84
Location: 625 Peirson Avenue, Newark, NY, United States
Phone: 315-332-3240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nhsreds
Twitter: @Newark_HS