El Dorado Monday Memo
Week 14 November 18th, 2019
#ToroFamily
I hope you all had a great weekend enjoying the beautiful weather! I was catching up with some friends this weekend, who are also in education and just sharing with them the amazing journey we all have been on the past 4 years. I was just sharing how thankful I am for all of the hard work you all have done for our students and to make our community and school culture one where people want to be. Our conversations at last week's RAP meeting were evidence of how much you all care and how hard you are working to see our students succeed. We know we still have some ways to go but we can make it if we do it together! In this month of thankfulness, I am very grateful to get to work with all of you.
As we get ready to head to a break and the excitement of that, I always am sure to remind myself that a week at home and no school can create significant stress for some of our students. It will be important this week for us to keep that in mind and to reassure our students we are here for them. Some of what students crave is that structure and it might be good to hit up the #First21Days slides to remind students of our expectations at the start of this week. We will definitely hit these again when we return in December. Have a great week everyone and be sure to check all the way below for updates!
EDMS Student Body Relationships
You can view and add to our EDMS Student Body Relationships spreadsheet here.
Updates for the week...
Check the IEP/504/SST Meetings Weekly Calendar for this week here.
Monday, 11/18: District Learning Walk Team Visit Members from the District Office will be here Monday morning to walk classes. They will be walking through with our EDMS Learning Walk protocols and asking the 3 questions in addition to other questions I am sure they will have. Please do not feel the need to stop or engage with us unless prompted.
Monday, 11/18: Volleyball Jamboree Our students will be participating in the district-wide volleyball jamboree Monday afternoon starting at 3:30 at Pleasant Hill Middle School. Come out and support our Toros!
Wednesday, 11/20: Department/Grade Level Teams: If you need items for your agendas, please continue our conversations from last week around supporting struggling students and looking at what we are asking students to do. Time could also be spent working on grade level or department-wide progress charts and/or sharing ideas about using the 3 questions in our classes.
Thursday/Friday 11/21-22: Winter Book Fair Preview The Winter Book Fair will be happening the week after Turkey Break, if you would like to bring your classes by for a preview before break, you will be able to on Thursday or Friday of this week. Be on the lookout for sign-ups in the staff lounge.
Check below for more updates for this week!
Toro Sports...
Basketball begins on Monday 12/2! Schedules have been put in your boxes.
Tweets of the Week...
-Fawn Nguyen @fawnpnguyen
Three things make this professional inquiry different:
Grain size of the problem teachers work on
Student work is the evidence for instructional tweaks & determining if they worked.
Assumptions about kids are actively discouraged #edchat
-Mindshift EDU @mindshiftedu
Counselor's Corner...
This week we will help students focus on how to "be thankful" for the free education they receive in this country.
There are many countries in the world where students must pay to attend middle school:
Jamaica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Nigeria, Honduras, the Philippines, Zambia and many, many other countries.
-Parents have to pay for tuition, books, and uniforms.
- In many of these countries, young people don't attend school because they have to work to help support their family.
- If parents don't have the money to pay the necessary fees, their children don't get an education
Free education is a privilege that students in the US need to be thankful for. Take a moment to help students reflect on the following questions:
- Am I thankful for the free education I receive?
- Do my grades and my behavior reflect my thankfulness?
- What more could I be doing to show how thankful I am? Make a list of 3 specific things.
Julie and Kari, EDMS Counselors
This Week in AVID...
This Week in AVID - November 18, 2019
AVID Pairs Check allows students the practice to solve any type of problem and gives them the opportunity to get immediate feedback. This structure supports students as they take on the roles of “solver” and “coach.” It is also a great way to build agency with students and create independent learners.
Jeanne Johnson - Instructional Coach for AVID, Social Studies and Secondary Literacy
Events, Updates, Links, Etc
Nov 18th: District Team Learning Walks @ EDMS
Nove 18th: Volleyball Jamboree 3:30 Pleasant Hill MS
Nov 19th: ELAC Meeting 5:30
Nov 19th: Dine and Donate Mountain Mike's
Nov 20th: PFC Meeting 6:30
Nov 25th-29th: Thanksgiving Break
Dec 2nd: Basketball Games 3:30
Dec 2nd-6th: Winter Book Fair
Dec 4th: Parent University Night: Screenagers
Dec 20th: Last Day of 2nd Quarter Minimum Day Dismissal 12:16
Dec 23rd-Jan 3rd: Winter Break
What we are working on...
Learning Walks
1st Quarter Data (grades, IABs, Common Assessments)
Priority Standards (Instruction)
What I'm Reading/Listening to
We Got This
Switch
Links to Resources
El Dorado Middle School
Chris Clausen
@chrisclausen
@edmsinfo
Email: clausenc@mdusd.org
Website: edms.mdusd.org
Location: 1750 West Street, Concord, CA, United States
Phone: 925.682.5700
Twitter: @edmstoros