A little glimpse into the learning going on around our school in the past week. Inquiry and developing independence as a learner takes many shapes!

There is a great deal of social emotional learning going on as well. I've had a chance to observe some morning meetings and closing circles, as well as SEL lessons on the Zones of Regulation and other ways that we are building common language and understanding while we build community.

If you haven't yet seen the maze in the cafeteria being used, take a peek below. Like the regulation activities that you use in your classrooms (wiggle breaks, breathing exercises, visualization...) the maze is a tool to help children self-regulate. You will sometimes see Carissa, Dan, or others supporting a child in the maze individually. But it is also available for whole classes to use for a regulation break. Please see Carissa if you'd like to learn how.

As a reminder, I am asking that all teachers continue SEL instruction in the SEL calendar related to school-wide expectations and Zones of Regulation. In addition, you are using Positive Discipline and/or Caring School Communities to build culture and social/emotional skills in students.

ALL staff, certificated and classified, support this important learning by reinforcing these important messages!

This week . . .

• Classroom teachers - revisit cafeteria expectations, practice these in the context of breakfast and help children to see connections. Teach and reinforce Zones lessons related to identifying emotions.
  If you have not already taught the Brain in the Palm of the Hand lesson from Positive Discipline, please consider this one. Even if you are primarily using Caring School Community resources, this is a lesson that has provided important school-wide language for us.
• Specialists and classified staff - review and reinforce cafeteria and playground expectations, espeically
• Specialists - ensure that you have a positive time-out space in your classroom and have taught expectations for students using that space

• Sept. 27 - DESSA assessment window opens, through 10/7
• October 2 - 2:45-3:45 - Staff meeting
• October 4 - Fall spread in the staff room - stop by the staff room for some treats hosted by Sunshine Team
• October 4 - 1:00-2:00 - Data team meeting with Sound Discipline support; 3:00-4:00 Behavior Team with Sound Discipline support
• October 5 - Pumpkin Fun Run
• October 18 - Sunshine potluck
• October 19 - no school for students, PD and collaboration at Cordata focused on SEL, Inquiry, and technology integration
• October 24-26 - 5th graders to Mountain School
• October 29 - Unity Care mobile dental clinic at Cordata
• Nov. 2 - all day parent-teacher conferences (other Thursday afternoons in November are available as well)
• Nov. 8 - afternoon and evening parent-teacher conferences
• Nov. 12 - No school for staff or students

• At last Thursday's collaboration time, cert staff began working on the fall requirements for the TPEP process - completing the self-assessment and determining and area of focus. Please complete these first two steps by Sept. 30, and sign up for a fall TPEP conference in the staff room. You will then need to write your student growth goals by Oct. 31. If you would like additional support in completing these steps, please contact Analisa or Minh, who will be available to support individuals or teams during the Thursday 2:00-3:00 collaboration time.
  
  
• We will have a roving sub in the building for a half day Tuesday, and a half day Friday, to release cert staff to meet with Analisa for TPEP beginning-of-year conferences. If you have an inquiry cycle scheduled for October, please plan to sign up for a conference as early as possible. These conferences will be scheduled for 30 minutes. If you prefer to meet during non-student time, no problem, just see Analisa or Minh to schedule.
  
  
• A reminder for all when using office referrals and behavior tracking forms -
  These slips of paper are important communication tools, so thank you for using them. In particular, submit an office referral for behaviors that impact safety and/or result in significant lost instructional time. In order for our data to be accurate and helpful in informing our future decisions, please be sure to include all of the following: the child's first and last name, grade, teacher, date, and time of the incident. Please give the time on the clock as opposed to "first recess" or another descriptor. Thank you!
  
  
• Our Cordata PTA works hard on behalf of Cordata students and staff, and we can help support them in a couple of ways. First, become a PTA member! We're hoping for 100% staff participation this year. Look for a form in the office. Second, support their fundraising through Fred Meyer and Amazon Smile.
  Go to Fredmeyer.com/communityrewards, and enter id D1708 (or search for Cordata PTA) to link your rewards account to the PTA. You get all of your regular rewards, AND the PTA benefits too.
  Before making a purchase through Amazon, go to smile.amazon.com and make sure your account is set up to support the Cordata PTA. There is no additional charge to you, but the PTA benefits from our purchases.

On Monday, six of us from Cordata will be attending the Deep Learning Module Training at the ESD, along with some teachers from Northern Heights and Columbia. This training comes from a Toronto based organization that is now supporting schools world-wide, called New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. Below is a description of what they mean when they talk about Deep Learning. We will be exploring some tools and determining whether they will be useful for our whole staff in deepening our understanding of inquiry this year.

Reading the list below, where do you see connections to our conversations about Culturally Responsive Teaching and developing independent learners last year? Where do you see connections to our early conversations about inquiry this year?