Charger News
Every child. Every day. Whatever it takes!
October 11, 2019
The Moreau Heights family is committed to providing a positive and safe learning environment to support responsible and productive citizens.
Character Trait for October - Responsibilty
Check the Moreau Heights Shared Drive for Morning Meeting Lessons - Week 8
There will be 4 lessons provided with Second Steps as your lesson on Tuesday.
PLC - Collaborative Norms
Posing Questions
Effective in gaining a better understanding of a topic or to dig deeper into a question being asked by a colleague. We use questioning to be sure we are understanding what others have to say, as well as the impact for ourselves and our students.
Paraphrasing
Used to restate what we understand from others, to be sure we TRULY understand. This can be a great practice at the close of a meeting or when completing a discussion to be sure we are all on the "same page" with what has been decided and next steps. It is also a good practice when in the midst of a discussion by paraphrasing what a colleague has said or asked to make sure you understand their perspective or understanding.
There will be table tents for each team to have visible at meetings to support the practice of these norms to support collaboration.
Calendar of Events
Monday, Oct. 14
*Fire safety with firetrucks for grades k-1 8:15-10:00
*IEP for RC 8:10 (Johnson, Cowan, Haugen, Lock)
Tuesday, Oct. 15
*JEPD grades 1, 3, 5 (Marty)
*Marty in building
* Flu clinic for student 1:00 - 2:45
Wednesday, Oct. 16
*Early Dismissal - students released at 12:45
*Sue, Dawn, Kelly and Julie Schaefer doing literacy walkthrough practice (10-12)
*Active Shooter training 1:30-3:30 at West Elementary (may need to park at Dix Rd Center and walk to West)
Thursday, Oct. 17
*Earthquake drill 9:00
*JEPD grades K, 2, 4
*Tier 2 mtg 3:05
Friday, Oct. 18
*Sue out (personal day)
*Charger Cart (be sure your kiddos are ready for quick shopping!)
*JC re-eval mtg (Streicher, Steinman, Gragg, Day) 10:00
*Major Saver video launch for district fundraiser
Monday, Oct. 21
*Vision screening
*PLC team at training
*Leadership Team mtg 3:05
Tuesday, Oct. 22
*Vision Screening
*Literacy Training for grades K (am) and 2 (pm)
*FST for JS 3:00 at Great Circle
*Rounding with Larry in library at 3:05 (not mandatory)
Wednesday, Oct. 23
*RM IEP mtg 10
*Fire Drill 1:45 pm
Thursday, Oct. 23
*Data Discussions for K-5
*Leadership consult for Sue 8-10
*Safety Kids 10:30 in gym
*Principal PLC 1-4 (Sue and Dawn out)
Friday, Oct. 25
*End of 1st quarter
*PBS Assemblies
- 8:15 grades 3-5
- 9:30 grades k-2
*Fall Festival classroom celebrations (schedule here)
Our Data Updates
Behavior Goals and Data
October of 18/19 - 72
October of 19/20 - 24
Students will earn 350 positive office referrals by December 20, 2019.
276 Positive Office Referrals as of 10/10
Attendance Goals and Data
89.7% as of 10/10
Academic Goals and Data
*iReady scores from our fall assessment are below
50% of our students on level based on April iReady assessment data, increasing from 44% of our students on level in math in April 2019 .
*iReady scores from our fall assessment are below
5th grade students will perform at or above the state average on science MAP test in spring 2020.
Tips for getting student to work, even when they don't want to. . .
Book Study Highlight
The excerpt below is from an article about trauma-informed teaching practices. I will include additional strategies in future newsletters/
Expect Unexpected Responses
First, teachers must learn to put students' reactions into context—and not to take them personally. Students with trauma histories can react and behave in seemingly unexpected ways, such as having a sudden outburst during a favorite activity or crying out of the blue one second after laughing. Teachers may be taken by surprise. They say things like, "But he was fine this morning, I didn't see that coming!" or "She normally loves playing the drums in music class. I have no idea where her reaction came from." This uncertainty leaves the teacher in a constant state of hyper-alertness when interacting with the student. This in turn can result in fatigue, as the teacher is guarded and unable to predict what will happen from one moment to another. (**I added this bold because I believe this is what I am hearing from you. You aren't crazy! There is a reason you are feeling this way!)
One way to understand these reactions is to think of the student as a soda can, and events that may trigger their trauma stress as shaking that can. We can't tell by looking if the can was recently shaken, but if it was, opening the can results in an unexpected explosive, messy reaction. If a student is triggered and experiencing heightened emotion, even a benign direction such as, "Please move over to make room for Jenny" could result in an "explosion" that the teacher never saw coming. By using trauma-sensitive strategies in the classroom, we can help reduce the times our students are "shaken."
Kelly's Koaching Korner - Turn and Talk
“Language is a child’s most powerful learning tool. Within all of the instructional contexts that are part of a comprehensive language and literacy curriculum, learning is mediated by oral language”. Fountas & Pinnell (2011)
Turn and Talk is an oral language support strategy that provides students scaffolded interactions to formulate ideas and share their thinking with another student.
As with anything in the classroom, routines are very important in implementing structured conversation skills.
1. Determine strategic partners
2. Create and environment that provides partners close proximity for talk to occur
3. Set academic expectations
4. Determine a signal to come to whole group
5. Teach flexibility and problem solving
Expect students to use conversational moves/accountable talk and academic language.
Listen in to formatively assess their understanding and share out learning you want to bring to the whole class. “Gambits” offer a positive way to help build your community of learners.
Staff Dress Code
At our Administrative Council Meeting last week, staff dress code was an issue on our agenda, so I need to make sure we are all on the same page. Please keep in mind... I am not the fashion police! I don't want to be the fashion police! So, in a nutshell, be professional.
A teacher’s manner of dress should always reflect a degree of professionalism and good taste. Staff should be appropriately dressed, i.e., business casual or business, for the regular school day. Denim Jeans will be permissible ONLY on Fridays and only wearing a Jefferson City or Moreau Heights shirt, or a nice shirt in Moreau Heights colors. Flip Flops and shorts are not considered business casual attire. We have a responsibility to provide a positive role model for students as well as an image for the public which does not involve jeans on any day other than Friday, or special days that we discuss in advance. With this in mind, your good judgement is in order. If your job on a particular day involves-let’s say a field trip-, you should dress appropriately for that field trip. On a typical school day, we would expect staff to dress in “business casual or business” attire.
The following Dress Code has been established for the Jefferson City School District teachers:
· Jeans with appropriate JCPS or School Spirit shirt on Fridays.
· No shorts unless a PE teacher.
· No flip flops. (If you would wear them in the shower, do not wear them to school.)
· No jeans fundraisers or incentives without prior approval.
Shout Outs for Staff
Thank you, especially, to those who were willing to monitor a bounce house to assist with safety. Your time was appreciated!
Thank you to Doug and Shannon for holding down the fort while we were out on Tuesday.
Baruti Kafele Conference
- Find your why and get ROOTED in it.
- The difference in a great building is all about the ADULTS in the school. This is what makes the change from being an "okay" building to being a great building and succeeding.
- What's our attitude when we wake up? Do we begin our day and proceed with a positive attitude? How does that affect our day? How can you reflect on the way the day played out to make tomorrow better and improve your practice?
- How can we achieve excellence on purpose?
- How can students soar to unbelievable heights if we've never told them that they can? Are we in their corner pushing them? Have we set the limits high enough or do we let them skate by?
- Think about our students that don't know they're great. They don't know how phenomenal they are. Will you be the one to tell them? Will you be the one to show them they are amazing?
- Find your balance. How much will you do at home and when will you take some time to balance with your family? At the beginning that's hard, but in time you'll find the balance that works for you.
- How can we work to make learning relevant for our students so they see themselves in the learning? Can they see the relevance for the learning when they walk out of the building at the end of the day?
Dawn's Dish
- This is a great way to share the story of your classroom.
- Great opportunity for PD. There is SO MUCH out there on Twitter for any topic you'd like to learn more about.
Follow our school, district, and me on Twitter as well.
@Dr_D_Day (Me)
@suehaugenteach (Sue)
@JCMH_tweets (Moreau Heights)
@JCSchools_ (District)
You can also follow our school hashtag at #MHmissionpossible
You can follow our district hashtag at #JCStrongerTogether
Curriculum Feedback
Here's the link: https://www.jcschools.us/Page/16950
Team Meetings
Substitute Lesson Plans
- Detailed schedule - You should have the same structure as when you are here. Make sure to include bathroom breaks and where those happen, as well as the procedures for that.
- Classroom management plan - How and when do they hand out charger cash? How does the calm seat and buddy room work? Did you leave chill sheets?
- Class list
- Line order document - This causes a tremendous amount of issues, which can easily be solved by leaving the line order for your sub.
- Class jobs - Again, students often try to take over something that was not assigned to them. An explanation of where to find jobs is helpful.
- Passes - An explanation of when they can leave the room and how to use passes helps.
- Work - Making sure they have enough work to keep them busy. Are you leaving things that the substitute can teach, but goes beyond busy work? We don't want coloring pages and such, we want their work and learning to continue. This can happen with some modifications. It's hard to have an hour of reading time if you're a sub. Most of our students don't have the stamina to read for a solid hour without stopping. Providing some short reading activities to break up independent reading time is helpful.
- Technology - Consider what types of items you are leaving for the substitute and the students. Will the substitute be able to access the technology like you are able to and will the students be able to stay on the required site without going somewhere else?
October Attendance Bracket Update
Kindness Tree
Crystal will be putting a small packet in your mailbox. The packet includes a poem for you to read to your class and talk about the importance of being kind to others. Included in the packet are two pages with hearts. One has the heart already filled in with gray and the other has the heart blank for students to color.
We are asking that you nominate students for showing kindness similarly to what we do for positive office referrals. You will fill it out, or have the student fill it out, have them color it and send it to the office. We will announce the students who will be added to the kindness tree at the same time as positive office referrals. However, we are not going to have students come up to the office at this time. We will put the slips in Crystal's box and she will put them on the tree.
If you have any questions, please see Crystal or me (Dawn).
Substitute Evaluations
Sub evaluation forms are located in the office next to the shred box. There is a file organizer attached to the wall and it's in the bottom slot.
Committee Updates
Charger Birthdays
October 1 - Jill Lemons
October 9 - Jana Salmons
October 11 - Joe Twehous
October 22 - Sabra Watts-Hayes