Meredith Nicholson Staff News
Week of September 19, 2016
Quote of the week:
Congratulations!
School-Wide Goal and Personal Goals
I am meeting with teachers to go over personal goals. At the end of the month our personal goals are due. Below are some examples of a personal goal:
Example 1: I will attend 4 optional district professional development meeting offered outside of the school/district PD days.
Example 2: I will make 30 intentional positive parent contacts and document them through a phone log or written note.
Example 3: I will visit 3 colleagues classrooms throughout the year and document 3 effective strategies or impressive practices I have made my own.
Example 4: I will video tape two lessons (first semester and second semester), through a reflective journal or narrative I will identify strengths and areas of growth.
Our school-wide goal will focus on student attendance. Academics (ISTEP and IREAD 3) are already tied to evaluations. We will focus on increasing the percentage of students that miss fewer than 10 days.
PIT DAY
Bloodborne Pathogen Video
Please make sure you sign off today that you have watched the video. I will be taking down the sheet this afternoon. Thank you!
Social Media
Upcoming Events
September 19-23: Book Fair
September 26: Hearing screenings Grades K, 1, and 4
September 27: Ruth Lilly Grade 5
September 27: Eric Carle Night 5pm
September 30: School Pictures
PLC's
Week of September 19: No PLC (PIT Week)
Week of September 26: RTI Monitoring and data monitoring (bring exit tickets from lessons).
Bullying Prevention Training for Students
Staff Meetings
September 28: Testing Integrity and Bullying PD
8am in Room 22!
Growth Mindset
How does this graphic connect? How can simply rephrasing our deficiencies into “not yets” help us move forward? How are you communicating to your students regarding your beliefs regarding the “Power of Yet?” Something to ponder…
Brag Tags
(Thank you Colleen Turner for the Information)
Helpful Hints about Brag Tags from a Teacher Blog Lucky Little Learners
How many do you give each student?
Each student receives approximately 1-2 brag tags each week in my classroom. Do what works for you.
Do you keep track of who gets what?
I do not keep track of who gets what tags and when. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with doing this but I just can’t seem to find the time. I will periodically look at the necklaces and if I notice that some students have significantly less brag tags than another student, I will make an effort to find some positive choices that student is making in an effort to get them a brag tag that they earn.
Can a student receive the same brag tag more than once?
Yes. Like I said, I don’t keep track of who gets what brag tag and therefore, students do earn the same brag tag more than once. A lot of my brag tags are versatile for earning during different tasks. I will address this towards the bottom of this post.
Do the students ask for brag tags?
This is a big rule of mine that gets established on the first day of introducing brag tags to my class. My rule is that a student may not ask for a brag tag nor can they point out a behavior that another student (a.k.a. friend) is doing in an effort to get a brag tag. I tell my students that the teacher must notice this and decide if it is “brag tag worthy”.
Do they wear them everyday?
This is completely up to you. At the beginning of the year, I do allow my students to wear them every day because they are really excited about them. I want them to “buy in” to the concept! After the first couple of weeks, most students choose to hang their necklaces on the board. As the year goes on, I find that the students ask to wear their necklaces after earning a brag tag otherwise they are fine with them being hung. When our class goes to an assembly, I will often times have my students wear their necklace. It is an opportunity for them to show off and be proud of the tags they have earned. Often times, teachers will ask my students to tell them about their necklace. The only time I do not allow them to wear their necklace is when they play with them and are distracting themselves or others from learning, field trips, lunch, recess, and other specialist classes.
Do they get to take them home?
My students always ask this question right away. My answer is no because I worry about them not coming back. At the end of the year, they get to take them home to keep and I still have former students tell me that they still have their brag tag necklace.