Points of Pride
End of the Year 2020
Instructional Focus:
Well, that was interesting!!!
I cannot tell you how grateful I am for such a dedicated and resilient staff. Without sounding too cliche, I am so impressed with how well our school responded to the move to remote learning. This was not a small undertaking, and the fact that you all did it so phenomenally gives me such a sense of pride. Again, we moved an entire school online for nine weeks. We had one week to prepare and set up procedures, and we nailed it, all while leading our families through an unprecedented time as well. In addition, we are all grieving the end of the school year in different ways. If you are tired, there is a reason for it! Take some time off to rest and recover, you all deserve it.
Next, please know that as I get information about next year, I will pass it along. There are SO many unknowns, and I would challenge you to live in the present as much as possible. That constant "what if game" is exhausting. As of today, I know that school leaders are supposed to get some information about the fall from the state at the end of May. GPS is starting a "Task Force" and these nine committees of district leaders will be meeting to start planning our district's response next week.
I went "back and forth" with myself all week on whether or not to send out this type of newsletter. During this last quarter I prioritized minimizing the stress of staff, as life was stressful enough. I need you to know that I didn't write this with the intention of stressing people out. Rather, I know that teachers work during the summer (not an expectation) and I want to ensure that I am guiding this work. I have tried to give you a "snap shot" of what I have submitted to district as my goals for the school and I think these goals will also lend itself to being a good use of time should next year look "different." Please don't get overwhelmed in reading, these are my goals and thoughts for an ENTIRE YEAR, I don't expect expertise on all of them come August.
Please know that I am going to continue working through the month of June and take a couple weeks off at the start of July. I am here for you as you get ideas, hear a rumor, or just want to "talk school" for a little bit.
Miss you all!
Robert
Summer Survey
We are just trying to get an inventory of who has what keys, and what size T-Shirt to order for next year.
Summer Classroom Procedures....
The custodial team and I are starting a new procedure this year. If you were to walk by your room, you would see a "Summer Cleaning Checklist" by your door. The custodial crew is going to complete the items on that list during the month of June. When they are done, they will be handing that list to Ricardo, who will then send an email to you that your room is complete. Once you get that email from Ricardo, you may start coming in to work in your classroom. To clarify, if you wanted to come in to grab some teacher's editions, pick up some Lysol wipes, etc, you can come in before that email.
I ask that you don't come in to move desks or count on having a quiet place to lesson plan prior to receiving that email from Ricardo.
EOY Google Classroom/Sites....
They are asking that an end of year message go on your Google Site, ensure that your email is not listed on your Google Site and a few other things.
Please go through and check this document
Following these steps now, could ensure that everything is easily "ready to go" should we need to do remote learning next year.
SPE Google Classroom/Site....
This could be a summer project to try and transition some things here. Again, this is a "just in case" recommendation. At the very least, you are set up to go a little more paperless next year.
Even in our younger grades, having a Google Classroom for parents to access could do a lot of the things that Bloomz does. You could post messages, calendars, etc. and everything will go to their email when you add something.
Illuminate DnA with FastBridge...
Our new program is called Illuminate (company name) DnA with Fastbridge (product name). I got to play in the "sandbox" for this program and it's going to be AMAZING! It's so much more user-friendly and intuitive than ATI.
Check out the information here on what their item banks consist of.
Some of the things that I liked most were how easy it is to use, the different types of problems really look like our standardized tests, the platform holds all student data (even DIBELS, AzMERIT and past year assessments) to give a true picture of the student, and the huge bank of questions that they already have for us to use. Primary grades, check out the diagnostics that are available for reading and math.
Once we get the hang of it, I think this program will be a "life saver" when looking at creating CFA's for our standards-based grading.
Makey Makey and Ozobots
We will have three classroom sets of Makey Makey's on campus. Check out this site for some free downloadable lessons plans and training options.
We will also have a classroom set of Ozobots on campus. Check out these free resources and lesson plans that our students are going to love. Again, these robots come with lesson plans that are designed to teach coding to even our preschoolers.
Behavior Expectations and SEL Food for Thought
Social Emotional Learning...
When we go back in August, our students will have been out of school for about five months. That is time away from friends, learning (for some), and routines. I know when I was teaching, I would go over the rules after Fall Break because I felt like they forgot. This is going to be a unique break and we are going to need to re-teach them how to do school.
In past years, when we started on a Wednesday, I used to do routines and procedures for that week and start content on Monday. There's a good chance you are going to need to take some more time this year. We are going to need to "go slow, to go fast."
The world has changed drastically since we last saw them. Many adults lost their jobs, some have COVID-19 in their family, etc. They are worrying about things that no other generation of kid has had to. My poor son didn't want the "Tooth Fairy" to come last night, as he was afraid that she was going to get him sick.
Really reflect on what students at your age level are going to need to hear, see, feel in order for meaningful learning to happen. It is my guess that those students that were "at risk" prior to this will be "more at risk."
Sanford Harmony could be a great resource and something that could be worth taking home to review over the summer. They have a lot of free lessons online. Also, so thankful to have a full time social worker next year :)
Procedures and Routines...
Spend some time "shoring up" your procedures. Get a vision of what you want your classroom to look like during different transitions, then map out how you are going to teach, reinforce, and model them for students.
Also, when you teach a procedure, you are aiming for 100% compliance. When students aren't doing it in the beginning, you are sending a message that it doesn't have to be done. You don't have to be militant about it, but you need to practice, model and reinforce until you get to 100%.
Here's a list of common routines and procedures from Dr. Harry Wong (the routine and procedure guru) for you to consider.
Positive Reinforcement
Take some time to reflect how you can give students more positive attention in the classroom. It doesn't need to be annoying, but it should be authentic.
Remember that fair is not the same as equal. It could be that a certain student has a daily job. It could be that that active student is ALWAYS your paper passer. Is that equal? Not at all, but if that's what that student needs to be successful, it is fair.
Lastly, remember that positive reinforcement can come from peers too. Think about how you can put particular students in a position to get attention/reinforcement from his/her peers.
Instructional Focus for 20/21
Vertical Articulation....
Successful integartion of SBG depends on careful and intentional planning of units around a standard. The priority standards should drive unit planning. As you make these plans, share them with our special area teachers. I am sure Cathy would love to collaborate and "piggy back" what you are doing in the media center.
Part of becoming more fluent with standards is not only looking at your grade's standards, but knowing where students are coming from (grade level before) and where they are going (grade level after). Time for grade levels to meet and collaborate around a specific standard is a goal of mine for next year.
Before that can happen, here are some great resources to research on your own:
Coherence Map This map allows you to track a mathematical standard between grade levels to identify how the learning progresses between grade levels.
Math Priority Standards- This is the GPS link that identifies the priority standards for each grade level. There is also a document in here made for vertical articulation.
ELA Priority Standards-Here is the GPS link that identifies the ELA priority standards.
More Efficient WIN Time....
We absolutely cannot go back and do tier 1 instruction from the grade level before to start the year. Our plates "runneth over" with the standards that we already have. If we do this, we will never catch students up, they will always be a quarter behind and we will never meet the standards that we have been given.
It is my goal to have much more efficient WIN times across the campus. For most grade levels, this is going to mean creating a "walk to math" and "walk to reading" procedure in which students switch classes for WIN based off need. Yes, I am aware that we will lose some time in transition of students, but I would rather lose some time in walking, if it guarantees students are getting intentional, targeted intervention/enrichment opportunities.
Weekly/BiWeekly Parent Newletters...
When I used to do parent newsletters as a teacher, I would tell them what we are doing in class. For example, "We will be building a pyramid out of sugar cubes." That's activity based, and doesn't focus on the learning. It should have read that "Students will be learning about the challenges faced in building pyramids in ancient Egypt." We can even share the "I can" statements that we are sharing with students. As we get more confident with that, we can start adding what proficiency looks like for that standard in these newsletters.
Standards-Based Grading/Reporting
I am really exicted to start this journey, as it definitely has the potential to "start a wave." These practices shift the focus on learning and reinforces that it's a process.
For all of you, please know that this is a process, and it's going to take some time to learn. This is not something that we are going to come "out of the chute" expecting perfection.
Priority Standards....
I don't know what this next year is going to look like. This makes "laser focus" on teaching and assessing the priority standards even more important. We are really going to need to prioritize the "nice to know" vs. "needs to know."
Ready GEN...
I do feel that the curriculum is strong and can do some amazing things. With that in mind, at Settler's Point, we are going to use the standards to drive the curriculum and use curriculum as the vehicle to get us there. To reiterate (we will talk about this more next year), I think the curriculum is solid, and we should use it; however, you all are highly trained and the standards need to be done with fidelity, not the curriculum.