AMCMS Principal's Office
What is going on in the Principal's Office?
My Challenge to You
What did you hear in the video?
Here are some things that I heard:
- When we are planning we are putting thought into what are the critical thinking skills our students need to be successful
- Making our kids critical thinkers, making our kids more self reliant, making our kids develop analysis skills
- You assess what you teach
- We want students to learn the discipline of thinking... think like a scientist, historian, mathematician
- Making student's learning real world
- The right answer is not enough -- there is more than just the answer. It is the application of the answer to the real world.
- Kids struggle when they don't feel they are making progress at school
- The teacher and student relationships is a collaborative team instead of compliance environment
- Teacher created lessons and assessments lead to greater teacher engagement and teaching
- Kids feel valued when they know they are working on something they need to work on because the teacher has been able to provide feedback that helps the student see their areas they need to grow.
Thinking back to the conversation we had and listening to this video I think that the greatest challenge we face related to grades is how to provide meaningful feedback so that students are able to understand their deficiencies in their learning. When I have a number assigned to my work I know the percent I have correct and the percent I have incorrect but unless I have specific feedback related to what I have incorrect I do not know where I need to grow.
We will continue the conversation into grades, assessment and feedback. Think about how you provide specific feedback to students and what that does for their learning... what does specific feedback do for your learning?
Think. Achieve. Succeed.
Jeff
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#CSISDchat on Twitter -- Tuesdays at 8pm
CSISDchat is in the middle of a series on grades and learning. Our second of three conversations will happen this week on Tuesday night at 8pm.
Here are the questions from last week’s chat:
A summary of the chat can be found here.
We’d love for you to join the conversation. We certainly don’t have it all figured out, but we are really interested in taking this conversation about grades to a wider audience. Tuesday’s conversation will be led by College Station High School teacher, Chad Lehrmann, and the focus will be on providing meaningful feedback for students.
If you’ve never been in a chat before, the video below, will help you get a sense of how to follow and participate in the conversation. I’m happy to help answer any questions you might have, too!
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AMCMS Tech Tip of the Week
You can make online flashcards for your students using google sheets and flippity.net
See the video below or the instructions here.
Academic Tip of the Week
Are you having difficulty with students demonstrating the appropriate behavior in an academic group setting.
Try This:
Ask the student to be the leader of a small group activity if he/she possesses mastery or an interest in the activity. This will provide the student with a purpose beyond just completing and mastering the learning task.
SPED Tip of the Week
Tis the season for IEP meetings! Your input and feedback are imperative to making academic decisions regarding out students' futures. The information that you provide determines the upcoming classroom accommodations/modifications, goals, and support to be provided. Please take the time to give as much information as possible so that we can make the best decisions possible for our students!
Please keep in mind that anything that you write on a form can potentially be pulled as the result of an open records request, so make sure that you are conscious of your phrasing - please stick to factual information and avoid subjective words and feelings.
We could not develop accurate plans for our students without your input. THANK YOU in advance for taking your valuable time to provide this information!
Wellness Tip of the Week
Are you the biggest loser at AMCMS??
We will have a weight loss contest until Spring Break. You could lose weight and win some cash just in time for Spring Break. Here are the details.
Cost. 20.00 per person. MONDAY January 23 is the LAST DAY to sign up!!!!!
Contest starts 1/20( you can come anytime this week to the nurse's office and get your initial weight and pay)through final weigh in on 3/10
Weekly prizes
After final weigh in on 3/10 the pot will go to the 1st and 2nd place by the largest percentage lost.
1st will get 75% of the pot
2nd will get the other 25%
Remember there will be weekly prizes for the people that come to my office and weigh in weekly. I will not discuss anyone's weight and will only announce the winners percentage that was lost.
Question??? See Nurse Flater.
Good luck and let's have some fun, lose weight and maybe win some cash!!
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Check out some of the great things going on at #AMCMS this past week!
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Here are some articles and blogs that I read this past week from Twitter.
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Be sure to update your grades each day!
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Junior Achievement Bowl-A-Thon is coming!
If you are interested in putting a team together talk to Mann for the sign up sheet
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Week at a Glance
- Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
- Be at your duty station-- 7:50
- Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30
- Be at your duty station-- 3:50
- SELT Meeting 4:20 -- Lecture Hall
- Incoming 7th Grade Parent Meeting 6pm Cafeteria
Tuesday January 24
- Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
- Be at your duty station-- 7:50
- Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30
- Be at your duty station-- 3:50
- Incoming 8th Grade Parent Meeting 6pm Cafeteria
- #CSISDChat on Twitter -- 8pm
Wednesday January 25
- Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
- Be at your duty station-- 7:50
- Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30
- Be at your duty station-- 3:50
Thursday January 26
- Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
- Be at your duty station-- 7:50
- District Math Teacher Planning Day (Possible Sub Shortages)
- Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30
- Be at your duty station-- 3:50
- AMCMS Basketball Games
Friday January 27
- Happy Friday!
- Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
- Be at your duty station-- 7:50
- Hat Day -- Guatemala Fundraiser
A&M Consolidated Middle School
Email: jmann@csisd.org
Website: http://amcms.csisd.org/
Location: 105 Holik Street, College Station, TX, United States
Phone: 979-764-5575
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMCMS.Home.of.the.Cats
Twitter: @AMCMSCatPRIDE