Rose Ferrero Weekly Bulletin
Week Of: August 23-September 3, 2021
KUDOS for the First Week of the School Year
This week, Kudos go out to everyone at Rose Ferrero who made this first week of the school year run as smoothly as it did. Let’s begin with our front office staff, Blanca Camarena, Lorena Sanchez (on her first day!), Flor Canety, and Daisy Diaz who directed traffic and took care of all the issues that popped up as well or better than any traffic officer in the busiest intersection in New York City ever could. Our Pupil Supervisors all pitched in to ensure that all students were safe on the playground and were following all school expectations. Our cafeteria staff did what they have always done so flawlessly – feed every student at Rose everyday … and some twice! And our fabulous teachers who opened their doors to students and parents on that first day – many way before 8:00 a.m. – welcoming one and all to their classrooms, and then spent the rest of the week establishing their norms and making their learning environments safe and secure for all of their students. In addition, Kudos to our FSSL Gabriel Almanza, Counselor Malena Schoch, and I.A. Patty Widener for all they did in helping students feel at home - as well as helping them understand the expectations we have for our students on various locations around campus. And finally, I want to express extra special Kudos to Erin Ramirez, our District's Special Projects Coordinator, who stayed on campus until 11:00am to help out in our SPED Preschool, where we were short-handed. Thanks, again, to everyone involved in making our first day a real success.
Rose Ferrero’s Newest Employees
In this first Bulletin, we wanted to make sure to introduce you to our three new Rose Ferrero Employees. Pictured from left to right are …………. Mrs. Arianna Blumenfeld, our second grade DLI SPANISH teacher, Mrs. Lorena Sanchez, our new Secretary 1, and Ms. Edith Gutierrez, our new Upper Grade RSP teacher. Arianna Blumenfeld comes to from Gabilan, where she was formerly the DLI SPANISH first grade teacher. Arianna has already made a great impact here, as she and Mrs. Alcantar are ensuring that the second grade DLI students are receiving the best core instruction available anywhere. Lorena Sanchez was a substitute secretary in the District – working in various locations in the District Office – and we are very fortunate to have secured her full-time here at Rose. Edith Gutierrez comes to us from Salinas and is very eager and excited to be joining the Rose Ferrero team to provide academic support to our neediest students. Speaking for myself, I am so glad all of you are now with us here at Rose – and I really believe you will come to be glad you are here as well. Wishing you all the best this year!
QUOTES OF THE WEEK WE SHARED WITH OUR STUDENTS
LCAP GOAL 5: SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS – How Novice and Expert Teachers Approach Classroom Management Differently
Good classroom management is mostly invisible. While outbursts and disruptions are inevitable in the course of an academic year, they can be kept to a minimum by employing subtle techniques that work behind the scenes to create the positive classroom culture that is the norm here at Rose Ferrero.
While both novice and expert teachers rely on reactive strategies to address student misbehavior—for example, by giving a reprimand like “Eyes on me!” if students are being disruptive—expert teachers are far more likely to consider how proactive strategies can prevent the misbehavior in the first place. New teachers tend to view classroom management narrowly, as a way to respond directly to disciplinary problems, while expert teachers have a more comprehensive understanding of classroom management and its complexity, meaning that they view discipline in the broader context of how lessons are organized and executed, how clearly they, the teacher, communicates expectations, and even how the physical environment is arranged.
We have learned over the past few years that establishing a set of rules and then demanding compliance doesn’t work, especially with older students. Eventually, expert teachers come to see the classroom as an ecosystem involving a delicate balance between teacher authority and student autonomy. They view student behavior in the context of teacher behavior, thinking about reasons and solutions instead of overemphasizing “order and discipline.” Sometimes when students act out they are merely exhibiting normal, healthy developmental behaviors. For the most experienced teachers, a healthy classroom is one in which students are allowed some reasonable leeway in their behaviors and are taught how to think of others and regulate themselves. Expert teachers are also mindful of how their body language, facial expressions, presence, and ability to control their own emotions affect the emotional state of their students. Emotions are contagious, and when a teacher is able to model a calm presence through his/her tone, facial expression, and posture, students are less likely to react defensively.
Successful classroom management requires the adaptive application of a repertoire of different strategies. In other words, if a student is acting out because he/she is having a bad day, that’s going to require a different approach than if the student is frustrated by the difficulty of a lesson or are confused by the instructions. As teachers become more experienced, they undergo a “shift in perspective” from seeing parts versus seeing the whole. While novice teachers rely more on routines and consequences, essentially following a script when it comes to managing students’ behavior, expert teachers have “adaptive expertise” that allows them to draw from a variety of strategies depending on the context.
Six Tips for Effective Classroom Management
1. Plan your environment. Your classroom plays a key role in shaping the behavior of your students. A 2018 study found that heavily decorated classrooms made it harder for students to focus on a lesson, leading to off-task or disruptive behavior. While certain visual elements of the classroom can support learning—anchor charts, maps, images of role models, and displays of student work, for example—an overabundance of decorations can overstimulate. Seating plans also matter: A 2012 study found that students were three times more likely to be disruptive if they chose their own seat rather than being assigned one. If you’re going to offer seating choice—many teachers say it ultimately improves classroom behavior—consider doing so only situationally, and provide clear rules to let students know the consequences of frequent misbehavior.
2. Co-create norms. A common classroom management mistake is to display a list of rules and expect compliance. It can be much more productive to have a conversation with your students about the reasons why rules exist, and then produce a set of governing principles by consensus. Think of identifying guidelines like being respectful of others, and then have your students evaluate the feasibility of these guidelines throughout the year, discarding the ones that don’t seem valuable, meaningful, or useful anymore.
3. It’s not one size fits all. Find ways to measure the size of the problem and respond accordingly. For example, low-level misbehavior might receive a “gentle” response, such as using nonverbal hand signals to encourage students to pay attention, or you might try what some refer to as “drive-by discipline,” like saying the child’s name quickly to disrupt the behavior without getting drawn into a bigger battle. Consequences must be clear to the students and the intensity should increase if the misbehavior persists.
4. Consider what’s unspoken. Nonverbal communication like eye contact, body language, and even how you position yourself in the room has an impact on student behavior. Presence is crucial to maintaining classroom management and to effective delivery of instruction, and it’s a skill we can develop with effort. Develop your teaching presence; circulate in areas where you can see and be seen, and make productive use of eye contact, not as a tool for surveillance but as a way to connect with your students, project confidence and accessibility, and build rapport.
5. Relationships, relationships, relationships. (This cannot be stated enough! And is one of the foundations we strive on at Rose Ferrero.) Ultimately, classroom management begins and ends with strong relationships. A 2018 study found that greeting students at the door set a positive tone for the rest of the day—for example, dramatically improving academic engagement and behavior. In addition, engaging in prosocial activities throughout the school year—such as regular check-ins or morning meetings—can reduce disruptions by up to 75 percent. Finally, learning a little about students’ personal lives can provide insights into the root causes of behavior. Students can draw their own “identity portraits” to share both visible and invisible details about themselves, like religion, ethnicity, or the hobbies they enjoy. You can also use writing prompts like “What inspires you?” or “What dreams do you have for after high school?” to mine information you can use to deepen relationships and connect classroom lessons to students’ interests.
6. Pick your battles (but do battle when you have to). Students who are frequently the target of negative attention—being called out if they’re not paying attention or are chatting with another student, for example—are more likely to become disengaged and apathetic, which leads to more behavioral issues in the future. Don’t try to fix all misbehavior in your classroom—pick your battles, avoid escalating the situation if you can, and remember that the most effective classroom management strategies are based on building relationships and increasing engagement with the content.
Three Reminders for Our Teachers & Staff:
2). Teachers: Please make sure to pick up your students on time from the cafeteria after lunch.
3). Teachers: Please keep your classroom doors closed and locked when you aren’t in the room.
DUTY SCHEDULE
AUGUST 23-27
Morning Recess- 3rd and 6th gradesAfternoon Recess- 1st and 4th grades
Dismissal Duty- 2nd and 5th grades
Cafeteria Helpers- Bassetti
AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 3
Morning Recess- 1st and 4th grades
Afternoon Recess- 2nd and 5th grades
Dismissal Duty- 3rd and 6th grades
Cafeteria Helpers- Collins