Monclova Primary
Weekly Bulletin
Events for Week of January 13 - January 19
Monday, January 13
Character Wheel
Tuesday, January 14
Wednesday, January 15
Wellness Committee Meeting - 8:00 am
Principal lunch - 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Thursday, January 16
End of 2nd quarter
Pizza Hut fundraiser
Friday, January 17
Teacher work day - no students
State of the Schools address - 8:00 am - HS Auditorium - mandatory for ALL staff on duty
Monclova Night at basketball game - 6:00 pm
Announcements
Thank you:
4th grade team, Miss Hertzfeld, Mrs. Pommeranz and the office staff for your preparation to host the January 7th Board meeting. Everyone went above and beyond helping organize the students, present and share out and get the building ready.
Reminders:
Friday, Jan. 17 is Monclova night at the boys and girls basketball game. All students with the flyer will get a t-shirt and free entrance into the game. Students must be accompanied by an adult. This is for all PS - 6th grade students.
An email was shared regarding Monclova night at the boys and girls basketball game on Jan. 17. Please add the information to your classroom communications. We will send flyer home and Tweet out the information. We want to help spread the word for this opportunity.
With the quarter ending Jan. 16, grades are due in Power School by Jan. 23. Please communicate to parents to check progress in Power School.
The next round of RtI meetings will take place on Tuesday, February 4. Please make sure your plans are updated every six weeks and goals are supported by data. Teachers with students in Tier 3 or moving to Tier 3 will need to plan on attending an RtI meeting.
Upcoming Events:
End of 2nd Quarter - Jan. 16
Teacher workday - Jan. 17 - State of the Schools - 8:00 am - HS
Monclova Night at BBall Game - 6:00 pm
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Jan. 20 - No School
Staff Meeting - Jan. 22 at 7:30 am (this is a change)
AWAKE Shirts/Jeans - Jan. 23
Movie Night - Jan. 31
Imagination Station - Jan. 30 and 31 - you will have a scheduled block of time
Words of Wisdom and Action..............................
As we keep The Portrait of a General in mind this article has some great ides for the Global Education piece. Monclova has done an awesome job with service learning and making it impactful and meaningful for the students.
Nurturing a Global Mind
What educators can do to help students become global citizens
POSTED:January 6, 2020
Curricular efforts from nations, including the United States, to teach children to be global citizens underscore the importance of learning to empathize with and form connections with people of all backgrounds. Yet with such high stakes, leaders need to know what kinds of programs are most effective to move students beyond a preliminary understanding of culture.
In the first study of its scope, Christina Hinton, executive director of Research Schools International (RSI), and her team examined global competency from 150 Round Square Schools (a global network of private and public schools with an expressed commitment to global citizenship) across the world. The researchers used measures from the PISA Global Competence exam to make their assessments.
Using quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze results, the team identified five learning activities that significantly correlated with the development and enhancement of global competencies like self-efficacy, adaptability, attitudes towards immigrants, and openness to diversity.
Here are the five activities Hinton and her team found supported global competence:
Volunteering services to help people in the wider community
- Volunteering services was significantly correlated with engagement with others regarding global issues, global mindedness, openness to diversity, interest in other cultures, adaptability, awareness of global issues, respect, and self-efficacy.
- 90% of teachers and 76% of students rated volunteer activities as either “effective” or “very effective” in promoting global competence.
Implementation:
- Before engaging in volunteer work in a specific community, students need to be aware of specific challenges community members are facing and empathize with them.
- Service activities should be frequent and allow students to form real bonds with community members.
Participating in events celebrating cultural diversity throughout the school year
- Cultural diversity events were significantly correlated with building the following competencies: engagement with others regarding global issues, attitude towards immigrants, openness to diversity, interest in other cultures, global mindedness, respect, adaptability, and self-efficacy.
- 83% of teachers and 68% of students found events that celebrated diversity as “effective” or “very effective.”
Implementation:
- Events could range from conferences to holiday celebrations. However, they should also work to spark curiosity in students and promote respect.
- Contextualize events so they are part of a larger educational strategy — have a learning goal or objective.
- Create opportunities for students to become curious about other cultures, whether through readings or instructional content, to create intrinsic motivation for participation.
Learning how people from different cultures can have different perspectives on some issues
- Learning about other cultures and perspectives was strongly correlated with openness to diversity, interest in other cultures, attitudes towards immigrants, self-efficacy, engagement with others, and awareness of global issues.
- 86% of teachers and 81% of students rated learning about different cultural perspectives as “effective” or “highly effective.”
Implementation:
- Provide activities in and out the classroom that focus on other cultures like international exchanges, diversity clubs, and forums.
- Offer professional development opportunities to teachers to learn about how to support discussions and instruction around diversity and diverse perspectives.
Participating in classroom discussions about world events
- Discussions about world events was strongly correlated with self-efficacy, awareness of global issues, openness to diversity, adaptability, and global mindedness.
- 90% of teachers and 76% of students rated discussions about world events as “effective” or “very effective.”
Implementation:
- Set aside significant time for discussion of what is happening in the world today. Read news sources from around the world and discuss current events; talk about bias and trust.
Learning to solve conflicts
- Conflict solution was strongly correlated with adaptability, perspective taking, openness to diversity, intercultural communication, respect, global mindedness, attitudes towards immigrants, and awareness of global issues.
- 82% of teachers and 71% of students rated learning to solve conflicts in a classroom setting as “effective” or “very effective.”
Implementation:
- Activities that promote collaboration lead to opportunities to resolve conflicts. These activities include whole-class discussions, model UN, reading and discussing world literature, group presentations, performances, debates, and exploring global issues in foreign language classes.
Key Takeaways:
- Consider the exposure students have to other cultures and languages in their school setting and devise opportunities to expand.
- Students still need structure and context around experiences with other cultures—whether that’s in existing curriculum or around volunteer work. Providing opportunities for meaningful discussions is key to ensuring this work is engaging.
- Conversations around global issues help facilitate meaningful learning. Teachers also need professional development opportunities to ensure they can structure discussions effectively and can explore complex and difficult topics around global issues.