Principal Update
Week of November 6, 2017
Let's be elite in our 20 feet!
Good Morning,
I hope you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep this weekend. As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, let's remember to be grateful for our students and staff. We work with an awesome group of students. Even when a student needs a gentle nudge to get back on track, he or she is precious and we are fortunate to do what we do.
We have put cut outs of leaves in the workroom. Please take a minute to share why you are thankful for one or more of your colleagues. We will put these on the bulletin board outside of the cafeteria.
Thank you for the time, effort, and love that you give to students!
Shout Outs
Melissa Olney and Kim Schneider for holding down the office last week!
Sadie Kirell, district lead nurse, for assisting in the health room last week!
Dy English for your willingness to help out wherever needed!
Mark Your Calendar
Grades will be due with verification by 3:00 p.m. on December 21st.
Review grades at the school by 3:00 p.m. on January 8th.
Report Cards will be sent home on January 17, 2018.
Save the Date: Summer 2018 PLC Conference
The Summer 2018 PLC Conference is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 9th and Friday, Aug. 10th. Please mark your calendars! Both days are regular work days for all certified staff. There will be no make-up days as in the past. August 9th is the first day back to work for teachers.
Reminder
Please enter Fountas and Pinnell levels into Canvas by the last day of each month.
When writing referrals for minor incidents, please assign the consequence for the student and we will print the referral in the office.
Attendance
Make sure that substitute plans are up to date and readily available. Remember a substitute can not provide the level of instruction that you provide when you are here. We currently have a shortage of subs. If you know in advance that you will be out, please secure a substitute as soon as possible.
Formative feedback: Feedback for learning
Relevant to Principles of Feedback:
2. Feedback is for learning
3. Feedback is clearly communicated to students
4. Feedback is timely
As feedback is designed to enhance student learning, it is insufficient to only provide feedback at the end of the module that simply tells students where they’ve gone wrong. To be effective, feedback needs to be a two-way dialogue which helps motivate students – although not all students need the same type of feedback. Students need ongoing formal and informal feedback on their work (both assessed and non-assessed) throughout each module, along with support on how to use it. It is important to make sure students are aware that you are giving them feedback. This should be fairly clear when using written feedback, but remember formative feedback may not always be written down.
Students also need the opportunity to give teachers feedback on what they have learned so you know your teaching is helping them to achieve the intended learning outcomes for your course and YOU can adapt your teaching where necessary (for example spending more time on a particular theory if students are struggling to understand it). Feedback should therefore be a continuous process of conversation and reflection.
This is where formative feedback comes in. Formative feedback is feedback 'for' learning. It is often provided to students during the course of a module so they are able to use it to improve the way they learn and enhance their future academic performance. It can also form part of the feedback at the end of module, where it 'feeds forward' to future modules. Providing shorter bursts of formative feedback, for example in response to mini-tasks, also helps to develop a continuous conversation between students and academics that support students to become reflective learners.
Summative feedback is 'feedback on learning'. It commonly comments on what was done well or badly in work already done and is often module-specific.
Audit Feedback
Please submit the description for how classroom instruction is provided in the identified areas to me by Wednesday morning.
Volunteer
If you would like to serve on the district calendar committee, please let me know by Wednesday, November 8th. This is an opportunity to participate in the process of creating the district calendar for the 2018-2019 school year. The committee will meet on November 21st at 6:00 p.m. at the Flex. All school representatives will need to be able to attend this meeting.
Quote of the Week
"The things we do are the things that matter most."
Suze Orman
"Our school values learning, achievement, collaboration, and responsibility as cornerstones of our learning community."