Staff Newsletter
because it helps to know what's going on
September 13, 2019
The Key to Effective Teams in Schools: Emotional Intelligence
A school team’s emotional intelligence might be the most important predictor of what it will do together and how conversations will go.
Check out the full article here and take a moment to reflect on your own EI and what you bring to your PLC team.
Some indicators of high EI in a group:
- When a team member is talking, he makes eye contact with all others. Team members paraphrase each other’s ideas.
- When a new idea is put on the table, there’s curiosity about it.
- You hear comments such as, “I’ve shared a lot already. I’m going to sit back and listen to others on this topic.”
- Team members express empathy for each other, as well as for others outside of their team.
- Conversations focus on seeking solutions.
- Team members address it when others seem to be having emotions. This can sound like, “I’m wondering what’s going on for you right now. You seem upset.”
- Team members offer feedback in the moment on their process. This can sound like, “I feel like we might have rushed through that discussion too fast to surface everyone’s ideas. Do others feel that way?”
- Team members offer feedback at the end of meetings on their process. This can sound like, “I appreciated our conversation at the start of our meeting. That was really helpful for me to get clarity. I wish we’d had more time to articulate our next steps. Is that something that others would like to spend time on next time?”
- Humor is used appropriately to lighten situations and call awareness to a group’s or individual’s mood.
- People find things to be optimistic about.
- Team members appreciate each other for their contributions to the team and their action.
Shout outs!!
"I just wanted to send a big "Thank-You" to the housekeeping staff. The attention to detail and care and concern that they show is much appreciated. I notice all their hard-work!!" -Charity
"I'd like to give a staff shout-out to Kelly Siddons and Sarah Finlay for being so willing to help me with everything I need to get choir club set-up and ready to go!"-Abbie
Have a shout out for one or more of your teammates??? Send it my way and I would be happy to share it in a future newsletter.
MTSS
Now that our groups are rolling along, I thought this would be a good time to introduce/remind you about our Tier 2 and Tier 3 Tracker sheets. If you are responsible for utilizing a tracker sheet, I have placed it in your mailbox, with the name of the student and the homeroom/math/reading teacher/interventionist teacher earlier this week.
These sheets are a way for interventionists and teachers alike to store thoughts and observations about students receiving RTI services. Here are just a few of the ways you can utilize the trackers:
- keeping track of chronic absenteeism (either specific dates or observations about a pattern, such as "Student is frequently absent on Mondays.")
- make a note about specific deficits/strengths to help pinpoint interventions ("Student needs extra practice in U.S. Traditional Subtraction, specifically across zeros.")
- track specific behaviors, such as reminders to stay on task, errors in reading a paragraph, or notice of mastery of concept (use tally marks to mark reminders to stay on task or note that student did 3/4 problems correctly during independent practice).
- a place to track interaction/conversation with parents
- a place for interventionists to record conversations/guidance from classroom teachers regarding that student's strengths and weaknesses
Why keep this type of information? Practically speaking, this is really helpful to use when filling out the Progress Update sheets prior to data team meetings. It's a reminder that we are looking for specifics with these students because it can often be one area that is keeping them from improving. Making a habit of keeping anecdotal notes is a reminder to you and your student that you're working together to grow.
Math:
Tier 3 Math RTI- Math Lab interventionists will fill out trackers
Tier 2 Math RTI- Math CLASSROOM teachers will fill out trackers. This will help remind you to include them in small groups, spend extra time practicing facts, etc.
Reading:
Tier 3 Reading RTI- Reading RTI interventionists will fill out trackers.
Tier 2 Reading RTI- If the student is receiving RAZ Kids as the intervention, Renee will fill it out. I will regularly be communicating with students via the Messages option on RAZ Kids (Big Brother is watching!).
No sheets in your mailbox? Wonder what I'm talking about? I've attached the sheets below for your viewing pleasure.
Updates Since CIC Meeting
Gradebooks-The tech department will add the necessary teacher to the other class where students are shared as an additional teacher. ** A caution, this will give more than view access to the other teacher's gradebook.
September Birthdays
Suzi Winings Sept. 4
Kelsie McGee Sept. 8
Taryn Bobergy Sept. 10
MaKenzie Colon Sept. 12
Taylor VanSickle Sept. 12
Kelly Siddons Sept. 15
Charity Rodgers Sept. 24
Reminders
- Your RISE rubric self-assessment should be completed by now.
- Your SLO's should be posted in SFS by today-ish.
- You can begin to schedule your S2S meeting with Tina. Plan for 20 minutes.
- The social committee is accepting dues, $25 from certified staff and $15 from classified.
- Think about the great things going on around you and send a shout out to Tina to add to the newsletter.
Data Team Meetings
Data Team Meeting Dates 2019-20
Wednesday, August 28th (organizational and placement mtg)
Monday, October 2nd
Wednesday, November 19th
Wednesday, January 22nd
Wednesday, March 5th
Wednesday, May 6th
CIC Meetings
Minutes from our meeting can be found here.
CIC Meeting Dates 2019-20
Friday, Sept. 6th
Friday, Nov. 1st
Friday, Jan. 24th
Friday, April 10th
Building Level Meetings
Faculty Meetings and/or Grade level/Dept. Mtgs:
Sept. 12 (Faculty)
Sept. 26 (Gr. level/dept.)
Oct. 24 (Faculty)
Nov. 7 (Faculty)
Nov. 21(Gr. level/dept.)
Dec. 5 (Faculty)
Jan. 16 (Faculty)
Jan. 30 (Gr. level/dept.)
Feb. 13 (Faculty)
Feb. 27 (Gr. level/dept.)
Mar. 12 (Faculty)
Apr. 9 (Faculty)
Apr. 23 (Gr. level/dept.)
May 7 (Faculty)
Upcoming Dates
Sept. 16: ReadUp. STEM Club
Sept. 17: PLC's
Sept. 18: ReadUp. Choir Club
Sept. 23: ReadUp, STEM Club
Sept. 24, Tina will be out for IPLI, PLC's
Sept. 25: ReadUp, Choir Club
Sept. 26: Grade level/department mtg. Danville Schools Town Hall Mtg @ WestBridge
Sept. 27: Reunification Drill
Sept. 30: Tina will be out for MTSS Regional Training. ReadUp, STEM Club, KKids
Oct. 1: PLC's
Oct. 2: Data Team Meeting, ReadUp, Choir Club
Oct. 7: Parent/Teacher Conference Week begins, ReadUp, STEM club
Oct. 8: Town Hall Mtg. @ South
Oct. 9: Picture retakes, ReadUp, Choir Club, School Board Mtg.
Oct. 10: Parent conferences late night.
Oct. 11: Intruder drill
Oct. 14-18 Fall Break
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