Weekly ROAR!
Realistic Outstanding Achievement Results
School Cafeteria Worker Recognition Week Oct. 12th - 16th
PTA Fall Fest October 30th
TEA Classroom visit - Oct. 15th
Horace Mann Whoo!
- to Mr. DeSanto & Ms. Meier for being patient with me while I try to secure a placement for a student as well as for the 5th grade teacher's patience.
- to Ms. Thorn for helping her team to problem solve and continue their great team work!
- to Mr. Layer for ensuring access to our printers in the library!
- to Mr. Rizo & Ms. Garrigan for helping out with our Saturday Writing Academy.
- to Ms. Luna (parent) for taking care of our chickens!
- to Ms. Padilla for taking teacher leadership and supporting our dual language implementation.
- to Ms. Olguin for continuing to work with PTA
- to Ms. Ortiz who helped get us $5,000 for our robotics team!!! Double Whoo!
- to Mr. Morris for helping get our robotics table dimensions and registration for our first competition!
- to our front office staff for helping get all the field trip forms in for TEA approval.
- to all the teachers continuing with donorschoose.org
- to Ms. Rodriguez for organizing and getting PRIME TIME situated.
- to all the teachers and staff that put all their passion and positivity to ensuring learning for all our students.
Growth Mindset
How do teachers help students develop a growth mindset?
From Carol Dweck’s book, MindSet: The New Psychology of Success, pages 205 – 206
Every word and action from teacher or parent to a child sends a message. Tomorrow, listen to what you say to your kids and tune in to the messages you're sending. Are they messages that say: You have permanent traits and I'm judging them? Or are they messages that say you’re a developing person and I'm interested in your development?How do you use praise? Remember that praising children's intelligence or talent, tempting as it is, sends a fixed mindset message. It makes their confidence and motivation more fragile. Instead, try to focus on the processes they used their strategies, effort, or choices. Practice working the process praise into your interactions with your children.
Watch and listen to yourself carefully when your child messes up. Remember that constructive criticism is feedback that helps the child understand how to FIX something. It's not feedback that labels or simply excuses the child. At the end of each day, write down the constructive criticism (and the process praise) you've given your kids.
Teachers and parents often set goals children can work toward. Remember that having innate talent is not a goal. Expanding skills and knowledge is. Pay careful attention to the goals you set for children.
If you're a teacher, remember that lowering standards doesn't raise students' self esteem. But neither does raising standards without giving students ways of reaching them. The growth mindset gives you a way to set high standards and have students reach them. Try presenting topics in a growth framework and giving students process feedback. I think you'll like what happens.
Do you think of your slower students as kids who will never be able to learn well? Do they think of themselves as permanently dumb? Instead, try to figure out what they don't understand and what learning strategies they don't have. Remember that great teachers believe in the growth of talent and intellect, and are fascinated by the process of learning. Are you a fixedmindset coach? Do you think first and foremost about your record and your reputation? Are you intolerant of mistakes? Do you try to motivate your players though judgment? That may be what's holding up your athletes.
Try on the growth mindset. Instead of asking for mistake free games, ask for full commitment and full effort. Instead of judging the players, give them the respect and the coaching they need to develop.
As parents, teachers, and coaches, our mission is developing people’s potential. Let's use all the lessons of the growth mindset—and whatever else we can—to do this
Classroom Visit Focus
Some of you are behind in your planning and I understand staying two weeks ahead has been difficult with new staff and changes from some departments as they are trying to update CRMs, especially in reading. The minimum expected is to have at least one week lessons planned ahead. This is to help prevent last minute paper copying, looking for a specific mentor text, asking for resources, laminating at the last minute, and a few other things that makes everyone feel anxious. The reasoning for planning ahead is to give you time to do backward design-what are you assessing? Is that what you are teaching? How are you teaching it? After your assessment-did the students learn it? If not what are you going to do? Are you reteaching it to a whole group? small group? Not at all because everyone learned it? You should come into planning the next week by discussing your common assessments.
I can relatively return those quickly if I get the whole grade level's assessment at the same time. I analyze across a grade level and that helps me. I plan my Tuesday evenings just for analyzing to return those back to you. Thank you everyone for turning those in weekly. Please remember to turn them end by the end of day (3:30 pm) on Tuesdays.
Things to consider: If you do an exit ticket each day, those can essentially be considered your common assessment. Remember common assessment means that the whole grade level is doing the same assessment; making your assessment and providing an answer key also helps you see why and where students are having difficulty with a process or conceptualizing a new idea/skill. Collaboration is key., Another thing to consider is that common assessments are assessing the essential elements of the TEKS. Consider not only content but verbs in the TEKS...Lead4ward is a great resource.
Upcoming Dates
Check email from Amie Ortiz for SLO deadlines. Mil Gracias!
- October 12th - Happy Columbus Day/Parent Teacher Conferences
- October 13th- Classroom Visits in 3rd, 4th, 5th to observe reading with M. Gonzalez
- October 14th- Classroom Visits in 3rd, 4th, 5th to observe math with J. Houghton
- October 15th- Classroom Visits all grade levels to observe writing for TIP (PSP visit & Sheila Thomas) NO PLC Meeting this week!!! Mejia ARD 12:15 pm
- October 16th - Administrative Meeting 10 am
- October 19th - October 23rd is Transportation Appreciation Week
- October 21st - Elementary Principal Meeting
- October 22nd - Open Enrollement for Insurance on campus to answer questions
- Red Ribbon Week last week of October
- November 1st & 2nd - Dia de los Muertos
Florence Ralston Brooke Elementary
Email: griselda.galindo-vargas@austinisd.org
Website: www.BrookeElementary.org
Location: 3100 E 4th St, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: 512-414-3106
Facebook: facebook.com/BrookeElementary
Twitter: @BrookeLions