Evergreen Middle School
October 27, 2022
Message from Principal Collins
Hello Parents, Caregivers and Guardians,
What a great week to be an Evergreen Grizzly. This week we had so many activities going on and a lot to celebrate. We had our Cross-Country district competition, our football team played our crosstown rivals and our Fastpitch team played their hearts out. We had our first all-school pep assembly in four years. There is a lot of spirit here at Evergreen.
Now it is time for us to welcome in the month of November. This coming month we will have a Veteran’s Day Assembly and Student Led Conferences. You will start receiving information for our conferences this week. We are excited that the conferences will be in person this year. We will hold them in the gym. All teachers will be there and you will be able to speak with all of your child’s teachers.
It is getting colder outside make sure your child is warm while they are at school. We have had a number of students underdressed for the cold weather. Please help us by making sure your child is warm by dressing them for the weather.
Looking forward to seeing all of you during our Student Led Conferences.
In Partnership
Mrs. Collins
253 945 5100
CLAYFUL
Families,
We are thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Clayful, a service that provides on-demand, text-based, non-clinical coaching for students. 7th and 8th grade students will have access to a community of Certified Coaches to help them build healthy habits for success.
The district is making this service FREE to you and your child. Please look for additional communication from your school to learn more.
Fill out the consent form here: https://www.clayfulhealth.com/families.
SHOW YOUR SPIRIT ALL YEAR WITH EVERGREEN GEAR
COLOR WARS- GRADE GEAR
Prove your grade has the most spirit ALL YEAR LONG!!
All shirts are $8 each
8th-Green
7th-Yellow
6th-Gray
Evergreen hoodies & t-shirts available year-round!
EVERGREEN HATS & BEANIES
You asked for them, you got them!
The official Evergreen Grizzly hats and beanies are in! With the coming of fall and winter, don't miss out on keeping your head warm with a collector item Evergreen hat or beanie to go with your other Grizzly gear!
See the main office to pick yours up as they will sell out fast. Hats are $20 and the Beanies are $15.
SPIRIT ACCESSORIES
We have:
Buttons: large ($2) & small ($1)
Stickers: large round ($1) & smaller square (.50)
Pom Poms: $1 each
Beads (green & gold): (2 for $1)
The Art and Science of Explaining Stuff
As the instructional coach at Evergreen Middle School, I watch a lot of lessons. While there is a great deal of creativity in teaching here, our lessons tend to follow a consistent and predictable format. Upon entering the classroom, scholars across all subjects are expected to immediately get started on an entry task that the teacher has projected on the board, which we call the “Do Now.” Once attendance is taken, the teacher will correct the Do Now and then transition the class to the main lesson.
One of the things teachers can struggle with at this point is the clarity of their explanations. Research shows that crystal-clear explanations are correlated with achievement, while fuzzy, ambiguous explanations are not good for learning. Researchers describe poor instructional delivery as containing “mazes”, where the point of the explanation keeps changing and the flow of the information is jumbled and discontinuous. I’m personally guilty of inserting too many “uhs” in my presentations and getting caught up in details that are irrelevant to the goals of the lesson, but I’m getting better.
Teaching is both a science and an art. When it comes to the science of explanations, I coach teachers to pair explanations with opportunities for students to talk and make sense of the material. Science also suggests that teachers should incorporate visuals and gestures into their lessons and pause on occasion to allow students to think about the contents of the explanations. When it comes to the art of explanations, I coach teachers to approach their explanations as a performance, with all the passion and expression that great storytelling entails. By focusing on getting the explanation right at the start of lessons, we guarantee that fewer students spend the rest of the lesson saying, “I don’t get it.”
Zach Groshell, Ph.D.
Instructional Coach
Evergreen Middle School
Nation's Report Card (NAEP)
Evergreen Middle School will participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on 11/14/2022. NAEP is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP is different from our state assessments because it is a common measure of achievement across the country. The assessment is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, within the U.S. Department of Education. The results are released as The Nation’s Report Card, which provides information about student achievement to educators, parents, policymakers, and the public.
Your child may take a mathematics or reading assessment. More information about the NAEP is available at https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/parents
Important Dates
11/01- Fastpitch- Evergreen @ Kilo
11/02- Fundraiser Items Pickup @ 1pm-4pm (cookie dough requires refrigeration)
11/02- Fastpitch- Sacajawea @ Evergreen
11/02- Football- Varsity- Evergreen @ Sequoyah
11/08-11/10- Student Led Conferences: in the gym
Tuesday, Nov 8th from 3-5PM (school is in session)
Wednesday, Nov 9th from 10AM-7PM with teacher lunch 12-1 (no school)
Thursday, Nov 10th from 7:30-10:30 (no school)
11/10- Veteran's Day Holiday (no school)
Evergreen Middle School
Email: mnelsen@fwps.org
Website: https://www.fwps.org/evergreen
Phone: 253-945-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvergreenFWPS/