EMS Friday Focus
March 29, 2019 #26
EMS 2018-2019 Goals
ALL EMS students and staff will feel connected to our school community - safe, respected, seen, heard, and valued.
All EMS students will find meaning in the work they are tasked with.
Weekly Message
Team -
I heard from countless faculty members that Wednesday’s workshops were thought provoking and energizing!
A HUGE shout out to Kathy and Lindsay for courageously sharing and modeling such vulnerability and openness to feedback.
Because we could not all partake in the 4 workshops offered below is access to the resources shared at each session.
Lindsay McQueen: Teaching Students To Provide Critical Feedback: During this hands on workshop teachers experienced a protocol that Lindsay developed and used to explicitly teach students to provide feedback to peers.
Kathy Gallagher: Speak Up - highlighted resources from Teaching Tolerance and considering the following questions:
how to best respond to those who use bias language?
how to speak up when hurtful remarks are made?
In November Kathy wrote a blog post reflecting on a morning meeting when she actively used these resources. It was a profound experience for all involved.
Annie O'Shaughnessy: What is the right time to use a circle? What are other tools that can be used during classroom discussion to facilitate student voice?
Ben Dumbauld from TeachRock.org offered: Using music, teachers will be provided hands on learning possibilities to try in their Humanities and STEM classes.
Humanities: How did the Acadians, or Cajuns, use music and dance to maintain their communal bonds after being displaced during the French and Indian War? Students will be able to trace the history of the Cajuns back to the French and Indian War by examining Cajun music, historical maps, and American literature.
STEM: How can the guitar help us understand the scientific principle of transduction? Students will be able to make a musical transducer by building their own playable guitar.
Finally, thank you for your responsiveness to the message I shared during faculty meeting Wednesday and via email on Thursday. There was a noticeable increase in the number of people calling down to let us know students were missing.
Additionally, I was humbled and heartened by the many individual responses I received to the message. EMS is a powerfully passionate community with incredible potential - what we do each day is HARD. But together we can continue to do our best to support ALL our students towards success.
With incredible gratitude and in true partnership,
Meg
TASKS
Deadline for Teacher Partner and Team Leader has been extended until the week of April 8th. Please fill out the appropriate form if interested.
Please take a moment to read and reflect on blog entries submitted by your colleagues. This week's entry is "The Power of Teacher Voice" by Mr. Truchon
BHS Jazz band is coming to perform for the entire EMS community on 04/05 during 7th period in the gym!
After the 7th period transition - students will be dismissed to the gym by floor - starting with the 3rd floor. We will dismiss by floor at the end of the concert and then students will be dismissed for the day with the regular end of the day bell
Please review expectations with students regarding appropriate behavior during the concert:
Students are expected to remain seated
Students are expected to be respectful and listen attentively
If a student needs to leave the gym they must ask permission from their teacher
If you are interested in joining the planning group (Brent, Kathy, Jim, Kim and Kate) for the Alternative program - Pathways to Success - please let Meg know.
Please ensure all comments and grades are complete by 04/10 by 5p.m.
To Do: If you are implementing any of the resources that you gleaned from any of our teacher workshops, please let Brent know so that we can capture, celebrate, and provide others with ideas on how to use these to engage students.
Announcements and Logistics For the Week
Joelle’s observational feedback from 3/21
2019 SBAC Cheat Sheet (All of this information is in this document-top link in Quicklinks)
All educators must reset their password each year (Click on Tide you will be prompted)- you must close out and click on the link below to get into the certification test
4/3 Para/Teacher Certification: Faculty Meeting (Click on Test Administration Certification link)
Secured Browser: 4/3 Val will introduce student readiness doc that walks kids through the process of checking for secure browser- Check this on team.
Practice Test: All teams should administer an SBAC practice test prior to testing to ensure familiarity and browser compliance.
Student Directions- Practice TEST (SBAC TEACHER CHEAT SHEET)
Link To Test Administration Portal (Click on Test Administration)
Odds and Ends: Earbuds and test cards: Distributed to teachers on 4/3.
Wednesday's Faculty Objective
SWBAT identify a concrete next step for a designated tier 3 student - using information gathered from a file review and a full brainstorm of all we know about the student being discussed in addition to Joelle's recommendations - to effectively support said student in greater success.
Calendar:
Connecting To Best Practice
Please take a moment to read and reflect on blog entries submitted by your colleagues. This week's entry is "The Power of Teacher Voice" by Mr. Truchon
Do you have a tool, lesson plan, idea, video, article, or something else that directly connect to one of our our "EMS goals" and to our "indicators of success"? If so, please let us know using this form. Compensation will be as follows: Blog Contribution- $25, Teach Meet presentation- $25, workshop presentation- $100