RNNE: Team and Family Launcher
Goal-oriented and intentional.Intervention.Authentic Team.
Rest. Relax. Recharge.
While it is hard to believe that we have reached the end of our first semester as a team, I am immensely thrilled that you each have an opportunity to spend time resting and enjoying more of your personal life over the next two weeks. I say it all of the time and I will continue to do so - you all make up a truly amazing and phenomenal team of educators.
The work that we engage in on a daily basis is tough, difficult and often frustrating, however, it is, without a doubt, the most rewarding work of our time.
You have been called to do what others say cannot be done - teaching and growing students whose zip codes and socioeconomic status are not deemed to be acceptable in society - and you do it each day with grace, love and a fortitude that conveys a message of deep respect for our students and families.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated, "When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love." You have all been a part of Dr. King's group of "good men and women" this year by intensely and rigorously planning to ensure that our students are not a part of the statistics of students of color (62%) who enter college needing to take remedial reading and math courses, building and binding the character and confidence of our students by the way that you interact with them daily as well as the unconditional love that you provide our students and families despite what may take place the moment, hour, day, week or month before.
This is the team that can and will make this year a transformational year for our Rocketeers.
Please take the time to rest, relax and recharge to make our second semester amazing for our Rocketeers and our Rocketeer families! Take the time to spend with loved ones, sleep in, shop and watch lots of marathons/Netflix and just chill out - you deserve it.
I will love each of you always,
Christa
Data Days: "Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it with every generation." - Coretta Scott King
As a way to recharge and refocus us on our vision as "Freedom Riders" for the year, we will engage in our first day of Data Days PD in historic Memphis, Tennessee.
This will provide us with an opportunity to engage in PD aligned to our focus areas for second semester while also reminding us that we stand on the shoulders of leaders who have walked and traveled down the same and similar paths towards justice, freedom and equality.
We will travel to Memphis as a team on the morning of January 5th and engage in whole group PD sessions at the National Museum of Civil Rights in Memphis. Breakfast will be provided.
The bus will depart from RNNE at 5:30am on Monday, January 4th. Please plan to wear the RSED black polo shirts that we received at the regional holiday party with any casual bottom. If you were unable to attend the event, I will reach out to Shaka and have him leave the shirts at RNNE for you so that you can pick yours up on the morning that we leave.
After engaging in whole group PD sessions at the museum (in a meeting room), we will eat lunch at a nearby BBQ restaurant and tour the museum before boarding the bus to head back to Nashville.
Since we will be driving back (via Coach bus) the evening before, PD on Tuesday will start at 9am to allow you a chance to recharge for the day.
Thank you all for engaging in this fight to earn and win freedom for our generation of students.
Network Walkthrough Follow-Up
The areas of "celebration" trends for our campus:
- Positive Teacher Tone
- Culture of Error and Momentum in classrooms - Rocketeers were eager to be challenged
- Organized physical Space in classrooms (countertops, desk/table configuration, clear pathways, tech carts)
- Sticky Key Points: anchor charts and chants posters in Humanities classrooms
The areas that we need to focus on to become tighter around and strengthen:
The trends below will be focused on in whole group and content-based sessions during January's Data Days:
- Setting the expectation of 100% in every classroom/learning space so that there is not inconsistency of expectations throughout the building (tracking, posture, hallway lines, uniforms, etc.)
- Increasing the variation of ways students to respond to questions in class beyond raising their hands - increasing the types of talk that students engage in (turn and talk, cold call, everybody writes, etc.)
Physical Space Walkthrough
Check out this PowerPoint deck to see some of the awesome spaces and ideas throughout our school!
E-mail Disconnect
Please use this time to recharge and spend time with your loved ways away from e-mail.
If any updates need to be made regarding Data Days, we will communicate them January 3rd at the earliest. Otherwise, enjoy time spent away from the grind.