HOWL
September 3, 2020
Highlights of Our 1st Week
- One 7th grade teacher shared she had 17 students in her first ever Google Meet... at 8:10 in the morning. All because of the emails she sent out prior. AWESOME!
- Our lunch schedule started out a little rocky, but our paras rocked with adjusting and communicating. By the end of the week we had it!
- The list is endless with how many students have shared that they are so excited to be back at school with you all!
- A student who struggles with anxiety and fear struggled to come to school. She wouldn't take her hands away from her face, BUT because of her fabulous teacher and counselor, her hands came down. She didn't talk in class, but did participate and had her teacher read her thoughts to the class. You ARE amazing.
- WOW- the excitement, the smiles, the play that we are seeing around the building is so amazing. 2 weeks of finding joy and postponing content is working!
- Breakfast and Lunch is FREE to ALL students.
- The winner of the Mural game during our staff meeting was the 6th grade team. Can everyone please congratulate them through email this weekend. Stay tuned for another chance to win next Wednesday.
Walk Up Songs
A Culture of Joy
A noted Neurologist, Judy Willis states, "Joy and enthusiasm are absolutely essential for learning to happen - literally, scientifically, as a matter of fact, and research based. Shouldn't it be our challenge and opportunity to design learning that embraces these ingredients?"
This week at Washington, we are celebrating you, our learning staff who are seizing the opportunity and embracing the challenge of focusing on creating joy. We are a learning community focused on what is important - how we make them feel. Our efforts to create joy everyday continue unabated next week. It may be tempting to slide back into our comfort zones of daily lessons that fit neatly into our curriculum maps. There will be time for that. Thank you for prioritizing what is important - how we make them feel. It is important because it is essential for learning.
As you think about the fun you are going to create next week, please consider using the Joy Matrix. It might be used to generate ideas (please refer to our collective list on the second page), it might be used to plan class activities, it might just be used to celebrate the joy you and our students are creating every day. We look forward to hearing from staff and students how each of the tools for creating joy are being used.
Our School Goal - Make a SWIRL
Reminders & Communication
- Advisory Teachers please be at your door by 7:25 to meet your students
- We have made 2000 postcards to be used to connect, send well wishes and I'm proud of you notes to your students. Please stop by Lisa or send an email if you want some
- We want to highlight our amazing students and our fabulous staff, so if you are taking pictures that we can share on social media please send them to Lisa Delsman. Remember all pictures should have masks worn and social distancing.
- Google Voice is a great way to connect with students and families- you can make calls and send text message off of your cell phone without using your phone number. All you have to do is download it. Any questions let any of us know.
- Inservice Day by Day is full of links for information about the start of the year. Thank you for using resource.
- Hot Spots are available for families who do not have WiFi- Hot Spot Information
- Attendance is taken in advisory only. We recommend you take attendance at the end of Advisory. There is a plan in place for attendance of virtual days... More to come.
- When a student wants to use the bathroom, please put an orange cone in the hallway. If there is already a cone in the hallway, please wait for the student to use the bathroom so that one student will be in the bathroom at a time.
- At the end of lunch, please place your garbage can in the hallway by your door. This saves immeasurable time for our dream team of custodians.
- Support with ALL technology must have a Web Help Ticket. Thank you for using the help system. #ticketsplease.
- Please post and share the STUDENT Web Help Ticket for their Chromebooks
- Professional Development Opportunities
- Technology Updates from CO
Survey Time
Update on Power Standards
- When you create a new assessment that was never given before, what would that assessment look like if it were to measure student learning in each standard?
- If this was the only thing they learned . . . a)Would they be ready for next year? b) Would they be ready for life beyond school?
- When a parent is looking at these standards on the progress report, would these standards accurately represent the majority of the student learning in that classroom each quarter?
Next Steps
- Beginning the week of Sept. 21, we will enter the power standards you have shared into Infinite Campus. These will be the categories from which you will select when you enter an assessment or an assignment into IC.
- On Sept 24th, teams will work to create common assessments for each power standard during your professional development time. Teams will determine when each assessment will be given within a window of one week or less.
- Teams will have three PD Days (9/24, 11/18, 12/15) during the first semester to create common assessments for all power standards.
- Teams will also be given days, in which teams will use their PLC time on Mondays or Fridays to work with their cross-river content teams to calibrate what success looks like for each power standard.
Staff Meeting Recap
Marigold vs. Walnut Tree... Thank you for sharing this with us, Holly. Being excited for the celebrations of others is one amazing way to show our collaborative spirit. Let's all strive to be someone's marigold!