Warrior Beat
#worldchangingwarriors
Word for the Warrior
I wanted to share with you something that really inspired me, if you can bear with me. I regularly listen to a podcast by Jen Hatamker entitled, For the Love. Hatmaker is a Christian author, speaker, podcaster, who I find to be very thoughtful, inclusive, challenging and creative in her approach to scripture and theology.
I realize this sounds like I may be proselytizing or preaching. I promise that isn't the case and if you are worried about that, please feel truly free to stop reading. While the crux of my reflection is about a story out of Luke, my hope is that whether you view the Bible as scripture or as literature, you can read along regardless and consider what we have to learn from the character Mary, the mother of Jesus.
I have linked below the entire podcast episode, A Thrill of Hope...that features Nadia Bolz Weber, Lutheran pastor and theologian. I would encourage you to stop and listen to the podcast, which is about an hour long. I usually listen to things like this when exercising, etc. BUT...if that is too much time, I have also linked the sermon referenced in the podcast below that is much shorter. If you are interested, please take time to read the passage from Luke below, then either listen to the podcast or read the sermon on Mary that is linked below that. My thoughts and inspiration will pick up below those links and I will share what I found completely applicable to our daily work below.
Nadie Bolz Weber: I'm going to read part of it from Luke, just because sometimes the familiarity we have with stories gets in the way of us really hearing them.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you."
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God and now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. And he will be great and he will be called the son of the most high, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end."
And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I'm a virgin?"
And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be holy and he will be called Son of God. And now your relative, Elizabeth, in her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month for her, who is said to be barren, for nothing will be impossible with God."
And then Mary said, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word."
And then the angel departed from her.
I truly believe that being an educator is a calling for all of us. I have always thought about how miserable being an educator must be for those who do not truly feel called to the profession. Regardless of the demographics of school populations, it is a high calling to be responsible for supporting the academic and moral growth of a child! What an opportunity to make a real difference in our world! But when we accept the calling of teacher, especially when we accept that call among a group of students who have very challenging upbringings, we are accepting a call of "blessing" that may not always feel like a present. Our JOB with these students is to support and grow what is not currently working, and sometimes that can feel very frustrating and defeating when we do not see results. When students come to us performing far below grade level...when they come to us with zero motivation...when they come to us with very little organization...it is in THAT VERY PLACE, where we have said YES. We say YES to viewing each child's current state as a starting place for our work. Rather than view children who are "not yet there" with cynicism, a frustrated sigh, or through a deficit lens, THAT is where our YES begins. An educator's JOB is to be the SUPPORT necessary for learning to occur, whether that learning is academic, behavioral, social, etc. It is thrilling when we get a class full of proficient and advanced students who are motivated and eager to learn...because those students are easy to teach! I have always said that the work we do at Sevier is HARDER. It is! Frustration, despair, anger, and feelings of "this isn't fair" are LIKELY in our work if we have accepted our calling, our "blessing" as a present. It is easy to think that if we do x, then students should just get it and learn... that they should be appreciative and that they should just then want to obey us. That just doesn't happen overnight. If we accept our call, then that call means showing up daily with the faith and trust and hope that our work is making a difference regardless of what we see at present. We are teaching middle school students! Even the middle school students who are the most privileged and most grounded are in a developmental place that makes our work hard!
Likewise, even if we have accepted our calling and blessing with students with a "Mary-like" mindset, it can also be very frustrating in our work to advocate for our students and our schools within a broken educational system. I have often heard it said that teachers and ministers have a rough job because anyone who has been through school or sat through church believes that they know how to do the job. In an ever-changing society, there is often a status quo approach taken by those in power to believe that "...it worked for me when I was in school and so it should work now." It can be very frustrating when our work is controlled and dictated by people who have never worked in a school. When we do not have what we need to do our jobs best and when our very calling is being criticized in the media by those whose job it is to support us, it doesn't feel very much like a blessing, does it?
Nadia Bolz Weber says that "Mary didn’t say yes because she thought by doing so God was going to shower her with cash and prizes. No. Here’s where this girl had some serious chops. She got something I really struggle to understand: that getting a blessing is not the same as getting a present. She said yes not based on the expectation of things being awesome for her but based on the expectation that God can create something out of nothing. And the thing is: we just never know simply based on how our life feels if it is filled with blessing or not. To be a people marked by the faith of Mary is to be a people, who say Ok, I don’t understand what’s going on and I know that my life isn’t going to end up looking like one I would choose out of a catalogue but I trust that God is at work in all of it. Blessedness is being used for God’s purpose more than it’s getting what I want or things being easy. Christmas itself isn’t about getting what you want, or making sure you’re giving others what they want. To experience Christmas is to trust that God can do this thing again. God can again be born in me, in you, in this broken mess of a gorgeous world."
As we approach a new semester, I encourage all of us, like this sermon challenges us to do, to work to avoid approaching our calling with sentimentality or cynicism. BOTH can be detrimental to our motivation, our daily work and our ability to thrive. I hope that our focus and calling can be to accept our "blessing" and love and work to support our kids at their point of need...THAT is our calling. Teaching is helping each child take that NEXT STEP in moving forward. Learning cannot occur outside of a relationship. Let's seek the good in all students, assuming positive intent and assuming that kids are doing the best they can. Many disguise their fears and inabilities through negative behaviors. Let's accept our calling right there and stay focused on the possibilities we cannot yet see.
In our work in advocacy for our students, let us continue to tell our story. Let us continue to tell the truth. Let us continue to fight for our kids and ALL kids even when it's hard. Even when people do not understand. Let us continue to shine our light and live into the blessing to which we have been called!
Week of the Warrior
MONDAY: January 6th
Teacher Work Day No Students-Details Below-JEANS/CASUAL DRESS ALLOWED!
TUESDAY: January 7th
First day back from Winter Break
SEL - Tuesday - Circles
Student Council meetings on January 7th 3-3:30pm.
Natural Helpers Meeting Tuesday 3-4:30pm
Science Olympiad will be meeting on Tuesday from 2:45-5:00.
The robotics team will be meeting on Tuesday in the library from 3-4. If you cannot make it, please see Mr. Golden.
Girls Basketball game vs. Liberty Bell at Sevier
Boys Basketball game vs. Liberty Bell at Liberty Bell
WEDNESDAY: January 8th
SEL - Second Step
Core classes (8th grade related arts) on Wednesdays
Science Bowl practice on Wednesday from 2:45 - 4:00in Ms. Musselman's room.
There will be a journalism staff meeting on Wednesday, January 8 from 2:45 to 3:30 pm. All staff members are required to attend. The editorial team will meet until 5:15 pm.
THURSDAY: January 9th
SEL - Naviance
The robotics team will be meeting on Thursday in the library from 3-5. If you cannot make it, please see Mr. Golden.
Girls Basketball game vs. TA Dugger at TA Dugger
Boys Basketball game vs. TA Dugger at Sevier
FRIDAY: January 10th
SEL - Mentoring/Feel Good Friday
VIDA yoga and the cOMmunity collective will be coming to our school on Friday mornings from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. to do yoga in the small gym. It is open to all students and ALL STAFF.
Save the Date
Boys and Girls Basketball game vs Sevierville at Sevierville
Any student who ordered an 8th Grade group picture and has not received; please see Vicky in the office.
Yearbook pre-orders are now open! Be sure to reserve a copy of the 2019-2010 yearbook today! Visit ybpay.lifetouch.com and use ID Code 13619720. You can also return an order form with check or cash payment to Sevier Middle. The yearbook will be $24.00 this year. Adding a personalized name to the cover will cost an additional $4.00
JSMS JAM
FRIENDLY REMINDER-- PLEASE BE ON TIME TO WORK!
Don't forget to complete Safe-Schools Trainings
January 6th Professional Learning Day
Calling all Math Teachers
Please find the agenda for the January 6th PD day below. We will be in the TN Room at ASC all day. The first part of the day will focus on PD that will be supportive of your collaborative planning work that will take place for the second part of the day.
Please take note of the items to bring as you may want to gather this before leaving school on Friday for Winter Break!
Reach out should you have any questions!
Thanks!
Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
Location: TN Room ASC
Time: 8:00-3:30pm (Lunch 11:30-12:45)
Agenda:
8:00-10:00- Professional Learning on the Mathematical Teaching Practices and Instructional Shifts
10:00-11:15- Using the Instructional Focus Documents to Plan for Instruction
11:15-11:30- Gather in grade level groups to begin Collaborative Planning
11:30-12:45- Lunch on your own
12:45-3:30- Collaborative Planning, Continued
Items to bring:
· Planning materials including curriculum maps, standards documents, and laptops
· A 3-ring binder to hold the Instructional Focus Documents (These have been updated since our August PD. I will print and share the latest documents)
· Books and Materials from the Math Symposiums that would be beneficial to include in your 3rd nine weeks collaborative planning. You will be able to share these materials among colleagues and we will have access to make copies as needed.
o Hands-On Standards Common Core Math Grade 6,7 or 8
o Math Tasks with Color Tiles
o Algebra Tiles Resource Book(This came in the Algebra Tiles box)
o (6th Grade Only)Number Talks: Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages Book
· If you participated in the Taking Action Book Study last year- please bring this book with you, as we will reference this during our morning session. (Pictured below)
Calling on Science Teachers
Agenda for Science Inservice Day
Monday, January 6th, 2020
8:00-9:00 - TSTA Learning Sharing - Marsha Buck & Stephen Williams
9:00-10:00 - Whole group discussion from TCAP Practice Test to ensure student’s perspective (takeaways and next steps) - ALL
10:00-11:30 - Grade Band Collaboration (both schools together)
11:30-12:45 - Lunch
12:45-3:30 - Grade Level Collaboration (each school or both schools together)
Colleagues,
In preparation for the January 6th professional learning, it has been suggested that each of you individually take the Science practice test prior to that day. The purpose of this is to gain student perspective on what the assessment is asking of students. This can be done during your collaborative planning times next week if necessary. I will not meet with your teams during that time unless needed, but will also be taking one of the TCAP practice tests myself.
Here are the 4 areas for you to reflect on and be prepared to discuss with suggestions of instructional strategies to help our students be better prepared for success in taking this type of assessment:
1) the amount of reading that the test involves
2) the dimensionality of the questions or test itself
3) do our formative assessments prepare our students for this type of assessment?
4) thoughts pertaining to the charts, graphs, and data tables - are our students prepared in this area?
Please make sure you bring a laptop and your standards document as well as your reflection from taking the test and any suggestions of instructional strategies you want to share with your colleagues.
We will be meeting in the Teal Room in the new DB Science and Technology building for the first half of the day. It's a great meeting room plus you'll get a chance to see the beautiful new building while you are there! Park out in the front or front-side parking lots, and I'll meet everyone in the foyer to direct you to the Teal room. Please see attached agenda:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UMrSoEl002eMa-oIXFjAuHHWK8aXI8Gqo34V7OA2sAA/edit?usp=sharing
Calling all Language Arts
We are meeting together for the professional learning day on January 6. I thought it may be helpful to have the information about the session before you leave for break. This is the agenda for that day:
Agenda:
8:00-9:00 AM- book clubs and engaging readers
9:00-11:30 AM- curriculum deep dive
11:30-12:45- Lunch
12:45-3:30- writing scoring/ additional curriculum work for those who previously scored.
Please bring your Quarterly Writing Assessments and a laptop to the meeting. You will also want to bring materials that you will need to plan the next unit. We will meet in the library at Sevier. Have a great week and enjoy a well deserved break.
Calling all Social Studies Teachers
I wanted to provide you with the agenda for the January 6th day.
Please note that we will be meeting at Sevier in Mindy Utsman's room from 8:00 - 3:30.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Jessica
Calling all Performing Arts Teachers
From the Desk of Michael Hubbard...
Kingsport City Schools has been working towards the development of district benchmarks that are also strong predictors of student performance on state assessments. KCS recently acquired a contract with TE2I for the purchase of CASE 21. CASE 21 produces benchmark assessments for districts. KCS has entered into a contract with CASE 21 to develop two series of benchmarks for the district. The first benchmark will be cumulative and cover the standards addressed from August-December. CASE 21 used the KCS curriculum maps to develop the cumulative assessments. The second benchmark will be comprehensive and cover all standards. ELA is comprehensive on all benchmarks.The CASE 21 benchmarks will replace the district benchmarks scheduled for the spring semester.
There are two attachments that outline the number of items that will be tested on each benchmark. The first attachment covers ELA and Math while the second covers Science and SS. CASE 21 estimates the first benchmark should take approximately 60 minutes for administration. CASE 21 recommends 70-75 minutes for the comprehensive benchmark. Following is the breakdown of subjects that will be tested per grade level:
Grades 3-5 = ELA, Math, and Science
Grades 6-8 = ELA, Math, SS, and Science
CASE 21 is also producing Algebra I and Geometry benchmark assessments for those enrolled in the corresponding classes at the middle school.
CASE 21 will generate answer documents for each school and student. These will be precoded with the student information. To aid in preparation, the system has selected administration dates for each assessment. These are being added to the district assessment calendar. The first administration of the cumulative benchmark will occur from January 15-22. The second comprehensive benchmark is scheduled for February 24-28. Each school will create its own schedule. Schools need to have testing completed at the end of the window. All state testing accommodations are permissible on the benchmarks. Students scheduled for alternative testing should not be administered the CASE 21 benchmarks. At the conclusion of testing, the ASC will collect the benchmarks from each school. These are then shipped back to TE2I for scanning and the creation of reports.
As previously noted, ELA is comprehensive on all benchmarks. ELA has a writing prompt included with the assessments so that it mirrors the state assessments. Since we have already scheduled and developed district-wide writing prompts, Emily will communicate about the use of these components of the test. For the current time, please await further communication.
KCS has communicated with multiple districts that already use the CASE 21 product. All Tennessee districts that used the product last year either continued use or expanded their contracts with CASE 21. These districts have indicated the benchmarks are very challenging. However, all districts that we have communicated with have shared the extremely strong correlation between the benchmarks and predicting performance on the state assessments. For example, Hamilton County (Chattanooga) indicated all the benchmarks fell at the 97% threshold for predicting student performance levels. Sevier County indicated they were within 3-5 percentage points of proficiency in almost every grade and subject. We are hoping the benchmarks will provide good reporting to aid teachers in the identification of standards that need to be readdressed and in predicting potential performance levels. Furthermore, the benchmarks can provide opportunities to measure student growth with previously administered district-wide benchmarks (middle schools) and nine-week assessments (elementary schools).
The benchmarks are formative; therefore, no grades should be taken. Teachers should not send benchmark tests home with students; however, teachers may use these for reteaching purposes after testing and reports are returned. All tests should be collected at the end of the year by the building test coordinators. In addition, since we will not be utilizing the district benchmarks, teachers may feel free to use any of the state practice tests and/or released items. Feel free to reach out to Michael Hubbard (mhubbard@k12k.com) with any question
Brighten Someone's Day!
MORNING YOGA
We have an awesome opportunity here at Sevier. VIDA yoga and the cOMmunity collective will be coming to our school on Friday mornings from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. to do yoga in the small gym. It is open to all students and ALL STAFF. We are hoping this will help students as well as staff relax on Friday mornings. I encourage you to come and please encourage your students to do the same
Coffee Cart-Feel Good Friday
Feel Good Friday just keeps getting better! Stephen Baker had the awesome idea to start up a coffee cart for the Warrior Academy kiddos and the FA-3 kiddos to run together on Friday mornings. The cost will be $1.00 per cup, and we have creamers and sweeteners as well!
The funds will just replenish the cart from week to week, but the personal interaction and functional skills the kids are going to learn from this will be invaluable! I am looking forward to watching them grow throughout the year and build relationships with you all through this venture!
I have included the Google Sheet that we will use each week to fill orders. There is a cell for your name, classroom number for 1st period assignments, type of drink, and if you need a disposable cup, or if you'll have your own mug for us to make it in!
Thank you all in advance for your support of this fun idea, and to Baker for getting it all together. I love our big Warrior Tribe!
Thanks again!
Baker and Megan
Duty Scheudule:
Morning and Afternoon Duty:
Hall and Lunch Duty:
Warrior Whoop!
WARRIOR SPIRIT!
- Counseling
8th Grade Art
Abstract Relief Sculpture: Each 8th grade student created an abstract wall hanging sculpture that is around 24-36 inches tall and around 18 inches wide. Abstraction is a lot harder for middle schoolers to grasp, and I get the question "how is this "Art?" a lot in the beginning. The goal of the project was to teach students to follow their intuition about what "might look right", taking that risk, responding to that decision, and then make the next decision as they go. Trusting yourself to take risks and navigate in spite of not knowing what comes next is hard to learn, as it is always easier to have things spelled out for you. I think this shattered some of their preconceived notions about what "Art" can be and made the majority of the class have a new appreciation for the mindset it takes to create abstract art. They are made of cardboard, hot glue, floral wire, yarn, oil pastel, acrylic paint, tape
7th Grade Art
6th Grade Art
Student work shown here: Alyssa Headrick, Shyla Tays, Gauge Long, Kaylee Begley, Tione Harlan, Taylor Weddle, Levi Webb, Kaylnn Lightbody, Julianne Arnette, McKenzie Inniss, Dylan Lowe, Kimberyl Eidson