Peek At The Week
February 4, 2019
Team,
WOW! Thank you for a GREAT Week! So much learning happening and working the work. You exemplified One Team, One Focus, GROW Every Child.
During PLC's on Thursday, we learned a new Academic Vocabulary Strategy called, "Can't Say That! by Art Lieberman. It's similar to Taboo and teachers walked away with at least 5 words that they could use to make their game to play in class. It was time well spent for sure! On Friday, all core teachers participated in Instructional Rounds. We went to many teachers classrooms and observed Routines and Procedures, Academic Vocabulary and Learning Objectives in the I will, We Will format. One teacher even remembered (from Fundamental 5), "How will you know when you get it?" Each teacher that we observed gave the observing teachers something to think about regarding improvements that they could make in their own classrooms. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to you all. IF this is something that you would like to do again, we can make that happen. Just get with Mrs. Stanley and/or myself. I encourage you to visit classrooms of other teachers anytime you can. The experience will be invaluable! Your tool box will grow for sure!
We are in the grind of Math Intervention pullouts/push ins...soon to start the ELAR interventions. This is a very specific approach to closing gaps that isn't the same for every student. This is true Differentiation, at its finest. We are in week 2 of closing the gaps for our Blue/Green Threshold jumpers. These are usually our A students. They aren't use to being in this type of learning environment because for years they have been left alone due to their grades. With this new accountability system, we can no longer leave these students alone, regarding intervention. Encourage them as you would any other student to Get ONE MORE! Closing the gaps for all students, will improve their content mastery across all academics.
As we are improving Tier 1 instruction (AKA what you teach in your classroom), focusing on Backwards Design and Academic Vocabulary, there are also words not found in the IFD's that students do not know. As you are looking at the next Summative Assessment, be it a PA (Performance Assessment) or a more traditional test, it is also important for you to teach phrases within the assessments that may prove difficult to understand for some students. For example, on this weeks bi-weekly for 6th grade math, the phrase, 'edge of the circle' was unknown to some students. It's ok to teach everyday words as well as Academic vocabulary to students. Other words that I have personally found that my students didn't know were omit and cantaloupe. Don't hesitate to teach any word or phrase to students. They need to know what they don't know.
As always, Teach Happy!
-Denise
Calendar: AOD Stanley
Monday- Boys BBALL @ Home v Liberty, 4:30p
Tuesday- SMS Cheer Tryouts in Cafeteria
Wednesday- Obstructed Evacuation Drill; Leadership Team Meeting, 4p-4:45p, Principal Conference Room
Thursday- SMS Cheer Tryouts in Cafeteria
Friday- GRAND SLAM Celebration (PM Activity Schedule) ALL Grade Levels! SMS Cheer Tryouts in Cafeteria
Non-negotiable's
- Application of Academic Vocabulary- Invite your appraiser to your class to show us what you are doing!
- Goal Setting with Students, every 3 weeks, on Friday's- you can do this every Friday if you like, to lighten the number of student's you meet with...Teach them how to GET ONE MORE!
- Lesson Objective written on the board, lesson opened by saying what is to be done in class. Class learning outcome: What should students leave the class knowing?
- LESSON PLANS written 2 weeks in advance, inputted into Google Classroom.
- Bringing necessary items to planning and PLC's: Chromebook, etc.
- CHAMP your classroom, every transition.
- Follow through with the SMS Discipline Protocol.
Moving Bodies- Operations and Logistics
Hallway CHAMPS- Teachers out first, then students.
Students need HALL PASSES when they leave your classroom. Don't be surprised if they are sent back because they have no pass! See Mrs. Billingsley's Hall passes. She purchased them on-line from Amazon- $10.
Please check your email, as you will be notified by the Math Department as to who will be absent from your class T, W and/or Th. These students are not to be given zeroes for missed assignments due to intervention pull outs.
Principal Council- Voices of the Student Body
- Lockdown Drills
- Plants in classrooms
- Teachers to stop giving idle threats (i.e. I'm going to call home if you don't stop talking...and don't; You say that word again and you will write a paper before you leave class...and they don't have to).
They see and hear:
- A teacher tell them that the Principal's expectations were not being met, so they have to do a better job of restating expectations and CHAMP their classroom.
- A teacher doing the above without yelling...still gets the point across and they like the structure.
- Teachers meaning what they say and saying what they mean.
PLC's This week
T, W, Th- Planning
Friday- PBIS w/Stanley