Friday Focus
September 4, 2015
Things are going well it seems. A few hiccups, but most of the students are settling back into our routines. As I write this, I am at the Freshman Venture Out trip and I am really impressed with how into it they are. A big thank you to Erin for finding us a new place since Scattering Forks was no longer an option for us. It was great to have someone that took care of all the details for us, thanks again Erin. The freshmen were having fun at Venture Out while getting pushed out of their comfort zone. That is what we, the adults in this building, need to also do. This job is fun and we have a lot of new things coming that will get us outside of our comfort zone.
You are probably reading this sometime after our Friday morning meetings. I hope they went well and they showed you some new ways of thinking. One group today learned about data teaming and how having common classes and assessments can make us stronger teachers. This will be a new and weird process for us, but I know it will have great results over time. Another group is looking at how they can be singletons due to our school size, but still contribute and have teachers like them to bounce ideas off of. I also met with a group and challenged them on how we look at participation and grading for trying vs. doing. All of this is new and challenging, but I know it will grow us.
Academic Support (A/S) is about to get going strong. According to the calendar, the first progress cycle is ending today and we need to have our grades ready by Tuesday (normally Monday) by 9AM. Terri will run a report that morning and organize it into a document to show us all what students have a bad grade. Those that have a current F need to follow the procedures below to get out. The first thing to happen is for every teacher to let the student with an F in any of their classes know they will have A/S until it is a 67% or higher. We do this by filling out and giving EVERY failing student an appeal card. Students with multiply F's may not be assigned to your subject area the first day so be sure to watch for the room assignments before you tell a student what room to go to. Next, give the students the rest of the week to turn in stuff before A/S starts; many of them will get it done to keep open lunch privileges. If they get their grade up, sign their appeal card and have them show Ms. Adkins ASAP. If they have not cleared it up before Friday, it is an expectation to call home and let a parent know their child is headed to A/S. They will probably get them moving over the weekend and come in with even more done on Monday morning. In advisory, the Monday before A/S starts be sure to look at the room assignments and make sure your advisees know where to report. It would even be helpful if every teacher in 3rd hour on the day A/S starts look over the room assignments and remind students to go straight there after that class period.
Marci wanted me to remind you attendance calls start on Tuesday. Make sure your attendance is entered every morning so we make the right calls home. We need 100% participation to make this work.
Have a great extra long weekend!