The Dream Team
Weekly Memo 21
INSPECT WHAT YOU EXPECT! ALWAYS HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS!
Uplift Hampton Middle School Strategic Priorities
School Learning Climate
Professional Capacity
Parent, School, and Community Ties
Table of Contents
- Good Things
- A Message from the Director
- FREE perks for being an Uplift Employee
- Momentous Blast!
- Video of the Week
- Admin Corner
- Closing the Trust Gap Article
- Week at a Glance
- Action Items
- Month at a Glance
- Updated Duty Schedule
Good Things!
Mrs. Parks says...
- Shout out to David, Yalea, and Ranae for your consistency and your fire!
- Shout out to Ms. Sanchez for covering classes like a champ! Way to Rise Together!
- Shout out to Isabella for your reflectiveness and for stepping up to the challenge of leading the charge as it pertains to ELT!
- Shout out to Amber for persevering through to demonstrate your Scholar's First focus!
- Shout out to Mrs. Brown for hosting the 7th grade DC trip informational! I'm excited for what is to come! Thank you for thinking about what is possible for scholars!
- Shout out to Mrs. Peters for an awesome review lesson over expository essays! Allowing scholars to share their thoughts with each other and with the entire group, aligned to our instructional focus: accountable talk!
- Shout out to Mr. Smith who not only encourages but insists on scholars loving themselves and their culture. I learn from every single one of the conversations you have with scholars around this.
- Shout out to Coach Wright for covering for me with a smile.
- Shout out to Ms. Wallace who sprinkles positivity everywhere she goes.
A Message From the Director
Hello Dream Team,
I was reading an article about pushing yourself. Below you will find a snippet of the article. I challenge you all to read it, and reflect on your own practices and challenge yourself to be the best version of you.
"Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you All great people who achieved true excellence had one thing in common. It’s the willingness to push beyond their limits, day in and day out, despite all the discomforts. Very often, people ask me: “What does it take to be successful?”My answer: Don’t be afraid to dive into deep, dark waters. Successful people don’t have a comfort zone; they aren’t afraid to take risks. They mostly operate in an uncomfortable zone that drives them to push their boundaries. Successful people don’t understand the people who are afraid of the dark waters. They see wasted talent, people with self-defined barriers who can’t fully tap into their potential. Successful people aren’t content with their accomplishments. They always think, “What’s next?”For them, success is the journey, not the destination. Every limit is a beginning as well as an ending –George Eliot If you don’t make the most of your talent, you limit your career possibilities and lose out on opportunities. You will look back on your career by uttering the words “woulda, coulda, and shoulda.”Use your talent and always remember, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” So, don’t disappoint yourself."
The Dream Team Will Fight!
Sincerely,
Andrea
FREE PERKS FOR UPLIFT EMPLOYEES!
Momentous Blast
Key Points:
· Vicarious Trauma, or trauma related to seeing and caring for others who have experienced trauma, can result in very similar brain and body effects, including increases in stress response and concerning physical and mental health outcomes
· It is critical for teachers (and administrators) to invest time in wellness, support one another in doing so, and carve out time to increase connectedness between staff and for pursuit of enjoyable activities
Why this Matters:
· Many teachers have a difficult time dealing with this side of teaching; without preparation and investment in self-care and wellness, teachers can easily burn out.
· When teachers are in an elevated stress state, it is far more difficult for them to teach and connect with students effectively. It also impacts their ability to disconnect from work, again making it difficult to sustain.
INSTRUCTIONAL & CULTURAL FOCUS AREAS
Instructional Focus
a. Peer Discussion: Accountable Talk
1. The majority of classroom discussion is still taking place through the teacher. A teacher will pose a question, a scholar will respond to the teacher, then the teacher will ask for another scholar to share their thoughts. Authentic discussion entails scholars responding to and building upon the responses from other scholars, with the teacher acting as a facilitator. To this end, use accountable talk.
1. In a classroom filled with accountable talk, students ask one another about their thinking and build on the responses of others. They cite evidence, ask for elaborations and clarifications, and extend understandings by using the statements they have heard from their classmates to form new ideas.
2. True discussion needs the active participation of others if there is to be an exchange of ideas. Accountable Talk governs the norms of daily/regular academic discourse and requires that scholars ask for and furnish evidence to support their statements (Michaels, O'Connor, Hall, & Resnick, 2002). This ensures rigor and moves the conversation from task-oriented to concept-oriented learning.
Cultural Focus: Setting and Maintaining Behavior Expectations in the Classroom
a. With consistent expectations, students know what’s expected of them throughout the school day. This allows them to feel more confident, engaged and connected to the school community. It also makes it easier for teachers to recognize positive behaviors, and to correct problem behaviors to keep small problems small.
Further, for students who may have difficult home lives, this consistency and routine can provide the structure and stability they need and crave. In addition, it’s particularly helpful with students who like to test the boundaries or “divide and conquer” staff members. If all staff members are on the same page — consistently communicating and reinforcing established behavior expectations school-wide — students quickly realize there’s no point to pushing the limits because the consequences are always the same.
Week at a Glance
Monday, December 11th: B Day
Professional Dress
Morning Meeting at 7:20am in the library
Humanities CA
Humanities scan in MC answer documents
Range Out PTO
Tuesday,December 12th: A Day
Business Casual
Spanish CA
Spanish team scan in MC answer documents
Range Out PTO
Wednesday, December 13th: B Day
Business Casual
Science CA
Science team scan in MC answer documents
Leadership Team Out for DEI training
Range Out PTO
Meet in your GL teams at 3:05pm
Thursday, December 14th: A Day
Business Casual
Math CA
Math team scan in MC answer documents
Range Out PTO
Friday, December 15th: B Day
Casual
Morning Meeting at 7:20am in the library
Reading CA
Reading team scan in MC answer documents
#2017 Dance 6pm-9pm
Range Out PTO
Action Items
1. CA 3 Breakdown due 12/12/17
2. All CA 2 MC & CR data inputted into AWARE by 3pm on 12/20 No Exceptions
3. Mid-year Checkout Forms Due
All grades for CAs, including constructed responses, must be scanned by Wednesday, December 20th at 3:00 PM for any tests taken between December 11th-December 20th.
UPDATED DUTY SCHEDULE
Put this on your radar!
7-Dec Thursday B/Parks Out for Director Cohort Meeting
8-Dec Friday Morning A Minimum total of 17 grades/Bi-Weekly Data Meeting Completed
9-Dec Saturday Science Fair
10-Dec Sunday
11-Dec Monday Morning Meeting at 7:20/Grades Close at 10am for progress reports B
12-Dec Tuesday A
13-Dec Wednesday Morning Working Wednesday- Prepare Semester Grades (Meet in the library at 3:05pm) B Cross curricular MYP lesson executed
14-Dec Thursday Morning A
15-Dec Friday Morning Meeting at 7:20/Progress Reports go home B Minimum total of 19 grades
16-Dec Saturday
17-Dec Sunday
18-Dec Monday Morning Meeting at 7:20 A-Half Day
19-Dec Tuesday B-Half Day
20-Dec Wednesday/Staff Winter Celebration A-Half Day/ All CA data inputted into AWARE BY 3pm
21-Dec Thursday/End of Q2 (Black Out Day) B-Half Day/Mid-year Checkout Form due PRIOR to departure
22-Dec Friday - 5-Jan Friday No School WINTER BREAK
8-Jan Monday CA 2 Collaboration Day (Black Out Day) No School for scholars Data Analysis Due by 5pm Big Rock 1: School Learning Climate
9-Jan Tuesday Staff Development (Black Out Day) No School for scholars Big Rock 2: Professional Capacity