the RAH
February 6-10, 2017
from Bret-
In my site visits last week, I picked up a couple of forms I thought I would share. The first is a discipline form one school uses for Tier 2 Behavior Intervention students.
Additionally, here is a form another school used at a faculty meeting. The principal asked all classroom teachers to fill out the form to aide in facilitating a discussion around MOY iReady scores.
Delta team agreed last week to the following definitions for Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. If you remember, J started this conversation at an Elementary Learning meeting in the fall: (Tier 1) core instruction that is research based, data driven, and differentiated to meet the academic or behavior needs of all students, and (Tier 2) supplemental instruction, implemented by a certified teacher with possible support from others, that addresses individual academic and/or behavioral needs with increased intensity and frequency.
Here is another great principal blog post concerning homework. I believe this is something worthwhile to share with teachers, especially teachers who insist on giving lots of meaningless homework.
Tentative agenda items for the Elementary Learning meeting include Writing IC, bullying update, principal stations, Phelps updates, and general updates from J.
Read Across America
The official Read Across America Day is Thursday, March 2, (although many of you something sometime that week). This year, The United Way of the Ozarks is reaching out to partner for this, at least on a limited basis. The United Way of the Ozarks received a donation of 7,000 books that they like to give to 3rd graders across their 14 county area. Their goal is to have guest readers in every 3rd grade classroom. In order to coordinate this event, please take two minutes to complete this form. Regardless if you go the route/support from United Way, please consider participating in this even to encourage a love and appreciation for reading.
BOE Study Session
Tuesday, Feb 7, 2017, 05:30 PM
1359 East Saint Louis Street, Springfield, MO, United States
Rookie of the Year
Every year, we have the exciting opportunity to welcome new teachers to our district. As the new teachers begin their careers, it is wonderful for us to be a part of and witness their anticipation, anxiety, and growing opportunities. Last year, like many of you, Disney had this opportunity with the hiring of Malori McGhee. Malori embodied everything that we desire in a new teacher: building meaningful connections with students as she connected them to their learning, collaborating with peers and growing her skillset and capacity, and believing that relationships and education were the key to opening opportunities now and in the future. Her positivity and drive were infectious, and she was a model of the type of person we wish to be leading learning in our classrooms.
Malori was tragically killed in an accident during her first year. As we reflected on the impact of a great teacher, including our first-year teachers, we thought it fitting to create a memorial “Rookie of the Year” award. The purpose of this is to honor first-year teachers who demonstrate and exemplify the characteristics and traits described above.
The Rookie of the Year will be honored at the Annual Teachers’ Banquet. Please note that while this award is not sponsored by the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools Teacher Banquet, it will be presented as part of the evening celebrations.
If you have a first year teacher you wish to nominate, please complete the nomination form by clicking here. Nominations will be accepted through Feb 28, 2017.
from J-
"Kids don't have a choice in being here; that doesn't give us a right to their engagement."
I'm not done mulling this statement over, and would ask you to think on it as well. We may be taking for granted the the kiddos being there means they are there for all the right reasons: even the students that do school well and are behaved. This was driven home for me in a conversation with my own youngest kiddo, who I take to school every Wednesday morning. She was tell me about an upcoming dissection in a class. I made a reference about performing an autopsy, and her response really threw me. "No dad, the school is doing an autopsy - on my soul - every day." While her statement was a half-truth and said in fun, it was still a partial truth. While we have raised her to be respectful and play school well, she is mostly bored, and little of what is coming her way is engaging and relevant to her. This ties directly to Ken's related question: What is your school built for: Teaching or learning? Why or comply? This may be a topic you wish to think on and explore.
My favorite week of each month is this coming one: looking forward to fun and learning with you this Wednesday at our Elementary Leadership Team. Thank you for leaning into this 3rd quarter grind. Have a fantastic week!