Bobcat Bulletin
Week of November 18, 2019
This Week's Events
Monday 11/18
- 4th Grade to Lansing
- PTA Grants Due
Tuesday 11/19
- Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Wednesday 11/20
- PTA Meeting - 9:00am
- NEF Grant Award Day
Thursday 11/ 21
- Half Day 12:15 Dismissal
- Parent/Teacher Conferences 1:15pm - 7:00pm
Friday 11/ 22
- ROAR Assemblies 9:15 (K-3) & 10:00 (4/5)
- Parent/Teacher Conferences 1:15pm - 3:45pm
Next Week's Events
Monday 11/25
Tuesday 11/26
- Third Grade Robot Garage (MakerSpace)
Wednesday 11/27
- Half Day 12:15 Dismissal
Thursday 11/28
- Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday 11/29
- No School
Looking Ahead
December 2
- Elementary Collegial Meeting - 4:15-5:30 (RW)
December 4
- Collegial Chair Meeting - 8:00am
- Parent Leader in Me Night
- Staff Party at Deadwood - 4:00pm
December 9 & 10
- Devon at PD in Lansing (Last two!)
December 11
- Extended Time
Blue Ribbon - What an Experience!
I feel so honored to have been able to travel to DC with Christine, Marco and Mary Kay. It was a fantastic couple days. The excitement in the air was measurable. It was invigorating to be around so much positivity. We had a number of memorable experiences. At the top of that list, besides the ceremony itself was hearing keynote speaker Erin Gruwell, who the movie Freedom Writers was based on. She was so inspiring and had our eyes leaking on a number of occasions. Christine and I were also able to get in some sightseeing where we were able to see a number of national monuments and memorials.
World War II Memorial
Washington Monument & Reflecting Pool
White House
Thank You!!
I said it once, but it is SO WORTH saying again...Thank you to everyone that stayed Monday after school to help make sure our kiddos were safe and cared for while we waited for the buses to arrive! The group is 100 times stronger that any one of us alone!
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Best of luck with your conferences this week. Please let me know if you would like me to attend any of your conferences for support or to help explain anything to your parents.
Also, please remember to provide every parent with their NWEA reports. We printed those out for you. You have the option of providing the F&P parent letter as well. Information on how to access and print that was in last week's bulletin.
Lastly, the office will provide you a sign-in sheet for conferences. There will also be a reporting sheet showing the percent of conferences held and your plan for holding conferences for those parents that did not show up or sign up. We will put those in your box by Tuesday afternoon.
Empathy = Connection
As an educator we want to help people who are in trouble or feeling down, it's in our nature. But, as Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, research shows, that doesn’t mean you have to have all the answers.
The power of empathy lies in its ability to connect people on a deep emotional level, Brown says. She cites the work of nursing scholar Theresa Wiseman, who, in her work, outlined four main aspects of empathy:
- Understanding others’ perspectives
- Avoiding judgement
- Recognizing others’ emotions
- Communicating those emotions
People who are empathetic don’t have the answers to every problem, Brown says. What they provide, instead, is a deep emotional connection and understanding. Sympathy, on the other hand, is a tactic, a way of acknowledging other people’s problems, without displaying true emotional understanding, Brown says.
Recall the last time a student or parent came to you with an emotional crisis. Did you scramble to find a silver lining? If so, chances are you didn’t truly connect with that person, Brown says. “One of the things we try to do sometimes in the face of very difficult conversations, is we try to make things better…The truth is, rarely can a response make something better. What makes something better is connection.”
It is more important is to demonstrate that you’re listening, that you understand the emotions people are experiencing, and that you’re committed to helping them seek a solution. Brown’s work shows that acknowledging a student’s emotions without judgement is just as important as helping solve the problem.
It’s also proof that an ongoing, authentic conversation goes a long way toward building stronger, more productive relationships with the people you care about and serve.
I am sharing this with you for two reasons:
- It was a good reminder for me, that sometimes you can't fix something, sometimes the best thing you can do is listen and acknowledge the emotion.
- With parent-teacher conferences this week, some of you might be having some tough conversations, having some empathy might help strengthen that relationship with that parent or student
PTA Grants
The PTA grant window is open and they are accepting grant applications through Monday, November 18. For those few staff members that have a NEF grant tied to your PTA grant, you can wait until November 21. Additionally, those staff members can assume my approval on your PTA grant since I have already approved your NEF grant. Please let me know if you have any questions!
LC Corner - Curriculum, Literacy & Learning...oh my!
Talking to Families about their Child’s Reading
With conferences coming up it seems appropriate to review a few tips for how to talk about a student’s reading progress with his/her family. In addition, when we think about the shift we are making in our thinking that reading levels are a tool for the teacher we need to make a shift in how we explain a student’s reading growth, areas of strength and possible areas of concern with his/her family. At the end of this week’s LC Corner, I have included a few book lists that you may want to share with your families.
So, how do we talk to families about a child’s literacy progress and not mention a reading level?
Here are 5 tips that come right from Fountas & Pinnell (F&P Five Tips):
- Share Student Reading and/or Writing About Reading - Have you ever considered showing a book that a child was reading at the start of the year compared with what he/she is reading currently? Or how about sharing entries from a Reader’s Notebook that show samples of a student’s thinking about reading? Has his/her thinking grown? Are there writing samples that show depth and connections? I know I have seen teachers ask their students to sticky note a page that they would like for their families to see.
- Communicate Progress and Support - use everyday growth-minded language like, “your child is about where we expect him/her to be at the time of year” or “your child is not quite where he/she should be and we are supporting him/her in the following ways…” Remember you also have the Learning Continuum to refer to and find language that speaks to the reading behaviors we expect of a student. Again, a level does not tell us much, families need something more to know how to celebrate and support their child.
- Talk About the Child’s Engagement in Reading - I have seen that some of you are having your students keep book lists. Whether this is part of individual goal setting or just a way to track interests and book choices, an individual book list could serve as a way to talk with families about a student’s effort and engagement level. How many books are reasonable for a student to have on the list at this time of year? Is there variety on the list?
- Encourage Talk About Books - We know that having conversations with students about what they are reading gives us the evidence we need to know what they are thinking and what connections they are making to the genre, to the structure, to the topic, to their lives. Help your families by giving them sample questions to ask their child about what they are reading and encourage those comprehension conversations even at home.
- Visit the Library Together - or even a bookstore would work. It is one more way that we can encourage families to experience and share the life-long joys of reading together. Remember to mention that book choice has more to do with a reader’s interests than a level any day.
Speaking of book choice, I know that many of our families are always asking for recommendations. The following lists come from the International Literacy Association. It is their annual project completed in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council and includes the votes of about 12,500 students nation-wide who vote on recently published books. So, odds are there is something in these lists for everyone.
ILA Children’s Choices Book Lists 2019
Full List - Reading K-6th Grade
Beginner Readers List (K-2, 5-8 year olds)
Speaking of Levels... Let's look at how to create a WIG without using levels
I know I have had a few conversations with people who want to have their students write a Reading WIG and not use a BAS level. Here are some examples of WIGS that do not use the reading level as a measure:
I will increase my accuracy score from _______ to at least 95% by May 20, 2019.
I will increase my comprehension score from _____ to at least 4 by May 20, 2019.
This allows students to work on the area of their greatest need using the BAS. As a fantastic resource, the Silver Springs staff created this fantastic slideshow on how to use NWEA and BAS without levels to create a Reading WIG at their last ET. I'd love to hear about any other ideas you have about writing reading WIGS without using the F & P BAS level.
Now that I've been observed...how do I upload and label evidence into pivot again?
1. Upload, name, and code evidence to a specific indicator.
2. To check where you have evidence by indicator.
Dismissal Duty
Week of 11/18
- Bus - Hanes
- Loop - Vertrees, Babich, Long, Borchard
Week of 11/25
- Bus - Beson
- Loop - Henderson, McMaster, K., McMaster T., Pavlich
Random Useless Facts
An ear of corn almost always has an even number of rows (twelve, fourteen, or sixteen)
- Earthworms have five hearts.
- The cat is the only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible.
- Tuna fish swim an average speed of 9 miles per hour. They also never stop moving.
- Folding money was invented by the Chinese, and was first made out of deerskin.
- There are 10 times more sheep in Australia than people.
- Ancient Egyptians would shave off their eyebrows in order to properly mourn the death of their cats.
Happy Birthday!!
November 20 - Leann Wells
December 1 - Shannan Hawes
December 2 - Lauren Borchard