RNNE: Team and Family Launcher
Goal-oriented and intentional.Intervention.Authentic Team.
Student Achievement
Think back to the first day that you began summer PD. The first day of school. The first time you administered your first unit assessment. Your first exit ticket.
Now, fast forward to today and this moment. Hopefully as you thought through it all, you noted and recognized growth in yourself and in your Rocketeers.
One of the beautiful moments about this year is looking back on how there have been so many moments of joy, improvement and growth within our staff and our beloved Rocketeers.
This week, we begin a critical three week assessment period. It will be tough on student culture because testing anxiety and fatigue will come out, but none of that overshadows the triumph joy that you each will be able to share with your Rocketeers and their families when they see their academic growth made over the course of the past four months. All of the hardwork, sweat, tears, frustration, exhaustion and disillusionment will all be worth as your Rocketeers shine and show off the amazing teaching you have given them on their assessments (as most already have on their mid-year STEP assessments already!).
These next three weeks are not a time for us to countdown the days to Winter Break, rather it is a time when we need to ensure that, as always, each minute of class and learning time is maximized so that our Rocketeers feel fully prepared for their mid-year assessments while also preparing to enter into a two week break when they will not have any formal learning structures in place.
With so much taking place in our society today - with gun violence, gang influence, racial tensions, etc.- it is so imperative that we, as the Freedom Riders of our generation, work urgently to ensure that we make every minute of school count for our Rocketeers. A strong foundation of education and learning is something that, no matter how hard try, crictics will never be able to take from our Rocketeers. I've worked in middle school students who did not have a strong elementary background and were stuck in playing "catch up" in 7th grade when they should have been preparing college ready essays for high quality high school admissions applications. Instead, they had to settle for high schools that would provide them with the remedial skills they needed. We have the unique opportunity to rewrite this narrative for our Rocketeers by providing them with an elementary education that is focused on their growth and their achievement.
I will continually say that our Rocketeers are blessed with a village of educators who are passionate about their learning and their growth. I'm excited for our school, region and network to see the amazing seeds of learning and teaching you have each planted in our Rocketeers over the past four months in the form of quantitative growth on our mid-year assessments!
Think back on a moment of joy and beauty from your Thanksgiving break and carry that in your heart over the next three weeks to remind you of your life outside of work. Remember your purpose and the "why" behind you being here for our Rocketeers and their families each day. You were called for this. You were purposed for this. You were ordained for this.
Blessings, peace, grace and love,
Christa
Student Data Update: STEP
Points of Celebration:
So far, 102 students have grown 1 STEP, 67 students grew 2 STEP levels, 39 students have grown 3 STEP levels, 7 students have grown 4 STEP levels and 82 students have grown 5+ STEP levels! :)
Kindergarten| 28 students have grown 1 STEP level, 32 students have grown 2 STEP levels, 24 students have grown 3 STEP levels, 2 students have grown 4 STEP levels and 2 students have grown 5 STEP levels!
1st grade| 32 students have grown 1 STEP level, 24 students have grown 2 STEP levels, 5 students have grown 3 STEP levels, 13 students have grown 5+ STEP levels!
2nd grade|6 students have grown 1 STEP level, 1 student has grown 2 STEP levels, 4 students have grown 3 STEP levels, 3 students have grown 4 STEP levels and 16 students have already grown 5+ STEP levels!
3rd grade| 23 students have grown 1 STEP level, 7 students have grown 2 STEP levels, 5 students have grown 3 STEP levels, 2 students have grown 4 STEP levels and 41 students have grown 5+ STEP levels!
4th grade| 13 students have grown 1 STEP level, 3 students have grown 2 STEP levels, 1 student has grown 3 STEP levels and 10 students have grown 5+ STEP levels!
Great work so far with the testing growth and completion that has been done so far! It's going to be exciting to see the final growth results at the end of the week! This is AMAZING and means that you are creating a joy of reading and reading growth within our Rocketeers!
Academic Focus Areas
Expect the Error - when teachers show that getting it "wrong" is a normal, positive part of the learning process.
Teacher Mindsets:
- Students making mistakes are not a failure on our part. To the contrary, they're an opportunity for them and for us to move closer to mastery.
- Mistakes are valuable because they reveal how we can help students.
Teacher Actions:
- Prefacing questions with expectation that errors will be made
- Asking open-ended questions that allow students to reveal misunderstandings
- Calling on students who may not have the right answer
- Circulating/using TTT to identify common errors
*This week, during observations, coaches will also be looking to further support you on diversfying the way that you receive answers from students so that questions that you pose to students are solely being relied on students (which usually are the same ones) raising their hands to respond.
Some ways to vary how you "hear" from all students in each subgroup to determine their level of mastery:
- cold call
- slow call (ask the question + pause/give think time+ cold call)
- think pair share (ask the question + allow students to discuss with a partner+ call on students to share out their response or their partner's response)
- write pair share (ask the question + give students time to jot their answers + allow students to share with a partner + call on students to share out their responses or their partner's responses)
- hands with wait time (ask the question + pause + scan the room for raised hands, pump up more raised hands "I'm looking for 4 more hands to go up to share.."+ call on a raised hand)
Call on students from each of your subgroups in math and reading to ensure that you are aware of the culture of error for each subgroup and where the breakdown in occurring so that you can use the correct "break it down" strategy to get them back on track.
Teacher Phrases (there are additional ones that have been added!)
- “This is going to be a hard one! I expect to see some mistakes!”
- “I’m so glad you made that mistake! It’s going to help me help you.”
- “I’m really glad that you made that mistake. It’s going to help me to help you.” • “Wrong answers are really helpful because we learn from the mistakes we make.” • “Which of these options do you think this is my favorite wrong answer?” • (After students point out a teacher’s mistake) “Oooh, you all just caught the best mistake I ever made! This is great!” • “I suspect there’s going to be some disagreement here.” • After scanning the room to check which answers students picked, say excitedly,“We have a lot of disagreement on this one!”
Mindsets
- Students will take on more risks and embark on more challenges when they're acknowledged for doing so
- Students will value taking risks and putting in effort if I do
Phrases [with additional phrases added!]
- “Wow, [student] worked so hard on this challenging problem.”
- “Look how [student] tried 3 different strategies on this question.”
- “[Student] is getting right to work even though it’s hard.
She’s not afraid.”
“I love the fact that this is a hard question and that I see so many brave hands in the air. Thank you for taking a risk.”
• “People have debated this question for centuries. Who even knows if there’s a right answer. What’s important is that you’re really grappling with it.”
• “This is a tough question. If you’re struggling with it, that’s a good sign. Now, who will be bold and start us off?”
• “Romele has been brave enough to offer to share his work so that we can revise it because he made a mistake that a lot of us made. So, give him two claps on two. One…two!
Using the data that you collect during the Targeted Teaching Time to bring the class back together for 10-15 minutes to discuss a common error/misconception from the group.
“Break it Down” is a method for correcting a student’s error or helping a student get the answer so that he or she can learn from the mistake and fill in the information that was missing beforehand. The technique works by guiding the student to the correct answer by providing hints in the form of examples, eliminating false choices, repeating the error back, providing a rule for the question, or providing context for the question; anything to help the student fill in the missing pieces without giving them the answer.
Break It Down
- Rollback (the answer or the question)
- Provide an example
- Provide context
- Refer to a rule/key points
- Provide the missing step
- Eliminate false choices
Here is a great resource from Rocketship Fuerza that can be used to help with choosing the most effective "break it down" strategy and framing it correctly for students. I would recommend taping this on your purple clipboard, small group table, on your technology cart and on the white board near where you are delivering whole group lessons so that you can reference it quickly for students in the moment.
Culture Focus Area
- Use the stopping points in the hallways for your lines so that they are not traveling for long lengths of time without stopping to regroup and reset.
- Do not yell or talk loudly to redirect a student in the halllway; use nonverbals and whispering to redirect.
- Use Core Value Rocket Scouts to hand out Core Value Rockets to Rocketeers showing awesome line behavior.
Restroom Usage in the Afternoons:
There is a significant increase in the amount of students asking to use the restroom in the afternoons. Moving forward, do not allow students to use the restroom during the "I do" or"We Do" portion of your lesson unless it is an emergency; otherwise, if they still need to go even outside of your class restroom breaks, allow them to go during independent work time. Students often use restroom as an excuse to escape the lesson because they are either not engaged or they are not confident in their ability to do the work. This creates a chaotic hallway environment and atmosphere for the entire afternoon.
The Leadership Team will be collecting data on peak bathroom usage times throughout the week to help problem-solve around ways to decrease the amount of students losing learning time due to constant use of the bathroom to escape learning and to, inevitably, play in the restrooms. This data will be shared out to grade levels during CPT throughout the week.
Teacher Evaluations - Humanities and Math Teachers - Announcement from the RSED Network Team
Important Update on Teacher Performance Evaluations (Math/Science and Humanities Teachers)
Over the summer at PD, we shared an overview of the updated teacher performance evaluation for 2015-16 with all teachers.
(1) A full 1-5 rating scale with data cut-offs for all student achievement and parent metrics is now available. (In the summer we provided the metrics and level 4 rating but not the full 1-5 scale). Rating scale may be found in this powerpoint.
(2) A complete Teaching Performance Rubric that details what a 1-5 rating looks like, in alignment with our updated instructional model is available. The categories are the same as in previous years and what was shared in the summer but there is now a full rubric. You may view the full rubric here.
As a reminder, the teacher mid-year evaluation process will kick off in late January.
Progress Reports UPDATE
The progress reports are set to be zero work for teachers. Once final instructions and confirmation of downloaded data from Schoolzilla and Illuminate takes place for STEP and Cumulative Assessments, we will share with you how to download and print them to send home.
All data upload will come from either Schoolzilla and/or Illuminate so nothing is needed for direct input on your part.
Dress Code
Students are able to wear any color jacket or coat to school (from car or from bus), but if they would like to have something to wear inside of the school building while in class, it can only be purple.
Students are allowed to wear a sweater, hoodie, zip-up jacket, cardigan, etc. inside of the classroom/throughout the building as long at it is purple. It does not have to be purchased from Rocketship as long as it is purple.
Remember to check for this throughout the day; it creates confusion for families when the dress code expectations are not held at the same level with each staff member.
Transition to Recess/Lunch
Also, plan to build in extra time coming back from lunch so that students can put their coats/jackets back on their backpack hooks. Heavy coats/jackets should not be worn or brought inside of the classroom.
RNNE Girl Scout Troop| Coat Drive
Please see this flyer on ways that you can help support them! Also, please spread the word to any of your networks outside of Rocketship as well!
The flyer will go home to families with the Rocketship Report for next week.
Launch + Landing Expectations
Entrance into the Gym:
Make sure that you are entering the gym at a zone 0 with your classes and maintaining a zone 0 with them after they are seated. It is hard for the teachers to maintain a zone 0 while waiting for all classes to be seated if one or two classes are talking.
Watch Ms. Davis and Ms. Barr when they enter the gym - they are both either giving out LiveSchool points or Core Value Rockets to their Rocketeers immediately upon sitting to maintain zone 0 and correct seating in the gym.
During Launch and Landing:
Teachers should always remain with their class lines only and be constantly walking up and down their class line to check for behavior compliance, reinforce positive behavior with LiveSchool Points and Core Value Rockets and controlling the overall behavior management of their class.
Teachers should use the least invasive behavior management strategies to redirect behavior. Do not talk over the Launch leader; use non-verbals/whisper prompts from students.
If a teacher's line is unsupervised at any point during Launch or Landing, there will be follow up from myself and/or your Coach.
Exit from the gym:
The exit from Launch and Landing should be a zone 0. For Launch, this is incredibly important to teachers because this will help to cement the behavior tone for that cohort with you. Rocketeers do know that they should be a zone 0, so once they see that they are not held to the expectation, they start to try and get away with other misbehavior.
Students outside of the Classroom
If a student has a reached a point where they need to be away from the class, utilize a buddy classroom to send them to another teacher or call for a School Leader.
Report Cards
We are held to strict compliance in ensuring that all students have a signed report card for each report card period that MNPS has on file for us. When a student's cum file does not have a signed report card, we are liable for getting docked during unannounced cum file checks conducted by MNPS.
Moreover, several parents have raised concerns about not having received their child's report card/knowing where they are academically.
By EOD tomorrow, if you still have Rocketeers who still need Report Card Conferences, reach out to your Coach to provide them with 1) the names of the Rocketeers on your roster who still need conferences and 2) your plan for reaching the 100% signed report card expectation.
Positive Communication with Families
As we continue to work on providing intervention supports for our more challening behaviors, let's also prioritize communicating positive news about students to parents/families on an ongoing basis.
Parents are sharing that they would like to hear more positive updates about their child more regularly.
Technology is awesome and has improved our society greatly, but it can also provide a barrier to intimate connection with others. While I encourage you to send text message updates, pictures of their Rocketeers working/holding a test that they scored well on, sending an e-mail and writing on their daily agendas, I also want us to prioritize making direct phone calls to families to provide them with positive updates. This helps to bridge and maintain a healthy connection with families. I am going to also commit to making positive phone calls to families as well.
Winter Celebration
Winter MAP Spirit Week!
Flyers will go home to families tomorrow (delivered to classrooms before the end of the day) relaying information about next week's Spirit Week.
The MAP test plays a large role in school and teacher accountability for student growth (teacher evaluations). Student investment in the test (in doing well and growing to meet their goals) is largely based on how we, as adults, pump the test up for them. In order for us to invest Rocketeers in the assessment, please plan on participating in Spirit Week to help encourage our Rocketeers on a big assessment week next week!
Below, is the break down for each day of dress. *updated theme on Thursday and Friday*
Monday:
Hat Day (still in regular Rocketeer uniform)| "Wear your hats to top off the week!"
Tuesday:
College Shirt Day (still in tan bottoms)| "Rocketeers are College Bound"
Wednesday:
Sports Team Day (tops only; still in tan bottoms)| "We work hard and play hard...show your team pride"
Thursday:
Throwback Thursday| Represent any decade/time period of your choice!
Friday:
Dress for Success| "Dress Like the Success You Are"
Ms. Sanders is also going to share more information regarding a MAP Chant Competition held next Friday!
If anyone else has other ideas that we could think about for MAP Spirit Week, please send them to Mrs. Potter so that we can organize them for next week. You can also join the committee to plan the week if you are interested!
Send a "thank you" to Shaka!
He brought the books in last Friday. Your coach will deliver the books to your grade level so that you can decide on how to divide them up between the classes.
When you get a chance, shoot Shaka an e-mail to thank him or catch him in the hallway to share our appreciation for the books!
Change in Network Support
Jaclyn O'Brien, Vice President of Schools Team, will now be supporting our campus and RUA, specifically managing James and I. You'll see her on campus at least every other week to conduct campus walk-throughs with me, determine trends and help to set next steps for our campus. We're excited for her to bring her experience and expertise to RNNE and RUA!
MAP | Mid-Year Growth Assessment
You will hear more about MAP prep for next week from your content coach, but below, I wanted to share some fun videos that schools throughout the country have created to pump students up for their MAP assessment.
Here is the quartile breakdown for each grade level and content area.
Below, is the school-wide data from the Fall MAP results:
Students at the 75th percentile (students far above grade level):
Reading | 7.2%
Math | 8.5%
Students at the 50th percentile (students on grade level):
Reading | 23.9%
Math | 27.7%
Students below the 25th percentile (students at least 1.5-2 years below grade level):
Reading| 46.5%
Math |41.2%
Our goal is for students to become invested in working as a grade level team to decrease the amount of students in "red" (bottom 25th percentile which also aligns with teacher evaluation metrics) so that they can be in a better academic position to grow to being at/above the 50th percentile on MAP.
If you would be interested in creating a video to show our students to encourage them to do their best and "show what they know" next week, please reach out to me!