WEEKLY STAFF BULLETIN
December 9-13
WEEKLY STAFF BULLETIN
Good morning,
I hope you had a good weekend. This Thursday, Angela's Curbside Cuisine will be here. With the first semester coming to a close, I would like to collect some feedback. I will be emailing a survey to you for you to fill out. Also, I will send you the survey for you have your students fill out like what was done last year. Students will do the survey now and again at the end of the year. I feel these survey's gave you some insightful feedback and please know that they are not in any way used for evaluation purposes only for some healthy conversations. All the buildings will be having the students do surveys after the first semester and again at the end of the year.
On Wednesday, I would like to switch this week and have team meetings this week and whole staff next Wednesday.
I hope you have a great week.
Aim High and Dream Big!!
Trish
What's Going This Week
This week is ELA
Monday- Boy's basketball @ home Hamersville
Tuesday-
Wednesday- EH- Team Meeting; Boy's basketball @ home Batavia
Thursday- Curbside Cuisine
Friday- Nightmare before Christmas Dance
Upcoming
December 16th- Field Trip
December 18th- Winter Band Concert
December 19- Christmas Dinner
December 23- January 6- Winter Break
January 27-31- The Great Kindness Challenge Week
Middle School Photos
Friendly Reminders
Submit Weekly Team meeting notes.
Articles/pictures/newsletters for Parent Newsletter
TLC
Week of 12-9 to 12-13 M,W,F- 2:15-2:30
Go over weekly agenda
Set goals for the week
Talk about weekend
Discuss ways they have used their strengths and what strengths they can work on
Gratitude, Bravery, Perseverance and/or Self-Control journal each day
12-10 (Tuesday)
Play this sound:
TEACHERS PLEASE READ!!!!!! DO NOT DISPLAY THIS ON SMART BOARD (There is a not-nice word on the screen.)
Ask students to “savor” these sounds and have them notice their internal sensations they’re experiencing during the sound: describe the sounds and sights. This is to practice the “pause” and “savor” their environment.
Have students pair up and have a staring contest.
Who lasts the longest?
What kind of self-control does it take to “stare down” a classmate?
What does it take to avoid laughing?
Write in journals about one or both of these activities and how they relate to having self-control.
12-12 (Thursday)
Self Control Activity 1
In the first activity, divide students into two groups and have them stand or sit in a circle.
Explain that Group 1 will be tapping the balloons back and forth to one another while Group 2 should not touch the balloons at all. This is really hard for students and will require a great deal of self control!
Before the game begins, discuss strategies for Group 2 to use to help themselves from touching the balloons (put their hands in their pockets, close their eyes, sit on their hands and sing a song in their heads, etc. Let students generate their own stopping strategy ideas!).
Begin the game and play for a few minutes.
Collect the balloons and process the activity.
What strategies worked for you?
What didn’t work?
What other strategies would you try next time?
What did it feel like in your body to stop yourself from touching the balloon?
What other situations could you practice controlling an urge?
Switch teams for the activity and allow Group 2 to tap the balloons while Group 1 practices self control strategies they have learned from Group 2’s experience.
Self Control Activity 2
For a game where everyone gets to move at the same time, use 2 different colors of balloons. Group 1 will tap the red balloons while Group 2 will tap the blue balloons (or whatever colors you have!).
Again, discuss how students will help themselves to tap only their group’s color. Have students generate ideas for what they will do if the other color comes near them.
Play for a few minutes.
Collect the balloons and process the activity.
What did you feel in your body when your color came near?
What did you feel when the other color came near?
How did you stop yourself from touching the other color?
How can you use these strategies in other situations?
If you have any new students that haven't taken the VIA survey, please find a time this week that they can take it. Here are the survey links:
* Password: FelicityTLC19> *
5th grade URL: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/classes/Register?classCode=FFMS5
> * 6th grade URL: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/classes/Register?classCode=FFMS6
> * 7th grade URL: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/classes/Register?classCode=FFMS7
> * 8th grade URL: https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/classes/Register?classCode=FFMS8
Professional Development
Holiday Reboot
Holiday Reboot
Holidaze: 3 Ways to Motivate Positive Behavior as Winter Break Nears
BY ERIC HATHAWAY
Winter break. Spring break. Summer vacation. As the days and minutes tick down to the final bell, the classroom buzzes with excitement. Students’ attention wanders away from the teacher. They lose focus on their classwork. Disruptions and discipline problems rise as they get more and more hyped up for vacation.
Though teachers may be tempted to ease up on their rules and let things slide, this is the ideal time to maintain consistency in classroom management.
Here are 3 ways to make class time extra special to recapture students’ attention — and keep them engaged and learning — until that last bell rings.
1. Keep behavior expectations high and heighten rewards for positive behaviors.
At this time of year, it might be tempting to overlook behavioral infractions, but this is the perfect time to remind students of how important it is to maintain positive behavior every day.
- To keep students focused on the positive, double the frequency or intensity of rewards. If students regularly earn behavior points or scholar dollars, double the number of points they can earn for behaviors you’d like to see in the classroom. Or, if students typically get to earn “Friday Fun” activities for positive behaviors, have them also work for some special “Wednesday Fun” activities to break up the week and keep them on track.
- Continue to narrate the positive behaviors you see each day to reinforce those expectations.
2. Channel students’ energy in positive, productive ways.
Since students will likely have extra energy, you’ll need to find ways for them to expend it in positive — rather than disruptive — ways.
- Use movement to keep students engaged. Give students opportunities to “earn” movement breaks for positive behaviors. When students reach their goal, allow them to move around freely, or stretch, or stand and sing a holiday song. Or, you can blend in movement with learning, e.g. hand clapping or finger snapping along with the recitation of multiplication tables or at the end of a reading passage. This will help them expend that extra energy so they’re ready to focus on your instruction when they sit down again.
- Provide opportunities for students to work with partners or in small groups. This allows them to talk and interact with their peers in a productive way, while keeping the focus on their classwork.
- Create short-term incentives or boost your existing incentives. Create a larger goal for students to work toward — beyond the normal behavior expectations — to give them something to get excited about. For example, in addition to rewarding individual behaviors, reward certain class behaviors with double points during the month of December. These points can then be applied to a holiday movie or holiday party. In addition, during the last week before break, choose three behaviors; the students who exhibit those behaviors the most consistently during the week will be the “rock stars” of the holiday party with special honors and privileges.
- Create themed contests that reinforce the behaviors that make up your ideal school culture, e.g. a “Holiday Values Week” or “December Excellence Contest.”
3. Make ordinary things special by adding some holiday sparkle.
Students feed off of their teacher’s energy. So if teachers are positive and productive in the final weeks of school, students will be too.
- Give assignments or projects a holiday twist, e.g. “The 2015 Holiday Biography Project” or “The Red & Green Reading Challenge.”
- Rename common rewards or incentives to have a holiday or break theme. For example, instead of earning scholar dollars, during the month of December students can earn “scholar snowflakes” or “reindeer rewards” that are worth double points.
- If students earn tangible rewards like tickets or scholar dollars, produce them in festive colors.
Spicing up the regular classroom routine will give students something to look forward to, which will help the days pass faster for both teachers and students. By channeling students’ excitement into positive behavior, you can make the most of your instructional time and motivate students to work extra hard in the classroom. Then, when that final bell rings, students and teachers will feel especially proud of their accomplishments!
STRENGTH SPOTTING
Please use this form to nominate fellow staff members who do extraordinary things! We will draw from these nominations to raffle gift cards throughout the year. Teachers who submit a strength spotting will also be in a drawing.
This weeks teachers nominated were:
None last week.
Winners: