Bridges Area Learning Center
Weekly Reflections
Happy New Year!
Also, we had an absolutely fabulous time ending 2017 at Bridges ALC - perhaps the best in our 9 years. Our community support has never been higher to which we are so grateful. Due to generous donations from Prior Lake Rotary and ROCK we were able to offer our students gifts and meals to both build stronger connections to school helping us to fulfill our mission as well as validate and affirm our students during a time that can be especially difficult for our non traditional learners. Seeing the appreciation from our students and knowing that they are supported has such a powerful and positive affect. 2017 was a great year for all of us and it ended in a truly spectacular way. 2018 looks to be even better!
Warm Regards,
Dave Brown
#WeArePLSAS
#bridges1718
This week at a glance
- BSAT @ 730am
- Board of Education Presentation: Education Equity @ 630pm
Tuesday
- Mr. Brown @ DSC for admin meeting
Friday
- JUMP DAY - Academic and Attendance Repair
Teacher Corner: Andy Martin - Math, FABLAB and Projects
The two weeks prior to winter break are always bittersweet. Sweet because, c’mon, who doesn’t like a week and half off, but bitter because the following two months of cold, dark days put a strain on both teachers and students. I think the best way to combat these winter months is to keep busy and our new CLR learning is the perfect way to do that. What better time to utilize these protocols than when the students need the most engagement. I look forward to implementing and learning new strategies to better help me as a teacher, and more importantly, better help my students learn. The few I’ve tried so far I’ve felt apprehensive about, because it requires my students and me to step out of our comfort zone. They aren’t used to doing these things, and neither am I, but hopefully they can appreciate how this helps them be more engaged resulting in better learning. I look forward to another round of observations from Dr. Hollie’s team, and reflecting on these new teaching strategies and solidifying them into my practice.
Cultural & Linguistic Responsive Teaching (CLR)
Excellence & Equity Priority Work
We have been working with Dr. Sharrokey Hollie through a lens of continuous improvement, research based instructional strategies that are culturally responsive/appropriate incorporating into teaching and learning. Our goals? Simple. They are to increase student engagement, build deeper connections between home/school and create opportunity and access for PLSAS students to build deeper agency in the school community for ALL students.
This is especially important to our non-traditional learners as many have diminished connections to school. So far so good! Kirby Meiners and myself have led PD sessions in addition to a Bridges Cohort jump-start at the beginning of the year and CLR coaches observing and working with our teachers in developing culturally responsive classrooms. Understanding the context of CLR work as well as implementing specific strategies have increase engagement, validation and affirmation of our students to school. As a result, we have built and bridged connections in ways we have not been able to in the past. I have observed many teachers implementing this work to great success! All students deserve to be validated and connected to school. Im happy we have such a highly effective team progressing in this area!
All of this work supports our school and district mission ensuring that all learners reach their full potential as contributing and productive members of our ever changing global community.
The Bridges team with the Director of Teaching and Learning, Kevin Schuttinger and Assistant Superintendent, Jeff Holmberg, working on CLR Professional Development.
Recently @ Bridges
Bridges English Teacher, Melissa Olson, organizing all the books she has in the school library
Bridges students creating art projects
JUMP DAY interventions and enrichment in David Lawson's class
Candi Jenkins working with her students in small group engagements
Bridges STRIVE group enjoying a lunch @ Fong's with their mentors before break
The ROCK group dontated gift bags to our students! They LOVED them!
A GENEROUS donation from PL Rotary allowed every Bridges student to receive a target gift card ensuring they had the capacity to get or give a gift during break as well as a delicious meal sending them into break.
Bridges ALC @ Lakeville Theater viewing Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It was GREAT!
Alumni Check In
From the student support team: Erik Elsberry, Therapist
Hello Bridges Community,
We are well into winter – it’s cold, days are shorter, did I say it’s cold? You don’t need the therapist to remind you that short days and frigid temperatures can leave even the best of us a little edgy and cranky. It increasingly seems that things like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), vitamin D deficiencies, and other ailments are in the public discourse as common enemies we must fight in the winter months. It is also true that most of us are simply less active this time of year. There’s no outdoor gardening to do, bike paths are iced over, and we likely are less inclined to bring our four legged friends for extensive walks. Being less active can leave us feeling sluggish and restless. Less time being active can mean more time to contemplate, or even fixate on unpleasant thoughts and feelings. Much of these seasonal changes are likely true for our students, as well – with perhaps a much larger impact.
Many students spend even more time indoors and have less recreational and social opportunities this time of year. Many students have more time at home, which we know can cause added distress. Many students lack the ability and/or means to go for a drive, sign up at the local gym, or find other ways of burning off excess physical and emotional energy. It can be understandable – albeit frustrating – that some students seem even more irritable, cranky or wound up in the winter months. But, what can we do in schools to help these students? We all know physical activity is important, but perhaps incorporating movement into lessons is even more important in the winter. Students can also learn and practice calming, regulating activities which incorporate the senses. Coloring, puzzles, healthy eating and other art forms are all good examples. Both active and regulating activities can be goals to practice at home.
We may know that practicing some of these skills would be helpful, but realistically, it can be difficult to have the follow through we would like to see. Whether students are using our suggested activities or not, we are the adults with them every day in school, and we get to shape many of their interactions. There are things students can do to help get through the cold months, but it is also important for the adults to take care of themselves, as well. Perhaps you have seen what it looks like when a cranky student and cranky adult collide. I think one of the best things we can do for our students is to keep ourselves in check during these difficult months. Get good sleep, eat well, and do the little things you normally do to stay afloat. We are allowed to be human, but the better we are able to cope with our own seasonal troubles, the better it is for everyone.
Erik S. Elsberry, MA, LMFT
Therapist, Scott County Mental Health Center