EMS Friday Focus
September 28, 2018
EMS 2018-2019 Goals
ALL EMS students and staff will feel connected to our school community - safe, respected, seen, heard, and valued.
All EMS students will find meaning in the work they are tasked with.
Weekly Message
"Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it's understanding the necessity of both; it's engaging. It's being all in." - Brene Brown
Throughout our community I observe moments of both victory and defeat and am grateful for the courage you have each day to show up and to be all in. In particular I want to acknowledge a few people whose actions were particularly humbling.
- Jim Monahan - As Jim circulates at lunch he sits down and engages with students - he leans in and laughs. As he moves table to table he connects with students and when necessary holds them accountable. When addressing one student this week - another student jumped in to reinforce the expectation Jim was naming. In this moment Jim chose to celebrate the student who made a good choice and gave the struggling student space to turn it around.
- Rich - Our patience is tested daily and in the moment it can be easy to retreat to pessimism but Rich consistently focuses on the small wins and uses them to build momentum among students, families and his team.
- Becca Ortiz - When you enter Becca's class the sacredness of the space is overwhelming. Within her first few weeks at EMS she has fostered a sense of calm paired with high expectations. Her class has a mix of different needs and yet it's clear that there is no student in the class who doesn't feel a sense of safety.
- Kate - Partnership with families can be hugely powerful and Kate practices this with such persistence and deep conviction.
With gratitude and in partnership,
Meg
TASKS
- If you have not yet received a meeting invite for your goal setting meeting please email Mia to schedule.
- Please ensure students have a pass in hand every time they leave class.
- Starting Monday there will be a pop up bike line in front of EMS. Please take a moment to read the details.
- If you or you students are struggling with a facet of powerschool please take a screenshot and email Val.
Announcements and Logistics For the Week
- The HandOut feature in PowerSchool will allow you to create Google Docs that are automatically distributed to your students eliminating the need for your students to "Make a copy". When the students open their assignment, the Google Document is created with the name of the assignment and the student name in parentheses. Screencast available here. Documentation from PowerSchool here.
- Every classroom now has a CO alarm - we are also continuing to monitor air quality to ensure everyone's safety during construction.
- Dance dates below *please not there are some changes from last week.
- Oct 26th - Endeavor
- Dec 14th - Guidance
- Feb 15th - Nia/Journey
- April 5th - EL
- May 31 - Music
Calendar:
Calendar: Week Preview - October 1st - 12th *If you have something scheduled that is not on this calendar please let Meg and Fieh know ASAP.
Wednesday's Faculty Time: Objectives
SWBAT identify why the district is moving towards having separate habits of learning grades and how we will separate then out in powerschool.
Connecting Best Practice
Link to the EMS Blog: "Connecting Best Practices At Edmunds"
Our staff has a wealth of expertise. Through the Teacher Partner grant, we can offer compensate for sharing their knowledge with others through stipends. If you have a tool, lesson plan, idea, video, article, or something else that directly connect to one of our our "EMS goals" and to our "indicators of success", please let us know using this form. Compensation will be as follows:
- Blog Contribution- $25
- Teach Meet Presentation- $25
- Teacher workshop presentation- $100
If you are in need of specific data for team or PLC conversation, please reach out to Karyn Vogel using the following form.
Howard Center's Monthly Newsletter
As we begin this new school year, we are likely filled with excitement, and perhaps some stress or worry about how we will build many new relationships and meet the many demands and responsibilities on our plates. Many of our students likely feel the same! The articles below have a few tips, reminders, and concrete suggestions about classroom routines and general practices that can help students and teachers establish new relationships (especially with students who have trauma backgrounds), have a greater sense of calm, and have increased opportunities for self-regulation throughout the school days ahead.
Cheers to the hope that fresh starts can bring to us all!
From,
Your Howard Center School Services Clinician
Creating Rapport with Students:
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/5-tips-creating-real-rapport-your-students
Improving Students' Relationships with Teachers to Provide Essential Supports for Learning:
This is an article that covers a wide variety of aspects when thinking of building productive relationships with your students. You’ll see a list of categories covering topics such as theoretical perspectives to explain student behavior, to how to improve relationships when they are strained, and ways to assess the health of the relationship your students have with school.
From The Library Corner- Carole
Information Regarding the Library/Makerspace
Below is some initial information for teacher sign up and use of the new library/makerspace. (It is a repeat from last week due to delay in submission.)
Small groups of students are encouraged come to the library/makerspace to check out books, read, create videos, edit software, code or complete class maker projects -- all based on classroom objectives. Please schedule use by accessing the Library calendar. It is advisable to check in with me ahead of time when sending small groups. This will help determine if it there are any scheduling conflicts.
Students always need a pass if they come to the L/MS. Ideally, it is helpful if the pass indicates how long students will be visiting and what they will be doing if they are working for longer periods of time.
The L/MS will not be available every day from 11:23 - 12:12 due to The Library Club class.
Whole classes are encouraged to use the L/MS and, if it involves technology, it’s a great idea to reach out to Valerie Lodish for planning, support and collaboration.If teachers want me to plan or support them while in the L/MS, I am glad to do so. We can look at the Library schedule together to see what works.
If students want to use technology machines for making, they need to be trained to keep everyone safe and so that equipment is cared for properly. The Innovation Committee is developing a system (videos when suitable) for students to learn to use the equipment and earn badges once they have shown that they can safely use a piece of equipment. Some of the maker technology will require adult supervision even if the student earns a badge. More to come on this.
We may be able to use faculty meetings to introduce the different maker equipment once we get things running and then offer group or individual training for teachers on how to use them if interested.