North High School
Staff Bulletin - November 18, 2019
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Literacy Goal: North High School will raise the percent of students proficient on the Open Response from fall to spring by 10% in 2019-2020.
Actions Being Taken to Improve Literacy
- Daily Writing - Writing activities every day to boost our student writing
- Departments with different responsibilities in teaching areas of the OR Rubric
- Advisory students tracking their progress on OR
- Working on quality task creation and examining student work from those tasks
Math Goal: North High School will raise the percent of students proficient on the High School Math Assessment from fall to spring by 10% in 2019-2020.
- Understanding and applying the Common Core's 8 Mathematical Practices in all classrooms
- Advisory students tracking their progress on the BME Assessment
- Develop an auxillary leadership team to focus on math data assessments
- Working on quality task creation and examining student work from those tasks
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THANK YOU! So many students are following the expectation regarding passes. When classrooms have protocols in place for leaving the classroom and having a place, it creates a positive school environment.
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PBIS Tier 1 Newsletter
- One-on-One - When you are at the door greeting students, pull one of your best behaved students aside and simply say, "I just want to let you know that I appreciate your behavior in class. I see you make good choices and I am thankful for you."
- Tootsie Toss - This is from the "Dumkrieger Teaching Vault." I had a class that wouldn't be quiet. They were great, but just had to talk. Having just watched "Dog Whisperer" I was all about modifying behavior. In my pocket, I kept a handful of tootside rolls. When I spotted kids meeting expectations, I slipped them a tootsie roll. It wasn't long before it caught on. Students began falling in line.
- Class Incentive - This takes into consideration peer pressure. Set a classroom goal and celebrate as a group when it's achieved.
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Hallway Issues
Here are a few points of clarification for hallways. We are in the process of cracking down on wandering and need the below items compeleted for support.
Hallway Duty:
Gravitate toward the restrooms and stand and supervise outside of the restrooms. Once your duty is over, have one person quickly double check the restroom. If everything is “typical” go about your day. If things are awry, please report it to Rick. The things we are looking at are as follows:
- Broken items: soap or paper towel dispensers
- Doors pushed to be opening outward
During the class periods, non-teaching staff will check restrooms as they travel from place to place within the building. We will use the adult checks as time stamps to narrow down camera searches of which student go in and out of restrooms.
Hall Passes:
No hallway passes the first or last 10 minutes of class.
We are asking that everyone use the school provided hall passes. We have ordered Red, White, and Blue lanyards. Here is the plan:
3rd Floor – Red Lanyards
2nd Floor – White Lanyards
1st Floor – Blue Lanyards
This will allow us to identify student who are most likely not where they should be located and then address them appropriately. If administration encounters a student with an alternative pass, it will be taken and the student will be directed to return to class. Tim Hess, in the main office, can support you for a replacement. Remember, to exchange something of value for the pass. I encourage cell phones. Only one student per pass out of a room at a time.
End of Class Procedures and Dismissal:
Students must not stand at the doorways waiting to leave class. Students should remain in their seats. Feel free to tell the students to stay in their seats as “the principal” does not approve.
Students have been dismissed early (or sneak out when standing at the door). This continues to cause conflicts for teachers and staff. We will address individuals as it happens, please continue to support your peers by keeping students engaged and in the classroom until the bell rings.
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Last Week's Average Daily Attendance: 90.56 1.32% (-0.76%)
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TV and Marquee Information
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Daily Announcements
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Weekly Strategy Challenge - Practice This Strategy In Class!
Instructional Concept Review - Check for Understanding
This year we have started out by focusing on "Check for Understanding." Almost each newsletter presented a quick strategy for checking for understanding. We have heard a lot of concerns recently about the lack of engagement in our student responses. This is challenging as it appears like student apathy, insubordination, defiance, or lack of knowledge. To increase learning expectations for students, we must keep pressing to ensure they are not "let off the hook."
Below is a review of the strategies and a link to that newsletter. I added a quick reminder on how we can use this to raise expectations and press students. The one missing is "cold call." This is about framing the question and calling on a student.
September 9 - No Opt Outs - Students can pass, but they can't say "I don't know." They have to give the answer.
September 23 - Targeted Questions This is about identifying one piece of the learning and developing a handful of questions about a specific item you want to check for understanding on. You target it with questions.
October 7 - No Apologies - This is about how we talk as adults. We should never apologize for what we are teaching or doing! "I am sorry we have to do Open Response. They aren't great, but we all have to do them." This automatically lowers the expectations and gives students an excuse to not try. Everything we teach is important.
October 14 - Show Me This is a about "Total Participation". Having each student show the answer puts each student on the spot. You can see who gets it and who doesn't.
October 21 - Affirmative Checking This strategy is for individual work and for teachers to check to ensure students are moving in the right direction. How can you ensure each student is on target when working independently.
November 4 - Substantive Conversation Engaging in the process and monitoring for substantive conversations is a way to check for learning. If students engage substantively, it indicates deep understanding. How can you use questioning to get conversations deeper?
November 11 - Learning Targets Referring to targets throughout the learning task is about checking for understanding. At the end of the lesson, reviewing them with students (Maybe using a strategy like "Fist to Five" can help monitor if the lesson was successful.
Which can you try this week to check for understanding?
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Nearpod Certified Educator Wall of Fame
The following staff have been named as "Certified Nearpod Educators!
Maggie Elgert
Tracy Gilbert
Michael Lamoreux
Crista Limoges
Shawn Meth
Travis Monk
Allison Wagner
If you receive the designation, please let me know!
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Department and Safety Meeting Notes
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Advisory Calendar of Events
Tuesday:
9th Grade PBIS Assembly in Auditorium
Wednesday:
10th Grade PBIS Assembly in Auditorium
Thursday:
11th Grade PBIS Assembly in Auditorium
Friday:
12th Grade PBIS Assembly in Auditorium
Current CPR Training:
Gilbert's Homeroom Finish on 11/19
K. Langel (S209) starting on 11/20
A. Jelken (335) starting on 11/20
Upcoming CPR Training - 12/10 to 12/20:
Lamoreux (S209) and Powers (335)
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Upcoming Dates
Below are currently scheduled events that will take place during the school day. These will interrupt academic work.
Tuesday, November 26 - Audrie and Daisy Film for Freshman (8:35-10:35)
Wedenesday, December 11 - Senior College and Career Readiness Survey (homeroom only, should not be an interruption).
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Monday Morning Music
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Reminders and Checklists
All Staff:
- Safe School Training is released. Here is the link: https://siouxcityschools-ia.safeschools.com/ There are five training's on this year's module. Total time indicated is 129 minutes. Due dates are varied.
Certified Staff:
- Sign up for duties with Chris. If you sign up now, you will have a choice. If you wait, you will be assigned to an open duty.