Mission Possible News
September 9-13, 2019
Time is flying, and Kids are learning!
Can you believe we have already been in school over a month?! Before you know it, we will be at Thanksgiving Break (11 Mondays away for those Type-A counters out there)! I have been amazed at how quickly our building has come together in working out the beginning of year kinks and delving deep into instruction already. Even the youngest students in our building are settling into the routines of school, learning their letters and numbers, and developing social skills with each other. From PK to 5th, teachers are working hard to make a difference in our students' lives here at Youens, and I feel blessed to a be a part of such a dedicated team of people! Every week gets better and better!
Shout-Out to the Car Rider Team with Gerry Brooks :)
Dues, Dues, Dues: please pay your dues :)
Please, please, please! Help us get a kick-start to our Hospitality account this year by paying your one time annual dues:
Professional staff: $15
Paraprofessional staff: $10
The benefits from Hospitality are for EVERYONE, so please, take care of this by September 16. It is greatly appreciated!! You can give your dues to Ms. Rose in the office and she can write you a receipt. Thank you!
What to do for students who are acting out...
Frustration levels are rising in students who are behind academically or are struggling with school structure, and our support systems will have to keep up to work on some of those types of behaviors that are exhibiting themselves (particularly during independent work times).
So how do we re-teach, or teach for the first time, the replacement behaviors that are needed for those students? Some students are communicating with hitting, running away, refusal to participate- what is the function (or trigger) of that behavior? If you can figure out the function, you can work on an effective replacement behavior. Just like we do with our instructional supports for academics, we must also do with behavioral instruction.
There are no easy answers but there are lots of support to help you find a way to reach your students. Reach out to your admin, the counselors, your team, your Above and Beyond ("GatorAide") committee members- we have resources available to help all around the building.
Ideas...
What we know works in many situations:
- ALOT of positive reinforcement and ALOT of love- Build the strongest relationship you can with your students (If they don't love you, they will not work for you)
- Modeling expected behaviors ALOT and have patience (small steps, small victories)
- One-on-one conferencing with student (build the relationship and find out what you can)
- Involving a counselor to help
- Make a plan with the student and set goals and checkpoints
- Build a relationship with parent, which can provide lots of information sometimes- this one is HUGE as you need a good relationship to have an impact at school and home
- Scaffold and support learning (frustration and defeat is often the reason for the behavior)
- Yes, they need so much more than some students, but isn't that why we are here? To help ALL students grow and learn? Our job is impossible sometimes it seems, but every student has a gift, even when you don't know what it is yet!
"Old Data" from Eddie B. :)
The Gator of the Week is...Cherise Ponder!
Cherise Ponder is the Gator of the Week!
Thank you Ms. Ponder for all you do here at Youens Elementary! Ms. Villegas shared, "Ms. Ponder is so helpful and flexible when it comes to our new reading program. Thank you for ALL your help!"
Shout-Outs!
Our first staff shout-outs of the year! Email me if you have one for next week's newsletter!
Here's a few from Mrs. Verow this week:
- Kinder and First grade Math teachers did an amazing job sharing ideas during planning!
- Ms. Nguyen has great attention-getters and has a very organized and efficiently run PK classroom!
- Mrs. Schuster did an awesome lesson incorporating technology(popplet)!