Skyland Peek at the Week
Week of January 20 - 24
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
I hope you got as much out of that PD as I did. I feel like, generally, it is stuff we all know. We know how broken some of our students are when they come to us. However, it is fascinating to hear the science behind what we observe as educators on a daily basis. I know we have said a hundred times, "Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." After Wednesday, I know that is because the tree has been instrumental in forming that apple, for the good or for the bad. I had two big take-aways:
1. I spend a lot of time and energy focusing on the fact that I can't change students home life situations. I want to fix it for them. But connections are the key. Relationships are what make the difference. And sometimes, based on what we know, we need to grant our students a little bit of grace. How can I make personal connections with students on a daily basis? That is why greeting your students at the door every morning with a hug, high five, or hand shake is so important! You will immediately be able to read the type of night they have had and know which students you need to pour into and connect with that day. Those 15 minutes between 7:45 and 8:00 may possibly be the most important of the day. How are you spending those moments?
2. Sometimes we focus all our energy on the students we perceive as the most needy and broken, the ones that we know their tragic stories. However, by spending our focus on those students, are we missing the students that are in need of connection, but are not showing it to the world? What are you doing to create a classroom community where students feel safe enough to open up about what they are going through when they leave our doors? If you can't be that connection for the student, how are you encouraging these connections between your students so that they can be that person for others? These are the most important things we are teaching our students that those outside of education will never know or understand.
I have linked another great TED Talk that the On Track team got to see this summer that led us to this training. I hope you take the time to watch it.
As I was reflecting on this PD, I thought about this Winnie the Pooh quote I saw on social media. I just feel like Eeyore is the perfect representation of we learned and this quote below is what I am going to aim to take away as well.
"Hello Eeyore," said Pooh.
"Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet," said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.
"We just thought we'd check in on you," said Piglet, "because we hadn't heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay."
Eeyore was silent for a moment. "Am I okay?" he asked, eventually. "Well, I don't know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That's what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven't bothered you. Because you wouldn't want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now."
Pooh looked and Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.
Eeyore looked at them in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"We're sitting here with you," said Pooh, "because we are your friends. And true friends don't care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are."
"Oh," said Eeyore. "Oh." And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.
Because Pooh and Piglet were There. No more; no less.
A.A.Milne
E.H.Shepard
Instructional Strategy of the Month - JIGSAW METHOD
Here are some links to more information about the Jigsaw Method! If you are interested in trying it out in your classroom, please let us know! We would love to help plan, co-teach or come watch! Contact Kenna if you are interested...it's worth a PD point and a jeans pass!!
MLK Day
However, I encourage you to discuss with your students on Tuesday why we had that day off of school and remembering what MLK did for our world. For instance, I am sure your students have heard ABOUT MLK's I have a Dream speech, but have they ever actually heard it? One of my favorite lessons I did when I taught fourth grade was listening to his speech and then having students draw pictures to go with quotes from the speech. It led to so many great discussion about vocabulary from his speech and what is was like for people of color during his life time and before. We then made the pictures and speech quotes into a class book to add to our library. So powerful for my 4th graders and, honestly, for myself.
In this day and age it is even more important for us to make sure our children never forget what MLK and so many others fought for. We need to make sure we continue to show them to choose love because hate is too big of a burden to bear. How completely perfect is that MLK quote for the time period we are currently living in?
Below you will find some resources and videos you may want to use with your class. I have also put a folder on the Skyland Shared Drive that has some resources in it. If you show the Brainpop video you can use the username: Newington Password: Splash.
Reminders
Optional Book Study - All Learning is Social and Emotional
As we continue our focus on Social Emotional Learning this year, we would like to offer an optional book study on All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher and Dominique Smith. We have previewed several recommendations and have found this book to be a wealth of information! Throughout the book study, we will have some online discussions and three face-to-face meetings. The meeting dates will be:
Wednesday, Feb. 5 from 3:00-4:00
Wednesday, Mar. 11 from 3:00-4:00
Wednesday, April 22 from 3:00-4:00
Participation will earn up to 8 professional development points/exchange day credits. If you would like to participate in this book study and commit to both the online discussions and the three meeting dates, please let me know by Wednesday, January 22 so that we can place our book order.
If you have any questions, please let me know! We're really excited about this opportunity!
Roper Mountain Science Center Virtual Field Trips
Roper Mountain Science Center Virtual Field Trips - Please remind your teachers to take advantage of the exciting and FREE Virtual Field Trip offerings from Roper Mountain Science Center. Spots are filling for the new year so book soon to bring this interactive experience to your classroom. Find out more information and details here. Contact: Jasmin Poor, 355-8930, Virtual Field Trip Coordinator.
2020 Upstate Technology Conference
2020 Upstate Technology Conference - Save the date for the 2020 Upstate Technology Conference! This year's conference will be Tuesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 15, with participant registration opening on May 28 at 5:30 a.m. Click here for the flyer. Presenter proposals will be accepted February 1-29. The school with the most accepted presenter proposals will win 10 participant registration tickets. Contact: Tim Cushman, 355-3991
Exceptional Educators
Exceptional Educators - The SCDE wants to feature exceptional educators who have made a significant impact on their students, school, community and/or the state throughout the spring semester on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. Every Tuesday (#TeacherTuesday), one South Carolina teacher will be honored. To nominate a teacher, please email Matt Orr a high-resolution photo and a 75-150 word narrative describing why you feel this teacher is deserving of this statewide recognition.
First Year Teacher Coaches Needed!
Do you know any retired teachers or stay at home mom/dads that are former teachers? Are they looking for a small job with minimal and flexible hours? Check out the new opportunity below! (Don't worry...I already emailed Mr. Gunter. :) )
First Year Teacher Coaches Needed! - Greenville County Schools is seeking master educators to coach first year teachers and GATE teachers. This position is an hourly position to provide coaching and real-time feedback within the context of the classroom. Coaches will be expected to provide weekly coaching support to 1-5 teachers. This position cannot be held in conjunction with a current full-time position. To be considered, candidates must have a master’s degree, hold a South Carolina teaching certificate, and have a record of successful teaching. Coaching experience preferred, but not required. Applications will be accepted March 2-31. Principals, please notify former retired educators or educators who desire part-time employment. Contact: Dr. Candice Moore (GATE Coach Interest), 355-3895 or Julie Woodhouse (First Year Teacher Coach Interest), 355-3889
Streamable Learning (Repeat, but check it out!!!)
Streamable Learning – Through a pilot opportunity, Streamable Learning is now available for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year to all of Greenville County Schools. Open your classroom to an endless world of interactive, educational livestreams that equitably connect students, schools and districts in real time with subject matter experts and organizations from around the world. Engage your students and enhance your curriculum with live and recorded virtual field trips to The Wyoming Dinosaur Museum and Dig Sites, Mexic-Arte Museum, The South Carolina Aquarium, Camp Broadway’s At This Stage, and many others. Programs cover all subjects and grade levels and through this pilot opportunity the registration and usage is free. Teachers can create an account here and next steps can be found here. Contact: Tim Van Heule, 355-3996
Class Acts Student/Staff/School Recognition (Repeat)
Class Acts Student/Staff/School Recognitions – Does your school/department have students, teams, or staff who have earned recognition at the state or national level? If so, we want to include their honors in Class Acts, a digital recognition platform managed by the Greenville Journal. Click here to see past honors. Information will be published three times this year: February 14, April 24, and June 19. Entries will be accepted through Friday, January 24 for the February 14 edition. Students, teams, and staff earning a first place state award, or any national award, are eligible to be recognized. Please email your nominations using this form and attach a high-resolution photo. Remember to identify the names of students who appear in group photos. Teams of three or more students should be photographed as one group. Contact: Susan Clarke, 355-8874.
Field Trip Scholarships (Repeat, but save this document so you have it later!)
Congratulations to the following Donor's Choose Recipients!
We have two projects up on Donor's Choose for Mrs. Ganske and Mrs. Johnson. Help them out by sharing on your personal social media pages to help get the word out!
Have an idea for a project? Need help? Just ask! We'd love to help you get a project funded! Who doesn't love free stuff!?!? There were 2 mass funding campaigns over the holidays. Usually there is another around teacher appreciation week! Get those grants up!
Easels (Repeat)
Thank you!
Connecting to the Capital - From Natalie and Carol
Natalie and Carol came to me about some important information they thought our staff should be aware of that is currently happening in the Capital. See their information below:
Teachers,
The following bills are being discussed and debated in the senate and several key parts of them could largely impact public education, our students, and teachers. Here are a few things for you to consider:
Senate Bill 556
· This bill concerns vouchers for school choice, which diverts funding away from public education funding and gives it to parents to use in a savings account toward private schools or other educational entities (Ex-Sylvan Learning Centers).
· This bill would end up taking away approximately $457 million from public education when fully implemented.
· Public schools are highly regulated (as we know) and must uphold academics, finances, and transparency. When the funding is diverted away from public education and into the savings accounts, these regulations are not required. These schools do not have to provide the same results public schools do and they are able to choose students they will accept..
Senate Bill 419
· This is the bill that teachers spoke out fervently spoke out against in May. Many problems still exist within it.
o More work for teachers is created by increasing data collection and added teacher expectations.
o Adds testing by adding more formative assessments. This includes extensive testing in the younger grades.
o Remember the raise we were told educators would get? This bill adds on five additional work days, so it is not a raise, it is compensation for more work. The extra compensation is not even written into the bill yet, so theoretically these five extra days could be without pay.
o Expects all students (including special education) to read on grade level.
o Read to Succeed remains and so does the stipulation concerning retention.
o Tracks students, beginning in kindergarten, into specific careers based on Lexile levels and test scores
o Written to benefit “for-profit” companies who can supply programs and tracking systems which the Bill Mandates
If any of these things do not sit right with you, please call your senator and let them know. One voice won’t do much, but a large group of voices will!
Reminders from Mase
We are up for elementary math textbook adoption this year. There were about 9 choices of textbooks approved by the state. The five that have been approved for our district (to be evaluated by all) are:
- Pearson: Envision
- Curriculum Associates: iReady
- Cengage: Big Ideas
- HMH: Into Math
- The Math Learning Center: Bridges
Samples of these math programs arrived this week and will be displayed in the science lab. Please schedule a time with your grade level team to view them this week.
Just a reminder, if your grade level has not done so, please let me know who will serve as your representative at one of the following meetings.
During this meeting, they will look at a concept from each grade level and follow it through the different textbooks. The meetings will be held at MT Anderson from 3:30-5:00. The dates are below:
Thursday, January 30:
Thursday, February 13:
Reminder: Please make sure you do not cover the windows of your classroom doors. For safety reason, we should be able to see into every classroom using that window.
Reminders from Kenna
*Please let me know by Wednesday, Jan. 22 if you would like to participate in our book study.
*Gr. 2-5: Great news! We have an additional question bank now called CERTICA (in addition to our CASE bank) to search when creating assessments. It is listed under Assessment Source, just like the CASE item bank. I have talked to team leaders and shared directions so please see them or me if you have any questions.
*Teachers in grades 3-5: We are planning to administer all state testing online this year. Please consider increasing the opportunities for your students to practice reading passages and answering questions online through MasteryConnect. Also, you may want to also provide opportunities for students to type their writing.
*The MasteryConnect Winter Benchmark window is Jan. 13-Jan. 24. Grades 2-5 will administer. Gr. 3-5 will complete a TDA this time, as well. Please plan to have your students type their TDA on their chromebooks to help prepare for SC Ready.
*Gr. 2, 3 & 5: Marie Johnson will be hosting a writing lab on Thursday, Jan. 30. Plan to attend during your planning as a PLC. More information to come!
Reminders from Katelin
- On Track Reminder: Please e-mail me (K-2) or Caitlyn (3-5) if you fill out the google form to refer a student for On Track. Link - https://forms.gle/imxdwcYNKfZVJizn6
- Berry Bowl Wednesday: TBD
- Balanced Literacy (sign-up links will be forthcoming)
- Classroom Environment PD – January 29th
- Guided Reading PLC – February 6th
- Voyager K5: Please enter student checkpoint scores in Vport at the end of each Adventure.
- Schedules: Kenna and I will be placing a copy of your current schedule from the Drive with some changes to consider (if any) in order to be in alignment with the balanced literacy scheduling guidelines provided by the district. If that is not your correct schedule, please e-mail me an updated one and then replace the schedule on the Drive. Please let us know if you have any questions and we will be glad to help!
Counselor's Corner - Reminders from Caitlyn and Chelsea
School Counseling Teacher Referral Form: https://forms.gle/F5K3UddCkTuf23dx5. Please continue to use this when needing to refer a student, or if a student asks you to come see Mrs. Grigg or Ms. Shepherd.
Important Upcoming Dates
January
20 - No School MLK Day
24 - 2nd grade in house field trip
24 - Report Cards
29 - K4 Half Day
30 - Writing Lab with Mrs. Johnson (more info to come!)
30 - Perfect attendance recess (1 pm)
31 - A/B and All A honor roll (1 pm)
31 - SIC Meeting, 8:30 am (Change in time)
February
4 - Beta Club 2:30 - 3:30
5 - Class Pictures
5 - K5 to Furman
10 - PTA Spring Sale Kickoff (Assembly Times TBA)
12 - 4th to Columbia
12 - Faculty Council
13 - Skyland Singers to the Peace Center
17 - No School
18 - K4 to Fire Station
19 - PD - De-escalation training 3:00 - 4:30
20 - MC PLC 2nd-5th
24 - End of PTA Spring Sale
25 - 5th to RMSC
26 - Arts Integration PD
Happy Birthday
January
22 – Morgan Huckabee, Art
26 – Ronda Wilkerson, Challenge
28 – Kristy Paddock, K5
February
9 – Jody Dix, K5
15 – Katelin Holliday, Support Staff
16 – Marie Johnson, 4th
24 – Natalie Argueta, 2nd
26 – Libby Chapman, 2nd
Dates Stafford is super duper sad that she will be out of the building
1/21 - Principal IC Meeting
1/23-24 - Guided Math Conference
2/5 - Principal Meeting
Mrs. Stafford's Contact Information
Email: lstafford@greenville.k12.sc.us
Website: https://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/skyland/
Phone: 8643557210
Twitter: @leahcstafford