Charger News
Every child. Every day. Whatever it takes!
October 25, 2019
The Moreau Heights family is committed to providing a positive and safe learning environment to support responsible and productive citizens.
Character Trait for October - Responsibilty
Check the Moreau Heights Shared Drive for Morning Meeting Lessons - Week 10
There will be 4 lessons provided with Second Steps as your lesson on Tuesday.
PLC - Collaborative Norms
Presume Positive Intent
Assuming that others' intentions are positive promotes and facilitates meaningful dialogue and discussion, and prevents unintentional put-downs. The first five people who come tell me about this sentence earn a free jeans day. Using positive intentions in speech is one manifestation of this norm.
Put Ideas on the Table
Ideas are the heart of meaningful dialogue and discussion. Label the intention of your comments. For example: "Here is one idea..." or "One thought I have is ..." or "Here is a possible approach..."" or "Another consideration might be ..."
There will be table tents for each team to have visible at meetings to support the practice of these norms to support collaboration.
Calendar of Events
Red Ribbon Week Oct. 28-Nov. 1
Monday, Oct. 28
*Wear Red
*AW eligibility mtg (Streicher, Haugen, Cowan, Williams) 9:05
*4th grade MAP session at Dix Rd 3:15-5:00
Tuesday, Oct. 29
*Wear your pajamas
*Lit Teaming 1, 3, 5
*5th grade MAP session at MH 3:15-5:00
Wednesday, Oct. 30
*Wear bright, neon colors
*KW IEP (Streicher, Haugen, Lock, Cremin, Steuber Humphreys, Connelly) 10
*Safety Bus Tour/Activities for grades k-2 12-2 (Schedule below)
*Conversation about 5/6 Building @ Dix Road 3:15-4:15
Thursday, Oct. 31
*Wear orange and black
*Halloween
*Door Decorating Contest Deadline @ 9am
*Lit teaming k, 2, 4
Friday, Nov. 1
*Wear favorite team shirt and workout clothes
*Charger Cart
*LP IEP (Gragg, Dawn, Yates) 10
Monday, Nov. 4
*AS RED mtg (Streicher, Mantle, Cowan, Haugen) 9:00
*Darla Noble assembly for 5th grade in library 1:30
*PT conferences 3-7
Tuesday, Nov. 5
*Data discussions 1, 3, 5
*PBS meeting 3:05
Wednesday, Nov. 6
*District admin 8-10:30 (Sue out)
Thursday, Nov. 7
*Data discussions k, 2, 4
*PT conferences 3-7
Friday, Nov. 8
*Intruder Drill 8:10
*Staff event: Pottery at Unique Creations 6-9
Our Data Updates
Behavior Goals and Data
October of 18/19 - 72
August -October 18/19 - 171
October of 19/20 - 39
August -October 19/20 - 73
Students will earn 350 positive office referrals by December 20, 2019.
314 Positive Office Referrals as of 10/24
Attendance Goals and Data
87.7% as of 10/24
Academic Goals and Data
*iReady scores from our fall assessment are below
50% of our students on level based on April iReady assessment data, increasing from 44% of our students on level in math in April 2019 .
*iReady scores from our fall assessment are below
5th grade students will perform at or above the state average on science MAP test in spring 2020.
Book Study Highlight
The excerpt below is from an article about trauma-informed teaching practices. I will include additional strategies in future newsletters/
Expect Unexpected Responses
First, teachers must learn to put students' reactions into context—and not to take them personally. Students with trauma histories can react and behave in seemingly unexpected ways, such as having a sudden outburst during a favorite activity or crying out of the blue one second after laughing. Teachers may be taken by surprise. They say things like, "But he was fine this morning, I didn't see that coming!" or "She normally loves playing the drums in music class. I have no idea where her reaction came from." This uncertainty leaves the teacher in a constant state of hyper-alertness when interacting with the student. This in turn can result in fatigue, as the teacher is guarded and unable to predict what will happen from one moment to another. (**I added this bold because I believe this is what I am hearing from you. You aren't crazy! There is a reason you are feeling this way!)
One way to understand these reactions is to think of the student as a soda can, and events that may trigger their trauma stress as shaking that can. We can't tell by looking if the can was recently shaken, but if it was, opening the can results in an unexpected explosive, messy reaction. If a student is triggered and experiencing heightened emotion, even a benign direction such as, "Please move over to make room for Jenny" could result in an "explosion" that the teacher never saw coming. By using trauma-sensitive strategies in the classroom, we can help reduce the times our students are "shaken."
Kelly's Koaching Korner
It was evident from our rounding with Larry, you have a full plate. My role is to support you! Please take time to fill out my Coaching survey.
Teachers: Coaching Survey
I’m super excited about the work we’ve already accomplished this year-you should be too:) Let’s continue to be learners by developing additional instructional strategies and skills to support our students.
Last week, we added 3 Read, Accountable Talk and Rally Robin to our instructional strategy toolbox. We Rallied back and forth to discuss what we noticed about math story problems, using Rally Robin. To support our students’ social/emotional learning, we added in Gambits.
Why do Rally Robin
Promotes Divergent Thinking (supports creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions)
Equal Status
Active Listening
Many Ideas Generated in a short amount of time
Variations to Rally Robin
RoundRobin: Teammates take turn sharing
RallyTable: Partners take turns writing their answers on a common piece of paper
Simultaneous RallyTable: Students each have a piece of paper and trade papers each time they add to list.
As you work to try this strategy, consider trying it out in other subject areas.
Shout Outs for Staff
Thank you for all who supported Doug on Tuesday to handle things while he was flying solo!
Thank you to everyone that helped cover students and classes with our sub shortages this week.
Thank you to classroom teachers for your hard work during data team meetings. The meetings were amazing!!!
Thank you to those that joined us for the celebration bus.
Thank you to those who attended Rounding with Larry to provide feedback about how we can grow as a district.
Thank you to Shannon for covering our Sonic runs while Jamie was out so our Thursdays could be a little brighter.
Thank you for continuing to hold students accountable and having them fix it so we "rewrite their script." You holding them accountable through processing is THE MOST POWERFUL way to bring about a change.
Dawn's Dish
Sneaky Stickies
- Write on a post-it something great someone is doing. (see pic below)
- Don't tell them who you are.
- Leave the post-it for them somewhere when they are not there.
- Send me a pic...OR share it on your professional Twitter and tag me @Dr_D_Day and use the hashtag #MHmissionpossible
I can't wait to see all the ways we are recognizing each other and building each other up!
What to do when a student is struggling with behaviors?
- Step 1 is giving a reminder. We've been doing a great job giving students reminders! Remember to give the reminder and walk away. Give them time to fix it, don't stand and lecture them.
- Step 2 is having a caring confrontation and reminding them of the zones. Where do you see them and how can they get back to green? Have this conversation and walk away. Given them time to fix it.
- Step 3 is the calm down area. Now is the time to request them to go to the calm down area. Note that the time is 3-10 minutes, but each student is different. They may need more or less time. If they say no, say, "I'll set a timer for 3 minutes and you'll need to be in the calm down spot." Then walk away and see if they can make it in those 3 minutes. We don't want them in the habit of refusing the calm down spot. If they do and go to buddy room, then they go to the calm spot when they come back.
- Step 4 is buddy room. Please note the conversation when they go to the buddy room. "Please go to the buddy room to get back into the green zone." The chill sheet must be filled out and used by everyone. If they won't take the chill sheet when they go, that's fine, send it over with another student. Please do not send more than one student at a time to a buddy room with the same teacher.
- Step 5 is a support call. If they won't go to the buddy room or are disruptive in the buddy room and you've set a timer to give them time, call the office for support.
Follow our school, district, and me on Twitter as well.
@Dr_D_Day (Me)
@suehaugenteach (Sue)
@JCMH_tweets (Moreau Heights)
@JCSchools_ (District)
You can also follow our school hashtag at #MHmissionpossible
You can follow our district hashtag at #JCStrongerTogether
October Attendance Bracket Update
Substitute Evaluations
Sub evaluation forms are located in the office next to the shred box. There is a file organizer attached to the wall and it's in the bottom slot.
If you participate in the dress up days you can wear jeans each day you participate! Except Tuesday and Friday, those are PJs and workout wear.
Committee Updates
Charger Birthdays
October 1 - Jill Lemons
October 9 - Jana Salmons
October 11 - Joe Twehous
October 22 - Sabra Watts-Hayes