Bay Lane Staff Bulletin - 12/15/17
Every student learning, growing, succeeding.
Staff Commitments
I believe all students are capable of achieving proficiency.
I am capable of fostering proficient readers.
I will use results to drive my work.
News and Updates
Country Meadows - Practice Lockdown Drill
On Tues, Dec 19 at 2:30 pm, CM will practice their drill similar to the one we conducted last month. As you know, we share hallways and some spaces, so if you hear it please know it is a practice. None of you will hear it in your rooms, but you as a staff member may be in a location that allows you to hear it. Please know, it is a practice!
Assignment Notebooks/Planners
A reminder that all students are expected to use assignment notebooks. Thank you to all teachers who take time in class, expecting students to record assignments and due dates. The goal is for students to take responsibility and ownership of their learning, but we believe we can support them by getting them in the habit of recording assignments in class.
Attendance Calls from Homeroom Teachers
Here at Bay Lane, Jen Gigl and Rachel Rydzewski meet weekly to analyze attendance data and intervene to ensure students are coming to school. After five absences, families receive a letter that outlines total absences, Board Policy, and the law regarding attendance in the state of Wisconsin. Similarly, families receive a letter after ten absences, previewing a truancy meeting if absences continue. As another intervention, we have asked homeroom teachers to reach out to families with a pattern of multiple absences. If you are asked to reach out to a student with seven or more absences, here is a possible script you can use.
Your child has reached a total of 7.0 days absent from school. A five-day attendance letter was sent home on _______. Per our attendance plan, one of the student’s teachers makes a phone call at 7+ days to inform families of our concern.
As you call home, please focus on the following:
- Our continued effort around improving attendance.
- Our concern regarding attendance and seeking ways to support students and parents in any way.
- If parents bring up the point of, “What happens if attendance doesn’t improve?” let them know that we will continue to monitor and address as appropriate. Additionally, you can let the parents know that if more information is needed regarding next steps, they can contact Ms. Rydzewski (262)971-1800 or Mrs. Gigl (262) 971-1810 x6216.
- Reiterate the offer of any support that we can provide for parents and students.
Finally, the team member who makes the call should email Rachel and/or the students' teachers with the following information:
- Date of contact made
- Any additional information/comment/notes that are pertinent (If there is sensitive information that you are not sure you should share in an email, please speak with Rachel or Jen directly.)
Thanks for making the call to this family and supporting our attendance-monitoring efforts!
High Leverage Practices
Instructional strategies are defined as the practices teachers use to help students deepen their understanding of content and improve their ability to transfer skills with independence. In other words, the purpose and power of instructional strategies are to empower students to independently and flexibly use a variety of strategies. This is a shift away from reliance on teachers and toward student autonomy.
Significant research indicates that particular strategies have a greater impact on student learning. According to Frontier and Rickabaugh, “our professional currency is understanding each learner’s current level of understanding and the desired level of understanding, and then using instructional strategies to close the gap between the current status and what might be.” A teacher’s power lies in his/her ability to deploy strategies that are responsive to the needs of each learner. In Frontier and Rickabaugh’s article about instructional strategies, they cite, “a classroom with an effective teacher is associated with growth in student learning at a rate that is three times greater than that in a classroom with a low-performing teacher” (Barber & Mourshed, 2007).
Specifically, Hattie clarifies teacher impact on student learning by offering, “When teachers see learning occurring or not occurring, they intervene in calculated and meaningful ways to alter the direction of learning to attain shared, specific, and challenging goals.”
So, here at Bay Lane and within MNS, we are focusing on close reading, interactive note-taking, academic conversations, student-led goal setting, and voice and choice as our high leverage practices. We believe that by focusing on these powerful, high-yield strategies over three years, we can build our capacity to flexibly use them across classrooms, grade levels, and schools- so that our students are equipped as learners who don’t depend on us as teachers to navigate rigorous learning.
We look forward to hearing about all of the powerful tools and resources you are all using on our January PD day, so that we can continue to build our collective capacity as a team here at Bay Lane.
-Excerpts from "Instructional Strategies at the Core of Professional Practice" by Frontier and Rickabaugh
Engaging Students
The Importance of Demanding High Expectations for Behaviors and Academics
If you haven't read the article about being a Warm Demander it is highly recommended. (Feel free to skip the first page of the seven page article.) Someone shared the warm demander approach with newer teachers, and it changed interactions with students ever since. Part of engaging students in their learning is the expectation for engagement. Hopefully some of you find it a good read.Why Gender Matters Book Club
A team of thirty staff members had the first book club this week to discuss the first couple chapters of Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax. A few key takeways from the discussion were:Girls who bully typically have many friends, are socially skilled, are doing well in school, and know the girls they bully.
Boys who bully typically have few friends, are socially inept, are below-average students, and don’t know the boys they bully.
Immediately remove a boy from his audience if risk-taking behaviors are occurring - behaviors magnify when with peers for boys.
Girl-on-girl bullying is a huge problem. Start by taking the problem seriously. Don’t dismiss or minimize it.
Highly Functioning PLCs
Math PLC Celebrations
HUGE congrats to the 5th grade math PLC of Val Mazola, Lisa Reedy, & Trista Mittelstaedt !!! As a PLC, 39% of their students were proficient in the fall. Now, 64% of their students are proficient!!! (They have already exceeded their spring goal of 59% proficiency). And, 6% of students with IEPs were proficient in math in the fall, and now 44% are proficient. INCREDIBLE gap closing work!!!
Equally impressive is the 6th grade math PLC of Elizabeth Kloc, Kim Knuston, Judy Powers & Laure Staniszewski! As a PLC, 57% of their students were proficient in the fall. Now, 74% of their students are proficient! (They, too, have already exceeded their spring goal of 72% proficiency).
Literacy PLC Celebrations
The 5th grade literacy PLC of Jenn Warr, Jodee Vecchie, Kristina Demolas, & Annie Nushart is also experiencing impressive growth on the mid-year Star. 46% of fifth graders were proficient on the fall reading assessment, and now 57% are proficient as a grade level. Sooooooo cool!
And, the 7th grade literacy PLC of Allie Tome, Sarah Tschudy, Beth Brown, Megan Bernhardt, & Kim Roman are also worthy of recognition!! 51% of 7th graders started the year demonstrating proficiency on the Star assessment. After the mid-year test, 61% of 7th graders demonstrated proficiency.
It is so exciting to see our PLCs impact overall grade level achievement!
Bay Lane's 4th Annual Dodgeball Tournament
Friday, Apr 27, 2018, 03:30 PM
Bay Lane Middle School, Hilltop Drive, Muskego, WI, United States
PBIS
Podcast about responding to rude, disrespectful student attitudes
If you haven't yet checked out a podcast Laura Tsakonas shared out with staff, here is the link. In the meantime, Laura was willing to share some key takeways from the interview:
- Strategies you use to build a positive classroom culture & manage behavior should feel like a good fit for both your personality, and the personality of your class. Don't be the teacher with "the look" if that's not who you are! "So whatever you do, commit to it, but make it fit who you are."
- Sometimes our natural reactions to behavior problems in our classroom provide us with short-term solutions. "You might be able to quash the rebellion in the moment, but you have lost the war, because classroom management/discipline is supposed to be about helping our students become better at managing the learning and managing themselves."
- Getting in the last word feels like our natural human reaction to disruption, and it's HARD to avoid. But, advice from the podcast is, "When you choose not to escalate the situation as a teacher, you choose not to be a part of a discipline problem. The moment you start getting in the last word with a student, you now are playing that student’s game."
- Ignoring student behavior doesn't mean not addressing it. "You don’t ignore it as if you don’t see it. You’re just ignoring it as if, 'I’m not going to deal with it at this time.'"
- "When you don’t have the support of the parent, when it seems like they feel their child can do no wrong, you need to talk about the discipline not as a punishment. You connect it to the goals that the parent has for the child, to the challenges the parent may be having with the child. And when you do that sincerely, it’s really hard for parents to resist someone who cares so much about their child that they’re taking the time to apply the discipline, even when the parent doesn’t agree."
Behavior Data for November
See the link. For November, we fell short of meeting our goal for classroom referrals. But, thanks to those of you who continue to be present in the hallways at the start of the day and during passing periods. It makes a difference and makes our students feel safe.
Positive Contacts to Bay Lane Families
We are so grateful to those of you who are consistently making an effort to contact families with specific, positive feedback about our students. Way to go Lauren for making 131 positive contacts so far this year!!! In addition to Lauren, the other colleagues we want to recognize are: Sarah Tschudy, Kim Roman, Katie Schroeder, Jenny Boesch, Jodee Vecchie, Cheryl Schmidt, Learh Harrison, and Laura Tsakonas. On Monday, please stop down by Sarah Bauhs for your choice of a variety of gift cards for your efforts. We believe that positive contacts home is part of who we are at Bay Lane. And, the expectation is that everyone is recording positive contacts on the links (found at the bottom of every staff bulletin). Part of being a family here at Bay Lane is ensuring that everyone is contributing. As administrators, it is so fun hearing from families after you have made a positive phone call. Some of you may not even realize the impact of your efforts.
Increasing College Going Culture at Bay Lane
- Thanks to everyone who participated in the College Wear Wednesday contest this week by submitting the survey! We will have monthly Homeroom Contests for College Wear Wednesday with:
- Winning homeroom students receiving a prize
- Randomly we will also draw a participating staff member name to win a prize from our "Goodie bin"
Career Cruising/Xello Updates
- 6th-grade will begin learning about Career Cruising/Xello following Winter Break
- 7th and 8th-grade students have had the opportunity to experience the Interest Survey which matches students with career choices aligned with their interests
- Xello allows students to explore post-secondary options in those career fields & hear testimonials and interviews with experts in those fields
- Feedback from 7th graders:
"It says I should be a security guard, a professional athlete, or (laughing) a dancer- I don't think that one will happen" -Jack Forsyth
"All top 10 said I should be a teacher. And I actually want to be a teacher" -Jezaray Ganas
December College Awareness
- Friday, December 22
- College and Career Crossword challenge by homeroom
- Each winning homeroom per grade level will win a prize
- Stay tuned for our January activity week developed and presented by Student Council
Bay Lane's Tech Mentors for 2017-18
Engaging Parents
Update from the Parent Engagement Team
The parent engagement team would like to thank everyone for continuing to put comments (not canned) for students with "D" and "F"s that are specific to the area of weakness and how they can improve that area/skill on mid-quarter and quarter report cards. Please remember that while we are required to only report out progress for those students with D's and F's at midquarter, all parents like to know the progress their child is making.
Here is a list of ideas on how you can continue to help engage parents in their child's learning (a lot of this is happening in our school already):
- Following conference or report card time, offer workshops/videos on improving grades and study skills for parents and students.
- Provide families with a list of required mastery skills for each unit taught in your class.
- Provide support resources by unit/skill that parents and students can use if working on assignments at home.
- Send home a consistent newsletter with what's going on in the classroom.
- Invite parents into the classroom to learn about a technology the students are using, a topic they are learning about, or showcase student work.
- Make positive parent contacts on a consistent basis.
Thank you for your support and helping all our students learn, grow, and succeed!
Student Agency at Bay Lane
Changing the role of students in your classroom from participants in learning to co-creators and drivers of learning is not a simple task, but a shift that will see huge gains in engagement and deeper learning. Below are quick tips from Students at the Center (Kallick & Zmuda, 2017) on how to help make adding student voice/choice into your classroom a bit easier.
- Remember that authenticity matters - Authentic problems, issues, and ideas that students generate themselves require investigation and deep thinking. Facilitate students to make sense of how curriculum content relates to their current circumstances, challenges, or worldview and create a project proposal together for how they are going to explore deeper.
- Focus on the end goal, and let go of some of the control - The idea of having lots of tasks happening all at once is overwhelming to many teachers, but remember that its a balancing act in which we help learners think through what questions to pose, what to create, for whom to create it, and how to communicate about it. The paths may look different along the way for learners but hold firm to where you would like the end point to be for all to maintain control of what's important.
Important Dates Ahead
- Monday, December 18
- 7th & 8th grade AVID presentations in Literacy classes; see attachment
- STEVE CZECH's Bday
- Tuesday, December 19, 7 pm - 6th Grade Band Concert in BL Gym
- Wednesday, December 20, 8:10 am - Grade 6 Band & Choir concert for 5th and 6th grade students
- Thursday, December 21, 10:00 am-12:30 pm - Holiday Lunch Buffet in the office conference room
- Friday, December 22
- Ugly Holiday Sweater Day
- JEN RUDITY'S Bday
- Saturday, December 23-Monday, January 1 - No Students; No School
- Tuesday, January 2 - Staff and students return
- Wednesday, January 3, 8:00 am-3:05 pm - Universal Screening for Math & Literacy; see attachment
- Thursday, January 4
- 7:15 am - Staff Meeting
- JOHN GEER'S Bday
- 2:15 pm - Parent meeting for Project i and 2018-19 Registration
- Saturday, January 6, 7:00-11:59 pm - BL New Year Kick Off at Alpine Lanes
- Sunday, January 7 - LINDA WHIPPLE's Bday
- Monday, January 8,
- 3:15 pm - EOTG Team Meeting
- 6:00-7:00 pm - PTO Meeting
- Thursday, January 11
- End of Quarter 2
- 7:15 am - Sandbox
- Friday, January 12
- No Students; Teacher Professional Day
- SARAH MILTON's Bday
- Monday, January 15
- MICHELLE WINTHEISER's Bday
- 3:15 pm - BL Listen & Learn with Dr. Thompson - Optional
- 6:30-7:00 pm - Parents & Students have Dinner with School Board
- 7:00 pm - BL Presentation to School Board at Bay Lane
- Thursday, January 18, 7:00 pm - BL Winter Choir Concert at MHS PAC
Important Links
Help Desk - Technology or Custodial
Positive Contact Log- Core Teachers
Positive Contact Log- Encore Teachers/PPS/Administration
Student Team Bobcat Nomination Form
Staff Member Team Bobcat Nomination Form
*Please email Dawn or Rachel if you'd like us to add an Important Link.