Hawk Herald
News and Notes for Teachers- April 29
Dear Staff
Tuesday at 3:30, Mike Scott will introduce next year's prinicpal, Justin Welch, in the library. Hope you can come enjoy an ice cream sandwich and give him a warm welcome. I've already told him what a great staff you are.
Thanks to all of you who have been able to give up your valuable prep time to cover periods for other staff members. You are amazing.
Have a great week,
Mary
You can also find the newsletter on the staff site: Staff Site
AVID Site Team
Meet the new principal
Math Transition Collaboration
Academic Seminar
Erin's Law
Walkthroughs and conversations
Tardy data
Meetings and Events
Monday-29 Spring Walkthroughs 4/15-5/3
- Advisory Calendar
- ELL meeting 1:30
- AVID Site Team 3:30
Tuesday-30
- Team Meeting 7th
- New Prinicpal Introduction 3:30
Wednesday-1
- Academic Seminar 7:50 in 229
- Attendance Meeting 10:10
- Team Meeting 8th
Friday-3
- SST 8:00
- Coaches meeting 1:30
Climate and Culture
This survey is meant to get feedback from staff before our discipline plan is completed in June. This is your chance to give input.
Discipline surveyRacial Isolation and Schools
In this article in Educational Leadership, editor Anthony Rebora interviews psychologist/educator/author Beverly Daniel Tatum (Spelman College). Some highlights:
• Tatum laments the continued segregation of U.S. schools: more than six decades after the Brown decision, nearly 75 percent of African-American students attend majority-minority schools, and 38 percent go to schools where 10 percent or fewer students are white (the statistics are similar for Latinx students). Students of color are more likely to attend schools where 60 percent or more of students live in poverty, and those schools have higher staff turnover, less-experienced teachers, and inferior facilities and resources. “There are a lot of factors at play,” says Tatum, “but if you’re a student in an under-resourced, segregated school, you might certainly feel devalued.”
• Tatum is also concerned about racial isolation in the broader society: 75 percent of white adults, she says, have “entirely white social networks, without any interaction with people of color.” Growing up in these families, white youth form their beliefs about people of color and the nation’s power structure largely from the media. Notwithstanding positive films like Black Panther, there are many stereotypes and negative images. “It’s tough to become a change agent in that context,” she says; college and the military are often the last chance young people have to get a more balanced view of racial history and dynamics.
• Tatum stresses the importance of students of color seeing accomplished people who look like them in school and positive content and images in the curriculum. “Unfortunately,” she says, “my experience is that, when it comes to teaching about racial issues, a lot of teachers are afraid of doing the wrong thing, so they choose not to do anything. But silence is not a helpful choice.”
• Tatum stresses the importance of high-quality PD on these issues, educator reading and discussion groups, and honest reflection on what’s working instructionally and what needs improvement (“Hey, this question came up in class – this is how I handled it, but I’m not sure that was the best way. What would you have done?”). She recommends three books: her own Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (second edition 2017), White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (2018), and Bandwidth Recovery by Cia Verschelden (2017).
Link to Erin's Law Lessons
Academic Seminar: Language Scaffolds and Differentiation
Language Central
We will be looking at this site during academic seminar on Wednesday
A place to understand, create and support language for access to learning.
Link: Language Objective Generator
Sample:
South Meadows Middle School
Email: mendezm@hsd.k12.or.us
Website: http://schools.hsd.k12.or.us/southmeadows
Location: 4690 Southeast Davis Road, Hillsboro, OR, United States
Phone: 503-844-1220
Facebook: facebook.com/SouthMeadowsMiddleSchool