HAWK HAPPENINGS
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
January 1, 2019
MUST READ
''And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.''
Weekly Announcements
Teachers: when it is your class' turn, please send your 2-3 volunteers to the office right away so they can begin announcements at 8:30.
SCHOOL WIDE RESOLUTION ASSIGNMENT
1) ACADEMICALLY: something they want to achieve academically (improve their reading level, or improve their report card grades, etc.), or a school-based habit they would like to change (to practice math facts nightly, become better organized, etc.).
2) PERSONALLY: something they can do to be a better person, friend, son/daughter, etc. (not use put-downs, listen to directions from adults the first time, compliment someone every day, etc)
Then, under each one, help students create 2 action steps they will take that will help them achieve that goal.
For example:
1) I will become a better reader
- I will do this by reading at least 30 minutes every night.
-I will do this by reading books at my independent level, or books that are a little hard for me.
2) I will not put down other people.
- I will do this by recognizing the mean words I sometimes say, and try to stop myself when I hear them in my head before saying them out loud.
- If I make a mistake and say something negative to a friend or classmate or anyone else, I will make sure I apologize to them, even if just in private, to help hold myself accountable and prevent myself from doing it again.
Model this with your students with authentic goals for yourself, so that you can also model monitoring your progress. A template for this can be found HERE.
BECOMING RESOLUTE WITH RESOLUTIONS
A Note About Behavioral Change
Then think about how frustrated you get when a student doesn’t just change his/her behavior right away when you want them to.
Then remember that he/she is ten, and you are _______ (enter your age here).
And remember that he/she has completed the 3rd or 4th grade, and you are a college graduate.
And remember that he/she may not have positive role models to support a change in that behavior outside of school, and may even be a victim of trauma, which makes change even more difficult.
If it is challenging to change your behavior, at your age, with your level of maturity and education, why do you think it should be so easy for him/her to change his/hers?
Patience, forgiveness, and second-chances are required for you, and for them.
WELCOME TIFFANY MUNSON!
LET GROW
An interesting article from NPR about "Letting Grow." At my last school, we noticed how students had so many problems at recess because they didn’t know how to solve interpersonal problems on their own, likely because they had been trained through over-parenting and over-planning of structured activities (ballet, karate, CCD, play dates...). They didn’t know how to initiate play, negotiate the rules of engagement, and solve problems on their own, which often led to yelling and hitting. At another school, we noticed a particular heightened “helicoptering” when children born around the time of 2001 reached school age: these were the children who were babies around the time of 9/11, and another understandable but equally detrimental wave of hyper-vigilance after December 2012 (a consequence of the Sandy Hook tragedy). I saw playground aides micro-manage and limit play of children at recess for fear that exploration and inventive play could lead to something risky or dangerous that would endanger their own employment or expose them to the risk of lawsuits. As a parent, I have seen myself how I have over-parented and not given my own kids the freedom and independence to become confident decision-makers and responsible risk-takers, possibly due to our unique situation, and our concern over our enormous responsibility to give our kids a better life than they might have had if we hadn’t adopted them. I think there has to be a happy medium where we can keep kids safe but allow responsible risks that push the boundaries for kids in small but significant ways towards a life of independence and self-confidence. Share this with other parents; it may not require an organized “Free Range Parenting” movement, but maybe we can all gradually loosen the reigns a little in order to grow leaders and decision-makers of tomorrow.
HOW WE CAN LET IT GROW AT SCHOOL
Here are some ideas on how we can give kids some space and responsibility that might help them grow and become more independent:
1) Let kids go outside for recess with or without coats. First of all, we cannot feel how another person experiences temperature. Think about a faculty meeting: we have people putting on sweaters while others are opening windows because they are so hot. We can't know if a child is hot or cold. Let's allow them to choose to wear their coat, or not, and have them learn from that experience. For many of them, a temperature means nothing: 34 degrees has no significance to them. But if it is 34 degrees and they want to go out without a coat, that's their choice, and they will learn for themselves what 34 degrees feels like to them. Recess is short: if they are cold, that is the consequence of their choice -- there is no time or supervision for them to go inside to get a coat, so they will have to deal with it until recess is over.
2) Let's allow kids to sit where they want at lunch. We can set expectations for how we expect them to behave, and warn them about the possible pitfalls of making irresponsible choices, and then hold them accountable when they don't live up to our expectations, so they can learn and grow from their choices.
What other ideas do you have for how we can give students more chances to take responsible risks and approximate and practice independence?
MATH HAPPENINGS
Math Log to Appear on Reading Log in January
Beginning in January, our Reading Log will become known as Homework Log because it will not simply be Reading Log, written response, but will also include a place for students to records which math facts they are focusing on, how long they are practicing, and in what ways they are practicing. This can later be used by student and teacher to examine how students seem to learn best by comparing their log to their growing fact fluency: do they retain more when they use flash cards, a board game, an online game, or a combination of all of them? To see the revised Homework Log, click here.
Math Fact Fluency Homework UPDATE
A small subgroup of teachers will be piloting a system for:
- diagnosing students' current levels of fact fluency in order to place them within a phase of learning
- providing students with materials for ongoing practice
- monitoring and re-assessing student growth over time
Stay tuned for more information soon!
THREE THINGS TO FOCUS ON IN 2019
1). Authentic, caring relationships with every student
2) Differentiated, data-informed instruction
3) Assessment with timely, actionable feedback
If we are successful with these three priorities, we will truly positively impact every student, every day, in every way.
LITERACY HAPPENINGS
DDI Sessions this week
Please see the calendar for your grade level team's assigned date this week for your Data Driven Instruction meeting. By now most of you have updated the new Student Reading Tracker, which will provide additional data over time to the WIN teacher of your students, as well as the After School teacher of your students. If you need to add any additional information, it can be found HERE. This week we will use DDI time to look to the future and plan WIN group revisions to start NEXT WEEK.
Gearing up to 2019!
Squawk Challenge Take 2
NO NAME CALLING WEEK January 21-25
As a learning organization, we are compelled to become more aware and inclusive regarding gender roles and sexual orientation; it's a good time to reflect on your own language and classroom practices and consider how they might impact a student who identifies as gay, transgendered, etc. While we have 3rd to 5th graders and this may not be an important topic for all of our students, it can be a very important topic for a few, and the language we use and the examples we set in our behavior can make a world of difference to even one young life.
To learn more about No Name-Calling Week and to access lessons and materials for classroom use, click HERE.
IMPROVING FAMILY COMMUNICATION
Classroom teachers: You can do this as a grade level group as part of a meeting, or you can divide it up between teachers on your grade level to do during technology time one morning.
Specials teachers: Please fill in the information for each table (each grade and each special class). Some of you will have similar information for each table because you are teaching similar units across grades/classes; kindly copy and paste and make any tweaks or adaptations as needed for each table.
You can access the document HERE.
Guest Reader Week/Polar Express week
KUDOS to Marisa, Caroline and Celine for hosting the Polar Express Read ALoud events for classes during Guest Reader Week!
SHOULD READ
WHAT MAKES SOME KIDS SUCCESSFUL, WHILE OTHERS STRUGGLE?
I was recently reminded of this TED Talk about Lessons from the Longest Study on Human Development, which sheds some light on why some children are set up for success, while others struggle to succeed. It can also point to some ideas on what we can do, as educators, to help make our students more successful, regardless of their parent involvement and backgrounds.
For the past 70 years, scientists in Britain have been studying thousands of children through their lives to find out why some end up happy and healthy while others struggle. It's the longest-running study of human development in the world, and it's produced some of the best-studied people on the planet while changing the way we live, learn and parent. Reviewing this remarkable research, science journalist Helen Pearson shares some important findings and simple truths about life and good parenting.