Adventure Specialists' Advice
February 17, 2017
Prayer
As we move into MEW next week, please take some time to pray over our students in particular. Pray by name for those who come to your mind. I always feel that we face a greater degree of spiritual warfare leading up to and during those times when God is acting greatly on our campus.
- Attitudes: pray that God would soften the hearts of those who are closed off to Him and to advice from adults
- Families: many of our kids come from families that are dysfunctional and hurting in deep ways
- Unity: we need to remain united in our purpose of reaching kids for the kingdom, no matter what comes our way
- Grace: we all need to recognize the importance of forgiveness
Important Dates
Feb. 21-23: MEW
Feb. 28: Divisional Meeting; DJHS Decisions
March 2: 8th Grade HS Registration, 4 PM
March 6: No School
March 7: DJHS (Chapel Schedule with A block in the morning and assembly at 2:30)
March 7: PD Meeting, 4:00
March 10: PTO International Food Fair and Jr. for Hire
March 14: MS Concert
March 15: End of Quarter 3
March 20: Q3 Grades Verified
March 23: Parent-Teacher Conferences; 12:30 dismissal
March 25 - April 2: Mid-Semester Break
MEW Week
- Regular Schedule
- Worship Night at 7:00
Tuesday:
- Chapel Schedule
- MEW Chapel at 8:30
- Bible at 2:30
- MEW Service at 7 PM
Wednesday:
- Chapel Schedule
- MEW Chapel at 8:30
- Bible at 2:30
- MEW Service at 7 PM
Thursday:
- Chapel Schedule
- MEW Chapel at 8:30
- Bible at 2:30
Friday:
- Regular (not Friday) schedule
- No Chapel
- No MS Activities
I'm Watching You
If you’ve ever seen Monsters Inc, the gruff and grumpy Madge is always telling lovable Mike Wazowski that she’s watching him. While Madge’s character doesn’t at all reflect the kind of teachers any of us hope to be, there’s something important in what she conveys.
When I was going through all of the research in John Hattie’s Visible Learning, one of the things that stood out was the importance of immediacy in teaching. In others words, students know if the teacher isn’t watching or isn’t holding them accountable to their work, and this brings down the level of respect for the teacher and for the work they’re doing, I know we always hear the comment, “Is this graded?” when we give out work, and this can be frustrating to us because we hope for some intrinsic motivation beyond the gradebook. I think what students really want to know is if what they’re doing is important to us. There are other ways (besides grading something) that helps to enforce its worth and give students the message that what they’re doing is important:
- Once a week collect one of the problem sets done in class and give feedback. Ask students to correct any mistakes and give it back to you.
- When students have finished discussing a prompt in class, call on several groups to share what they said (don’t ask for volunteers—call on people.)
- When students are working in groups doing active learning, walk around. Look at what they’re doing. Make comments. Ask them to share with you what they just discussed.
While the way we watch students is within a loving environment, setting the boundary of accountability is essential for fostering true learning.
Susan Allen
HS Teacher, Instructional Coach