January 7, 2019
A Communication Tool for the Seven Hills Staff
My New Year's Wish For You...
Preparing for January 7 PD:
Lunch is on your own, and you will have one hour. Enjoy the time sharpening the saw as a team or preparing for the week.
Staff may dress comfortably for the day. You will be taking a picture...just in case you prefer to have make-up on and your hair done for pictures. :)
Please be prepared with the following for PD on Monday:
- device fully charged
- access to writing curriculum and tools for planning
- Empowering Instruction book from The Leader in Me training in August
- Any notebooks you use to gather thoughts, plan, etc.
- Choose your 2 rotation sessions in advance. All staff presenters will only present during one session, opening up time for you to attend a session as well. Talk with your teams, share the learning with each other. Choose a session that will help grow you and your instruction. There are two tabs across the bottom of the spreadsheet one for each rotation. You need to sign up for two sessions, unless you are a presenter in a session. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PHh1w-WpSVrOLMaDaqkk7OL72SYvguI2dWZRt4CSZLY/edit?usp=sharing
- Proactive and abundance mindset with a put first things first energy!
Reminders From Before Break:
Before the break the list below was sent to staff to help everyone be prepared for the break and after the break. I wanted to share again so that everyone is prepared.
1. Grade Level Writing Samples - don’t forget to provide your grade level writing samples before the break. We need these for our PD on Monday, January 7. Thank you to those teams who have already turned them in.
2. I need a copy of the writing pathways rubric (the one with the pictures) that students/teachers would use to assess the on demand writing samples you provided – for each grade level. Please make sure your grade level is written on it. Please provide by the end of the week.
3. Star Leader invites need to be sent before the break in the mail and a phone call made to parents. Also, please complete the Google form before the break.
4. Don’t forget that our PD day on January 7 is a full day of learning. This is not a work day. I strongly encourage you to be prepared with lesson plans and resources so that you are not frustrated on Monday. The schedule for PD is attached to this email. You will need to bring the Empowering Instruction Leader in Me book to PD.
5. Please tell room parents that extra food from the parties should not be left in the Teacher’s Lounge after parties. All leftovers need to be thrown away or taken home.
6. Clean out any food left in refrigerators.
7. Before PD on January 7, make sure you have reflected on the trust connection in the S’more (it is posted above).
8. Don’t forget about Progress Check One in SLO’s. The data needs to be entered in Edugence.
9. Remember, this is end of the grading period and semester. Make sure you are prepared for report card grade entry deadlines.
10. Update Student Achievement Document with CBA data, December Text Levels (if applicable) and December WIG data. We will use this data on January 7 and 8.
Remind parents to check Lost and Found.
11. Remind parents about early dismissal and party times. There is an image copied below.
12. Clean rooms. Do not leave trash from parties for custodians to clean. (ALL food needs to be removed to the trash or home. Make sure any lights you have from decorations are unplugged. All blinds are lowered and closed. All technology turned off. Students need to take home all jackets, lunchboxes, backpacks, etc.)
13. Update students in RTI with their Tier 1 strategies(see google classroom for directions if you need them)
14. Encourage students and remind parents to READ…WRITE…Practice MATH facts…over the break!
15. Please make sure Christmas decorations are taken down by the time students return from Winter Break.
Trust is the Foundation of Empowerment:
"Trust between you and your students and between your students and their peers sets the stage for empowerment. Trust is created by a deliberate focus on our credibility and the 13 Behaviors of High Trust, both of which have been proven to be predictive of trust in an organization. Trust affects our ability to do everything else in the classroom."
- Empowering Instruction Field Guide page 22 -
Over the last month, I have reviewed the 13 trust behaviors in the S'more each week. In October, I asked each of you to reflect on the levels of trust in your classrooms. Remember, in order to truly empower students to be leaders of their own learning, you have to know where you stand with trust in your classroom and with your students. Take time before you leave for the break to reflect on the level of trust in your classrooms. This will require straight talk...with yourself...List each student in your classroom. On a scale from 1-10 , with 1 being "a little" to 10 being "a lot", ask yourself:
- How much do I trust this student?
- How much does this student trust me?
- How much does this student trust peers?
- How much do peers trust this student?
Total each question, and divide each by the total number of students for an average trust level.
Reflect:
- How does this compare to the results I had in October?
- How will you build trust where there is low trust?
- Which of the 13 Trust Behaviors might help you most right now? Which has the greatest leverage with the students you have the lowest levels of trust?
If you would like to organize your reflection, make a copy of the Google Doc linked here:
We will reflect on this when we return from break in January. Take the time now to be prepared in January.
January Positive Parent Phone Calls:
We began the school year with the expectation that each teacher would make a positive parent phone call to parents by the end of September. We will begin the second semester with the same proactive approach to making connections to support student achievement. All classroom teachers will make a positive parent phone call for each student by Friday, January 25. Specials teachers will call 15 - 20 parents (please coordinate so that you are not calling the same parents). SPED/Dyslexia/Etc. will call all parents. This is a quick call to share something positive about their child. This is not intended to be a parent conference. If you plan this out, it could be as few as 3-6 calls per week depending on the size of your class. Staff will keep a log to track their calls. Thank you in advance for investing this time into supporting student achievement and building relationships between the home and school.
3rd Grading Period Leadership Assembly Preparation:
Please make sure you have completed these tasks:
Star Leader 3rd Grading Period: https://goo.gl/forms/eGT9HCuhy2UIvUnT2
#7HillsLEADS...A Challenge:
What story will you tell this week? Will you share how you are IGNITING student learning? Will you share how you are encouraging students to INVESTIGATE? Will you share how you are INVITING connections? So many GREAT things happening in our classrooms! We have to tell our story or someone else will!
Kicking Off a Souper January at Seven Hills:
It's cold outside! Time to warm up and fill our tummies with some delicious soup! On Tuesday, January 8th, we are asking that all grade levels get together and as a team bring 1-2 crock pots full of some yummy soup and sides/toppings to go with your soup. What a fabulous way to come back from Winter Break!
Date: 01/08/2019 (Tue.)Habit Focus of the Week: Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit Huddle Connection:
"The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it."
-DR. STEPHEN R. COVEY
Habit 1 Connection:
Proactive people focus their efforts on the Circle of Influence. Their energy is positive, enlarging, and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts on the Circle of Concern. The negative energy generated by that focus causes the Circle of Influence to shrink. Think about this...How much energy do you spend on things you cannot control? Is your Circle of Influence growing or shrinking? Try this...Think about a problem or opportunity you have right now. Make a list of everything you can do within your Circle of Influence. If something is within your Circle of Concern, let it go.
- Circle of Influence: includes those things we can affect directly.
- Circle of Concern: includes those things we worry about, but over which we have no control.
Habit 1 Family Connections:
We had a good response rate to the family packets that were sent home the last cycle, and we will continue these again this cycle. This cycle, we will connect a picture book to the home activities each week, and there will be a video read aloud shared with parents. Copies of the packets for the first week will be in mailboxes by Tuesday.
Please make sure you are turning in the packets as they are finished, and that they have a first and last name on them.
Campus and District Announcements and Updates:
Check out the latest editions of the C&I Newsletters: https://www.smore.com/j8n9q
Duty...Please make sure you are on time to all duty assignments.
Habit Huddle: teachers and staff without homeroom classes, please make sure you are going to your assigned classrooms for Habit Huddle every day.
Recess Monitoring: Staff on duty at recess MUST actively monitor all areas of the playground. One staff member needs to be monitoring the field and another needs to be monitoring the playground and blacktop. The best places to stand are down by the backstop, between the chickens and the backstop, and at the top of the hill on the backside of the playground. If you have three staff members, the third staff member can stand on the blacktop side of the playground. Thank you for your active monitoring to ensure student safety.
Reminder to let Lighthouse Team know what service project your grade level has chosen. https://goo.gl/forms/Q9hfGZfBhwg4VKfM2
- Please remember to check ride changes every day in the google folder. We add changes until 2:45 when the bell rings.
Save the Date:
Note:
- Grade Level and Classroom Scoreboards need to be updated, students need WIGs for the 4th grading period with meaningful and high leverage lead measures this week.
- What new student writing can be added to writing boards?
Monday, January 7:
- Staff Professional Learning Day, Paraprofessionals may use comp time
- 8:00 - 4:00
- Staff may dress comfortably for the day
Tuesday, January 8:
- First day of 2nd Semester
- Soup Lunch (see sign-ups)
Wednesday, January 9:
- Staff may wear jeans with school spirit shirt as part of fundraising incentive
Thursday, January 10:
- Kim off campus at DLT
- Leadership Teams Meeting, 3:30
- Sharpen the Saw Clubs Round 1 Final Meeting
- Sharpen the Saw Club Schedule
Friday, January 11:
- Leadership Assemblies (K-2 at 8:00, 3-5 8:30) Specials and 5th Grade will need to switch conference periods
- College Colors Day for Students and Staff - students and staff wear jeans and college shirts or colors of favorite college - please encourage students to participate as a way to begin with the end in mind and plan for future success!
Happy Birthday to You:
Meghan Tucker 1/12