McDES Friday's Flyer
SOARing to EXCELLENCE
HAPPY BUS DRIVER APPRECIATON WEEK !!
AND ALL THE OTHER BUS DRIVERS AND ASSISTANTS WHO HELP OUT!!
FEBRUARY 13-17
Monday 2/13
Lesson Plans Due by 8 am in Google Classroom
Beth Goude in the building
Data Day (Grades Kindergarten, 4th, and 1st Grade)
7:40-9:40 1st Grade
9:50-11:50 4th Grade
12:10-2:10 Kindergarten
Tuesday 2/14
WEAR RED/VALENTINE'S DAY
WIDA Testing
Individual Planning @2:30
Wednesday 2/15
1/2 day for Students
Dismissal @ 11 am
LETRS TRAINING 11:30-2:30
Dessert Bar Provided by Kindergarten and 1st Grade
Thursday 2/16
3rd Quarter Interims Go Home
WIDA Testing
Friday 2/17
WEAR RED
Kid Heart Challenge
Curriculum and Instruction Spotlight for the Week
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
13 STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Building positive relationships with your students helps them feel as though they can come to you with questions on assignments or when they're facing a challenge. Many of them may appreciate knowing they have someone they can trust and to whom they can confide. You can build rapport with your students by taking time to interact with them individually, listening to their comments or concerns and showing enthusiasm when they come to you to share their experiences and stories.
2. Arrange the Physical Environment
The physical environment of a classroom provides a structure for students, which can decrease stress levels and help them feel more comfortable in class. Consider organizing your classroom by assigning seats to students, establishing routines for passing out and collecting work and ensuring all desks face the front of the room so they can see the board.
Another important aspect of the physical environment is the classroom aesthetic. You may add some extra soft lighting, hang some paintings or photos and add some of your own personal flair to your room. Students may be able to get a better understanding of your personality or preferences based on the visuals in your classroom and you can set the tone based on your classroom decor.
3. Set High Expectations
It's important to set high academic expectations for your students early in the school year. Explain your expectations by letting them know you're going to do your best to help them learn and are always available if they need assistance, but in return, you expect them to do their best on their work.
It's beneficial to elaborate on your grading policy so they understand what you permit in terms of grading. For example, you can tell them if you allow them to redo tests if they didn't do well the first time or how much time you permit them to turn in late work.
4. Provide Positive Reinforcements
Providing positive reinforcement helps to promote a strong classroom culture. One method of positive reinforcement is through providing extrinsic motivators. Extrinsic motivators are external factors that motivate students to behave positively, such as giving students candy for doing well on a test or allowing them five minutes of free time at the end of class. Providing students with public praise is also a good extrinsic motivator. You can compliment a student's behavior or academic performance in front of their classmates or take the time to contact their parents and let them know the positive behaviors their child has been exhibiting.
5. Be Open to Feedback
Throughout the school year, teachers usually provide a lot of feedback regarding students' work and behavior. It's beneficial to consider asking for feedback from your students as well. Receiving feedback from your learners about how you manage your class, the content you're teaching and your general mannerisms can give you insight into what you're doing well and how you can improve. In addition, many students appreciate when you value their opinion, which can strengthen your positive classroom environment.
6. Encourage Collaboration
Collaboration among students can lead to a more engaged class of students. In order to foster collaboration that's productive, consider clarifying the expectations and reasons for collaboration before you allow them to work in groups or pairs. It's beneficial for them to understand their objective and why they're working together. You may want to create groups based on the different skills and interest levels of each group's members so that all students working together can contribute to the overall objective of the assignment or project.
7. Use Current Curriculum and Teaching Methods
Most students find learning more engaging and easier to comprehend when the curriculum and lessons are relevant to them. They can become more emotionally invested in the content they're learning if they understand how they're connected to it culturally, socially and personally. As the school year progresses and you begin to learn more about each individual student, you can adapt your teaching methods or strategies to make the curriculum more meaningful to them.
8. Be There for Them
A simple, yet effective component of creating a positive classroom environment is to provide support for your students when they need it. Some students face academic challenges or need someone to talk to about a personal situation they're handling at home. With this, students often appreciate having someone they can trust listen to them and give advice when appropriate. It reassures many students to know they have someone that listens to them and comforts them.
9. Give Students a Voice and a Choice
When students feel their opinion matters, they're more likely to share during class discussions. Promoting student empowerment begins with providing opportunities for students to share their opinions, take risks and decide how they learn best. This builds self-confidence, which supports a more positive learning environment.
Student-centered learning focuses on allowing learners to share in class decisions and gives them more opportunities to learn in a way that feels most comfortable to them. Offering them more choices in how they learn helps them to be involved in decisions that impact their learning. If they feel that their input matters, they may seem more connected and put in greater effort into their classwork.
10. Establish a Routine
A lot of students thrive on having a dependable daily routine in some aspects of their lives. Knowing what to expect when they enter your classroom can create a sense of normalcy for students. Classroom routines can consist of starting each day with a bell ringer, reviewing the day's objectives or ending each class with an exit ticket.
You may also consider doing the same activities on the same day each week. For example, you can go to the library to use technology every Tuesday and have a reading day in class each Friday. Establishing a routine allows students to know what to expect each day when they enter your classroom.
11. Create Rules and Expectations
Setting guidelines such as classroom rules and expectations is an important way to let students know what's acceptable behavior. If your students are old enough, you may consider letting them discuss one or two rules they want to add to the classroom rules so they feel they have input on an important aspect of your class.
Setting expectations helps maintain the daily structure of your classroom and can aid significantly with classroom management. When students know that you intend to follow through with consequences if they disobey your rules and expectations, they tend to behave more positively.
12. Review Classroom Procedures
Creating classroom procedures can be a beneficial way to create a routine and help establish a pattern of predictability for your students. Procedures can be academic, such as how you collect student work or grade their assignments. They can also be more general routines such as how to come into your classroom, what materials they need for your class or when they can use the restroom.
13. Provide Flexibility
While it's beneficial to provide students with routines and procedures, it's important to know when to be flexible with your expectations. Adjusting your expectations to each situation that arises gives students the opportunity to see that you can encounter challenging situations and provide them and yourself with flexibility if needed. You can be flexible during unexpected situations such as when a student has a crisis and needs to use their phone to call a parent, in case of a fire drill or if you need to revise a rule for one class because it doesn't apply to their behavior.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY~TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Friendly Reminders and Information
- Make sure lesson plans and weekly communication logs are turned in by 9 am Tuesday to Google Classroom.
- Take attendance daily.
- Remember to check your email in the morning before school, during your planning, and afterschool.
- Please make sure to accurately record your transportation log in the afternoon and place in your mailbox before you leave.
- Remember to take attendance daily in PowerSchool.
- Please remember to have all Purpose Kidz to the bus ramp at 2:00 pm daily.
- Bus Driver Appreciation cards are due to Ms. A. Smith by the end of the day Wednesday, February 15.
Coming Up
2/21 DIBELS Progress Monitoring Red/Green WIDA Testing/Individual Data Chats/Committee Meetings 2:30
2/22 Kara Johnson Everyday Math PD/Cycle 3 ADEPT Ends/ADEPT Mentor Meeting/Afterschool Tutoring
2/23 WIDA Testing/Afterschool Tutoring
2/24 Wear Red, White, and Blue
2/27 DIBELS Progress Monitoring for Yellow
2/28 Wear Red and Black/Black History Month Program 8:30 and 9:30/Faculty Meeting 2:30 pm
3/1 Afterschool Tutoring
3/2 Go Green iReady Celebration
3/3 Go Gold iReady Celebration Howard Field Trip 8:30 am
3/6 Classified Evaluations this week
3/8 Afterschool Tutoring
3/9 Afterschool Tutoring
3/15 Classified Evaluations Due /Afterschool Tutoring
3/16 Easter Pictures/Spring Curriculum Night
3/17 Teacher Workday
3/22 1/2 day for Students/135th day of school/LETRS 11:30-2:30/End of 3rd Quarter
3/23 Afterschool Tutoring/Career Day
3/27 Superintendent Art Show
3/29 3rd Quarter Report Cards Go Home/Afterschool Tutoring
3/30 Spring Pictures/Afterschool Tutoring
3/31 3rd Quarter Success Day
4/6 Tech Fair
4/7 No School/Good Friday
4/10-4/14 Spring Break
McDonald Elementary School
Ashley M. Smith, Assistant Principal
Janet Branham, Instructional Coach
Email: amsmith@gcsd.k12.sc.us
Website: https://mce.gcsd.k12.sc.us/
Location: 532 McDonald Road, Georgetown, SC, USA
Phone: 8435273485