SCOT NATION: AT A GLANCE
August 28th-September 1st
YES!!!
WOW! Way to Go having students define important words.
YES!!!
School to Prison Pipeline: What's your contribution?
Nancy Hanks was standing in an elevator, her eyes fixed on her cellphone, when the doors opened onto a familiar face. It was one of her former students, a boy she had expelled from the school she led in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods.
She was flooded with fear. What had become of the student’s life? Had her decision helped set him on a path toward failure?
She also was flooded with regret. Why had she kicked him out of school? She could have chosen a different path, and a more courageous one, she said, recalling the encounter in a speech last month in Washington at the 25th anniversary summit for Teach for America.
She urged the other TFA alumni to examine their own contributions to the so-called school-to-prison pipeline, which disproportionately affects students of color and students with disabilities.
Hanks, now a top administrator for the school system in Madison, Wis., addressed more than a thousand people in a huge convention-center hall — a place no one would consider intimate.
But the crowd hushed as she spoke, and soon, some teachers in the crowd were wiping away tears.
“I was nervous about giving this speech because I’m certainly not an expert in this field,” she said in a recent interview. “I know colleagues and professors who are way more well-versed in all of the nuances of this work. But I feel like there are people who are like me, everyday trying to do the right things by kids, and who are confronted with these situations where you have to sometimes make courageous choices that ultimately can impact people for the rest of their lives.”
In Madison, Hanks has played a key role in revamping district-wide discipline policies, replacing the old zero-tolerance approach with an approach built on the conviction that suspension and expulsion don’t solve problems at the root of student misbehavior.
COLLABORATION TIME
We will continue to utilize this time to increase teaching and learning at HP as we move forward as an institution of learning.
Please remember that Collaboration Time is not an additional plan time. We are so fortunate to have this time built into our schedule for PD, PLC's, Data Driven Instruction. This district has invested in this commitment to time to improve instruction. I've only been in one other district that funded a Collaboration Time and they don't do it anymore. With a lean and mean budget it is much more expensive to operate a school with this additional paid time without students. We could increase instructional time if it goes away and increase the number of sections offered and reduce class size. Typically in financially difficult times, it's one of the first things that go away, so we want to make sure we are good stewards of the time afforded us and increase results on our data story. I hope the explanation of why we are consistently meeting on and utilizing these days is essential.
Mark Your Calendar
August 29th-Open House 5:30-730pm Food will be served in the cafeteria from 5:30-6:15pm where parents can also pick up schedules. Mr. Ackerman has already shared the schedule. Please print it and post it and plan accordingly. All practices will be over so that teachers and coaches can attend. Only the coaches who have a competition on the evening of Open House may leave a note on the door, but it is expected that you have a department teacher share your information for your classroom. Please work this out with a colleague.
*If you are unable to attend Open House for any reason, please send Raquel Clark and e-mail so that she is aware. There will be a sign-in sheet on the evening of Open House for all teachers to sign in (cafeteria) and out on in the main office at the conclusion of the evening. Thank you.
GEAR UP Week-September 18th-22nd
Homecoming Week September 25th-29th
September 29th-Professional Development Day & Homecoming
Power of Planning
And surgeons plan their surgeries and proceed with a steady hand
Attorneys defend their clients following much prepartation
And players of chess only make a move after much deliberation
Travelers go on vacation with their maps and proper clothing
So why's it that so teachers speak of lesson plans with loathing?
The fact remains that failing to plan becomes a plan to fail
You're a ship without an anchor, a hammer without a nail
So plan the path so you won't go astray
Know why you're teaching the things that you teach
And reap your rewards from the students you reach.
Taking Attendance
There are about 50 students each day who are dropped off by a parent after 7:55am and they will get a pass from the front window and will be marked tardy by the Para 1A Attendance Clerk. Alas, if students somehow enter in through another entrance or are just tardy to your class, you will be responsible for marking them tardy according to your classroom expectations.
We are running reports and contacting parents, making home visits and assigning consequences based on what is in the computer.
Additionally, please remember that the teacher is the first line of defense when it comes to communication and contact with parents. Parents are less threatened by your contact but more attentive when you call and say, "I wanted Danny to be successful, and although he comes to my class each day, he is coming in 3 minutes late and missing the first instructions of my learning environment. He has a real chance to learn in my class, but his continued tardiness will impact his grade negatively as he is missing bellwork which is graded because it is important to the class. I realize Danny has some habits, and he's doing much better than he did last year according to his previous attendance and tardy report, but I want him to create new habits as we only have 48 minutes of class time each day and 3 minutes daily adds up."
Lastly, if a student is sitting in your room and not on your roster, you must tell them to go to their assigned class. Additionally, you will need to contact their counselor, administrator, and assigned teacher to let them know where the student has been. I know students have words of flattery saying, "Can I just stay in your class? I really like you and your class and not Mrs. Perry's class; we really don't do anything in her class," yet it is necessary to communicate with students accountability for being where they are supposed to be.
Why Does Attendance Matter?
Every school day counts in a child's academic life...
A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn. In this era of increased accountability for states, districts, and schools, the connection between student attendance and learning is being studied more than ever before. As a result, education agencies are asked with increasing frequency to report attendance data in a standard manner to allow comparisons across organizations and jurisdictions.
The primary rationale for high-quality attendance data is the relationship between student attendance and student achievement. Teacher effectiveness is the strongest school-related determinant of student success, but chronic student absence reduces even the best teacher's ability to provide learning opportunities. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. This relationship between attendance and achievement may appear early in a child's school career. A recent study looking at young children found that absenteeism in kindergarten was associated with negative first grade outcomes such as greater absenteeism in subsequent years and lower achievement in reading, math, and general knowledge.
RESEARCH SHOWS THAT ATTENDANCE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
Poor attendance has serious implications for later outcomes as well. High school dropouts have been found to exhibit a history of negative behaviors, including high levels of absenteeism throughout their childhood, at higher rates than high school graduates. These differences in absentee rates were observed as early as kindergarten, and students who eventually dropped out of high school missed significantly more days of school in first grade than their peers who graduated from high school. In eighth grade, this pattern was even more apparent and, by ninth grade, attendance was shown to be a key indicator significantly correlated with high school graduation.
The effects of lost school days build up one absence at a time on individual students. Penalties for students who miss school may unintentionally worsen the situation. The disciplinary response to absenteeism too often includes loss of course credits, detention, and suspension. Any absence, whether excused or not, denies students the opportunity to learn in accordance with the school's instructional program, but students who miss school are sometimes further excluded from learning opportunities as a consequence of chronic absenteeism.
Now that the Newness has Worn Off!
We've noticed as we are trying to keep the halls clear, students are being sent all over the building with passes. I don't want this to become a confrontation with students, but they need to remain in class unless it is essential that they leave the room. Attendance is not just about being at school, but in the classroom.
It will help when the teacher begins when the tardy bell rings and has well planned lessons ready to go to engage students in the learning environment with expectations.
The laminated passes are available in the office for your usage. I would encourage you to help students hold one another to high expectations by only allowing one student out of the classroom at a time with the pass. I am not saying, "Never allow a student to leave the class" but want to make sure we ARE continuously communicating that what's happening in class is essential to their learning, understanding, and success and you want them in class to achieve that success." This is a cultural shift that again, needs to come from each teacher.
Grading
Since Scot Time Teachers will be discussing grade checks with students on Mondays, it is necessary to have current and up to date grades.
GEAR UP Support
GEAR UP Tutors will begin today pushing into classes. We will be focusing on Alg. I and ELA 9 & 10.
What's Going on at HP? Upcoming Events and Activities...
Soccer
8/29 4:00pm
Volleyball Quad
8/31 5:00pm
Football
Freshman
8/31 5:00pm
Varsity at WRHS
9/1 7:00pm
Remember student love, love, love to see their teacher and other significant adults from the school in the stands. Find out what your students are involved in at HP and outside of HP.
Housekeeping
Also, you need to provide an emergency set of plans to Mrs. Clark so that she has them on file in case there is an unplanned absence. It is not her responsibility to get your plans ready, printed, roster to the class, schedule, etc. the morning of the absence. Please be mindful of the workload of all the ladies in each office. Thank you!
Custodial help...please have your last hour of the day class pick up paper off the floor stack chairs where appropriate and place all trashcans near the front door. This will be a great time saver for our night crew.