RIT Brief
Volume 3, Number 3, November 2017
KEA/K-3 Formative Assessment News for the Piedmont-Triad and Northwest Regions
MYTHBUSTERS
Read the following statement. Decide if the statement is a fact or a myth. Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter to see the correct answer.
MYTH or FACT: All first grade classroom teachers in North Carolina will be required to fully implement the K-3 Formative Assessment Process by the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year.
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Your Regional Implementation Team at Work!
We just stepped away for a short break, but you are viewing the workplace/workspace where we met recently to engage in a reflection/planning session. And yes, there’s always food! The Piedmont-Triad and Northwest Regional Implementation Team meets face-to-face at least twice each month for a full day to identify and discuss both the successes and the needs of the districts within the Piedmont-Triad and Northwest Regions. This information is gleaned from the feedback received at regional/district meetings and from individuals who reach out to the consultants. This feedback is critical to the team’s ability to celebrate and share success stories and to provide effective evidence-based support to District Implementation Teams. The support may come in the form of direct conversations with district point people, webinars, GoTo meetings or newly created DIT resources. Agendas for the Fall and Spring Regional Meetings are specifically designed with districts’ successes and needs in mind.
The team also works intentionally to connect districts with each other as a Community of Practice. Districts are so willing to share their practices with each other and to learn from each other. Check out the the DIT Community of Practice Page on the Wiki.
We feel most privileged to work with and support the teachers, coaches, and administrators in all thirty school districts in the Piedmont-Triad and Northwest Regions as they continue to perfect and grow in their use of the KEA Formative Assessment Process.
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Quick Guide Close-ups!
Quick Guide: Emotion Regulation
Emotion Regulation: Children understand that they have a choice in expressing their emotions and that expressing their emotions has external effects for themselves and others. Children understand that external support can be used to help regulate the experience and expression of emotions.
Learning to regulate one’s emotions involves learning skills over time that are essential for doing well in school and in relationships. Children need support to learn to appropriately express and regulate emotions and use these strategies over time. Teachers can use different types of tools which help children take the time they need to calm down and gain self-control.
Calm Down Tools
A great example of a calm down tool is a Calm Down Bottle. It can be homemade by adding glitter glue, warm water, and regular glitter to a bottle with a leak-proof lid. Then, students can use the calm down bottle as a hands-on strategy for regulating emotions
by shaking up the bottle and watching the glitter settle to the bottom as a strategy to support regulating their emotions. Children will require practice to learn to use a tool like this, and teachers can model and demonstrate in-the-moment and over time to promote successful use. Click HERE to see a YouTube demonstration about how to make a Calm Down Bottle.
To learn more about Emotion Regulation click HERE for the K-3 Emotion Regulation Quick Guide.
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UPCOMING WEBINARS IN NOVEMBER!
- KEEP CALM and Assist Teachers with Making and Finalizing Status Summaries is scheduled for Thurday, November 2, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. This session will inform administrators and coaches how to create a report for determining which teachers may need assistance in completing their Status Summaries. Participants will learn how to filter information and will get tips for supporting a teacher if report shows that 100% is not completed. Register HERE.
- KEEP CALM and Finalize Status Summaries is scheduled for Thursday, November 9, 2017 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Teachers have been adding evidences and making learning status determinations throughout the first 60 days. Now it's time for teachers to use their professional knowledge to review all the learning statuses and make final Status Summary determinations. This webinar will walk teachers through the steps for creating a Status Summary and will answer questions from the field. Register HERE.