Pam's Pages
Week of April 17 - 21
We believe that the combined efforts of staff, parents and students are required to create an atmosphere of community that is necessary to ensure the success of every student.
This Week at MWE
T-TESS Conferences
I have scheduled 6 end of the year conferences this week, and Mrs. Barry has scheduled 9 this week. I will be sitting in with Lynne on all of the end of the year conferences. Be sure to upload your T-TESS evidence for Domain IV and for your goal.
Parent Conferences
There have been 19 requests, so far, for conferences about next year's class placement, and Shirley is in the process of scheduling those this week and next week.
Off campus Meetings
So far, I have 2 meetings this week off campus. One is Wednesday morning and the other one is Thursday afternoon.
Wednesday afternoon
This Wednesday afternoon meeting will be for Team Leaders.
Other
I meet with my Coach this week (Scott VanBeck) and also have ARDs and Staffings.
April itsLearning Challenge
Class Creator
Please remember to fill out the information for your classes in Class Creator.
This information is due by the end of the month.
After you have input your information, Lynne and I will input parent information. The computer will make classes for the next year. You will have a chance to look at and review your current class as well as the class coming to you.
Summer School
Summer school information is being sent home this week for students who qualify. The teacher's forms are due today and the deadline for registration is coming up next week.
How to Survive and Thrive as the School Year Ends
The information below contains exceprts from the article:
60 Ways to Survive & Thrive as the School Year Ends by Julia G. Thompson
http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/4024-60-ways-to-survive-thrive-as-the-school-year-ends
As the end of the school year approaches, students of all ages and ability levels become increasingly restless and distracted. Even the most studious scholars seem to lose interest in material that fascinated them just a few weeks ago. The result can be enormous frustration for the teachers of these fidgety and disengaged students.
The list below just may help you resolve to end the school year with the best and most professional attitude possible.
The first part of this list suggests some attitudes that may remind you of coping skills you may have forgotten. The second part contains some useful strategies that you may have forgotten, but that can energize your teaching and make school more enjoyable and productive for your students and yourself.
Helpful Attitudes
Spend your energy on large problems first and a lot less of your energy for the small ones. Choose to deal with the problems that will give you the greatest benefit right away.
Learn to see problems as challenges that you can overcome.
Don’t underestimate your students. They are capable of much more than you think they are.
Avoid negative people. Better yet, try not to be one of those negative people you are supposed to avoid.
Being optimistic doesn’t mean that you don’t have problems. A positive attitude means that you are working on a solution.
Make sure you have something fun to look forward to. Reward yourself when you achieve a goal.
Discard something you’re doing that is not productive. Figure out how to do just one thing more efficiently.
Practice deep breathing. You’ll be glad you know how to calm yourself when a student is defiant, disrespectful, or just cranky.
Make it your goal that every student will leave your class with a positive attitude every day.
Use your strengths. Focus on your positive attributes to maximize the potential for success in your classroom.
Try Some Strategies You May Have Forgotten
Change the pace. Try three new activities this week.
Break large tasks into small, manageable ones.
Plan to ignore the small stuff.
Get to work a little early and stay a little late.
Stop trying to rely on your memory! You have too much to do to recall everything. Write it down in an organized fashion.
Be sure to plan for the last few minutes of class.
Empower your students by designing assignments that allow for limited student options. Give them innocuous choices such as the even or odd problems, essay topics, group tasks, or the best day to take a test.
At the end of a lesson, encourage reflection (and positive attitudes) by asking students to tell you what went well during class.
When students are engaged in learning new material, periodically ask them to stop and write about these three topics: what they think about the subject so far, what they understand about the subject, and any questions they still may have.
Lower your voice. Your students will be more likely to lower theirs than if you shout.
Increase the frequency of the positive recognition you give students.
Display student work. Rewarding students in this way is worth the time it takes to arrange it.
Avoid acting in anger no matter how frustrated you feel. Manage the discipline problems in your class with a problem-solving approach instead.
Use your student’s competitive instincts to your advantage. Create teams to compete against other teams. Best of all, challenge your students to compete against themselves by working to improve their own best performance.
Assign a set of questions to a group of students. Each student selects one question and becomes the expert about it. They can share with the entire class or with teams.
Your part of the workload should not always be greater than your students’ part. Hold them accountable for setting goals, monitoring their own progress, and self-evaluation.
Schedule in some fun every day—for you and for your students. Smile together and misbehavior will decrease.