The Sky Needs Stars
Nudge: Roberts Middle School Volume 3
Dear Roberts,
If you look around you today, you will see the effects of irresponsibility everywhere. I really want to hit home the point I made on the first day when we came back. What is irresponsibility? Irresponsibility is not taking responsibility for the things you are responsible for! If you don't follow through on your responsibilities, someone else in your life has to pick up the slack. Take for example, if you don’t take care of your health now, eventually someone would have to shoulder the burden of taking care of you later. Neglect washing your dishes long enough and someone else eventually does it.
How does this translate in the school world and culture? Our responsibilities include creating challenging lessons, checking for understanding, analyzing data, and personalizing small group instruction. Our responsibility also stretches into the realm of PLC , cross-curricular collaboration, and vetting common assessment. Whatever our responsibility, what happens when we fail to do it? It is simple, someone in the work family would have to shoulder the burden for the school to thrive.
This year, we have the responsibility of taking on the challenge to develop our incoming 5th graders. They come to us third in reading and dead last in math. We compared all 5th graders scores from last year with our current middle campuses, and this is where Roberts ranks. This is nothing new to us because we dealt with this last year. Although reading is higher this go around, more work needs to be done to get them to MEETS. We have to shoulder the responsibility of pushing our students to the edges of their capabilities. This means Tier 1 instruction cannot be sterile, but instead be engaging and sticky. We have to be intentional about real time data. Then we have to be hyper focused on personalizing small group instruction.
Thank you for a wonderful first week. Continue to remind our student's about classroom and hallway expectation on a daily basis. Students should be able to finish your sentences because they’ve heard it so much. Repeated routines and clearly defined expectations must be a normal standard day in and day out.
Jorly
SUBSTITUTE BINDER:
The following components must be included:
- Current class roster
- Current class seating chart
- Class rules
- Classroom procedures
- Hall Pass Procedures
- Bell schedule
- Lunch Schedule
- Attendance Procedures
- Fire Drill Procedures
- Hallway Practices
- Discourage releasing students from classroom—emergencies only
- Explanation of how to contact the office in case of discipline issue
- Emergency Lesson Plan (should be replaced if utilized)
- Location of Specific Items
- Cautions regarding answer keys, manuals, textbooks, dictionaries
- Location of teacher's editions and exercises
- Name of a 'Buddy Teacher' for questions (should be someone in the vicinity of room)
--Lessons for a substitute should be engaging, yet “self-directed”. Lesson should also be relevant to what you are teaching. OVER PLAN Sub Lessons--bell to bell instruction. You should go over expectations with your students at the beginning of the year and give reminders especially before an absence.
Questions for reflection:
- Folder easily accessible?
- Lesson is a close to self-directed as possible?
- Lesson relevant?
- Bell to bell lesson?
- All information current?
Touchdown Tuesdays are COMING!
Touchdown Tuesdays begin 9/4 and will end 1/29 (Tuesday before Super Bowl). If you pay $20, you may wear an appropriate football shirt or jersey with jeans on Tuesdays.
Proceeds will go towards Courtesy/Social Committee.
Please pay Elsa Chiachio if you are interested.
Poem Written by Jennifer Sauceda
We love our RMS Teachers!!!
Jumping right in with SMALL GROUP!
Shannon already closing the GAP!
Jessica working 1:1
Kaylie and Ashlie pulling small groups in Math!
Susie incorporating small group
Brenda diving in!
RMS Week at a Glance
Monday
- Lunch Detentions can be assigned
Tuesday
- 5th Connect MAP Testing
- Campus Roll-out in Math Classes
- PLC's
2nd Period 5th Traditional PLC - Reading, Sci, Math
3rd Period - Intervention PLC
4th Period - 6th Connect PLC - all contents
5th Period - 6th Traditional PLC - Reading, Math, Sci/SS
- CLT Meeting at 4:15
Wednesday
- 5th Connect Map Testing
Monday
- Labor Day