Congratulations on your first full week; it was a great one! Sorry this is not as concise as I would like but I am hoping the messages still make sense.
Emergency Drills
Just a reminder that I have posted the first four drills on the staff calendar to provide some prior notice to prepare and train our younger students. The time indicated on the calendar is a target time and I will do my best to stick to that time, but please be aware there may be circumstances that cause us to delay from that posted time. Also, remember these drills are practice opportunities so if something does not go as planned simply use it as a learning opportunity.
The drill today was incredibly smooth so I really appreciate all the work you did with the students ahead of time to respond so well.
Daily Schedule
Things are already running much more smoothly in terms of recess and cafeteria flow, so thank you for your patience, flexibility and willingness to adjust as needed. I posted recess Supervision Schedule (framed in orange) in the staff room and by the back two doors for added reminders of who needs to be where and when. I also added a cafeteria-only schedule to help identify when different classes are in the cafeteria. I hope that helps. From outside the bells we have in place are extremely helpful, so I think we struck a good balance. The visual cards for a few of the transitions are making it much easier to move the right groups in the right direction.
SIW Recap and Looking Forward
I want to thank Misha and Becky for their thoughtful preparation for this past SIW. I really appreciate them sharing their own experiences as growth opportunity for us all. I was eavesdropping a little on a few of the conversations I really enjoyed listening to the math talk that clearly intends to benefit our students. I also want to acknowledge our own practice of growth mindset thinking. It’s one thing to say the messages, but it is another thing altogether to put it into practice and model. Most of us, if not all of us, were probably raised and educated with more of fixed-mindset setting as this was the dominant thinking behind most schooling for decades. While the ideas you are and will continue to explore with growth mindset work probably make sense easily in theory, they become more challenging as you put them into practice. Challenge yourself to examine your practices with students to identify the messages they are receiving. Are they hearing a focus on growth from you? Are their mistakes truly celebrated and used for learning? Do they know that you know they can do it? You will find yourself struggling often with your own thinking as your brain moves back and forth between the fixed and growth mindset. It is important to acknowledge it and be ready to combat it when it happens.
SIW next week – Kindergarten teachers will be attending a meeting at Pine Ridge Library to discuss Oregon Early Learning Guidelines and the training plan for the year. For the rest of us we will be here at the school and we would like you to pick up where you left off this past Wednesday. Based on the feedback you provided it would be a good use of time expand a little on the multiple entry points and then we break right into grade levels and get to work. More information on the district required SIWs will be coming out next week, so stay tuned for that plan.
For a little mathematical inspiration on connections watch this video from Jo Boaler. I really like this because the concept of connections has several implications not only for math, but learning in general.
Things to Celebrate
I popped in and out of classe over the past few days and witnessed some great learning.
- I enjoyed seeing the many opportunities for brain breaks provided for students. You are reading your students incredibly well and not only providing the break they need, but priming those brains to learn more effectively. Your awareness and responsiveness will improve their own self-awareness and their own ability to know how they can learn best. It is a huge investment in time, but it will pay off.
- I also noticed a very dominant strategy of focussing and calling out the positive behaviors rather than singling out the problematic behaviors. That is so challenging to do when all you want to do is say, “please stop talking…” however I witnessed some really powerful moments as students responded to the positive behavior of others and immediately did their best to mimic what was praised.
- The last thing I want to celebrate are the sibling interactions I am lucky enough to witness at lunch and recess time. I love the way our older brothers and sisters look out for their younger siblings and I think it is such a special thing. I wish I had taken some photos to share, but you take a moment to imagine our little friend Henry walking his sister, Emma around the playground hand in hand as he showed her the lay of the land; it was quite the sight to see.
Thank You
Kudos to both Kerin and Victoria for adjusting to the the new cafeteria flow so quickly. I’ve also been fortunate enough to watch them connect with our kids in really positive ways that even resulted in some Kindness Counts Coupons. It’s not a new thing, but it’s still fun to witness.
They may not be included on this weekly update, but I feel compelled to acknowledge both Julie Walker and Lindsley Gerig for their time troubleshooting the Connect Ed issues. I certainly appreciate their support and I am fairly certain you do too. There’s a card in the staff room for them if you would like to write a quick note.
Easy CBM
Please remember to set aside some time to complete the easy CBM assessment with your students. The window closes on Friday, October 6th. Please let me know if I can help with the testing program in any way and thank you for taking the time to complete it.
OMSI Opportunities
I met with a representative from OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and she shared a variety of different programs. If you are interested in seeing if one of these programs would fit in with a Storyline or if you are just interested in them, please let me know and I will share what I have.
Click below for quick look at the staff calendar;
Thank you for everything you do! Have a great weekend.
Brian