To Do:

• As you know, any student who opts out of taking SBAC this spring will be considered a “does not meet” for reporting purposes. One question we are trying to answer, and creating possible solutions for, is “Why are parents opting their child out of testing?”  If you have heard any parents provide you with their reasoning, would you please send me a quick email with bullet points (vs. paragraphs) as to what you are being told? Thanks in advance!

This and that:

• Beginning this week, I am going to break down an article from Cult of Pedagogy (Feb. 20, 2016), 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Unmotivated Students, by author Jennifer Gonzalez. As a teacher I never worked in a school that didn’t provide the opportunity to educate a handful (or more) of unmotivated students. As an administrator there was always one or more unmotivated (to change, to try new things, etc.) educators. With this in mind, I found this article to be a good point of reflection into my own practice. (I am not trying to subtle communicate that one or more of you is “unmotivated” – because you aren’t!) Each week I am going to share one of the questions Jennifer advocates we ask ourselves regarding unmotivated learners, as well as her reflection of how she would rate herself as a teacher, and some suggestions for how to improve. Today, however, I am going to provide you with an overview of the 5 Questions to Ask Yourself and the caution to not blame others for the unmotivated youth.
• Here are links to documents shared this week that you may need to refer back to later this year: BLS ALO Options, SPED Discipline Flowchart, supporting SPED students with challenging behavior flowchart, and SPED Discipline Procedures.
• Also shared this week was our district’s Equity Policy.

Reminders:

• Please make sure your staff are wearing the district-issued ID badge (and not ID created from a different source). If a new district ID badge is needed, our HR office can provide that. Please give them a call if you have a question about how to get a new one/replacement badge.
• If you haven’t already, please make sure your staff is aware of the start time change for next year. Here is the Start Time Executive Summary that Shay referenced at our Leadership meeting this past Monday if you’d like to have some additional details. (Please don’t share this document with staff until after the district provides a press release to the media at the school board meeting this Tuesday night.) As you can guess, the reactions from staff first hearing about his has been mixed… just like the 60/40% (60% in favor) input we received via survey from staff last spring indicated. Because you will very likely have folks with strong feelings for and against this change within your building, think about how you will respond to follow-up conversations with your staff.
• MAC survey day is next Thursday, Oct. 11.
• Misty Groom is conducting a STAS training on Friday, Oct. 12, beginning at 1:00 at the HDESD.  Please email Misty if you or someone in your building is wanting to attend.