This and That:

• Please remember to update your staffing plans in Google Doc if/when you make adjustments to your staffing appropriations.
• I have heard many times this year (during school visits or various meetings) that there is a need for additional support for those students who are struggling with mental health issues – and that the percentage of students struggling with these types of issues seem to be on the rise.  With that in mind, I wanted to highlight an one day training that will be offered free of charge to BLS employees on August 24.  The training is called Youth Mental Health First Aid and I have heard strong endorsements from those who have received this training.  Click on the link or find the flyer within the PD documents in this blog for additional information.  Because only 30 slots are available (and 10 have already signed up as of this morning) I’d encourage any that are interested to sign up in PD Place soon.
• I’m sure you will be aware of this next fall without me saying anything, but I wanted to remind you that all of your math teachers and 2/3 of your ELA teachers will be teaching new curriculum (Eureka and Writing Workshop/Lucy Calkins respectively) – in addition to the NGSS for science.  They may likely need your support, guidance, knowledge of these materials and listening ear when issues or concerns arise.  Please let me know if you have issues emerge within your building as I’d love to work through those before the possibility of frustration settling in.
• My family will be traveling to Germany this summer with my sister and her husband – and our departure is just around the corner!  We have never been to Europe before and have been saving (and my sister planning) for a few years now.  Maybe those two years of German in HS will finally pay off!  We fly out of PDX on June 21 and return on July 10.  If you have any anticipated needs during that stretch please let me know in the coming days as I will have limited at best communication availability during that time.
• (The rest of “This and That” is a repeat from last week.  If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to read this article.  If you have already read it, then I am not adding to your reading this week!)  A May article out of The Atlantic magazine, How Kids Learn Resilience by Paul Tough is definitely worth reading.  An excerpt was highlighted in a recent Marshall Memo, but it did not include the entire article. Mr. Tough has packed this article full of golden nuggets that you will want to reflect upon, share with others (e.g. ICCL or other leadership teams), save for later, or begin implementing right away as you have need in your building. Don’t be in a hurry to get through the pages, but rather enjoy the journey of the message.  This message includes topics such as: academic achievement gap, how to teach grit, toxic stress, executive functions, ACE score, zero tolerance, behaviorism, non-cognitive ability, classroom environment, acting gritty, mind-sets, EL Education, and more.  Here is an excerpt from page 16:

  They identified three key human needs—our need for competence, our need for autonomy, and our need for relatedness, meaning personal connection—and they posited that intrinsic motivation can be sustained only when we feel that those needs are being satisfied.

  In their writing on education, Deci and Ryan acknowledge that many of the tasks that teachers ask students to complete each day are not inherently fun or satisfying; learning anything, be it painting or computer programming or algebra, involves a lot of repetitive practice. It is at these moments, they write, that extrinsic motivation becomes important: when tasks must be performed not for the inherent satisfaction of completing them, but for some separate outcome. When teachers are able to create an environment that fosters competence, autonomy, and relatedness, Deci and Ryan say, students are much more likely to feel motivated to do that hard work.

  The problem is that when disadvantaged children run into trouble in school, either academically or behaviorally, most schools respond by imposing more control on them, not less. This diminishes their fragile sense of autonomy.  As these students fall behind their peers academically, they feel less and less competent. And if their relationships with their teachers are wary or even contentious, they are less likely to experience the kind of relatedness that Deci and Ryan describe as being so powerfully motivating for young people in the classroom. Once students reach that point, no collection of material incentives or punishments is going to motivate them, at least not in a deep or sustained way.

Reminders:

• Wednesday, June 15, is a regular length day (non early release).  The last day for students, Thursday, June 16, is an early release day – with students dismissed at the normal SIW time. If you haven’t already, please begin communicating this with your parents/community.
• Friday, June 17, is a staff work day and last day for certified folks.  (Based on job title, classified employees may/may not have this as a work day.)
• We will be having our end of year Leadership BBQ on Monday, June 20 at noon here at the Ed Center.