Putting Data On The Why Axis

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Putting Data On The Why Axis —

Data Meetings are great, but I am seeing that we might not need them every week. As teams we need to look at Common Assessments and make sure everyone is on the same page with lessons. After Annette came and I debriefed with her she loved that she was able to meet with each teacher and talk about the good things they were doing in their classes. I proposed an idea to Kim about meeting with teachers on data day for 3 of the weeks a month and then have a monthly data day to discuss assessments, Team data, WIN time needs and changes, and work with Common Assessments.

The way it would work is I would meet with 2 teachers each week for about 15-20 minutes and discuss what is working and what challenges you might have. If you would like me to come in and take some data for you we will discuss what data I take and discuss next steps after takin gate data. I would meet with EYE teachers each week for the three weeks and veteran teachers once a month, unless you want to meet more.

During Thursday data time please use this time to meet with your team members and discuss lessons and assessments that are coming up. There will be one team member missing for 20 minutes, but you can use this time effectively to plan together and prepare for upcoming lessons and assessments. We will work out a schedule this coming week. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Quote I’m pondering —

“To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated.” ― James P. Carse

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Oct. 5 - Teacher Training Day Early Out 1:15 Mon. Oct. 5 - No Specials Tue. Oct 6 - PD during Specials Wed. Oct 7 - TAT 3rd Grade 8:00am Wed. Oct 7 - PTA Walk to School Day	Wed. Oct 14 - TAT 2nd Grade 8:00am Thu.-Fri. Oct. 15-16: Fall Break (No School)
October 30: Halloween Parade

What I’m Learning about Google Chrome This Week —

Master Chrome OS With These Chromebook Keyboard Shortcuts

I love shortcuts on my computer. I use them all the time. Here are a few that might help you as you work your way through using Chromebooks with your students. One that I don’t tell students about but use often is Ctrl+Shift+T. This will reopen the last tab that was closed on Google Chrome. Not sure if a student just closed a tab they should not have been looking at? Ctrl+Shift+T them! You can also Ctrl+Shift+T multiple times to see more that were closed!

Video I am Watching This Week—

Student For A Day

What would it be like to be a student in our class for a day? What would we learn? Would it be what we think it would be like? A couple high school teachers found out. What would this look like in elementary school?

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Annette Is Coming! Annette Is Coming!

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Annette Is Coming! Annette Is Coming! —

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be days with Annette Brinkman. Monday and Tuesday will be observations. Annette, Kim, ad I will be coming to your classroom and takin data for you to look at. It will be about your students ad not about you. From that data Annette will have  20 minute Debriefing sessions on Wednesday where she will coach you through the data. That is a great time to ask questions. Annette and you will work on a goal to work on over the next month or two. This is partly for Kim and I as she models coaching to help us as we work on coaching this year. So we will be looking at what we will be doing on the coaching end as we meet with her at the end of each day. We are all learning from her. 

Note: The District Foundation Golf Tournament was Friday. Start looking at what you would like to write a grant for from the foundation. It is usually a great for $500 or less. Everyone should write one. They usually fill most of those that ask.

2nd Note: My son did his DSU education observation with a student I had in 4th Grade. Can you say gut punch? Any have a wheelchair?

Quote I’m pondering —

“It is amateurs who have one big bright beautiful idea that they can never abandon. Professionals know that they have to produce theory after theory before they are likely to hit the jackpot.” ― Francis Crick

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Monday Sept.28 - Show PTA Reflections Video from email on 24th. Mon. Sept. 28-29 - Annette Brinkman observations Tues. Sept. 29 - K-1 Annette PD 1-3:30 Wed. Sept. 30 - Observation Debriefing	Mon. Oct. 5 - Teacher Training Day Early Out 1:15
October 15-16: Fall Break

What I’m Learning about Google Slides This Week —

Game Changer – Add a Feedback Slide

I did not know that using Google Slides would have so much more impact than just a Goole Doc. Imagine using video on an assignment page. Wow! And to assign a specific slide to s specific student? Wow! Wow!

What Math Strategies I’m Learning about This Week—

Splat!

An interactive number sense strategy that can be used on a computer or on paper. Students might like the computer one.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Progress Monitoring

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Progress Monitoring —

We are starting Progress Monitoring(PM) next Monday. This week we will go oversaw to Progress Monitor and put our groups together. If we have time we will set our Pathways Goals in mClass. The reason we do Progress Monitoring is to see the progress of our students, but to also see what is workin and what needs adjusting. This is an important part of our WI time. We will PM the skills the students are working on in WIN time and see how they are progressing. We will make the adjustments as we look at these reports each month. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“What is troubling is being average and settling for it.” Adul Gwande

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Sept. 21-25 - Friendship Week	Mon. Sept. 28-29 - Annette Brinkman observations Tues. Sept. 29 - K-1 Anette PD 2-3:30 Wed. Sept. 30 - Observation Debriefing
September 21-25: Start With Hello Week

What I’m Listening and Amazed by This Week —

Marble Machine

I am enamored his 4:30 minute video of the Marble Machine. How do people ever think about doin this?

What I’m Learning about This Week—

The ‘What’ and “Why’ of Social-Emotional Learning

We have opened the Wellness Room and students are able to use its calming effect. We keep track of who goes and when they go to get a sense of a pattern with each student or when there is a need for Amanda to take a little extra time with a student.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Scheduling Is Fun

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Scheduling Is Fun —

I hope the schedules are starting to feel a little easier to follow and that you are getting into the swing of things. Just a reminder that the names on the schedule are home room classes. If you have your partner’s class and they are the homeroom teacher, please make sure you go to their Specials class. We want to make sure the students are getting each special class they need and not doubling up on one they already had. To recap, Check the schedule, look at which homeroom class you have, take your class to the right special. Thats all I have to say about that.

NOTE: I had a request for the parent emails to be sent to the teachers. That will start next Friday. You will get the emails and texts we send home to parents.

Quote I’m pondering —

“The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows — a wall against the wind.”

― Frank Herbert, Dune

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Sept. 7 - Labor Day (No School Tue. Sept. 8 - PD Day - Goal Setting Wed. Sept. 9 - SEP Conferences 4-7pm Thu. Sept. 10 - SEP Conferences 4-7pm	Mon. Sept. 14 - Early Out Teacher Training Day- Red Bird Training 1:30 Mon. Sept. 14 - WIN Time Starts Tues. Sept 15 - Emergency Drill-Shelter in Place Tues. Sept. 15 - Picture Day Thu. Sept. 17 - Egg Drop Build Day Fri. Sept. 18 - Egg Drop Day
September 21-25: Start With Hello Week

What I’m Learning about Google This Week —

Google Contacts

Click on the link above and you’ll see something I haven’t accessed for a while. The frequently contacted will tell you who you have emailed the most. I wanted to know whom I’ve emailed most often from the inboxes. I am cleaning out some of my emails and contacts.

What I’m exploring On The Line This Week—

Walt Disney's Chili

Disneyland sent out a few recipes during the World Closure in April and May. I am going camping this weekend and this is our dinner. I like it. My kids like it. Chili over a bowl of rice and topped with sour cream and cheese is a great meal.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

I Have A WIN Dream

 Teachers,

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

I Have A WIN Dream —

As we start WIN time Monday for 1-3 grades and Tuesday for everyone, I want to share my dream with this program. I think we can get the students that need WIN time to about 10% of our school. When this happens we can have the aides pull students into small groups and teachers can work with the rest of the class on some differentiated activities or small group work. Once that happens we just need to maintain it. To do this we need our Tier 1, what everyone needs, lessons to remain great.  Engaging students, differentiating as students need it, reviewing and assessing to see what each student needs and assessing our lessons, and sharing our success criteria. We have the most amazing teachers in our school. We will always have a couple students in each class that can benefit from a WIN time. And hopefully the beginning of each year we will only need WIN time during the first months. Our next step is to start on Math WIN time. That is a plan we will be working on this year. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows — a wall against the wind.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Sept. 14 - Early Out Teacher Training Day- Red Bird Training 1:30 Mon. Sept. 14 - WIN Time Starts Tues. Sept 15 - Emergency Drill-Shelter in Place Tues. Sept. 15 - Picture Day Thu. Sept. 17 - Egg Drop Build Day Fri. Sept. 18 - Egg Drop Day	Sept. 21-25 - Friendship Week
September 21-25: Start With Hello Week

What I’m Learning about what Parents can do with their Students This Week —

Dreme Family Math

Homework. What to do for homework. Can’t be drill and kill because not all parents know how to help when a student gets lost. Can be review questions to see what the students remember from the lesson. How do we include parents on the lesson. Dreme Family Math. Real life activities with a math spin on them. Cooking is what they have right now. Geared to adding, subtracting, and measurement right now, but more are in their way.

What I’m watching On The Line This Week—

Pandas help zoo keeper sweep their pen

This reminds me of teaching a lesson in Kinder or First grade. Or just trying to prep while there are students in the room.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

Diagnostic Grouping Tool

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Diagnostic Grouping Tool —

We will be getting a Spreadsheet that we can use to help group our students. It will take the information from the Diagnostic Assessment Spreadsheet and give us the two skills each student needs to work on.  Hopefully, it will be done this weekend and ready to use next week. I appreciate Steve and Michael Eves for all their hard work on this task. We will adjust it to fit your boards you have created. It will also have links to the lessons for each of the skills they will need taught. 

When we start WIN time we are trying to minimize the movement of students into other classrooms. It will be a challenge, but we will do our best as we make our groups. We will have some of the groups work in the Reading Room with the Aides. They will be cleaning desks sanitizing reading materials. I hope to have a better idea about what this will look like on Tuesday or Wednesday before our Data meeting on Thursday. 

Remember our Data meeting is only 40 minutes so the more you have done as a team before Thursday the easier it will be to assign groups and get the lessons ready to teach.

I really appreciate your patience with all the testing we do at the beginning of the year. Somehow we need to simplify this process.The information is great through and very helpful. We will start progress monitoring the 21st. We will have the grouping sheets ready so you know who to monitor and when. We will review Progress Monitoring the week before we start so everyone knows why and how.

Quote I’m pondering —

"Low self-confidence isn't a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered -- just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better." -- Barrie Davenport

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. August 31 - Annette Brinkman Mon. August 31 - Acadience Testing Gr. K-1 Tue. Sept. 1 - Acadience Testing Gr. 2-3 Wed. Sept. 2 - Acadience Testing Gr. 4-5 Fri. Sept. 4 - Egg Drop Kick-Off Video Presentation	Mon. Sept. 7 - Labor Day (No School Tue. Sept. 8 - WIN Time Starts Wed. Sept. 9 - SEP Conferences 4-7pm Thu. Sept. 10 - SEP Conferences 4-7pm
Sept. 14 - Teacher Training Day (out at 1:15) Red Bird Training Sept. 8 - WIN Time Starts

What I’m Reading This Week —

Less Jargon, More Grace: Using Language That Parents Understand

Since we are sending emails home to parents to let them know of everything that is going on, this is an article that might help parents understand what we are saying better.

What I’m exploring On The Line This Week—

Week of Inspirational Math(s)

Youcubed is a math site built by Jo Boaler from Stanford. You can download specific videos, mindset resources and tasks or you can make a week-long play list of your favorite activities. These playlists can be shared so others can use your design. This is one part of the site.

Thank you for all you do for students. I really enjoy working with all of you. I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Specials, Emergency!

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Specials, Emergency! —

Specials start on Monday. Please be at your Specials on time and stay with your class until they are sat down. Once they are sat, please come to the conference room and we will make sure you are able to get into R4R and My Math/Redbird through Schoology. One we are done you will need to pick up your students from specials. Please be on time so the specialists can clean their rooms for the next grade level. Please help them each day this week of specials.

Our first fire drill is on Friday morning. Yeah. I want to review the procedures so everyone is on the same page. Before the fire drill, please talk with your team to decide which yellow dot you will take your class too. There are 5 yellow dots on the West side of the track for each grade level. I will have grade level numbers on them Monday. Each dot is 6 feet apart. Please keep students an arm away from each other the best you can. Walk it through with your students before Friday.

When the bell rings, line up with masks/shields. We will have the fire drill early so it will be in the 80’s and not the 100’s.  Shut your locked inside door, turn off the lights and make sure your students walk in line to the Yellow Dot. It is not a race. Remember to take a minute to listen outside to make sure everything is ok before you walk out the door. If you are a sweeper, please make sure your team knows who has your class.

At the Yellow Dot, take roll to see if there are any students missing. If your class is all there, tell your team leader everyone is accounted for. If there is a student missing from your class and you know where they are, please tell your team leader and they will text it to Kim/Kelly/Annette/Glen so we can check. If there is a missing student and you are not sure where they are, tell your team leader and they will text that to Kim/Kelly/Annette/Glen to check where that student may be.

Please keep your classes calm and at a low roar so we can talk to the student if needed. You should be able to give them directions quickly, if needed. If you would like to have them sit in their line on the grass after you have taken roll, that is fine.

Please wait until A whistle is blown by an Office member. Once the whistle blows, please walk your students back to class. Boom, there it is. 

Even though it is a drill, we want students to know they are safe and they should treat it as an emergency.

Quote I’m pondering —

"She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails." -- Elizabeth Edwards

What’s Going On —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. August 24 - First Day of Specials Mon. August 24 - Training during Specials Tue. August 25 - Acadience New Assessor Training Wed. August 26 - Acadience Assessor Review Fri. August 28 - Fire Drill	Mon. August 24 - Annette Brinkman Mon. August 24 - Acadience Testing Gr. K-1 Tue. August 25 - Acadience Testing Gr. 2-3 Wed. August 26 - Acadience Testing Gr. 4-5 Fri. August 28 - Fire Drill
Sept. 7 - Labor Day (No School) Sept. 8 - WIN Time Starts

What I'm Reading This Week —

The Power of the Positive Phone Call Home

This strategy will end most behaviors and bring parents to your side every time. It is also a great habit to get into at the beginning of the year. A couple a week does the trick.

What I'm Watching This Week—

8 Secrets to Success

A quick 4 minutes of great thoughts and fun, with a little colorful language. I have his book if you want a quick read.

Thank you for all you do for students especially during this unprecedented time. It has been a stressful week because of the spreadsheet experience, but we got through it. I appreciate all of you and your hard work.