In Memory of Persistence

Teachers,

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

In Memory of Persistence —

My best friend from high school passed away last weekend. He was pretty amazing. He was the kid in school that always had to do everything differently. It drove his teachers crazy. It was fun for us to watch. After he graduated he had many different jobs and adventures. He taught English in Japan for a year then opened a clothing store with his own designs. He painted and drew art that he tried to sell and eventually took a job in the graphics arts field. He worked for a couple different newspapers and marketing companies while starting his own marketing company. He decided he wanted to help others so he became a life coach while still painting, using his graphic arts skills, and keeping up with his marketing company. All this while he raised his small family. He was a pretty amazing guy. The one big thing I learned from him was persistence. No matter what happened, how bad it got, or the roadblocks that showed up in his path, he went on to the next thing and made it work. Shaun had persistence. What I saw was that he did not get stuck if something went wrong, he pushed through it and found something that worked.

So how do we teach persistence with our students? Have high expectations and relate them to the students. Push them, but know when to stop. Persistence needs to be worked on like anything else. It takes practice. How can they push through problems if they only see problems that take a couple seconds to answer? Introduce problems that take time and might have more than one step are needed. Teach what to do when the going gets tough. Model what to do and have them practice it. Teach students to be positive and to tell themselves they can do it. Being negative teaches students they cannot do something that is hard. They can get that negative talk anywhere. We need positivity. Convince them they can do it. Students need to know there is a future that they control. Some cannot see past next week, or even the next few days, but we can expand their view with education. Show them where they can go. Give them a road map and take them on the trip. When they persist and succeed, point it out. When they persist and don’t succeed, praise the persistence and show them the map of where they are going. Give them the confidence that they can do anything with education. That builds persistence. Thank you Shaun for the road map you showed me. You were truly my life coach.

Quote I’m pondering —

“You can’t relate to a superhero, to a superman, but you can identify with a real man who in times of crisis draws forth some extraordinary quality from within himself and triumphs but only after a struggle.” -Timothy Dalton

What I’m watching —

Proficiency vs. Growth and all that stuff...

Another Lex Prin video. His real name is Gerry Brooks. Lex Prin is short for Lexington Principal. We have some serious issues in education right now and Gerry weighs in with his opinion. Enjoy.

Favorite Article This Week —

Continuous Mastery: How Stephen Curry Never Settles

I enjoy basketball and Stephen Curry is one of the best right now. How do we get this type of motivation from our students? Is there a key in this article that can help us as we help our students see the need for constant improvement and progresssion?

A Big Thank You —

Thank you second grade. Taking the bull by the horns and deciding how you wanted your students to be grouped for LLI. Brilliant. You know your students best and you wanted it a specific way, you got it. Thank you for taking your team to the next level. Keep doing what you are doing. Thank you.

And another big thank you for your help with the WIDA. It has gone smoothly for Lisa and I with your help. I know it is a long process. I was talking with another T1C and he told me how crazy it is to test the 50 they need to test. I just let him talk. You have been amazing. Thank you for being flexible. We are almost done. Thank you.

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

Budgeting Thoughts

Teachers,

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

Budgeting Thoughts —

I went to a Title 1 meeting today and we talked about a few things I thought you might like to know. We talked about iReady. Some of the schools are having a few issues like the computers are freezing and kicking students out. Please let me know if this has been the case in our school. Sherry Ann will be heading to a meeting on Monday morning and I would like to know if there is something we need to let iReady know. The Diagnostic should be done soon so we can see more progress from the students.

We also talked about Title 1 money for next year. This will effect all of the Title 1 schools in the district. As more charter schools come on line in Utah we are seeing our education monies being distributed more and that leaves us with less money for programs like Title 1. Dixie Sun will still be a Title 1 school because we have a high Free/Reduced Lunch population. There are 13 Title 1 schools in Washington County. So our district is coming to a crossroads. There are a couple different options our district needs to look at.

• We can have less schools be Title 1, which will leave those schools with less Aides, no iReady Lab, no Title 1 money, and anyone paid out of Title 1 will need to find another school. 
• If we cut back 2 schools, that will leave us with what we have now. 
• If we cut back 4 schools, that will give us a little more than we have now. 
• If we keep the same amount of Title 1 schools we have in our district, we will be losing a good chunk of money because it will be spread out more. 

So the question we are looking at is do we cut schools that need the money, but are on the bubble, or do we keep it the same and everyone gets a budget cut? I would be interested to hear your opinion and reasons.

If you would like to know more about this, please come and talk with me. The decision will be made in the next few weeks by the district, but we can share our thoughts about the decisions. If you have questions, please ask.

Money will always be an issue in education. It always has been and it always will be. But if we use what we have wisely and for the progress of students, we will always get the best results. But money does not always compensate what really matters in a child’s education, a great teacher. 

Quote I’m pondering —

"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think." - Albert Einstein

What I’m watching —

The Gifts of ADHD

“Often the conversation about ADHD is about what students can’t do”… this is a very short video trying to help change minds on how we could look at ADHD. 

Favorite Article This Week —

All The Mathematical Methods I Learned In My University Math Degree Became Obsolete In My Lifetime

The part I love in this article is when he talks about needing a deep understanding of the skills, not just how to compute numbers. It also talks about how important number sense is in our world today. Interesting.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you teachers for your understanding as I try to schedule WIDA. I think I am pretty good with a schedule until I get something I have not had any experience with (WIDA) and we go with what happened before. Unfortunately, every year is a little different and brings with it a new set of challenges. So I adapt and learn. I just appreciate your willingness to do what is needed and help us get through this process of testing. It is a privilege to work with you. Thank you for all you do, especially when it comes to my learning process. Thank you fro your patience with me. Thank you.

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

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Teachers,

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

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 —

Assessments have been a thorn in the side of teachers. The reason and way we test has been changing and we are giving tests for different reasons that we used to. Instead of using them for grades, tests are used to help guide our teaching after finding out what students need. Assessments we give in the classroom should mirror what we will see on the end of year tests. There should be no surprises as our students take the SAGE, DIBELS, DRA, or WIDA assessments. As we give summative tests to show where students are on the GVC/Learning targets, it should give you an idea how well they will do on each those assessments. Being able to forecast how students will do on tests means high expectations for students, more rigor in our teaching so students are challenged, and students being held accountable for what they are doing in class. Putting the accountability back on students can happen by showing test data, having them tracking their own progress, and having them set academic goals. We have made amazing growth as a school in teaching and curriculum development. Our next step is to improve our assessments so they match the rigor of the core. This is a process that takes time. Many grade levels have been working on building assessments. Keep looking at your assessments and increasing the rigor in them. 

Quote I’m pondering —

A culture of accountability makes a good organization great and a great organization unstoppable.- Henry Evans 

What I’m watching —

The Mystery Box

J.J. Abrams is a pretty incredible writer, director, and producer of movies. In this TED talk he talks about the mystery box and how it helps move his stories along. How can we use the Mystery box in our teaching? Hmmm. 

Favorite Article This Week —

3 Science-Backed Lessons From Albert Einstein on How to Become a Better Student of the World

A long title, but great lessons from one of the greatest thinkers of our time. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Fourth and Fifth Grade for helping to provide chrome books for WIDA testing. We have quite a few students to test and just having you be so willing to give up a few chrome books to make it easier for Lisa to test is very helpful. Thank you for being flexible. Thank you for your help. Just Thank you.

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

Back to the Learning

Teachers,

Here is your New Years dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Back to the Learning—

The next two months are the best months for learning. Students are coming off a two week stretch of relaxation and down time and are primed to start up their brains. They have been in school for 5 months and should know the rules, even though you will have to remind them perhaps for a few days, and they know the procedures of your classrooms. Now hold them to them and teach. Once it hits spring break they start thinking of the end of school and we have about a month and a half to keep them going before they need more entertainment in the lessons. A few reminders about testing. DRA is coming quickly after we start. WIDA testing is also here. Sage will open in March so think about when you want to start your writing testing. We will worry about the rest in April. Remember that testing is a snapshot of your students. It does not define them and it should not define you. It is data to help us know where we need to go next for us and our students. Thank you for all you do. Now teach like the wind... Sorry. I just watched the Three Amigos. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“The point of learning is not just to know things, but to be a different person– more mature, more wise, more self-disciplined, more effective, and more productive in the broadest sense.”

― Grant Wiggins

What I’m watching —

Kid President's Pep Talk to Teachers and Students

We all need a pep talk from the Kid President. Keep on Dancing!

Favorite Article This Week —

Are You Doing Your Own Homework?

Just a thought about homework as we start the new year. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you First Grade. Working with you in your PLC’s has been wonderful. Talking about students and how to work with those that are in need. Our discussions about students, curriculum, and your ideas for lessons have been fun to be a part of. Watching the work you do in the classroom is also a joy to see as your students work through your planned lessons. I appreciate all you do for your students. I know the students do also. Thank you for all you do. 

I am also thankful for everything all teachers are doing to increase the reading skills in your classrooms. After learning about teaching Phonics in the classroom from Sara and seeing and hearing the ideas going around about how to implement it into your classrooms is amazing. I am so excited to see how the DRA scores and Dibels scores improve this year. Thank you teachers for working to help our students be successful readers. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you. Have a wonderful weekend.