Excitement in the Air

Teachers,

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

Excitement in the Air —

I don’t know about you but I am excited to see how well our students do next week on the DIBELS test. With the work that has been done in Power 50 and the lessons, Jennifer has been teaching us about learning intentions and making sure students understand what they are learning and why. With these new things we are doing, I hope to see improvement. There is a new part of the test for students to be tested on in the younger grades, but we should still see improvement in our students. I know many of you have expressed that you have seen improvement as you have been progress monitoring your students. I am excited to see what our next steps will be when we see where our students are now. Thank you for all you do.

Quote I’m pondering —

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

What’s Happening This Week —

Mon., Jan 14 - 8:15am HAL Testing for first grade

Mon., Jan 14 - DIBELS for K-3

Mon., Jan 14 - District Grade Level Training K-1 (optional)

Tues., Jan 15 - DIBELS for 4-5 in morning

Tues., Jan 15 - District Grade Level Training 2-3 (optional)

Wed., Jan 16 - District Grade Level Training 4-5 (optional)

Thur., Jan 17 - 1:00pm LRI Band for 5th grade

Thur., Jan 17 - 2:30pm Community Council Meeting

Mon., Jan 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (No School)

Favorite Article and Video This Week —

This Teacher's Innovative Way Of Teaching 'Vowels' and 'Consonants' is Winning the Internet

A reminder that there is always a different way to teach something if the way we have been teaching does not work for some students.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you second and third-grade teachers. You have really put your work in with the students and with teaching two grades. There have been some special times that have given you the opportunity to learn and grow with4 your students. Thank you for all the time you commit to helping your students. Thank you for finding alternatives to help those in need. We appreciate all your work and time you put in. You are important for those students in your classes. They need you and you show that you care. Thank you for all you do and thank you for all you have done. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

The Sequence of Literacy

Teachers,

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

The Sequence of Literacy—

What do we teach first when there is so much that needs to be taught to a student that is missing so much? This is a question I had for years after I assessed students and found those that needed everything in literacy. Here is the sequence from beginning to end. If they are missing any of these pieces, the next steps might improve, but not in any way as much as if the beginning skills are mastered.

1. Oral Language Development
2. Phonemic Awareness
3. Phonics Decoding
4. Fluency
1. Accurate Reading
2. Appropriate Rate
3. Suitable Expression
5. Vocabulary
6. Comprehension

As the first three are mastered, Fluency is the next step. Fluency is not a predictor of comprehension. It is fluency. Vocabulary is the most important factor in reading comprehension. There is no guesswork here. This is the research. This is literacy and eventual master of literacy. Starting at number 1 and mastering each area. We can’t skip any part of tis sequence. If there is a need, there needs to be instruction.

Quote I’m pondering —

“The truth knocks on the door and you say, ‘Go away, I'm looking for the truth,’ and so it goes away. Puzzling.” 

— Robert M. Pirsig

What’s Happening This Week —

Monday, Oct. 29 - Lexia Training (K-2 English Teachers)

Monday, Oct. 29 - PLC Day (DSU classes)

Wednesday, Oct. 31 - Halloween Parade. Staff Picture after school.

Friday, Nov. 2 - Utah Food Bank after school

Friday, Nov. 2 - PTA iParent Meeting at 8:15 am

November 12-15 - SEP Conferences

Favorite Article This Week —

Oprah Winfrey starts every meeting with these same 3 sentences

Focusing our meeting to make them more effective will benefit our students and our focus. These are three great questions to use.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you 2nd and 3rd grade teachers. Thank you for taking extra time and working with your students that need a little extra attention. This has been a hard couple of months for you and we know how hard you are working. You are putting in a lot of extra time and effort to plan and work through the new program in two grade levels as well as work with very active students. Thank you for all you do for them. You are so important to our school and especially to our students.  Thank you for all you have done. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Positive Parent Conferences

Teachers,

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

Positive Parent Conferences—

What should a good parent conference look like at the beginning of the year? Just like the students, we need to build a relationship with the parents so if we call to get support from them they will be more apt to give it to us. Keep notes. Share an experience for the first week or two. Here are a few questions you might ask.

1. What do you see as your child's greatest strengths or skills? Tell me about a time when you saw your child demonstrating these skills.
2. What do you hope your child says about his/her experience in school this year?
3. What are your fears or concerns about your child in this year of school?
4. How and when would you like me to be in contact with you this year? What do you hope I'd communicate with you about?
5. Is there anything else you can tell me about your child that you think would help me support his/her learning?
6. Is there a question you hope I'll ask you about your child?

Let the parents know that you care and together you will both help their child succeed in school. Let the parents know you are a partner with them this year. If you want to talk with them about data, keep it to a minimum and have a plan of something they can help support at home what you are doing at school. Most parents know how their child is and if they need help. They are always comfortable enough to admit it or show it. Teachers are usually the bearer of bad news for parents. Keep this first conference positive. In fact, keep all your meetings with parents as positive as possible.

Quote I’m pondering —

You don't always need a plan.  Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens. -- Mandy Hale 

What’s Happening This Coming Week —

Monday, August 27 - ½ day for students. PLC Afternoon for Teachers. We will keep it short so you can work together with your teams on R4R and Math.

Wednesday, August 29 and Thursday, August 30 - SEP Conferences from 3:00 - 6:00.

Wednesday, August 29 - OEK Starts

Friday, August 31 - Assembly at 1:00 pm.  Reflections, Storytelling, and Bike Safety Month presentations.

Monday, Sept. 3 - Labor Day (No School)

Favorite Article This Week —

Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations.

This is an interesting idea. Give students a topic and have them talk about it. What a great way to get them talking about content in English and especially in Spanish where they need the practice talking with each other.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, teachers, for all your patience as we get 2nd and 3rd schedules taken care of. This has been a new idea for all of us and we appreciate everyone being flexible as we get the best possible plan for the students and teachers. We really appreciate all the hard work 2nd and 3rd grade teachers have put in to get this idea off the ground. They have each worked many hours getting this put together. The logistics of having the right students in the right places at the right times, as well as getting the teachers time to work together has been interesting. Thank you to the 2nd and 3rd grade teachers for all your hard work. Thank you to everyone else for being flexible. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Finding the Why

Teachers,

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

Finding the Why —

During the tech class we watched a Ted Talk by Simon Sinek about starting with Why to inspire others. So why do you teach? I know that you love teaching, I know that you love students and want to make their lives better. I know that you would do almost anything to help our students. So the question is how are we marketing our information to students so they are sold on our product. Our product is knowledge and problem-solving. Do we start with the why with students so they know why it is important for them to know the information we are giving to them? If you were the student, would you be sold on the information you are teaching? How do we get them hooked so they run into and not out of class each day? What is it that will make them want the information? It was a great thought provoking video for me.

Quote I’m pondering —

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." —Thomas S. Monson

What I’m watching —

The Power of Yet

Thinking about what Alma is teaching us this year with the Growth Mindset, I thought of this fun little video.

Favorite Article This Week —

Differentiation Is Just Too Difficult: Myth-Busting

I read through this and thought about how hard I thought differentiation would be when I started looking at implementing it. This article has some great ideas to think about. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you second grade. Thank you for your work with Mindset implementation. Hearing some of the stories you tell about how it is being used in your classes is great for the students. I also want to thank you for handing out the first few Principal 200 club. It is also great that you have started looking at how you can start CSIP. Thank you second grade for all your hard work. We appreciate what you do. Thank you.

PS —

The thank you point is getting harder to show just one team because all the amazing work that is going on in our school. Just know that we see what is happening at school. Thank you

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

What Truly Matters

Teachers,

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

What Truly Matters —

SAGE testing has started and we are looking through the scores and they come in and are seeing some great things and some areas we wished were better. So what do we do with these scores? What do we do with any scores w get from our testing? What truly matters in our classrooms and what we do here at Dixie Sun? Is the test the end-all, be-all? No, student learning is what truly matters. Bob told us something during the K-2 training about assessment that stuck with me. 

1. Assessments determine who is proficient. 
2. Assessments show us who needs additional support to get the skill assessed. 
3. 3. Assessments determine which teaching practices get the best results.

The last one is a tough one. But it is also the one that helps students and teachers grow. Which teaching practice got the results we wanted and how to we take that practice from one or more teachers and have it work in other classrooms? If we keep doing the same thing and we are not getting the results, we need to look at our practice and change it a little. What truly matters is what is best for the students in our classroom. How do we improve learning in our classrooms? Assessments help us find out what is needed for students and what is best practice in our classrooms. It is not used for teacher evaluation. There are too many variables in that equation. How we use the data we gather from assessments is what truly matters. What will we do with what we know to help students learn and grow.

Quote I’m pondering —

“The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day; a movement is only people moving." —Gloria Steinem

What I’m watching —

Wait, What? (And other big questions)

Bob Sonju shared a piece of this video with K-2 during their team meetings this week. At least read the short article. It is an amazing video if you want to watch the whole commencement speech.

Favorite Article This Week —

The Pale Blue Dot

Bob also shared an article thing K-2 that talks about how we should think about how we should think in our lives. Read it. Ponder it. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Kindergarten, First, and Second grade. Watching you work in the meeting with Bob was amazing. i can see how your work will benefit the students and how your expectations will take our students to the next level. I loved watching the collaboration, the discussion, and the exchanging of ideas that made the curriculum more understandable for you and it will be more understandable for your students. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for taking the time to learn. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful 4 day weekend. 

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.

Rah, rah, shish boom bah!

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

Rah, rah, shish boom bah! —
As I worked with Annette this week, and everything I work with her, she reminds me through her actions that we all need a cheerleader to help us through our days. We are the cheerleaders for all of our students. We cheer them through the to remind them to put up their defense against the hard things. We cheer them on as we remind them they can do hard things. We cheer them on as they learn new strategies. Cheer leaders don't say the team can't do it. They give the team and fans hope that the team will overcome and win. As teachers you also need cheerleaders to remind you that you can push through the odds and teach these students that seem, at times, like they won't get it. We need to cheer on those that need our help to do better. To teach each other to be better than we were yesterday. To do our best. To fight the good fight. There is a lot that you do. Rah rah to you. We got spirit yes we do! We got spirit, how 'bout you? Annette is a great cheerleader. She reminds me that no matter what, the students are worth everything we do for them, even if they don't know it yet. So cheer each other on. If you see someone having a tough time, give them a cheer. My jalapeño cheer is a good one... everyone needs a cheerleader. Everyone.

Quote I’m pondering —
"I don't divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures... I divide the world into learners and nonlearners." Benjamin Barber

What I’m reading —
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
I love picture books. I just do. I just bought this book and just laughed. It is about a boy that gets his kite in the tree and how he tries to get it down. Persistence and resourceful. Want to read it, its in my office. Come on by and sit in the big black chair and read for a few minutes.

Favorite Article This Week —
15 Question to Replace How Was School Today?
I like how this article gives me other questions to ask my kids when they get home from school. Then I thought what am I doing at school to make sure there are good answers to these questions when our students get home.

A Big Thank You —
Thank you second grade for working so hard this week. We know it has been hard with your group of students. You have worked with them and their quirks and still show them that you care. You have gone to the edge and not jumped. Thank you. Thank you for caring so much for these students that you are willing to do whatever it takes to help them succeed. We see how hard you work. Thank you for all your hard work this week. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

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