Building Student Understanding (Again)

Teachers,

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

Building Student Understanding (Again) —

We have done great work working on our GVC and Learning Targets. Bob mentioned that he loved working with all the grade levels as you worked on your GVC last year. I don't think we can ever be reminded of the PLC questions enough. 

• What do we expect our students to learn?

• How will we know they are learning?

• How will we respond when they don't learn it?

• How will we respond if they already know it?

Using these questions, we set our GVC and Learning Targets. Once we have the what we want them to learn we set up our program and find our tools that help us teach so we can move to the next question. GVC is the one thing they need to learn on that subject, Learning Targets are the Steps that lead to the GVC, and daily lessons are scaffolded to reach the Learning Target. Teachers throughout the district met this summer and found the “Nonnegotiable” GVC fro each grade and subject. From those we need will look at what we have done as a school and see where we need to adjust what we have. Remember that our GVC will change a little as we find a more clear picture of what is important in our teaching. Scott had a great question a couple weeks ago. He asked, “Do we go deeper in our subject or do we teach everything”. Deeper is better. We have taken the most important curriculum and that is what we are teaching. To find out if they learned what we wanted them to learn and to see if we taught it well we assess the students. From that data we look at who did not get it, who did get it, and what we going to do next. The hardest part of the assessment is looking at our teaching practices as a team and finding out if there is something else we can change or tweak to improve our lessons. When we answer these questions we find our next steps and get to work. The work Bob did with us was the first step in this process. This is the first step in knowing what we want our students to understand. And that is our calling as teachers. To help every student, no matter their circumstance, no matter their behavior, no matter their attitude, is to give them the opportunity to learn and understand.

Quote I’m pondering —

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.

–Haim Ginott

What I’m Reading —

How To Win An Argument According To Science

This infographic has great information about the steps to arguing. Might be some good steps to teach students as they discuss concepts in class.

Favorite Article This Week —

17 English Words that Come From Japanese

I love language and where we get words in English. We have collected many words over the years from many different languages, which makes it hard to speak for some of us.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Cami, Jaime, Shelly, and Lisa for taking the time to help with the afternoon snacks. After working on your club we appreciate taking little time to help pass out the snacks to all the students. for all you do. Sometimes you are there for a while as you wait for safety patrol and other stragglers. We also want to thank you for helping with Tan’s Treats every week as we go from class to class handing out weekend lunches and dinners. Thank you.

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

The River’s Song Is Sweet

Teachers,

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

The River’s Song Is Sweet  —

Sometimes life can be tough. There is so much that happens around us and too us that it makes it hard to focus on the thing in front of us. Something happens at home with s child or a member of the family. Sometimes it happens to us when we have a set back or something presents itself that is hard to get around or get away from. It happens. We are all human and life happens. It happens to all of us. So how to we handle situations that happen and take our focus away from our daily schedule? I heard a saying once, “The river’s song would not be so sweet without the rocks.” What are our expectations of others when problems happen. How do we help them? How do we help our littles ones in our class each day that have life happen to them on a daily basis? Sometime life can be tough. I think the answer to this is to know that we are loved by those around us. To know that someone or many someones are around us and make the difference in our lives so we know that we have somewhere to feel safe and know that there are people that will keep us going with the things that should and do matter in our lives. Our students have these things happen and we need to know that they need a soft place to land at our school. It’s funny, but sometimes, as a teacher, I did not think about students when they left the classroom. It was just like the student that sees us in the grocery store and does not realize we do not live in the school or that we could show up somewhere else besides school. Our student’s songs are sweet and we need to keep them sweet, with or without the rocks. And just know that you are all an important part of our school. You are important to everyone at our school. Everyone needs a soft place to land, and I hope you feel that our school is one of those places also. You make everything happen at our school.  You help create and maintain the culture we have here. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Life is not designed to make things easy for us, but present challenges that help us grow.”
– Terry Laughlin

What I’m Watching —

A Study on Praise and Mindsets

Just a reminder about how we praise and what our personal mindset is can determine what and how we learn.  

Favorite Article This Week —

How to Take Risks In A System Not Built For It (What Teachers Can Learn From Elon Musk)

Interesting idea from an amazing thinker. How do we teach our students to take risks  hat will further their opportunities in life? How does this relate to education?

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Preschool. Thank you for starting our little ones off on the right foot and having them know which foot it is and what letters spell the word foot. I was able to sit in on a parent meeting tonight and be able to watch to amazing interaction and love you have for the students and parents. Thank you for taking the time to teach the parents and students. Thank you Preschool for preparing students for success. Thank you.

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

You Can Do Magic

Teachers,

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

You Can Do Magic  —

I have been thinking about some of my favorite places I have been. Walking through the woods with my family in New York State. Attending a concert with my friends in high school. Watching a play with my wife at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. Playing Uno with my music teacher and friends in high school. Singing in a cathedral in London with my college choir. These are amazing memories. They were magical times for me. But when I think about what it is that I loved about each memory it was the people I shared it with. Being able to talk to them, learn together, and enjoy the time together. I feel the same way about how our students learn and grow in our classrooms. Are they comfortable in our classrooms. Are we creating an environment and situation that students will remember fondly while they learn? Do they feel the magic in the room and the learning that is going on. Do they know that what is happening is all about them and that their teacher is designing lessons about them? This is the magic that you bring to your class. Students knowing that when they walk in the room, something magical will happen that day for them. Sometimes we think students are looking for entertainment, but in reality they are looking for comfort and love. They want to know that someone believes in them. No matter what they do. If they know someone believes in them, their attitude will change. It might take years, but it will is the magic they will feel. So, teach the students explicitly with the best strategies, teach them in a systematic way, and in the best sequence and they will learn. Make your students feel loved, respected, and comfortable and they will remember you and what you taught forever. You can do magic. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished,  the people will say 'We have done this ourselves.”

― Lao Tzu

What I’m Watching —

Believe in You Maths Potential — Set Yourself Free

I really like Jo Boaler. She sheds a little more light on how believing in your possibilities will set you free. It is a month Video, but it has to do with anything we do in education. Adults have a big influence on how children feel about everything in their lives.

Favorite Article This Week —

If Schools Don't Allow Mistakes, Where Are They Supposed To Happen?

We have talked a lot about Mindset and mistakes over the last year. This is an interesting questions that goes along with this idea. George is an amazing education blogger.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you third grade. It is wonderful how we can always find you as a team working together before school, after school, and at other times planning and going over what needs to happen in your classes that will help students. We appreciate your work and all that you do for students. Thank you for taking your time to get the most out of the time you have. And thank you for taking your schedule and making it fit to your students and to what is best for them and for you. It is a hard schedule, as 4th and 5th know. We also want to Thank Scott for all his work he has done with 5th grades schedule. Thank you Scott. Thank you Third Grade. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

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

Good Intentions

Teachers,

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

Good Intentions —

As I sat in the Principal’s Literacy class today, the presenter said something that really struck a chord with me. She said that everything we do in our schools needs to be intentional. We are given children for 6.5 hours and we need to use every moment to help them succeed. If we are not intentional with our instruction, our lessons, and our attitude, it is not helping students. Every lesson should be planned out ahead of time with objectives, structure, and sequence to maximize the learning with each student. Students deserve to more than best intentions from teachers, the deserve to have teachers that are intentional in their teaching. I found that interesting and true. We have very little time in our day. Everything we do with students should be intentional to help them succeed in learning.

Quote I’m pondering —

"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.” 

–Ender Wiggin in Enders Game

What I’m Watching —

Kindergarten Assessments at the Beginning of the Year- thank you Politicians....

The fun we have with computers and kindergarten students. I understand that some of the older grades have issues like this also. Enjoy.

Favorite Article This Week —

 Stop telling kids you’re bad at math. You are spreading math anxiety ‘like a virus.’

One of the things adults need to understand is that sometimes we help children with their anxiety and fears. This also goes for more than math.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Heather for all you do. You have come to our wonderful school with high expectations and an amazing attitude and have picked up the job and ran with it. Everything we have asked of you, you have done. You have cared for the students. You have taken it upon yourself to be out at lunch recess with stickers so you can learn student names. You have done amazing and we just want to thank you for all you do for our school and for the students. Thank you for being with us. Thank you.

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

Checking In, Checking Out

Teachers,

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

Checking In, Checking Out  —

One of the ideas Kim and I wanted to work on this year were student discipline issues we have seen at our school. We don’t have serious issue, but we have some that get under teachers skin and sometimes ends up that the teacher needs a time out, or that the student needs someone to talk with.One of the new ideas we have heard about and are putting into effect this year is the Check-in, Check-out program. We have started small and are adding a few more students here and there. Some of the students really have made serious improvements, and some we are still working with. Let me explain what it is and how it works.

A student comes to my office in the morning before school, or right after school starts. Kim or I sit with them and see how they are doing, getting a feeling of how their day might be, and give them a minute to tell me something they want to get out. It is a time for us to build a relationship with them and they have a chance to be listened to, one on one. Then we talk about the “Check In” sheet. There are four things we talk about, “Listening to the teacher”, “Being on task”, “Appropriate talk with others”, and “Completing their work”. They have a chance to get a 2 (amazing, but not perfect), a 1 (part to most of the time), or a 0 (less than part of the time or nothing) during the morning, afternoon, specials, and during clubs. They set a goal of how many 2’s they will get that day. It might be 1, it might be 10. Theory set the goal. They take the Check In Sheet to their first teacher and they go on with their day. At the end of the class the teacher circles the numbers, gives a short explanation why they got the numbers they did, signs the paper, and they take it to the next class. At the end of the day, they “Check Out” with Kim or I by coming to the office before school is over and sharing with us how their day went. We discuss the 0’sand 1’s and celebrate the 2’s. We make a plan about what they will do to get 2’s in class and we send them home. After we have talked with their parents about the Check In sheet, the note goes home for the parents to sign and the student brings it back the next day when they get in their new Check In sheet. This paper is not a punishment. Even when they get 0’s it is not a punishment, it is a way to find out why they are getting 0’s and 1’s in class. It also helps us with patterns in their behaviors. 

If they are sent to the office because of a serious behavior problem, there will be a punishment of some kind. I personally like picking up trash and cleaning up our school during lunch. Then I can talk with them while we are cleaning the school up.

What we need from teachers is consistency in asking for the papers, taking a minute to talk with the students and don’t just circle numbers and push them out the door. We also need you to make sure they get to the office either before school or right after the bell. Some students in the upper grades can be sent after iReady time also. And the hard part is making sure you get the papers each day in the afternoon and send them to the office before school ends. It gets crazy with snack and other distractions as school ends, so if they are sent before the bell rings we can get them all and send them home. You can even send them before Clubs if you like. Please help us with this. Right now we have about 7 students, but we are hoping to have a few more and give Check in sheets to other people in our school. This gives students someone to talk with for a minutes twice a day along with the attention you give them as a teacher.  Thank you for all you do. We hope this program will help change a few of the behaviors that can distract a class and make your classroom a wonderful learning environment with few intentional distractions. From students.

Quote I’m pondering —

“Stick your neck out…it’s a lot more fun than sitting at home and watching other people do it.” 

– Sir Richard Branson

Favorite Video This Week —

Step your Steps

The Fitbit challenge has come to this! Red Mountain sent this out to all the principals. Enjoy the humor about our Fitbit Challenge.

Favorite Article This Week —

Training teachers in phonics should be prioritised, says thinktank

Ya. We know. We see the gaps and are starting to fill them with PD and a great Phonics program. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you First Grade. Thank you for taking the learning you have gotten and putting it into your classrooms the next day. Thank you fro working with your groups of students and never giving up on any of them. Working with the students that need a little extra and building them up and giving them a reason to learn. No stone unturned, no student left behind. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your ideas. Thank you for telling us what you need to get to the next step. Thank you for all you do. You are appreciated. Thank you.

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

Time to Recharge

Teachers,

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

Time to Recharge  —

We do have many breaks as we go through the school year, but as a teacher it was always great to use it as a time to recharge. I hope that you are doing something fun and taking time to be with your loved ones, or at least talk with them. Get your mind off school for a little bit so when you come back you are fully charged and ready to go. Balance is always a difficult thing to maintain and manage as a teacher. There is so much to do and yet we need time to get our balance of home and school into focus. Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you Monday morning!

Quote I’m pondering —

“The only true voyage would be not to travel through a hundred different lands with the same pair of eyes, but to see the same land through a hundred different pairs of eyes.” 

–Marcel Proust

What I’m Reading —

Stop Stealing Dreams

This is a book in PDF form. It is a manifesto from Seth Godin about school. If you are looking to be a pirate and want a different look at different thoughts about teaching. This is a good start. Pick a few headings and read a little. Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. It has some interesting thoughts here. Seth wrote the book “Purple Cow” which is an interesting book about how to stand out from everyone and be remarkable.

Favorite Article This Week —

The Power of the Positive Office Referral

As we start using our new Check-In-Check-Out System in the office, I thought this might be a great article to keep in mind when and why you send students to the office.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you for all you do. There is so much going on in our school and I see everyone working hard to help their students improve and be successful. I talk with students as they walk around the track and I always ask how school is going for them and what they are learning. I don’t any students tell me they hate school and are not learning anything. They love school and they love their teachers. They love you. Thank you for making them feel loved. Thank you.

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

Find the Purpose

Teachers,

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

Find the Purpose —

When we are planning for our lessons each day, how purposeful are we in the outcome we want from that lesson? There is a lot to get through in one year so we need to make sure everything we teach has a purpose and an outcome. This is why we have GVCs and Learning Targets. If the outcome is not ending in a GVC’s then why are we teaching it? And if we need to teach it, why is it not a GVC? Every school needs to purposeful in their lessons, but in the drive-by teaching we do in our school, we need to be more focused on the outcomes and purposeful in our delivery. More is not better, more is more. Less and deeper is more of what we need. How will this apply to our students’ lives? How will it create opportunities for them and a drive for them to want to keep learning. We will never be able to teach them everything, but if we engage them in learning and create a love of learning, they will keep learning themselves and they will learn everything they need to know. And if they need to know something we did not teach them, they will know how to find it and be able to learn it for themselves. Be purposeful in every lesson. Know your outcome and scaffold the learning so it builds to the next learning opportunity. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will, through work, bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea’.”

-Chuck Close, American artist who achieved fame as a photorealist through massive-scale portraits

What I’m watching —

How our friendship survives our opposing politics

We live in a world with differing opinions. How do we teach our students to listen and learn from different opinions. This TED talk is a good example with good stories about how we can respect other ideas without ruining relationships. Not to show to students, but something to think about. 

Favorite Article This Week —

The 1 Word to Delete from Your Vocabulary if You Want to Succeed

I need to work on deleting this word from my vocabulary. It really does hold me back from what I could really do.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Jana, Cindy, Kathy, Cristin, and Lisa. You have taken and tested students on a variety of different tests that give us the data that we need to help our students. Now after you have started your LLI groups we mention how we might change things up a little and what we got from you was, “whatever you need.” We sure appreciate you great attitudes about doing what is needed to help each of the students at Dixie Sun grow. We sure appreciate all you do behind the scenes and all the little things you do that make such a big difference. Clubs, library, GT, lunch duty, kindergarten lunch duty, and everything else you do at the drop of a hat. Thank you. We appreciate all of you. Thank you for all you do. Thank you. 

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