If you haven't completed your welcome back list, please do so by Friday, September 19. I am still missing things (impact statements, elementary school pictures, voicemails). Please take care of this ASAP.
Homecoming Next Week:
A couple things about Homecoming:
- Please start checking on family plans for early release (12:40) on Friday.
- Linked is our plan for the picnic. Please take a minute to read this closely. All students must be checked out in the office if they are leaving early. Also, it was great having teachers eat lunch with their class last year (and a great way to engage with families). If you are able, I would greatly appreciate it.
- Early Release is at 12:40pm; parade is at 1:30pm.
- Teachers - normal work hours. Two options - supervise at the parade or stay here at school and work.
- EA's - clock out at 12:40pm
- Paras - Three options - supervise at parade, clock out at 12:40pm, or stay back and work on your required trainings. Please let me know your choice.
Go Huskies!
Fire Drill - Wednesday:
We are having our first fire drill next Wednesday. We will be using Raptor for this. A few minutes before the alarm goes off, we will activate the drill on Raptor. You will get an alert (it's a loud buzzer). Once you are outside and safe, please go into Raptor and note the students you have/are missing. This will be a learning expereince for us all, but please try and go in and mark you are safe.
Collaboration:
Collaboration starts on September 23. Our first focus will be SEL. Please note - because of the Homecoming early release/picnic, we do have two collaboration times the week of September 22. This is because we follow a day 1-5 and not a M-F schedule. This won't be a regular thing, as most times will be seperated by a week. Please note - starting September 18, you do not attend library or Creation Station for that five day rotation.
PD in your Pocket:
Each week, I will highlight a new tip for you as an educator (please note - I didn't say teacher. This is applicable to all staff who support student learning).
Today's tip is around creating independence. Linked below is a video (Cult of Pedagogy - she's fabulous). Skip ahead to 1:44. Jen provides some tips on how to create independence in your classroom by asking questions with questions. Please, please, please - take the 4 minutes to listen to Jen's thoughts.
“One of our main goals as teachers should be to build students’ independence,” says Jennifer Gonzalez in this Cult of Pedagogy article/podcast. “The more we do for our students and the less they do for themselves, the more we perpetuate a cycle where they become helpless and dependent on us.” Gonzalez kicks herself for answering too many student questions when she was a teacher. “I used to think of them as baby birds in a nest, with all of their beaks open, waiting for the mother bird to feed them,” she says. “I remember feeling like I was constantly racing around trying to meet everyone’s needs.” It’s quicker to answer the question than to push students to do more of the work, but “that short-term efficiency comes at a long-term cost,” she says. “It keeps us working harder than we need to and prevents students from developing the habits that will make them more independent.” Gonzalez’s suggestion to her former haggard self and many other overextended teachers: when students ask a certain kind of question, pause and answer them with questions that build self-sufficiency. And pose your questions with the right tone of voice and a smile, not in a way that embarrasses kids.
Some examples: -
Where might you find that information?
Where on the handout could you look for that?
What resource could help you answer that question?
What is our task completion routine? (when students ask what to do when they’re finished).
Building Weekly Newsletter:
Get outside this weekend and do something you love - it's going to be a beautiful weekend!
-Justin
