Weekly Update - Friday, January 31, 2020

Happy Friday, everyone!
Can you believe it's already February?

MINDSET MATTERS! 

Black History Month:
Black History Month starts Monday.  As I stated in my email, we will spend some time this month exploring black leaders and their contribution(s) to society.  I sent the link out to some great YouTube video clips.  Please share these throughout the month.

Next year, the goal is to have students help design this month, as well as acknowledge other celebration months.

Unconscious Bias:
At our Staff Power Hour, we discussed monitoring your biases and microaggressions.  I'm checking in today - how's that going?  Have you connected with your accountability buddy?  If not, today is your day!

MCA Test Monitor Training:
We are offering two MCA Test Monitor Training sessions - March 3 (2:40-3:25) and March 5 (7:00-7:45).  We will need the following people to attend one of the training sessions:

• All 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Teachers (including EL & Special Education of those grades)
• All Special Education paraprofessionals who service students in grades 3-5 (at any point during your day)
• All Intervention teachers

Please let me know if you have questions of whether you should attend or not.

ACCESS Testing:
ACCESS testing starts the week of February 10 and runs for three consecutive weeks.  EL teachers have done a lot of work to create this schedule (thank you Laurie, Caryn, and Liz!).  Please know their flexibility is limited and they will not run a normal schedule during this time. Thank you! 

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Weekly Update - Friday, January 24, 2020

Happy Friday!

Celebrating & Honoring Others:
On Monday, we took some time to celebrate our successes - personally, team, building, and as a District.  We left feeling grounded in our why and feeling positive about the work we are doing.  Have you continued this?  Are you honoring and celebrating those around you?  Honoring and celebrating yourself?  We have a lot to be thankful for - a lot! 

Winter Data Subouts:

We look forward to looking at evidence of learning and growth and talking about next steps for our students at sub-outs on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The schedule is linked here along with the agenda.

Just as a reminder, intervention certified staff attend these sub-outs as well, so their groups will be cancelled.  However, EAs will continue to meet with groups as normal.  

Please bring with you to the subout:

*Your device

*Any additional evidence of learning you will find helpful in determining next steps for students (reading records, anecdotal notes, phonemic awareness or decoding inventories/information).

*The growth sheet where you recorded student names (from a common planning time in the last week - some of you will do this on Monday).  

Service Awards:
Congratulations to the following staff and their years of service to the District -
Cindy Turley - 1 year
Nura Elmi - 5 years
Denise Carlson - 15 years

EL Position:
As many of you know, Laurie Wolhart is retiring at the end of the school year.  Laurie is an asset to our building - she will be greatly missed!  With her retiring, we have an opening.  If you know of someone who would be interested, please share the below posting with them!

https://www.applitrack.com/owatonna/onlineapp/JobPostings/view.asp?AppliTrackJobId=4888&FromAdmin=True

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Make it a great weekend, too!  Take care of yourself!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Thursday, January 16, 2020

Happy International Fun Day at Work!   Woo hoo!

Power Hour Follow-Up:
Thank you for a great learning session - and courageous conversation around biases & microaggressions.  I love when our staff comes together to continue to grow and learn!

A few of you have asked about the TED talk in which Verna Myers tells us to "walk toward our biases".  Below is the link if you'd like to watch (great video!).

Don't forget our Call to Action.  I've asked you to be reflective around your biases (why do you have the bias and how do you respond) and also start to look at your data with a race lens.   This is a personal journey, so just know I'm trusting this work will be done but not shared. 

Winter Data Subouts:
On January 28 & 29, teams will gather in the Learning Studio South to do some instructional planning using our winter data.  Classroom teachers will have subs - EL, Intervention, and Special Education are welcome, but will not have subs. 

Please take some time over the next week to look through your Fastbridge data.  Also, invite Libby and I to a common planning on the week of January 20th to discuss growth data (see my email from Monday). 

Absences:
As we enter the winter "yuck" season, please be aware of your absences.  As you know, we need you here.  However, I understand there are times that you need to be away (sick, family sick, etc).  Please be aware of your absences as we are having a harder time filling positions.  When we don't fill a position, we often have to interrupt interventions, EL, Special Education, and myself to cover the room.  I am not saying to not be gone - just be aware of the amount of time(s) you are taking off.  Thank you for your attention to this!

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Stay warm!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Friday, January 10, 2020

Happy Friday!
A huge thank you to everyone for your support this week.  The texts, hugs, and messages helped me feel the McKinley love.   It's hard to lose a close grandparent... ugh!  Thank you, again! 

Winter FAST Benchmarking Data:
As you know, we are in process of collecting winter benchmarking data from our students.  At the end of the month (Jan 28-29), we will meet to triangulate this data to see what programming changes need to occur.   Please take some time before to look through your winter data over the next few weeks. 

December Office Referral Data:
Our McKinleyStrong Team met last night.  One of the things we discussed is our December Office Referral Data (ORD) - below.  Take some time to look through this and do some self-reflection with your work.  Are you seeing this with your students?   What are you doing to re-teach/support this behavior? 

Click here to access the December ORD

15 Ways to Bring Positive Language into Your Classroom:
A great read - and a great reminder of the power of our words! 
https://www.weareteachers.com/positive-language-in-the-classroom/

International Fun Day at Work:
International Fun Day at Work 2020 is next Thursday, January 16!  This will be a day of fun, games, and excitement at work!  You and your team can start planning your "outfit" for the day.  Also, please reserve 1:40-2:15 on this day for our adult challenges/assembly in the gym!  More information will come out this weekend on the specific events for the day! 

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend - and go Vikings!
-Justin

Weekly Update - Friday, December 20, 2019

Happy Friday - and happy Winter Break!

I hope each of you takes some time to relax, unwind, and enjoy those around you.  We often run on such a low battery ourselves - this break is a great time to recharge that battery.  You can't serve others if you aren't serving yourself, too.

Take some time to be yourself... and relax. 

Thank you for all that you do for our students! 

Transition Day - Jan 2 & 3:
With only two days back after break, the transition day team determined that you may want to spread out some of the activities for both Thursday and Friday. 

Click here to access the details

A huge thank you to the team for planning this!

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the Jan 2-3 Building Weekly Newsletter
Click here to access the Jan 6-10 Building Weekly Newsletter


See you in 2020!
-Justin

Weekly Update - December 13, 2019

Happy Friday, everyone!  

Winter Concert:
Wow, another great winter concert!  Nice job to our students, staff, and Mrs. Huse for our hard work making this a beautiful event!

Next Week:
As you know, students (and staff) need routine.  When we move away from this routine, we start to see behaviors and other engagement issues.  With it being five full days next week, I am cautioning you to keep those days as "normal" as possible. 

If you have students who are showing that break is going to be an issue, please connect them with Annette.  This can be for a variety of reasons - not having food, being alone for a lot of break, or for not having gifts.  Annette can help problem solve with you on how to support the student. 

There are some fun dress up days next week.  In the past, we have done a schoolwide movie on the Friday before break.  However, it sounds like that creates more issues in the afternoon.  Due to this feedback from staff, we will not be doing a schoolwide movie on Friday. 

Also, I will be serving a taco lunch on Friday as a "thank you" for all that you do. 

Math PLC January 6thWe have received feedback that clarity could be increased for the changes in math assessment and the work that is being done at the district-wide math sub outs.  On Jan. 6th PLCs will all meet together so that we can collaborate around and establish clarity with both the math assessments and how the PLC can look for math.  We will meet in 4B/4C from 2:40-3:40.  Please bring student work with you (it could be your work for the upcoming math meeting, but it doesn't need to be).  Decide as a grade level team which work you'd like to bring.   Ideally, student work would meet the following criteria: *Includes an explanation of student thinking in how they solved the problem.*Can be solved in more than one way.  *Is for a critical EU if possible.  
Please let Libby or Justin know if you have any questions.  

Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessments Grades K-5

It's time to start planning for the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessments.  The window to complete these is February 1- March 21st.  The data must be entered into Infinite Campus before you leave for spring break.
Here are some options for completing these assessments that worked for people last year:
*Take one day per week beginning in February and do not meet with guided groups, but assess students.  (You could assign the writing from a guided reading book from the previous day's guided group for them to do when they are normally with you for guided reading.)  
*Each day, do not meet with one guided group (rotate which group this is) and assess students during that guided group time.
*Use the time you set aside for conferring or reading records to do an assessment.
*Take one week and do not meet with guided groups (but have additional meaningful independent time things for students to do) and get all of your assessments done in one week.  
*Assess a student or two during library time.  
Chat with your team and see if there are other ideas for completing these.  It will be important to have a plan for completing them as it will be here before we know it!  Please reach out to Libby if you'd like to brainstorm how this could work in your classroom.

GUEST BLOGGERS - "A Day in the Life of an Co-Taught 4th Grade Classroom"
By Dani Rypka, Danielle Nystrom, Laurie Wolhart 

So Co-Teaching is AMAZING! Totally amazing - but exhausting, right? We have been working with a new team dynamic in 4th grade, some of us have been co-teaching together for years (like, you know, we are married) but most of us are new to teaching together (dating phase) or co-teaching itself. We have tried SO many different models, planning times and structures, etc. While we still have a list of things we want to grow in, one thing we are really excited about with our newest couple of interventions is how we are communicating between the three of us. 

We have a couple students that are receiving services from EL and Special Education as well as receiving a guided reading group with their classroom teacher. To meet the needs of these students we have used many co-teaching models. One of these being a version of alternative teaching. This allows students to get the scaffolding and reteaching that they need to support their language needs and continued progress. 

The reading intervention requires more of a pull out model which is where our communication could easily break down. However, thanks to time spent making sure we all understand the interventions from both the special education teacher and the English language teacher, we are able to make connections between what the kids are working on throughout the day, in each of our groups and settings.  We use a shared Google document for lesson planning. This allows us to create continuity and use the same language. Within the document, we are able to see what is happening in each part of the reading block; within the general education setting, as well as the focus of each small group is. We are informed of each group time and understand the role that each of our small groups have in progressing these students forward. 

This shared document also allows for us to set students up for success within the general education setting. When we are on the same page, our students are supported both in small group and whole group teaching. Recently we have been working on using adjectives and describing words. This skill was also targeted in small group writing. With the knowledge of small group work, we felt comfortable calling on these students to share their thinking and set them up for success in the general education classroom during picture writing!

It has been a work in progress and we have definitely failed forward throughout it! However, in the short time since starting, we have seen a growth in both skills and confidence levels. These students have a drive to learn and grow and we are honored to be a part of their learning experience! Every student. Every Day… no matter what!  

International Fun Day at Work:
We will be participating in International Fun Day at Work 2020!  We will be celebrating a week early - on Thursday, January 16 (Friday is a Teacher Workday).   More information will come out after break.   Your team can start to do some brainstorming around your "dress" for the day.  Prizes will be awarded for "most unique" and "most wow factor".

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter


Have a great weekend, everyone!  Take some time for YOU!
-Justin

Weekly Update - December 5, 2019

Happy Friday, wonderful educators!

If you are tired, you are making a difference!  Thank you for the love, compassion, and supports you give our students, every day!  You are important! 

November Twitter Challenge:
A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our gratitude challenge.  It was so uplifting to read the tweets and see what you appreciate.  It also helped remind me of the good in our lives - gratitude does that!  A huge congratulations to Michelle Simon for winning the lunch.  She and her team will enjoy an off-site lunch in December while I supervise all of 1st grade (YIKES!). 

Exit Ticket:
I found this on Twitter this week and thought it was a creative, engaging way to check for student understanding.  The student circles the emoji on how the student is thinking the learning went - then they justify it below.  As we know, students are well-connected to technology... just another way to make our check for understanding applicable to their lives! 

November Office Referral Data:
This week, I looked at our office referral data (ORD) from October and November.  Below is a link to the spreadsheet.  I wanted to provide you with some "big rocks" from this data:

• We have 47 less office referrals for October from last year to this year.  Woo hoo!  That's remarkable.  
• We have 7 less office referrals for November from last year to this year.  That is still a great decrease!  
• Physical aggression is still very high.  It seems as if many of these start off as play and turn into pushing/hitting/kicking.  
• Our lunch hour (11-1) is still the highest.  When I say this, I don't necessarily mean lunchroom either.  That time frame seems to be high for the building.  
• Friday's are very high for referrals. 

One thing to note: the data can look misleading if you don't dig deeper into it.  For example - 3rd Grade's numbers look higher in comparison to the other grade levels.  However, as we realized, 10 of the 15 referrals are for 3 students alone.  I will be pulling data in the next week on individual students and sharing with teacher(s). 

As we move into December, please know that emotions will be high for some of our students.  There is excitement, as well as uncertainty, for break and Christmas.  Many of our students may show behaviors due to this excitement and uncertainty.  

Click here to access the ORD Spreadsheet

Christmas:
With Christmas approaching, I want to caution us of bringing Christmas-related activities into the classroom.  With our building & District's focus around equity and serving all, this can be an area that we can marginalize people (unintentionally) when we do activities related to Christmas.  I am asking you to refrain from these activities - gift exchange, parties, but also things like worksheets, independent activities, and crafts.  I'm starting to see Santa and Christmas tree activities show up.  We serve a diverse population and are here to serve all.  In doing these type of activities, even if they are subtle, we can send a message that marginalizes people's views/thoughts/beliefs.  Again, I doubt this is intentional.  However, it happens.

If you are questioning an activity, project, etc, please come see me.  I would rather have a conversation about it and understand your thinking before you do it. 

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter


Have a great weekend, everyone!  - Justin