The Last Week of November

Welcome back, I hope all had a relaxing break and holiday.  This week, please take time to refocus students and set strong expectations for teaching and learning.  Students have been off for five days and please expect them to need re-teaching and reminders.

Take time this week to review MAP assessment goal setting and remind students of doing their best work -- remember the goal is individual growth for each student.  All students have data folders so they are able to monitor their growth.  This week I will visit all classrooms to discuss MAP testing and to promote strong effort.  The schedule for MAP testing is available on the living calendar.  Please be mindful we will use grade level Chromebook carts to facilitate testing in the classrooms.

For PLC tomorrow, we will have MTSS meetings in room 303.  Please come prepared with updated student data -- bring a copy to leave with the MTSS team.

This week in faculty meeting we will use the Quality Work Protocol to  review a student work piece. I will provide all a copy of the protocol so that you may review it prior to the meeting.  We will push the ILT meeting to next Tuesday afternoon.

Please be mindful to check the living calendar and daily updates.  Please note on the daily announcements, I added a separate slide for morning and afternoon announcements for each day.  Dr. Mays suggested this would be easier to use.

Staffing update: 

Charlbert Robinson will begin Wednesday as our new second grade teacher.
Matthew White has accepted the security monitor position and will start December 10th.
George Houtchens has accepted the behavior coach position, but will likely not begin until after holiday break.  He is a classroom teacher so he is unable to leave until his school finds a replacement.

Let's have a great week!

The Next Two Instructional Days

Team,

Please remember the way we end is how we begin.  Be sure students are aware and following expectations for learning and behavior.  We don't want to be sidetracked by surviving the two days as opposed to having two meaningful days of learning, including lessons on the evolution of Thanksgiving.  I forwarded an email from Sashray McCormack, our district diversity resource teacher, sharing resources for teaching about Thanksgiving and the American Indians.

PLCs -- we will have PLC on Monday 11/19 --
We will continue our guided reading lesson study with grades K-4th.  The following teachers will be modeling a lesson:  Mrs. Edeburn-Ward (K/1); Ms. Johnson (2nd); Ms. Williams (3rd); Ms. Fields (4th); and fifth grade will work on backwards planning for cycle 3.

Please check your email regarding information on the visitation and funeral for Michael Brown.

We will NOT have faculty meeting Tuesday.  I do hope we all have a restful break, full of whatever you WANT to do.  Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels for those leaving the area.

Strategies and Resources

Team,

Happy Veteran's Day to all our veterans, we are appreciative of your service and sacrifice!


As we move through this week, be specific in your strategy use.  Below are some strategies and key practices to think about and implement daily to support and facilitate instruction.

Marzano Strategy Foci:

Setting objectives and providing feedback -- Daily objectives are set with the presentation of the learning targets so students know what they expected to learn and be able to do within a lesson.  Student feedback comes in the form of verbal feedback, graded exit slips, returned (graded) work,and peer interaction.  The "graded exit slips" provide a linked example of an exit slip.  This is more formal than a post it note, lists the learning target, and will provide you a more purposeful way to gauge student learning.  Please use it.

Homework and Practice -- All students should receive homework and practice for skills they are learning in class.  We all know vocabulary is a deficit with many of our students, so please ensure you are purposefully providing daily interaction with vocabulary both in the classroom and as part of homework.  Students should have daily homework and feedback on accuracy immediately following -- take a few minutes to review homework the next day so students know if they are on track and performing the processes appropriately.

Setting the Stage for Success of our English Language Learners

 
Effect Sizes for Strategies Above

Teacher-student relationships .72
Integrated curricular programs .39
Learning Goals .68
Scaffolding .82
Concept Mapping .60
Jigsaw 1.20 
Classroom Discussions .82
Metacognitive Strategies .60
Strategies to Integrate Prior Knowledge .93

Project Based Learning Example

 Wheeler Elementary Tiny House Exhibition

Be Prepared

PLC Monday:  Review class/team data for Learning Cycle 2 -- turn in PLC sheet with data to White by end of the day.

Data Meeting Friday -- Be prepared to discuss next steps, patterns, and plans for reteaching -- meet with White and Jones (White's office).

Have a great week!  Be sure to check the living calendar and daily updates.

Setting the Stage for Learning

As we prepare for Gold Day, think about how you set the stage for the learning environment.  Students love to work in groups, however without appropriate planning it can go down hill quickly.  Check out the short video below to look at setting expectations for group work.  As you watch, think about how the teacher had to plan to ensure all were prepared for this sharing activity.

During our Instructional Leadership Team Meeting, we discussed guided reading and improving student comprehension strategies.  On our blog resources (Guided Reading), Ms. Buckly posted a few videos demonstrating guided reading strategies.  The video linked below outlines strategies to support student comprehension.

http://bcove.me/i7u44g1b


How can you incorporate the strategies modeled on the two videos into your practice over the next week?  Be purposeful with your planning and even invite someone to watch and give you feedback.

Remember to check the living calendar and daily updates.