Progress is Happening

Team,

Thank you for your diligence with supporting students through strong instruction and interventions with acceleration plans.  As we continue the work, below are some leverage items to support your work (some already do these things).  If you do the following you can say with pride that you have high expectations for each of your students.  If you say, "well, the kids can't..., if only the parents...; I'm just happy they wrote something...;for them this is..., then your expectations are LOW.  We can't do low for another second.  Together, we can be great and our students will excel.

• Nothing is more powerful than purposeful instruction and feedback.  
• Classroom Instructional Framework planning supports the "I do, we do, you do" model.  You model, you guide, you provide time for independent practice. 
• The daily formative check (exit slip) is crucial with each lesson.  It aligns the learning to the learning target for students.  It shows you how many students understood the lesson and took away the outcome you planned for.  This feedback allows you to plan for the next day's lesson.
• Providing students with immediate/timely feedback helps them fix mistakes quickly and not continue to make the same mistakes for days/weeks.  This will speed up their learning.
• Tracking progress builds motivations and allows for diagnosis of misconceptions. Just like tracking your food, weight, and exercise leads to greater personal success -- Tracking student progress towards standards, having students track their own progress, and tracking class progress leads to greater success for individual students and the class as a whole.

As always, you are surrounded by support -- if you need help, please say something.  We are growing together and our foot will not move from the gas -- we have to go and we have to build our collective efficacy.  I appreciate the work of everyone as it takes each of us.

Below is a six minute video outlining the new Showcase feature of student digital backpacks.  This is for your information -- this will become part of our work with students.

Please be sure to check the living calendar and daily updates.

Instead of faculty meeting, we have Instructional Leadership Team meeting -- we will meet in room 104.

Please have learning cycle analysis and student work samples to me by Thursday, February 28th.

Updating Routines

Team,

Thank you for your work with the acceleration plans for students.  I hope you noticed, as I did, that students who are using the technology programs and receiving the interventions on a consistent basis are making gains already  Reviewing progress, I see students are gaining fact fluency, working on mastering letter sounds, improving skills using context clues, figurative language, and comprehension in addition to more individualized skills.

We have now implemented the accelerated plans and our next check will be  March 8, 2019.  Please share progress with students and help them set a goal for the next implementation check.

This week we begin a new newsletter structure for families.  They are in your mailbox on orange paper and should go home with students today.  As you review the one-pager you will notice that we are tracking two data points with parents:  Attendance and Homework Completion.  I will update weekly totals for attendance with the help of Ms. Edmerson and I need you to keep up with how many students are turning in homework daily/weekly.  I am reporting these numbers to solicit help from parents to encourage them to set the expectation for completing and turning in homework.  Please be sure to record accurate attendance each day by 9:15AM.

Staffing updates:  We currently have an instructional assistant position listed on the job site.  We did interview a candidate last week, but she declined the offer.  We are still looking to hire two, but have to get the other position posted.  Also, we had interviews scheduled for fourth grade yesterday.  One candidate was a no-show and the other received a job offer from Byck as she pulled into King yesterday.  We will press on, but if you know anyone looking -- please encourage them to apply.

Last, as we work to provide high quality instruction to all students, give yourself a time audit.  Check the following to ensure minimal loss of instructional time:

• Are all students seated and working at 9:05?  They should be.
• Do you use timers daily for morning work, centers, activity, transitions?  This builds consistency and greater sense of urgency for students.
• Are you following your class schedule?  Stick to the times you have posted -- do not let reading run 30 minutes over -- this is really hard on students -- they are more comfortable in a structured environment -- they need to be able to predict what is happening next.
• Are you prepared and ready when your push-in help arrives?  This is crucial to maintaining a strong schedule conducive to student learning.
• Review your transitions for efficiency.  Do you use a tone, vocabulary word, music, or other signal to get students moving without you saying it?

Have a great week, I appreciate your hard work and collaboration with all staff!

Student Progress

Team,

This week is a checkpoint for student progress.  A tool developed to support this work on a daily basis is the Student Success Dashboard available within each student's digital backpack.  Below is a short (2 minute) video explaining what this means.  This dashboard allows students to see how they are doing with achievement, attendance, and behavior metrics -- an excellent tool for student led conferences.

In the blog last week, guidance was provided for the professional development day - -please refer to that for information.  Please adhere to the following deadlines this week:

Monday 2/11/2019

• Send home student progress reports -- printed from Infinite Campus
• Send home Student-Led Conference Forms so parents can sign up for conferences 
• Send home parent Comprehensive School Survey Forms -- you will receive these tomorrow.  Please hype this up with students as their ticket to the Valentine's Day classroom celebrations. If the parent has completed or completes it online have them write that in the student's agenda or send a note.

Thursday 2/14/2019

• Send confirmation of conference times home by Thursday, February 14th.  I will put some templates in your mailbox you can use for this.
• We will check in with implementation of the accelerated improvement plans for students -- implementation looks like a completed plan, evidence that it has started -- progress monitoring data, student work, report from technology program.

Monday 2/18/2019

• Please provide your conference schedule to Ms. Foster by Monday, February 18th, at 8:00 AM.

What We Do and Why

Team,

We have approximately 55 days before state assessments and about 40 days to spring MAP.  As we are working to increase student learning and achievement, let's all agree to work smarter and share strategies that work. 

School-wide norms (these things must be tight and should be already in place)

• All are planning with the Classroom Instructional Framework structure (please keep plan books on your desk for viewing during walk-throughs) We want to be sure provide a structured lesson that allows for modeling, guided practice, independent practice and assessment.  If all teachers base lessons on this structure it builds consistency throughout the building.  This also builds high standards for work quality and achievement. 

• Increasing teacher clarity --  teachers are identifying the success criteria for meeting the grade level standard and sharing this criteria with students so they understand how to demonstrate their learning (introduced on Gold Day, follow up at last faculty meeting, and professional development during faculty meeting this week).  I saw great examples of this in Mrs. Holloway and Mrs. Stith's classrooms. We must give students the information they need to be successful.  It is much easier to hit a target you can see.

• All are planning and using daily formative assessment to check student learning and make adjustments to instruction based on these results.  Daily formative assessments should be planned along with lessons - this ensures cohesion and inclusion in the lesson.  The daily formative check should measure the learning target for the day.  This quick measure provides the teacher information as to whether students understand the concept, skill, or process.  That information is used to adjust teaching for the following day to best meet the needs of the students in your classroom.  Why teach blindly when you have a wealth of data available to you?

• At each grade level, students have been identified as part of our MAP acceleration plan and have an individualized plan to support and accelerate their growth.  We will progress monitor with students to assess their growth every two weeks.  We have to teach, provide practice, set up students with technology programs, monitor reports, and assess students to see if they are learning what you are teaching.  If we don't intervene and monitor progress - how would we know if students are learning?

• In both reading and math, all teachers have a checklist by student by standard to keep up with who is meeting the standard and who needs more practice or additional lessons.  This is how we know who has it and who is not there yet.  This is the main thing.

• Communicate student progress and needs to parents and provide timely feedback to students.  We must engage families in this work.  Parents have to be informed as to what students should know, do know, or need more help to know.

 Coming up soon:

• SBDM Meeting Monday, February 4th @ 7:45 AM in room 104
• Faculty Meeting 2/5 in library -- Teacher Clarity
• Parent Teacher Conference forms should go home by Monday, February 11th.  PTC day is Monday, February 18th.
• We will send home the parent Comprehensive School Survey Monday (2/11) and push to have them all returned by Thursday (2/14) -- turning it in will be their ticket to the Valentines Day Classroom Celebration.  I will also sponsor a celebration for the first primary and intermediate classes to get all forms returned.
• Please check your professional development hours -- to be off on February 15th you must have 18 hours otherwise you should sign up for professional development sessions.  You need 24 hours to be off on the May PD day.
• Progress reports go home February 11th, these should be printed from Infinite Campus.

***If you need assistance or clarity on any of the above items, please let me know.  

****Morning meeting will be rescheduled this week -- TBD

*****Please remember to check the living calendar and daily updates

The Next 77 Days

Team,

We are more than halfway through the school year, celebrating our 100th day on Wednesday and being 77 days away from the last day of school.  With that said, we have about 60 days before KPREP and about 50 days before the next MAP test -- we all must have a great sense of urgency for maximizing student learning.

Tomorrow (Monday), I am looking for the list of students your grade level has identified for targeted support as part of our school-wide MAP reading and math accelerated learning plan.  You have electronic and paper copies of the student plan template.  Please be mindful of the following:

• Take inventory of what you are already doing to work with and intervene with struggling students (some questions to prompt your work).
• Are they in Reading Recovery?
• Do they get additional guided reading groups during the week -- more than 3 days?
• Do they receive one-on-one instruction from you or an assistant?
• Are you leveraging technology (iRead, Reflex, Prodigy, Xtra Math, etc.) daily?
• Do they receive ESS support, ESL support, ECE support -- discuss with teachers and support staff to properly document what is in place?
• Have you assigned lessons from Study Island based on student need?
• How do you differentiate learning for students?
• Are you using the learning continuum (MAP) to see what students need?
• Have students completed goal setting?
• Have you collaborated with special area teachers to support growth plans?
• There is no putting this off -- we are going now -- next week we will discuss initial results and evidence of implemented plans.  The admin and resource team is here to support you in this process
• This can include helping with goal setting, conferencing with students, planning activities to support learning, providing feedback, etc.
• Additionally, we have the support of district resource teachers to assist with walk-throughs, improving teacher clarity (providing clear success criteria), increasing student engagement, managing student behavior, planning for deeper learning, and increasing cultural proficiency and relevance to daily lessons.

With our additional support, there is additional accountability -- be aware that we will have district resource personnel visiting classrooms on a regular basis.  They are part of our support team, be sure you are prepared and providing strong instruction structured by the Classroom Instructional Framework.  

WE are moving forward and growing TOGETHER.  I believe in you, our kids are depending on us, and we will be successful.  Dig in and trust the process.

Remember to check the living calendar

We have ILT meeting Tuesday instead of faculty meeting (team leaders, department chairs, resource staff)

Intentional Planning, Strategies and Growth

First, let's welcome Baby Schmidt to the King family!  Jessica had the baby this weekend.  Both Mom and Baby are well and recovering nicely.

Moving Forward with Purpose

As we prepare students for standards mastery and the next grade level, we must be purposeful with our planning and use of strategies to support learning at high levels for each student.  I placed a copy of the accelerated plan for student growth for your review.  If you have suggestions or comments, please be sure to get those to Jones or I ASAP.  As a Targeted Support School, we are part of the Office of Accelerated Improvement -- which means the expectation is that we accelerate improvement for students and our practices to ensure student learning.  As compensation for your recognized difficult work, teachers in our building receive additional funds quarterly that are not allotted to teachers who do not work in Targeted or Comprehensive Support Schools.

Non-Negotiable:

• Use of the Classroom Instructional Framework for planning -- This framework must be evident in each of your lessons -- anyone visiting your classroom should be able to recognize where you are in the lesson based on this framework.  Again, this is the framework expectation for evaluation as well.  -- be mindful of strategies to increase engagement for boys and be inclusive of cultural connections -- 

• Evidenced use of high leverage strategies - Summarizing and note-taking; communicating high expectations for all students;  identifying similarities and differences; reinforcing effort and providing recognition; homework and practice, non-linguistic representations; cooperative learning; setting objectives and providing feedback; generate and testing hypotheses.  

• Use of the MAP Learning Continuum for Planning -   The purpose of this tool is to help instructional staff plan lessons according to where students are ready to learn in the areas of reading and math.  As you plan for instruction -- consult this tool.

• Use of exit slips aligned to the daily learning target to assess student learning and use this information to make adjustments to instruction.

• Progress Monitoring -- by student, by standard  and Goal Setting

• Weekly PLC minutes turned into White by the end of the day.

Our work is important and with all of us working towards a common goal of increased student achievement, we will be successful.  Every person in our building plays a crucial role in the learning lives of each of our students.  We are the model, we set the tone, we are the professionals tasked with educating our students.  Let's remember our love of children, our collective commitments, and our own personal drive to make a difference in the lives of children.

Go Team King!

Halfway Mark - Time for Celebration and Planning

Welcome back!

I hope you all enjoyed your break and spent time relaxing and refreshing yourself.  As we move into the second half of the school year, I want to pause a moment to offer my gratitude.  I am very proud to be the principal of Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School and I greatly appreciate each and every person that works in this building and collaborates with us as a partner.  Working at King you have one of the most challenging jobs in this school district and I am thankful for your dedication to our students.

If you have friends or family that work in other schools with demographics different from ours, you already know you have completely different work environments and different challenges.  However, it is not by accident that you are here.

You have a greater purpose and a mission to to impact the lives of our district's most at-risk students.  You have power in your words, impact in your highly effective practices, and opportunity to change the trajectory of students -- empowering them to achieve at the highest levels.  It is no secret -- the best thing I can do as a principal is to put a highly effective teacher in front of every student in every classroom and put support personnel that are effective and efficient in place to support learning and building operations.  I believe in our power as a staff and I believe in our ability to achieve continuous improvement.  Thank you all for being here.


We are welcoming two new members that will join us after the break.  Please be sure to introduce yourself and give them a positive start to their year at King.

• George Houtchens -- Behavior Coach (Starting January 7th)
• Sydney Butler -- Third Grade (Starting January 7th)

Last, I wanted to provide some reminders for school norms and expectations as we start the second semester.  All meetings and events are listed on the Living Calendar.

Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

•  We have PLCs each Monday.  At the conclusion of each meeting, the team leader or designee is responsible to turn in PLC minutes to Dr. White by the end of the school day.  For learning check analysis meetings - -a high, med, and low student work sample from each teacher in each content area should be turned in attached to minutes (please make copies of work so I don't have to return them).

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Meetings 

• These meetings are scheduled for the last Monday of the month (remember to consult the living calendar).  The purpose of this meeting is to discuss students who are in need of additional assistance to meet grade level expectations for learning and behavior.  Each teacher should bring data/progress data on their lowest three students with academics and behavior.  During this meeting you will collaborate with resource/support staff to assess progress and identify next steps.

Classroom Instructional Framework, Daily Learning Targets and Exit Slips (non-negotiable)

• Lesson planning should be in the form of the classroom instructional framework so that all components of the lesson are addressed.  This is the expectation for evaluation and walk-through feedback -- all will be based on the framework.  A copy of the template is attached to the blog update email for your use.

• Each day students will benefit from a posted learning target that you review and check back throughout the lesson to ensure students are moving towards the target.  Targets should be posted.  If you use PowerPoint or project your learning target -- be sure to have a daily posted list that can be referenced during walk-throughs.  Learning targets should say what students are learning to do and how they will demonstrate this new learning.  For example:  We are learning to identify the main idea of an article and provide text evidence to support our choice in a short answer response.

• Following each lesson, students will complete an exit slip to assess their learning and provide the teacher with real time information to adjust plans for the following day.  Each exit slip should have the learning target on it and a prompt for students.  An example is here.  There should not be a time that we are not assessing learning daily.

This Week...

1.  We have PLC Monday to discuss data from your analyzed learning cycle checks.  This Friday, teams will meet with Dr. White to discuss the data and next steps.

2.  Student grades for cycle 2 are due in Infinite Campus by Thursday, January 10th.  A printed copy of your completed report cards are due to White by Friday, January 11th.

3.  We will have faculty meeting this week:  Vision/Mission; PBIS booster session