NWEA Results

Though we normally look at Spring to Spring data, I decided to take a look at our Fall to Fall scores. We knocked it our of the park with well over 60% meeting in both reading and math.

EL Curriculum Ed. Reports

Did you know: In 2018 the K-5 EL ELA curriculum was given the highest score ever by Ed. Reports - an national independent non-profit research organization.

Staff Meeting

A staff meeting is planned to discuss student goal setting and reflection. Check in with team leaders for more details.

PANDEMIC PLANNING

Student Led Conferences

SLC's Are happening. Stay tuned for more information from Liz. They will happen at their usual time with a return to in-person procedures coupled with COVID protocols. Dinner will be provided by Green Bean Catering, courtesy of Jan Letourneau on Thursday.

Quarantine Document

Credentialing Update: I will have an update on credentialing soon

2nd Step

One lesson MUST be happening each week in Crews. Let Amy H. and I know if you need help or want to modify the sequence.

Scheduling

Let me know if you are interested in joining the schedule team to begin planning for next year.

GT (Chapter 104)

I have added GT to my roles and responsibilities column. Stay tuned for updates from the group: Palmer, Bartke, Webber, Ryan, MacCaffray, England.

Volunteers

Please make sure to share some thanks with our volunteers when you see them out and about. They have done a tremendous job pitching in for when we are short subs!

Lunch/Recess

Remind students in Crews and during duties to pick up trash around their tables after eating. There is lots of little pieces of trash piling up on the property, to the point where neighbors are complaining.

Student Cell Phone and Ear buds

Watch out for unapproved ear bud or headphone use. Students can easily have their devices in their lockers/backpacks and be communicating with others. Also, please don't let students enter into bathrooms with backpacks. You can assume malfeasance.

Policy

Jess and I are looking to update our dress code policy in the handbook. Please let me know if you see anything that seems inappropriate for school or if you'd like to add to our language.

MARSHALL MEMO MINUTE

Effective SEL Protocols in Middle and High Schools

“Check-ins at the beginning of class honor experiences that students bring into the room before we ask them to think about something else,” says Lauren Porosoff in this Edutopia article. End-of-class check-outs can be a good way to bring closure and get information on how things went. Porosoff suggests ways to get the most out of these routines:

• Ask about more than one emotion. “Students might feel angry about something their sibling did, excited about that afternoon’s basketball game, and worried about tomorrow’s math test,” says Porosoff. “When students notice and name multiple emotions, all emotions become a healthy, expected, and respected part of their everyday experience.” A teacher might prompt students to say which three emojis tell the story of their day so far, or when in the last week they experienced each of several emotions.

• Vary the tone. Questions can range from “Do school subjects have colors?” or “If a tomato is a fruit, is ketchup a smoothie?” to “What was your proudest moment this week?” and “Who in this class has inspired you recently?”

• Make it culturally responsive. A check-in might ask about family and seasonal traditions at various points in the year and include non-dominant religions, cultures, and groups.

• Get students involved. A student who says very little during regular check-ins might be the one who comes up with creative ideas if given the opportunity. (Naturally, students’ suggestions would be vetted by the teacher.)

• Build emotion-noticing into academic routines. Emotions are in play during lessons as well as at the beginning and end, says Porosoff, and teachers need to extend the check-in spirit: “Students need opportunities to observe their own psychological experiences of the content, connect with one another through the content, and develop the willingness to struggle with challenging content in the service of their larger goals.”

• Connect emotions to values – and values to actions. “Classrooms are ideal spaces for students to discover their values and to bring those values to their learning, work, and relationships,” says Porosoff. When students are encouraged to share their emotions during class, teachers need to point to the values embodied in those feelings: sadness over something that’s lost, anger at something taken away, fear about something that’s threatened.

• Use a pedagogy of belonging. Porosoff urges teachers to make check-ins “part of a larger culture in which students feel seen, heard, respected, and supported.”

“Building a Better Check-In” by Lauren Porosoff in Edutopia, October 20, 2021

How to Avoid Common Classroom Management Problems

In this article in Edutopia, Youki Terada says that when Steve Jobs was in elementary school, he was bored in school and became (in his own words) “a little terror,” constantly playing pranks in class. Punishments made him defiant and even more disruptive, and the school ended up expelling him. This dynamic is the first of seven that Terada describes, with research-based strategies for avoiding them:

• Mistake #1: Responding to surface-level behavior and not the underlying cause – In the case of the young Steve Jobs, the lack of challenging work was the problem. With another student, it might be trauma at home, for another a learning disability that makes classroom assignments extremely challenging. “If teachers can figure out what a student’s goals are,” says Terada, “they can address the misbehavior in a more-productive way.”

• Mistake #2: Assuming it’s not an academic issue – One study found that 20 percent of classroom misbehavior stemmed from students not understanding the assignment or finding it too difficult.

• Mistake #3: Verbally confronting every minor infraction – The injunction to “sweat the small stuff” can be taken too far, says Terada. Constantly reprimanding students who aren’t paying attention or who are having side conversations can create a “negative reinforcement pattern,” sparking defiance and making the problem worse. Nonverbal tactics such as “the look” or an agreed-upon hand signal can be much more effective.

• Mistake #4: Using time-out corners – Sending students away from the group as a punishment “can cause feelings of shame or embarrassment,” says Terada, “undermining your relationship with them and jeopardizing the trust you’ll need for productive learning.” An alternative is a time-out “peace corner” that’s explained as a space where students can calm down, reflect on their emotions, and practice self-regulation. The key is taking the stigma away from the time-out area and encouraging students to sit there anytime they feel the need to pull themselves together.

• Mistake #5: Writing names on the board and other public shaming – Some schools post the names of students who’ve had detentions and low test scores in the halls, and a common classroom practice is tracking behavior with color-coded stickers – red for bad behavior, blue for good. Practices like these, say researchers, fail to deter misbehavior and may make things worse. Far better is dealing with misbehavior in private conversations, after determining the root causes.

• Mistake #6: Demanding obedience – “It’s a losing battle to expect compliance from students without putting in the emotional work,” says Terada. “Demand it and many students will simply rebel, test boundaries, or engage in power struggles.” The alternative is building relationships, warmly greeting students at the door, co-creating classroom norms, and working continuously to develop social and emotional skills.

• Mistake #7: Not checking the biases we all have – Study after study has shown how implicit bias can lead teachers to give African-American students fewer disciplinary warnings before imposing consequences, as well as expecting less of them academically. “Such perceived unfairness can contribute to a ‘trust gap’ among students of color,” says Terada. Teachers and schools need to track data, he says, looking for patterns, raising educators’ consciousness, and working toward an equitable environment for all students.

“7 Classroom Management Mistakes – and the Research on How to Fix Them” by Youki Terada in Edutopia, August 7, 2020

• Tech FAQ

• DIGITAL RESOURCES DOCUMENT (updated July 2020)

Previous Episodes

TCGWP TRAILER

ASHBY BARTKE

RUTH THOMPSON

PHILADELPHIA EDITION w/ MacCaffray and Elwell

LEATRICE FALLA

Coming Summer of 2022: Ashley Geel!