Thank You

Dear Deep Creek Family, 

Thank you for all you do each and every day. 

Have a great week. I hope the week is as low key as this MMM. 

Thanks, 

Adrienne 

Did you know...

Dear Deep Creek Family, 

We all encounter times in our lives where we need extra support. Life gets stressful and our county offers some free assistance. If you are in need, please take advantage of the following program. 

Did you know that the Charlotte County School Board provides each employee a benefit called the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?  When you visit www.yourcharlotteschools.net, just click on Employees and then Employee Benefits. The information below is there for your viewing.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

What is an EAP?

An EAP is a benefit sponsored by your employer designed to improve the personal and professional life of you and your eligible dependents. All services are confidential and available at no cost.

Who is eligible to use the EAP?

You and your eligible dependents, including your spouse and children.

How do I contact the EAP?

1-800-272-3626

Are there online services available? If so, how can I access them?

Yes, there are online services available. To access the available online services, go to: www.mylifevalues.com and use the following information to login.
Username: Charlotte County School Board
Password: 8002723626

Your EAP provides you AND your spouse and dependents with FIVE (5) free face to face sessions with a mental health professional. These professionals are Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), Psychologists, marriage and family therapists, or Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC). Anyone can take advantage of this benefit, both full time and part time employees and you do not need to be enrolled in any of the CCPS health plans to use it. This is a benefit to you as an employee.

When you call the 800 number, you will speak with a representative who will give you a list of professionals in the area.  You then decide which professional to use and set up your own appointment.  These services are confidential. The online services are also very helpful and is included in your EAP benefit.  Life can be challenging to deal with at times, and sometimes we need a person to help us work through the stressful times and to teach us more effective ways to cope.   I encourage you to look at the website and browse through all of the information, articles, and webinars that are available to you to familiarize yourself with the array of resources.  The representatives at the 800 number are also very helpful and will answer any of your questions!

Enjoy the week...
Noelle 

Have fun while teaching!

Dear Deep Creek Family, 

Welcome to Quarter 2-one down and 3 to go. Remember we are all in it together; we have each other’s back! As a fellow teacher, I can vow and say we sometimes fall into a rut. We get bored, we feel burnt out, we’re frustrated that our students are daydreaming and are not focused-we can’t let this happen though! We’ve all seen it, heard it, or done it. We are NOT those types of teacher, we are ones that engage, motivate, and entice the students. We need to focus on the good- having fun with our students. It all starts with US. If we have a good time, the students will as well. Our mood, how we portray ourselves, and how we speak to the children matter the most. They need role models that inspire them, enrich their brains, and promote growth. We, as a school, are positive and upbeat people. We walk around smiling, waving, and talking to our students; it shows we care and involved in their lives. Our mood transpires to them; so it’s important we express joy and comfort. When students are embraced with enthusiasm they will enjoy learning. Fun will actually promote learning by increasing dopamine, endorphins, and oxygen in the brain-all so important! ;) 

I know you are asking yourself how can I make my teaching more enjoyable for myself and my students-look no further than below. I’ve found the perfect resource, each one of the fifteen ways are right on target. I challenge you to read and use these in your classroom for Quarter 2. (You will probably shock yourself on how many you already do-you all are amazing teacher with some remarkable attributes)

How to Have More Fun Teaching

1. Discover new things together.
It’s much more fun for both parties when students and teachers learn new things together. Your job is, of course, to educate, but why can’t that process include the joy of shared discovery? Make a point each day of letting down your authoritative guard, humbling yourself, and enjoying the lifelong journey together–even if it’s just for a few minutes.

2. Incorporate mystery into your lessons.
Learning is the most fun when it’s surprising. Don’t just disseminate information; cloak it in mystery. Highlight the weird, the unusual, the unique. Ask questions. Start with a curious detail that can only be addressed by diving into the background of the subject and thoroughly exploring it. Pose a mystery at the beginning of the course and let your students work towards solving it throughout the term.

3. Be goofy; show you care.
Let loose; laugh; make fun of yourself. Don’t worry about sacrificing your authority. In fact, the latest research says authority stems from showing you care about your students, and making them laugh and feel good is one way to do that.

4. Participate in projects.
I had a creative writing professor at uni who would bring his own material to class for the students to workshop. It was great fun for all of us, and enjoyable for him as well. Stepping down to our level and actually participating in an activity he assigned himself made us all more engaged in the task because he was willing to be a part of it.

5. Avoid “going through the motions.”
If you feel yourself slipping into a rut, spending the same hours exactly the same way each day, stop and reassess your teaching process. It’s so easy to let it all become automatic, especially after twenty-plus years in the field, and to use the same lessons and techniques year after year with different students. But if it’s not fun for you, it won’t be fun for your students either. Make an effort to be fresh, try new things, take risks, make mistakes, enjoy the moment.

6. Flip your lessons.
Flipping your lessons will help you avoid boring in-class activities. If students watch lectures or correct their own homework the night before, you can spend the course period focusing on deeper learning. Everyone will appreciate the chance to reflect on, instead of repeat, the material.

7. Review–but don’t repeat–material.
It’s important for learning and memory to review new material regularly and to integrate it into the bigger picture shaped by old material. Spend an hour or two each week reviewing material from the past few weeks, but always position it within old material so that students see how it all fits together. Simply repeating new information represents a missed learning opportunity.

8. Share your passions.
Show students how you have fun. Passion is contagious. If you’re having a good time, chances are your students will too.

9. Laugh at your students’ jokes.
The best teachers I’ve ever had got a genuine kick out of their students. It’s one of the best ways to ensure teachers and students have fun: enjoy one another.

10. Replace lectures with conversations.
Why should teaching be so passive? Forget the sage on the stage and engage your students in a casual conversation like you would a good friend. This doesn’t necessarily mean asking more questions, but it does require a stylistic shift whereby you and your students are actively exchanging ideas–not just responding to them.

11. Put on a performance.
In his books and workshops, Doug Lemov talks about what pace to move around the room, what language to use when praising a student, how to adjust the angle of your head to let students know you’re looking at them. Teaching, he says, is “a performance profession.” You don’t have to be theatrical (though that might help), but you do have to be self-aware.

12. Enjoy yourself.
People with high confidence–people we respect and listen to–tend to have one important trait in common: they enjoy themselves. Quite literally. You’ll have a significantly better time teaching if you work on nurturing your personal relationship with yourself. Your
students will have a better time, too.

13. Make yourself available.
Don’t go to the teacher’s lounge during lunch; stay in your room and invite students to eat lunch with you. Keep your doors open after the bell rings at the end of the day. Make yourself available online for part of the evening. Hold one-on-one and group office hours. Invite students to your home for workshops or end-of-course celebrations.

14. Try being a student again.
Take a seat in the audience and let your students teach you for the day. Spend a week doing your own assignments. Let students grade you on projects or presentations.

15. Don’t take yourself–or your subject–too seriously.
One complaint I hear from students is that teachers don’t sympathize with the fact that their course isn’t the only course students are taking. Students have to balance assignments and material from several courses at once (you had to do the same thing not so long ago). This doesn’t mean loosening your rules or being lenient on late work; it means acknowledging that students have interests and priorities that might not line up with yours. Try to be understanding, and even express interest in other courses students are taking. Think of it as an opportunity to strengthen students’ grasp of your subject by relating it to other disciplines.


Every child is lucky to have you; don’t ever forget that. We all have our FUN moments, but now it’s time to focus on making our teaching MORE FUN so we all can reap the benefits! Hope you have a great week.

Again, thank you for all that you do, 

Kristina 

Cited From: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101796324413630088793#ixzz3ohBGAvYE

You are appreciated

Dear Deep Creek School Family,

It was nice to share success with all of you last Friday morning.  We know we have not reached our final goal, but we felt it was important to celebrate our improvements.  It gave us a chance to let you know that your work with our students is appreciated and we understand how hard you work. We know that decisions that are made don't always make life easier for you or that you often don't agree with the decisions.  Just know that every decision we make, we make in the best interest of our Cubs.  Also know that or offices are open and we will always speak to you about problems or your ideas.  Your input is valuable


Monday we do not have students and many of you have completed posting your grades.  With our upcoming SREF inspection coming sometime during the last week of October it would be a great time checking your room for violations.  I hate seeing many of you rushing around the last few days before the inspection to meet requirements.  I will email the SREF most common violations again to each of you so you can check your rooms.  Our custodial crew will be working during the day Monday so they will be available for help and answering questions.  The school will be open until 5:30pm on Monday.

Thank you for all you do,
James

Walk the Talk!

Dear Deep Creek School Family,

I'd like to welcome Dr. Becca Janiak to our third grade team. She will take over room J112. She will set up her room this week and begin transitioning her students on Thursday. Also, Dara Ferretti begins on Monday. She will be working with the kinder team for the month of October. We are so happy to welcome both of these talented ladies that are going to help us achieve our goals. 

'Walk the walk' is almost always said in combination with 'talk the talk', for example, "if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk", or "walk it like you talk it". This is a 20th century American alternative to various old sayings which epitomise the notion that 'talk is cheap', for example 'actions speak louder than words' and 'practice what you preach'. The context for the use of any of these expressions is in response to what is seen as empty boasting. (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/walk-the-walk.html) Let's Walk the Talk from our Action Plans and School Improvement Plans. If we want to be the best elementary school then we have to walk the talk. We stated we were going to do these things well now we have to follow through on them.  I thank you for all the work you are doing to make sure our students are learning what they are supposed to be learning. I appreciate all you are doing to accommodate this change. Please remember change is rough and as we get into routines the change isn't so bad any more. 

This week I am focusing on the importance of monitoring our i-Ready data. In your boxes Monday morning, you will find a Class Response to Instruction report. Some of your students are doing a great job logging in and completing their lessons. Remember you must log in REGULARLY to be sure students aren't struggling in a domain. I have highlighted some positives and some areas I need you to address on each of your reports. Tuesday the i-Ready rep will be here during team meetings to help answer any questions you have regarding reports. Also, she will discuss a new standard assessment that we can possibly use for our iii program. I thank you all for the hard work you are doing with this program. I know it takes prep and collaboration - both of these things we need to fulfill the new superintendent's vision of One Team, One Voice, One Mission. In an effort to help with this our new additional computer labs should be up and running this week. In addition, Mr. Vernon challenged all the students in the cafe with earning a paw for the grade level who utilizes i-Ready the most. Remember the goal is 40 minutes per week in each subject. This can't be done in computer specials alone. 

Monday, October 12th we have decided not to have a faculty meeting. We recognize you need the time to plan. Please utilize the time to complete needed MTSS paperwork or meet with your case manager, work with your team on action plans, and/or hold a planning session for your team to discuss ways to make iii programs better. There is never enough time but we can be guilty of not using the time given. 

I hope everyone had a restful weekend. Please help welcome our new school family members. 

Thanks for all you do, 
Adrienne