Weekly Messages for 1.27.2020

BINGO:

Our BINGO board wraps up this week.  We will be drawing names out of the basket to give away some gift cards on Friday afternoon.  Please be sure to complete some last minute challenges and earn a BINGO so your name can go into the basket to possibly win!  The more BINGOs you complete the more chances you have to win.  Check out our BINGO challenges by clicking here.

Strategies and GRIT:

This is a great time of year to praise students for the use of academic strategies.  Many of you have spent the first half of the year getting students into routines, learning behavioral expectations, and setting the tone that your classroom expects GRIT and perseverance.  Now it is time for them to show that they can do it!  Consider finding ways to praise students for their effort and not necessarily the end result.  Focus on looking for the use of strategies to solve a problem, or students that are relentlessly working to prove their answer with text evidence before moving on to the next question, or for a student that has finally learned how read a certain level text without help.  Praising effort encourages students to continue putting forth effort.  In addition, focus on how their effort has a positive impact on their performance and that this is where growth starts to happen!  Many of our classrooms have been doing just this.  Ms. Marcus uses her ipad to circulate the room to award LiveSchool points for students putting forth effort during independent work time.  Mrs. Trexler has an effort rubric posted in her classroom that students reflect on regularly in their journals.  Recently, Ms. Belous had her students mark where their effort was in the lesson in comparison to their level of understanding of the content.  Even in kindergarten, our youngest learners can learn and understand how using strategies and putting forth effort leads them to success.  Ever use scented chapstick on the back of a student's hand as a praise swipe?  This quick swipe across their hand lets them know that you noticed them using a strategy and they love to quickly sniff the scent and get back to work! There are so many other quick ways to let students know that you notice that they are putting forth effort and grit.  Scentos markers: place a quick scented dot in the top corner of their paper.  Glitter self adhesive gems: stick it to their paper next to where their effort "shined" through.  Let's help our kiddos learn how good it feels to be motivated and work hard! 

Week at a Glance:

We hope you have a wonderful week wrapping up the month of January!

-Keli and James

Weekly Messages 1.20.20

Happy Tuesday!
 
We hope that you had a restful long weekend.  PD on Friday was great and for those of you that traveled to other sites we hope that you had a meaningful day as well.  A big thank you to Marie Brown, Melissa Crowder, and Fallyn Hoffart who served as facilitators of our DCE morning PD sessions and to our program planners that facilitated the afternoon sessions.  Don't forget that Marie needs minutes and artifacts from the afternoon turned in ASAP.

   

Fire Inspection:

This week is busy with fire inspection.  Tuesday is our last day to triple check our rooms, closets, and offices.  Let's make this year infraction free!  If you are a peer mentor to a new teacher, please try to find a minute to swing by their room and help them double check that everything is ready to go.  The big day is Wednesday.

Observations:

Our scores for teacher evaluations are due in the system on March 6th.  If you have not scheduled your observation yet, please stop by to see Mary Crawford so she can assist you in getting it scheduled.

Speaking of observations, last week we had the privilege of spending time in Mrs. Feng's class.  She provided her students with think time and independent work time before putting their heads together to reach a consensus on questions that she had asked about the author's purpose.  To facilitate this, she used a wonderful Kagan mat.  This mat has two sides, one that is used for multiple choice responses and one that can be used for written responses.  We saw both of these in action.  This was a great way to get all students answering every question and held them accountable to producing an independent response. Nice job Mrs. Feng!

A few weeks ago we also saw Mrs. Cabral and Mrs. Watson have their kiddos share what they learned in the classroom with their parents via ipad. This was a great opportunity to have students review what they learned by retelling it through video at the end of the lesson.  What a great formative assessment tool as well!  The tool they used is called Seesaw.  Woohoo Mrs. Cabral and Mrs. Watson!

Week at a Glance:

We are excited that our very own Writing Committee will be presenting some training on Thursday about Top Score writing.  Their PD will help us bring alignment and consistency when having our students write across grade levels.   Yay!  Please be sure to join us in the Media Center Thursday at 7:20 for this session.

This will be a busy, but short week!  Be sure to stop by the BINGO wall to see some kind things you can do for your peers or for your students to help us keep one another's spirits high!  

-Keli and James

Weekly Messages for 1.13.20

Support Employee of the Year:

This past weekend we had a wonderful time celebrating Kathleen and Felicia.  Their videos that played at the event showcased just a small portion of all of the wonderful things they do here at DCE.  We are so thankful for their kind smiles, teamwork, and dedication to our Cubs.  Please take a minute this week to congratulate them one more time on the great honor of being Support Employee of the Year Finalists.

Staff BINGO:

This week will be short, but busy.  Don't forget about the BINGO challenge that is posted in the staff lounge.  There are many signatures popping up on the spaces.  Do you want to see what the challenges are without having to walk to the lounge?  Click on the link below!

Staff BINGO Challenges

Glow Run:

Our Glow Run will be coming up on January 31.  This is a fun night for our staff to bring out their own families and join in on the fun or even volunteer.  There will be music, snacks, glow bracelets, and lots of fun.  If you are interested in volunteering, please be sure to click on this survey link below by Friday!

Glow Run Volunteers

Leadership Awards:

Be on the lookout this week for students using their strategies, showing grit and perseverance, or improving in the area of writing.  Write a leadership award for them and send them to the office to receive a spirit stick and sign the wall.  Let's fill up this wall before the end of the year!

Weekly Agenda:

We hope that you all have an amazing week!
-Keli & James

Welcome Back

Welcome back!  We will have a short meeting in the Media Center tomorrow at 8:00am.

Looking forward to a great second half of the year.

Keli & James