Monday Morning Memo 3.1.21

It's March and the countdown to Spring Break is on!  Just two weeks to go and this week is full of fun.  It is Read Across America Week and there are many fun reading activities planned.  Please be sure to take a look at this week's schedule at the bottom of our memo.  We can't wait to see you participating in the fun.  Sometimes all we need is a little wacky hair ourselves to lift our spirits and to help us refocus on what school is all about.  

FSA Testing

FSA testing will be underway soon.  Our students that are on alternate assessment will begin testing right after spring break, and the rest of our 3rd-5th grade Cubs will start testing in April.  We will be sharing a lot of assessment information in the coming weeks.  To help you keep track of all of the important information related to testing, anytime I email you a document or information I will be placing a copy of it into the staff Google drive in the "Assessments" folder.  At this time, you may want to take a look at the testing calendar.  Additional documents will be added to this folder soon that will include which staff will be assisting on which days and the needed specials, lunch, and recess schedule changes.

Goal Setting and Data Tracking

How do we motivate students to improve academically?  Making learning visible, setting goals that are realistic, and frequently checking in on those goals to celebrate success is important.  Earlier this school year we rolled out some changes to the leadership notebooks.  Many of you stepped out of your comfort zone to try something new and many of you have experienced some success.  We shared earlier this year some examples of goal parties that classes were having to celebrate the first round of individual student goals that they had met.  Since then, we have started noticing increased data inside your classrooms.  As we get ready to head into the last stretch of the school year which is also our biggest academic push time, we would like for you to think about some ways that you can goal set with your students.  Is there a particular skill or strategy that you would like for your students to reach or to use more?  How will you know if they achieved their goal?  What is the benefit for them academically if they meet this goal?  What we as adults are excited about, our students will be excited about.  Let's get them excited about our belief that they can improve through setting goals and working hard to achieve them!

Goals can even be very short term.  For example, on a recent reading test you may have determined that only 65% of the class used the UNWRAP strategy to prove their answers.  Of those 65%, 87 % of them earned a 90% or higher on their test which indicates that the use of this strategy has positive benefits to understanding the content.  Of the 35% that did NOT use the strategy, 93% of them scored a 70% or lower which shows students that not using the strategy can be detrimental.  Sharing this data with the class can be powerful.  An idea is to then set a goal with the class for the percent of students that will use the strategy correctly and a goal for a class average for the assignment/assessment.  Sharing data like this and goal setting for the use of the strategy can have long lasting impact on how students tackle reading tasks and their success on them.  

Below are some photos of goal setting that is on display in some of our classrooms.  These are great ways to get students motivated as well.  Take a few minutes to look at these data walls!  

This Week's Schedule

Have an awesome week!

Keli and James

Monday Morning Memo 2.22.21

The last several weeks have been busy with classroom observations.  Although these observations fill up our schedule, it is wonderful to have the time to sit in classrooms, uninterrupted, to watch our teachers and paraprofessionals in action.  This week we would like to start sharing some of the pictures that we have been taking and some of the strategies that we have observed.  There is so much talent in our building and each of us has our own personal strength areas.  Learning from one another is so important.  It is not only professional development, but when we learn from each other in our own building it allows you continued access to the person who implemented these strategies so you can ask questions and collaborate.  As staff members in the world of education, we know that learning never ends.  Reach out to one another to keep learning.  Be open to new ideas.  Ask for opportunities to watch someone in another grade level during a planning period.  Continue to grow your practice. This is how we will continue to be the best elementary school in Charlotte County! 

Reflecting on Learning

As adults we reflect.  We reflect after we try a diet to determine if it will work for us and our lifestyles and whether it will produce the effects that we want as soon as we want them.  After we have a disagreement with a friend or spouse we reflect about what parts we were responsible for and how our reactions impacted the outcome of the disagreement.  Our cafeteria staff reflects about aspects of their job, determining which meals staff are liking or how efficiently student lines are moving. Office staff reflects at the end of the day on which flaws in our systems led to issues and which fixes may be possible.  In teaching, we reflect about how our instructional techniques impacted the ability for our students to learn the content to level we wanted them to in that particular lesson.  

Our young learners can reflect too.  Without us even asking, they make decisions in their mind about how much they like or dislike a subject area, or if they thought an activity was fun or boring.  They reflect part way through a lesson to determine if the skill is too hard and then decide if they want to give up or have grit.  The Marzano element of reflection just makes this action visible to us in the classroom. 

The beginning stages of teaching students how to reflect is sometimes easier done in small group by engaging students in questioning.  Below is just an example for you to see how you may consider starting or refining reflection with your little ones.  Look at the script below:

T – “We just learned how to add two numbers together using counters.  Do you think using counters to add was easy or hard for you?

S – “Kind of easy.”

T – “What made it easy for you?”

S – “I counted the red first and then counted the yellows too.  That’s how many I had.”

T – “You are right!  Counting the reds and then the yellows were our two parts that went together to make our whole. You did a lot of practice today with the strategy of using counters to solve addition problems.  Now, let’s look at our effort rubric.  Did you stay in your seat the entire time we practiced adding with counters?

S – “Yes!”

T – “Did you have a quiet voice to be able to hear all of the directions?”

Y – “Yes!”

T – “Did you have grit and try to solve each problem without giving up?”

S – “Yes!”

T – “I think that one of the reasons that you did so well with using counters to add numbers together is because you also did such a great job on our effort rubric!  You got 3 out of 3 points!  Now, let’s take a look at our learning scale.  The first step on our scale for addition is to be able to solve addition problems using counters.  You are going to do an exit ticket for me to solve one of these questions on your own.  If you are able to answer this problem correctly, we will be able to put a sticker on our scale to show that you have completed this level.  Go ahead and get started on your exit ticket to show me what you know!”

*Students solve the exit ticket question.

T – “Thank you for showing me what you are able to do on your own with counters.  Let’s place a sticker on our scales.  Now that we have mastered using counters to add, tomorrow we get to move on to using a number line to add two numbers.  At centers today you will do some more practice with counters so we can be sure that this strategy sticks with you!”

In the pictures below you will see some ideas that showcase how teachers have been engaging students in reflection right here at DCE.  These photos come from Ms. Niehaus, Mrs. Mann, Mrs. Uebelacker, Ms. Racioppi, and Mrs. Stephenson.

Magic Show

We hope you can join us this week for the Staff Magic Show.  This show is optional, but will be a fun time for us to come together, hang out, and enjoy some entertainment.  We will have some snacks and drinks for you.  If you have personal children, they are welcome to attend with you as well.  The show will be held in the cafeteria from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm.  Cub Club will be relocated during this time.  If you plan to attend, please click on this link to RSVP so we know how many people to plan for.

RSVP Here!

This Week's Schedule

Have a great week!

We hope you all had a restful long weekend.  This week's memo focuses on student behavior.  Just as we often need a few days off to refresh our perspective and attitude, so do many of our students.  As we go into this new week with our Cubs, know that many of them are feeling the stress and pressure of this year just like we are.  Sometimes, all they need is a reset day.  Allow this week to be the moment that you reset with some of your kiddos that have behavioral challenges.  Imagine that this is your day one with them and see what happens!

Student Behavior

At the start of this school year we did a small session on student behavior.  During this session we reviewed the causes for some student misbehavior.  Our students do not wake up in the morning deciding that they are going to misbehave to make our days difficult.  But, there is always an underlying cause for their behavior.  Sometimes, this is can be environmental due to something taking place outside of school. Other times, it can be to avoid tasks/other people or to gain a task or the attention of other people.  In some circumstances, it can be because of internal factors that may be beyond their control (AHD, etc.).  These are just a few of the reasons, but the reality is that there is always a reason.  As you work with students that display challenging behaviors, keep your focus on their "why."  Look for patterns in their behavior, possible triggers, and examine your responses to those behaviors.  This can be challenging... and exhausting.  But, it is important to keep in mind that they are little ones and part of our role that we play in their lives is to help them maneuver through these struggles and be better tomorrow than they were today.  As you work through this, be sure to stay in communication with the child's parent(s).  We are not alone in the journey of supporting behavior.  Be sure to have a relationship with the parent(s) of your challenging students.  This relationship will grow stronger as you show your desire to help their child and take time to praise and celebrate their mini accomplishments with them.  This relationship will allow you to communicate their struggles and have these struggles received in a more supportive way.  

One way that we tried to improve communication about undesired behaviors was through our infraction forms.  Remember, you can locate these infraction forms through the DCE Staff Shared Drive.  They can be found in the "Behavior" folder.  To determine if a behavior is an infraction or a referral, please refer to the "DCE Behavior Flow Chart" and "Behavior Hierarchy" that can also be found in this folder.  Below is some of our behavior data collected so far this year:

Students with Infractions: 35

Total Referrals: 81

Students with Referrals: 43

Below is a link to a video that comes to my mind when working with students that have behavior struggles.  It is worth the three minutes!  Sometimes, a shift in our view of the behavior and/or the student can change everything.  Let's reset!

VIDEO LINK: CLICK HERE

Don't forget that there are people to help you brainstorm about students that you are concerned about.  Step one is to always check in and chat with your team and your case manager.  This week is child talk.  If you have a kiddo that is a concern, bring them up!  More heads are better than one.  Once you discuss the student at Child Talk your case manager will be able to let you know your next steps.

This Week's Schedule

Monday Morning Memo 2.8.21

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  We hope that you have had a great weekend and that you are now getting ready to relax and snuggle up on the couch with some good food and family.  Although many of us may not be super sports fans, the Super Bowl is a fun time to enjoy a little competition and some very creative commercials!  This reminds us so much of school.  Our students enjoy a little competition and some creativity too!  In some of our formal observations in the last week we have seen so many of you finding creative ways to engage your students in purposeful practice.  Some of these practice opportunities have involved games.  In Mrs. Uebelacker's room students worked to put themselves in number order while playing a game called "Where Do We Go?"  In Ms. Racioppi and Mrs. Baldwin's lessons we say students play Kahoot, but also engaged in reteaching and discussion around questions that several students got wrong when then data tables popped up.  In Mrs. Angelo's room students played a "Slap" game to practice sight words.  After their word was slapped they had to share what consonant digraph they saw that helped them figure out that word.  Practice can be fun too!  In Mrs. Hertenlehner's kindergarten room we saw students have an opportunity to "change" matter by smashing, tearing, cutting, and crumbling paper and dough.  Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Ierfino both also let students practice by getting on and off a "bus" that was marked with tape on the floor or by hopping on and off a paper "log" as if they were a frog.  We love seeing you all find ways for your students to practice that keep them engaged, but very aligned to your standards and the critical content of the day!  Keep up the great work!

We will keep the rest of this memo short so you can continue enjoying the last bit of your weekend and the game tonight!  Please let us know if you any questions or needs this week!

This Week's Schedule:

- Keli and James