September 29, 2017

September 29

Read here about how one teacher let go of control to focus on student centered approaches. Kristine Riley took the step towards student centered learning by letting go of some of the controls she set in her classroom. 

Check these out on Twitter

5 tools to leverage Learning: 1. @Flipgrid 2. @quizizz 3. @nearpod 4. @goformative 5. @EDpuzzle

Character Trait for October is Caring click HERE for lesson plan ideas

Please remember we are ALL teaching a 10 minute lesson on Caring everyday.

Garden Fall Clean Up and Chili Cook Off will be Oct. 7th- free homework pass for those students who participate in garden clean up.

NO EXCUSES UNIVERSITY – ASSESSMENT PLAN

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“We spend time at our Institute distinguishing between formative and summative assessments and how grade level teams can take responsibility for gathering or creating formative assessments that make sense for them.  We emphasize the importance of this work as a support to teachers, because this allows teachers to track those students who are not making adequate academic progress towards proficiency, and then identify specific content areas that require intervention.”

There are some key topics to consider when implementing an assessment plan:

#1:  Assessment is NOT about the teacher, it’s about the student

#2:  Balance between of and for learning assessments

#3:  Scheduling, benchmarks for growth, and continuous improvement are crucial

Assessment is NOT about the teacher, it’s about the student:  One of my favorite quotes from the summer institute was that data did not belong to the teachers.  It was on loan from the students.  In order to help students achieve proficiency, we must support the teacher in analyzing the data and making the necessary adjustments.

Balance between of and for learning assessments:  There needs to be a balance between formative and summative assessments.  Think about the teachers on your campus.  What percentage of the instructional time is dedicated to formative assessment?  What percentage of the instructional time is dedicated to summative assessment?  In a NEU school, both assessments are equally important.

Scheduling, benchmarks, and continuous improvement are crucial:  When you get your data…what do you do about it?  Is it used as a learning opportunity to better understand what your students know and don’t know? Everything we do should be about providing opportunities for continuous improvement.  Do we have systems in place that allow for such a process?

You may have started to hear the new acronym MTSS (Multi-tiered System of Support) last year. It is an acronym we will be using at all school sites and district wide.

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MTSS 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade teams for having data ready and ready to discuss DATA!!!

Play: 8^th graders are ready to play, learn, and have fun at Yosemite all week!

Choose your attitude: Your attitude can decide how you will feel for the rest of the day- EVERY DAY!!

Make Their Day:   THANK you Julie and Sarah for making my day!

September 22, 2017

September 22

Thank you for attending our IPR and our school site focus will continue to be math. Please see Denise Brown if you would like to have Solano Community College students to help in your classroom. You can set up times with SSC after school as well. As long as a credentialed teacher is in the room with them they can work with our students after school.

Message from Dan Lopez about Collaboration

No Excuses University – Collaboration

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“This is the first and most important system that needs to be developed. Once a clearly understood and agreed-to system for collaboration is in place, a staff is equipped to develop the remaining essential systems and address any other learning challenges they encounter.”

When a school embraces a system of collaboration, there are four attributes that need to be included. As identified at the TurnAround Schools Institute, the attributes are:

#1: Based on action oriented commitments

#2: Scheduled well in advance

#3: Driven by professional attitudes

#4: Focused on results

Now…before you move on, re-read the four statements and think about if they represent the collaboration that takes place on our campus.

Based on action oriented commitments: When our teams come together to collaborate, do you leave with “we talked about…” statements or are there actions that are going to be immediately implemented to impact student learning?

Scheduled well in advance: Do we plan for collaboration or does it just happen? True collaboration includes bringing in data (not perceptions or hearsay) and making decisions based on the collected information. Such a process has to be planned so that the proper data can be collected and is the foundation for good decisions.

Driven by professional attitudes: When our team discusses issues, is it done in a professional way? Do you praise one another during times of success and be honest with one another as you respectfully confront concerns. Does our site benefit from strong professional relationships?

Focused on results: Is our collaborative time focused on student results? Do we come to the table and offer solutions? Are decisions based on student needs?

If you don’t collaborate around your students’ academic achievement data, then how do you know if you have alignment?

I took this from Kris's letter to all staff:

The bottom line is that each copy is three cents.  A one page, two-sided copy is six cents. This adds up quickly.  One of our schools spent over $30K on copy costs, not including the cost of the paper. Districtwide, our contract allows for 6,204,000 copies every six months before the overage charges begin.  If we stay within this copy limit, our contract is quite reasonable.  Unfortunately, we have exceeded this amount by nearly 1.5M copies every six months.  The contract with Ray Morgan will expire at the end of 2018-2019.  Over the next year, we are working on a reduction plan for copiers.  (Great news--our Risographs are NOT included in this contract.  Risos are very inexpensive to use!)  Our goal by the end of winter break is to reduce the number of copiers in each school site by 25%.  The leadership teams at each school  will work with the site administrators to identify the copiers to be removed.  This may be large copiers, individual copiers, or a combination of both.  By the start of 2018-2019, we want to reduce the remaining copiers by 25%.  (Yes, this is common core math!)  In the 2018-2019 school year, we will set additional copier reduction targets.  I encourage all of us to work together and be more conscious of our paper copies.  As a reminder, the scanning feature on our large copiers is free.  People can scan to their heart’s content!

BOTTOM LINE at SV: We will need to reduce by 25% whether we get rid of a copier or individual copiers and this HAS to be done by winter break. If you don't use your printer in your classroom please let me know.

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: PLEASE become a member of Parent Club by paying membership dues. Our parents do a lot on our campus and by joining it lets them know that we appreciate everything they do for us.

Play: Many of you have taken the challenge and have created formatives in Illuminate and administering unit assessments online. NICE JOB!!

Choose your attitude: Thank you for keeping a positive attitude and persevering through new ELA curriculum! 

Make Their Day:   THANK you so much for sending a student for lunch with the Principal! The kids loved it AND so did I!!

September 15

September 15

No excuses start with us!!

Message from Dan Lopez about Culture of Universal Achievement click to see video

No Excuses University – Culture of Universal Achievement

I want to take some time over the next few weeks to provide additional information about each core area, as they are the foundation of successful schools.

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“Every member of the staff believes that each child is capable of meeting academic standards in reading, writing, and math, AND that the school has the power to make that opportunity a reality.”

When a school embraces a Culture of Universal Achievement, there are six belief statements that go hand-and-hand with the culture. As identified at the TurnAround Schools Institute, the belief statements are:

Belief #1: Every student will be proficient or advanced in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Belief #2: The academic accomplishment of every student is an obsession.

Belief #3: The school can neutralize many challenges students bring to the classroom.

Belief #4: Student achievement is the number one topic of conversation.

Belief #5: A maverick spirit is leading the way.

Belief #6: There are no excuses for poor effort.

Every student will be proficient or advanced in reading, writing, and mathematics: Do you believe you have the ability to provide the necessary support and interventions so that every student at your site will be proficient or advanced? And if you do…are you putting those plans in motion so that you support every student in meeting this goal?

The academic accomplishment of every student is an obsession: Is the academic accomplishment of every student the domination of your thoughts/feelings? Do the decisions you make reflect an unwavering focus on academic achievement?

The school can neutralize many challenges students bring to the classroom: Do our actions and our staff reflect a belief that we have the ability to neutralize the challenges students bring to the classroom? Are conversations about solutions and strategies to support the students to ensure academic success?

Student achievement is the number one topic of conversation: When we discuss the school and the students, is the focus on student achievement?

A maverick spirit is leading the way: WE must be willing to fight status quo. There must be high expectations for everyone who has an impact on student achievement.

There are no excuses for poor effort: No Excuses does not mean no compassion AND No Excuses begins with adults. Are we doing everything to ensure academic success for every student!

Now…before you read any further, re-read the six belief statements and think about if they represent you as an educator. 

The district subscribes to the Silicon Valley Math Initiative (SVMI).  As part of this subscription, teachers can access math tasks, problems of the month, transitional unit outlines, formative re-engagement lessons, etc.

Here are the directions to help navigate the site:

Website: www.svmimac.org

Member Resources

  -To access the member resources input the username and password

Username: svmimember2

Password: century21

Please join us on October 7th for our annual Garden Clean-Up & "Fresh from the Garden" Chili Cook-Off!  Our morning begins at 9:00 a.m. for the Garden Clean-Up, followed by our Chili Cook-Off at 11:00 a.m. Please see below link to register for our Chili Cook-Off and also see attached for more information:

Chili Cook-Off Registration & Volunteer Sign-Up

Chili Cook-Off Participant Application

Chili Cook-Off 2017.pdf

Scarecrow planning is coming up. This year each grade level will be responsible for making ONE scarecrow. If you want an extra one for your class and each teacher wants to make one, please let me know before Oct. 7. Scarecrows need to be finished by October 18. Remember this fundraiser is to raise money for our Ag Program. 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you for taking the EXTRA time and building relationships with students. I know this takes extra time but it really pays off.

Play: Make learning in your classroom engaging.

Choose your attitude: Good teaching is about hard work not a halo.”  --Doug Lemov

Make Their Day:   Thank you for filling out good news referrals and making a student's day!

September 8, 2017

Last week I attended a Restorative Justice training and this week I attended a PBIS training. This is just a reminder of how important both are at our school. Thank you Jessica Reed for the following :)

There is a lot of literature out there about the benefits of restorative practices in the classroom, but a great place for teachers to start is with proactive circles that build a sense of community and relationships in your classes. Remember also that Restorative Practices fit under the PBIS umbrella. This isn’t a stand alone thing or something that doesn’t fit within a PBIS system.  It's about building relationships, student accountability and repairing relationships.  These are cornerstones of any strong PBIS program.  Click on the link to see how this particular teacher wrapped in mindfulness and circles into her everyday morning routine.

Short Video on RP circles

Resources for teachers

What is PBIS?

PBIS basics

Sumdog is Coming:  At Sumdog, we're running free online math contests in school districts nationwide. The contest is open to all schools for students from kindergarten to grade 8 and is free to enter. The math contest starts Friday, September 22nd, and runs until 8pm the following Thursday.  Here's how the contest works:

• Scores are based on accuracy, and questions adapt to each student's ability - so everyone has a fair chance.
• During the contest, students simply play math games on the Sumdog website.
• Taking part is easy. It'll only take a couple of minutes to add your students to their class team.
• You can play at any time during the contest week - either at home or at school.
• The top three classes win a Sumdog subscription to premium teaching tools.

We'd love every student to have the chance to take part. We set up and run the entire contest.

To join, just visit this page: http://www.sumdog.com/contests

SAVE THE DATES: Run/Hide/Fight training for ALL staff on October 3 3:15-4:45
 Oct. 11 3:00-4:00 Superintendent Forum at SV - please plan to attend

Character Trait for September is Responsibility

CLICK HERE FOR RESOURCES

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you for your support and kind words for Dylan.

Play: Make learning in your classroom engaging.

Choose your attitude: Good teaching is about hard work not a halo.”  --Doug Lemov

Make Their Day:   Send a student from your class to have lunch with me on Monday.