March 22, 2019

As we head into Spring Break, please take time to reflect, relax and rejuvinate as we are about to head into the busiest time of year with testing, activities, 8th grade promotion, stress, events, and more.  

How do we, as educators, take a step back and avoid burn out (which usually happens around this time for teachers AND students!) so that we are still on top of our game?  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE for 10 EASY choices that you can make to help avoid burn out.  From choosing to be mindful to choosing to disconnect to something as simple as getting outside, it's an easy peasy read to help make your life less stressful and more focused!

This video gives a great example on a very visual process for students to organize their writing. Please watch this video!! Check out this video . 

Writing aligned to the Common Core and the needs ofEnglish Learners

As we continue to focus on the needs of our English learners, it is important to continue to examine how instruction is differentiated.  This article from Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski provides an overarching view of writing.  The article discusses the three types of writing in the Common Core: Argument/Opinion, Information/Explanation, and Narrative.  The author's highlight the integration of reading with writing, especially for Argument and Information writing.

The article provides some specific implications for English learners and writing.

• Create meaningful opportunities to communicate ideas rather than focus on grammar and conventions
• Provide support for citations
• Provide modeling and guidance
• Provide many sentence starters and graphic organizers
• Use collaborative writing projects
• Support students in self-assessment and goal setting 

The article is part of a series.  Part 2 provides more specific strategies including 12 guiding questions to help students when writing.

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you Mr. Pringle for organizing our college guests to speak to every classroom!! Thank you Mr. Kimble for always going the extra mile and helping out whenever you can. Thank you 4th, 5th, 3rd, and 6th grade teams for coming to academic conferences prepared.

Play: Take some time during spring break and play.

Choose your attitude: 

To actually choose how you respond to life, not just react, you must be intentional. Ask yourself throughout the day, "What is my attitude right now? Is it helping the people who depend on me? Is it helping me to be most effective?" NO EXCUSES!!

Make Their Day:  Thank you Katie, Heather, and Jamie for planning a fun AR party for students!!

March 15, 2019

CLICK HERE to check out the website 

Tasha Wahl is an artist, philanthropist and businesswoman. She wanted to start a micro-philanthropy movement that embodied a concept popularized by Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Tasha’s life-sized butterfly installations can be seen all over the world and have been photographed across the nation. Tasha knows that through small, contagious acts of generosity, the world could become a better place. We received a grant (thanks Kristin) to place the butterfly in our MPR room. The Butterfly Effect recognizes that we can be the change we want to see in the world by facilitating small acts of kindness, encouraging generosity, and promoting creativity. Our students are making poor choices and not being kind to each other. I am buying each grade level the book Andy Andrews The Butterfly Effect. We do PBIS, RJ, community circles and teach character education. Even with all of this our students are being mean to each other. I would like to come together as a school and teach our students to BE THE CHANGE. They are the only ones who can make this change one student at a time. During your community circles have students recognize how they could be part of this change. During spring break Kristin and I will be painting it on a wall in the MPR. If you would like to help let me know.

Please watch our videos to learn about social butterflies and the Butterfly Effect. 

If Not You, Then Who? The Profound Power of One Small Action

A Butterfly Observed: How One Small Idea Sparked Worldwide Change

From Mr. Pringle:

As you know, next week is our College Week at SV. Check your email for spirit week calendar for all to view. We're encouraging student & staff participation. Also for the K-8 teachers, College Students will be here next Friday (Mar 22) during the morning to speak to respective classes. The schedule is being coordinated and will be sent out soon. 

Additionally if you choose, here are a few simple activities for your students to participate in geared towards college information/readiness. 

*College Bingo Game (Peter has sheets)

*Virtual College Scavenger Hunt (Peter has sheets)

*Design a College Pennant (Peter has the paper)

*Mascot Trivia (Peter has sheets)

*Door Decorating (college of your choice)

Please welcome Maiya Williams who will be working with Chris Crawford as a para educator from 9:00-12:30 M-F. She will be starting on Monday. If you see her on campus please introduce yourself. 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you Michelle and Melissa for meeting with me for academic conferences. Thank you Sarah for making sure every student's picture will be in the yearbook!!

Play: Have a great weekend!

Choose your attitude: 

To actually choose how you respond to life, not just react, you must be intentional. Ask yourself throughout the day, "What is my attitude right now? Is it helping the people who depend on me? Is it helping me to be most effective?" NO EXCUSES!!

Make Their Day:  Hand out caught you doing something right tickets like CRAZY!!!

March 8, 2019

 This is from last year BUT a great reminder for our students. A teacher, Marcey Raymond Kusper, had her students discuss school protests to honor the 17 victims of the Florida shooting. One of her students said, "I think it's stupid. How about you make friends with 17 kids you normally wouldn't instead of walking out of school." She said a great conversation took place in her classroom. Students said smile at 17 people you normally wouldn't smile at, say a kind word to 17 people who might not have someone to speak to, open up your heart to 17 people who might be hurting, offer friendship to 17 people who might have had none. Now that could change the climate of the school. 17 reasons for change . . . 17 reasons to make a difference. What is your 17? I like that slogan. Our students at SV are reporting that students are being mean to them during recesses. How can we teach our students to be kind to each other? BTW this is happening at all grade levels at Suisun Valley :(
At SV we hold community circles weekly or daily depending on the need of our classes, we teach character education lessons daily, we hold RJ circles, we have implemented PBIS. Please reflect on these practices if your class is having a difficult time during unstructured time. What processes can you refine to better support your students. REMEMBER behavior does have to be taught and modeled. 

The staff room will be used by Chris our RSP teacher on the following schedule. If you have prep time you can still be in the staff room to work if you would like to. 

M,W,F days during the weeks below:

March 4

March 18

April 8

April 22

May 6

May 20

June 3

T, Th during the following weeks below:

March 11

April 1

April 15

April 29

May 13

May 27

At the staff meeting I misspoke and said that busing will stop for CHOICE kids. Choice kids will have busing until they have finished their time at SV through 8th grade. 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you Sarah, Cecily, Carole, Ariel, Christina, Patty, and Julie for being prepared for academic conferences.

Play: Have a great weekend!

Choose your attitude: 

To actually choose how you respond to life, not just react, you must be intentional. Ask yourself throughout the day, "What is my attitude right now? Is it helping the people who depend on me? Is it helping me to be most effective?" NO EXCUSES!!

Make Their Day:  Have lunch with a student who is having discipline problems during unstructured time. Giving this extra attention could change their attitude.

March 1, 2019

On February 19th I spent the day at a PBIS training. It was a great reminder of systems. Our students are forgetting the Suisun Valley way and how to be a DRAGON. I came away with great reminders. We should be teaching/reviewing expectations at least 10 times a year. We need to be make sure that we are doing this with INTEGRITY: teach character ed. lesson 10 minutes every day, community circles either weekly/biweekly, always tie back misbehavior to our school rules (Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, hand out TONS of positive!!! What I walked away with, if we ALL do this as a team, we will SEE a behavior shift- that is the GOOD news J

TIPS Problem Solving Elements:

The Problem Solving Process to do with your class:

·       Do we have a problem?

·       What is the precise nature of the problem?

·       Why does the problem exist, and what can we do about it? (Hypothesis and Solution)

·       What are the actual elements of our plan? (Action Plan)

·       Is our plan being implemented and is it working? (Evaluate and Revise Plan) Check in after lunch recess every day until it becomes a habit. IF WE ALL DO THIS IT WILL CHANGE BEHAVIOR

What is the goal? (What do we want to see?)

BEHAVIOR IS A MESSAGE (APPELSTEIN, 1998). WHEN CHILDREN AND YOUTH MISBEHAVE, OFTEN IN VERY SERIOUS WAYS, SUCH AS SETTING FIRES, COMMITTING VIOLENT ACTS OF AGGRESSION, OR CUTTING THEMSELVES – IT’S AS IF THERE IS A NEON LIGHT FLASHING OVER THEIR HEADS, ANNOUNCING: I NEED HELP! I NEED HELP! FORTUNATELY, ADULTS CAN RESPOND TO THESE CALLS FOR HELP WITH AN EFFECTIVE, EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY. STRENGTH-BASED PRACTICE IS A PROVEN APPROACH TO GUIDING OFF-TRACK LIVES THAT POSITIVELY TRANSFORMS OUR MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

We will be evaluating our SPSA at our next staff meeting . Please take the time to look it over so we will be ready to work. We will then gather any feedback to help guide our SPSA plan for the following year =)  I KNOW you're excited about that!!

Here is a link to our SPSA 2018-2019:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B01G0KBLi4LvZU1SQnhGaEo4TGM/view

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you Heather M. and Sarah for finishing ELPAC testing for our site. Kristin thank you for organizing Read Across America day for our school.

Play: Have a great weekend!

Choose your attitude: 

To actually choose how you respond to life, not just react, you must be intentional. Ask yourself throughout the day, "What is my attitude right now? Is it helping the people who depend on me? Is it helping me to be most effective?" NO EXCUSES!!

Make Their Day:  Have lunch with a student!!