Winter MAP data by grade level compared to Mean Status Norms. Overall our students have made a lot of GROWTH!! You should be very proud of your hard work!!
GRADE
Reading RIT SV
Reading RIT MEAN
1
171
171
2
193
184
3
200
195
4
209
203
5
213
209
6
220
214
7
219
216
8
224
219
GRADE
Math RIT SV
Reading RIT MEAN
1
178
173
2
197
186
3
199
198
4
211
208
5
216
217
6
221
222
7
223
226
8
230
229
Tell me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.
~Ben Franklin
Sound familiar? We have all heard this quote and we MUST truly drill it into our teaching. How can we be MORE intentional with our teaching?? How can you incorporate movement since NO ONE loves to sit for close to an hour? Please take a moment to read THIS ARTICLE about ways to make it a natural thing in your classroom!!
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 ourSPSAplan for the following year =) I KNOW you're excited about that!!
Student engagement (one of THE MOST important things in teaching), building relationships with our students is CRITICAL to how effective we are as educators. We cannot simply close the door, turn our back, ignore the signs, or pretend that our kids DO NOT need us. They do. Plain and simple. So how can you build these relationships with 30+ students in your class? Some ways can be simple. Check out THIS ARTICLE on some of the "golden rules" of easy peasy ways to make SIMPLE connections. C'mon people. Don't they deserve it? Don't YOU?
WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???
IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??
Grades 3-8: Please start practicing SBAC
It's a good time to start having students explore the CAASPP Practice & Training Tests. This will help prepare them for the CAASPP summative that they will be taking in just over 8 weeks. CDE has just released the California Science Test (CAST) Training Test as well. Please go towww.fsusd.org/assessmentand click on the green button "SBAC Practice & Training Tests" to access the site. Students and teachers can access as a Guest at school or home. Once you get logged asGuest, you'll need to select a grade. Be sure to select Grades 5, 8, or 10 if you want to take the California Science Test (CAST).
COLLEGE ESSAY CONTEST- begins Feb. 26
Have your students pick up a packet from the front office if they are interested in competing in our college essay contest. K-8 will be asked to write an essay explaining why they want to go to college. The winners of the contest will have their essays published on the school website and read their essay at the College Week Assembly. A drawing will be held for a Kindle Reader one for K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Each grade level winner (there will be one for each grade) will receive a $10.00 gift card to Barnes and Noble. Let’s get excited about college!!
Read Across America: March 1: Be ready for a fun event on March 1!! I am so excited. We have people from the district office and community coming to read to every classroom. Please have a book ready for them to read. A schedule will be emailed to you from Kristin as soon as all RSVP's have been confirmed. Students (or you) will come in their pjs or dress as their favorite character.
I know I have published this before and it's WORTH the read again. Take a look at these 5 Tips for Avoiding Teacher Burnout so that we get to see your smiling face each day! Want some ideas on Time Management skills so that you don't get burned out? Check out these EASY IDEAS and suggestions to help you along the way!
Here is a great pic (hard to see so click the link to take you directly to it) about 10 things every teacher should be able to do on Google Classroom, including manage multiple classes, invite co-teacher to a class, create a resource page, create quick exit tickets and polling (my FAV!!) and MORE! Check it out!
Don't have money to take your students on a field trip. Check out this link for virtual field trips. So cool!! CLICK HERE
Parent Club has planned a SV McTeacher's Night on Tuesday March 13th, 5:00-7:00.
Four to Five teachers are needed to help hand out food and samples to customers during those hours.
If you would like to participate, please respond to Carole Nack and I'll sign you up. =)
It's going to be FUN!!!
FEBRUARY 20 grade level will be focused on analyzing MAP data
MARCH 20 grade level will be focused on grading our writing
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There:Thank you Cecily, Carole, Melissa, Robin, and Michelle for leading our PD on Tuesday. We appreciate your hard work! Thank you Daniel for helping out when we didn't have a sub.
Play: How do you incorporate play in your classroom?
Choose your attitude:Have you said anything positive about your students today? A colleague? If you did, let them know :)
Make Their Day: Buy a luv-a-gram for a student! Make their day!!
THROUGH THE FISH PHILOSOPHY, WE BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH, THE STUDENTS WE TEACH AND THE PEOPLE WE LOVE.
ANNNNDDDDDD here are more and more ideas on effective teaching strategies for our students. These are SIMPLE. EASY. NOT COMPLICATED. seriously, give them a try! Easy strategies from simply believing in them and validating their self worth, to creating an active learning environment, and enabling our students to become active citizens, read THIS ARTICLE for more!!
WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???
IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??
Support our student council and buy a luv-a-gram (Feb. 1-12) for your students. You may want to check with student council and get a list of students who may not receive one and buy one for that student. This is a great way to make their day and support our school!
MAP and Khan Academy for Math – great resource HERE
Character trait for this month is citizenship HERE
Add your Padlet fish moment HERE for staff meeting
Assessments:
MAP testing window is from Feb. 5th -23rd. We recommend that you give MAP testing the first two weeks so the last week can be held for make ups. We will not need to create a testing schedule for this since everyone has their own chomebooks now J
Our district writing assessment will be administered February 26 - March 16 for our K-5 schools. Teachers that teach grades 6-8 will have January and February to get the test done. Their window is larger to allow them to pace the test with Springboard which has larger units than Benchmark and may take longer to cover the content of the testing genre. The genre for all grades is opinion/argument. K-1 will use the prompts from the last two years, 2-5 will use the performance tasks from Benchmark Unit 5 and 6-8 will use the same prompts from last year. Grades K-2 will be paper pencil and all other grades will be done on Illuminate. For grades 2-5 it will be helpful if teachers finish unit 5 prior to the test to give some context for the test and to make sure the content of opinion is covered. This would follow the pacing guide for the year with Unit 4 done in January and Unit 5 done in February. Shelley Ghannam is putting the details together for everyone so questions can be directed to her if you need details.
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There:When people need you, they need you. Setting aside distractions and judgements to be fully present is a sign of respect. It improves communication and strengthens relationships.
Play: You can be serious about your work without taking yourself too seriously. Play is a mindset more than a specific activity. It allows you to throw yourself with enthusiasm, creativity and CURIOSITY, into whatever you are doing, in a way that is natural, not forced. “Playing” with ideas helps you find solutions to everyday challenges.
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?”
Make Their Day: Simple gestures of thoughtfulness, thanks and recognition make people feel appreciated and valued. When you make someone feel good, you feel good too.Thank you Patty and Christina for the beautiful flowers and for updating our bulletin boards in the hallway and at the district office!
THROUGH THE FISH PHILOSOPHY, WE BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH, THE STUDENTS WE TEACH AND THE PEOPLE WE LOVE.
I APPRECIATE AND RESPECT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.
Amy Weisz will be subbing in room 13 so if you have any information that you need to share with 8th grade teachers or the staff please make sure you include her email at amyw@fsusd.org. Welcome back Amy! We are excited that you can be back with us at Suisun Valley!
Hello Suisun Valley,
My name is Stefanie Brick and I will be teaching your students Art for the rest of the school year. I am so excited to be at this school and, my goal is to really push your students outside of their creative comfort zones. My background is in Art and I try my best to keep up my own art practice when I am not teaching. I enjoy spending time with my husband, going on adventures with my two Siberian Huskies, and visiting my second home, Disneyland. I have some pretty awesome projects up my sleeve and cannot wait to get started. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Warm wishes,
Stefanie Brick
A “no excuses”mentality means that even if you believe it should be your student’s job to be engaged, you accept that it’s YOUR JOB TO ENGAGE THEM!!
While reading progress reports over the weekend I thought about what message are we giving students when we give them F’s? Many of the progress reports I read the message was consistently lack of motivation, does not turn in assignments, and does not return homework. As a No Excuses School we take data and put it into action. How can we motivate them? How can we get them to turn their assignments in? How can we help them feel successful? We need to teach them the skills they need to be successful. We need to teach them how to study, how to be organized, how to manage their time, do frequent check ins, hold them accountable, build relationships, have lunch with them, let them know that you care and believe in them, let them know that you will not let them fail and most of all THAT YOU ARE HERE FOR THEM!!!
What's your focus? Do you need to adjust it? Are we still focused on all students achieving, staying positive, coming to SV with our students best interest in our hearts? About this time, I need to re-center myself and remind myself of my focus: student achievement, student engagement, supporting our staff, and always making decisions in the best interest of our students and staff. What's YOUR re-center moment? I have been visiting classrooms this month and looking for academic discourse.
Thank you Kristen Cherry for the following:
Sean Anchor argues that happiness inspires us to be more productive! The more kindness you sow, your mindset will shift to live and lead a happier life. That's his Ted Talk above =)
#kindnessmatters Did you know that a smile, a kind word, a helping hand or a simple note of thanks on a sticky note can truly make someone's day? These are SIMPLE acts of kindness that can be LIFE CHANGING for many on our staff/students. Happiness researcher (yes, it's a real thing), found that if you perform random acts of kindness for two minutes a day for twenty-one days, you can actually retrain your brain to be more positive.
Assessments:
MAP testing window is from Feb. 5th -23rd. We recommend that you give MAP testing the first two weeks so the last week can be held for make ups. We will not need to create a testing schedule for this since everyone has their own chomebooks now J
Our district writing assessment will be administered February 26 - March 16 for our K-5 schools. Teachers that teach grades 6-8 will have January and February to get the test done. Their window is larger to allow them to pace the test with Springboard which has larger units than Benchmark and may take longer to cover the content of the testing genre. The genre for all grades is opinion/argument. K-1 will use the prompts from the last two years, 2-5 will use the performance tasks from Benchmark Unit 5 and 6-8 will use the same prompts from last year. Grades K-2 will be paper pencil and all other grades will be done on Illuminate. For grades 2-5 it will be helpful if teachers finish unit 5 prior to the test to give some context for the test and to make sure the content of opinion is covered. This would follow the pacing guide for the year with Unit 4 done in January and Unit 5 done in February. Shelley Ghannam is putting the details together for everyone so questions can be directed to her if you need details.
Observable Fish Moments at SV:
Be There:When people need you, they need you. Setting aside distractions and judgements to be fully present is a sign of respect. It improves communication and strengthens relationships.
Play: You can be serious about your work without taking yourself too seriously. Play is a mindset more than a specific activity. It allows you to throw yourself with enthusiasm, creativity and CURIOSITY, into whatever you are doing, in a way that is natural, not forced. “Playing” with ideas helps you find solutions to everyday challenges.
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?”
Make Their Day: Simple gestures of thoughtfulness, thanks and recognition make people feel appreciated and valued. When you make someone feel good, you feel good too.Thank you Patty and Christina for the beautiful flowers and for updating our bulletin boards in the hallway and at the district office!
THROUGH THE FISH PHILOSOPHY, WE BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH, THE STUDENTS WE TEACH AND THE PEOPLE WE LOVE.
I APPRECIATE AND RESPECT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.
