November 19, 2021

 

It will be a year next week that we lost our dad. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.

I know that phone calls can home be a LONG process AND think about an email....or a post card....or a note to send regarding something GOOD one of the students in your care has done.  Can you remember getting one of these when you were a student?  

This could be the one thing that makes a difference in ANY students' life.  It could be one of the ONLY nice things that they hear all day.  It could be the one thing that gets a student to produce work for you.  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE and read all about the benefits of showcasing the GOOD in our students in a few simple minutes....

Jennifer McGuinness will be on leave from Nov. 29- Dec. 17. Dina Gabbart will be subbing for her. 

I am thankful for a wonderful school community, loving family, friends, and that we are all healthy. This holiday season we are thinking of others  and sending as much financial support that we can to help families.

National School Psychologist Week.  Garrett works very hard to provide social emotional support to us, our students, families, and staff. Thank you Garrett for everything that you do! 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you Fern and Ebony for leading our student council :)

Play:  Do something fun over break!!

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

Make Their Day:   Take some time and thank our yard duty staff for their help to support our students every day. 

November 10, 2021

 

As an educator and a parent myself, conferences can lead to a perspective where I can understand both positions. Parents want their children to feel safe, be happy and learn at school. I know EVERY parent wants this. That is why it is SO important that we make them feel welcome and part of the team when making decisions. Parent/teacher/student conferences is a great time to build relationships with parents. A great question to ask yourself is what do I want from my child's teacher? How would I want to be included? If my child was being disruptive or struggling in class how would I like to be approached?

Have you planned to have your students lead part of the parent/teacher conference? This can easily be done by using the RIT goals students have set for themselves. Great Article Click Here

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you Katie, Jamie, and Heather H. for keeping up with our weekly AR slides and planning a fun AR party!

Play:  Thank you for doing something fun with your students!!

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

Make Their Day:   Make sure you start off your conferences with something positive. 

November 5, 2021

 Thank you for sharing Garrett. Great video on ADHD.  I feel like it gives some great insight to what many of our students with ADHD (or have similar symptoms) are experiencing and also gives some great tips on working with these students. 

(I got this from Kristen Cherry's newsletter- thank you Kristen) Stressed and burnout seem to be a common word we hear, especially in November!  Are you feeling irritable?  Not wanting to attend social gatherings, even the easy ones that involve food?  Increase in complaints? Fatigue or insomnia?  You aren't alone.  I think we are all feeling these warning signs in one way or another.

So, how do we reverse this and charge ahead, focusing on the positive/great/wonderful things that are happening in our lives- both at home and at SV?  It's time to TAKE ACTION!!  Take these easy ideas, (even something as easy as loading the "momentum" app to your computer) including remembering to smile, shift your focus to your home, laugh uncontrollably, try teaching something new, take up yoga, go for a walk during your prep, and share with your colleagues.  I know, I know, easier said than done sometimes, but very much needed so you have work/life balance. 

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you

Play: Thank you for taking time and connecting with your students.

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

Make Their Day:   Thank you Fern and Ebony for leading our Treats for Troops.

October 29, 2021

 

Below are the guidelines for parent-teacher conferences:

• Parents DO NOT need to show proof of vaccination to attend their child's parent-teacher conference;
• All conferences are in-person UNLESS a parent requests a virtual conference. Parent requests for a virtual conference should be honored.

Teachers should not be scheduling virtual conferences UNLESS it is by parent request. All other conferences should be scheduled as an in-person conference. All attendees shall be masked during the conference.

The Suisun Valley K-8 School’s New Library and Administration Building was recently awarded Outstanding Project by Learning by Design - Awards of Excellence Fall Edition.

This project is exemplary in being a custom building respecting the small nurturing feel of a rural K-8 school located in a prime agricultural area of Suisun Valley. The design makes emphasis on natural lighting, natural colors, and views that allow the building occupants to connect with the surrounding landscape. The new building houses 7,728 square feet of administration offices, a waiting area, teachers’ lounge, workroom, conference rooms, library, and two instruction areas.

More information at 19six.com

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you for working well with your grade level partners. It takes a team to get through this year!

Play: I hope you can make it to our Trunk o Treat tonight.

Choose your attitude: BE POSITIVE!!! I now some days are hard.

Make Their Day:   Thank you Gloria, Carlos, Donna, Jon, and Debi for doing a great job watching over our students during recesses.

October 21, 2021

 Remote schooling has painfully demonstrated the critical role that in-person schooling plays in simultaneously meeting many developmental needs. Besides academic learning, in-person schooling provides children with socialization and support from caring adults, peers with whom they can test out various identities as they discover themselves, and access to skilled physical and mental health practitioners. And for too many children, school is where they experience sanctuary from unsafe homes and communities, get reliable meals, and have access to other social services.

The loss of these supports last year, possibly on top of traumatic events at home, means many students will begin this academic year displaying symptoms that could meet the criteria for a range of mental health disorders. It will be tempting to manage the challenges their behaviors create by isolating these kids through extended time outs, separating their desks from the rest of the class, or even removing them from the general education classroom. However, we must resist the pressure to use exclusion and the special education system to manage behavior and learning challenges associated with adversity and poverty. 

The Basics of Relational Discipline

Relational discipline is grounded in research showing that leveraging positive educator-student relationships is more effective than punishment in motivating students to adhere to classroom expectations (Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003). The strongest educator-student relationships are built on a foundation of understanding each student as an individual and genuinely caring for each one's well-being, although the relationship-building process won't look the same for every educator.

Halloween costumes: follow school dress code, no weapons, no blood, no masks, no blow up costumes.  

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you for supporting us to try to find out who is vandalizing our girls and boys bathrooms.

Play: Thank you Heather M. and Kristin for planning a fun Friday.

Choose your attitude: BE POSITIVE!!! I now some days are hard.

Make Their Day:   Thank you Fern, Melody, Monica and Garrett for holding efficient IEP meetings.

October 15, 2021

 

Love this Boss's day card! Thanks for the thoughtful cards and gifts :)

No matter how many times a student tells you they don’t care about school or whether they succeed, remember that no child wants to be a failure. Some will try and convince you otherwise, but it is in those moments that they need you most. Believe in all kids and believe in your own ability to influence them. 

• Students still struggle asking for help when they are failing

• Knowing which students are struggling reach out to them and make an appointment with them during class time instead of waiting for them to make an appointment- this was a suggestion from a student

• Students feel overwhelmed with too much busy work

• Send feedback surveys to students and see what they have to say

NO EXCUSES UNIVERSITY – INTERVENTIONS

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“Once children are taught what they need to learn and then assessed for their levels of proficiency, there needs to be appropriate, data-driven academic interventions to help students who are not on track to be proficient by the end of the year.  There also needs to be similar social interventions, because children who are emotionally well adjusted are much more likely to be academically successful.”

During our Academic Conferences at our staff meeting we discussed interventions for our students.  In reviewing the data, we have moved past the excuses and how we can help them at school :)

When we review data, we focus on what the students don’t know and how we are going to provide interventions to support the students learning.

We have now completed MAP assessments or formal/informal data you are collecting.  What are you doing with the data?  What interventions have you put in place?  Here is an example:

If your student scores have low RIT score.   You are able to drill down into the results to determine on which standards the students need support in.  As an example in Math, when one drills down further into the data,  you may notice that the majority of the students struggled with expressions and equations.  A smaller number also struggled with use functions to model relationships. Then the teacher is able to develop very targeted lessons that can be delivered in a small group setting.  The teacher does not have to re-teach the entire class.  Targeted, immediate intervention will have a positive impact on student achievement.

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you for taking the time and building relationships with your students.

Play: Thank you Heather M. for offering another fun virtual cooking class.

Choose your attitude: BE POSITIVE!!!

Make Their Day:   Thank you for the cards and gifts for Boss's day!

October 8, 2021

 NO EXCUSES UNIVERSITY – DATA ANALYSIS

Culture of Universal Achievement

Collaboration

Standards Alignment

Assessment Plan

Data Analysis

Interventions

“It is one thing to have a sophisticated system of regular, formative assessments, but if that assessment data is not collected, disaggregated and reported in a timely and user-friendly manner, it becomes almost unusable.  We believe data must be easily accessible, openly shared, and deliberately arranged.”

There are three main components to data management:

#11. Easily accessible

#  2. Openly shared

#  3. Deliberately arranged

Easily accessible:  We are so fortunate to have two data systems that provide us with on-the-spot data about our students, our schools, and our district.  If you have not become proficient on MAP, you are missing out on valuable tools that will help guide your conversations and actions.  The best part of MAP and Illuminate is that both systems are accessible to our staff.

Openly shared:  During our collaborative time with grade levels, we have shared multiple data sets that include district and site-level academic achievement.  We should currently be working with our school’s formative (or MAP) data and providing intervention now.  

Deliberately arranged:  Over the last few weeks, we have been hearing lots of thoughts about student achievement – reasons for increases or decreases.  One of our commitments is to be specific when we talk about student achievement.  Student achievement data is readily available and we need to use it to describe academic progress.  Furthermore, as you look to each data set, make certain you drill down to the student level.  Don’t just look at the data from the 30,000 foot view.  Remember…data doesn’t always answer questions.  More often than not, it raises questions. AND DATA BELONGS TO THE STUDENT!

Observable Fish Moments at SV:

Be There: Thank you for those staff members who have been able to attend our after school games!

Play: Thank you Heather M., Daniel and Kristin for helping out with Fun Friday!

Choose your attitude: BE POSITIVE!!!

Make Their Day:   Check in with a staff member you have not talked to in awhile.