Fire Drill Recap
We have our first fire drill in the books. The Safety Committee meets once a month and we are lucky to have representatives from the police and fire departments work with us in our planning. We did a great job of exiting the building in a timely fashion...below are a couple of suggestions to make things even smoother.
-Teachers should follow the last student out to ensure the door gets shut and everyone is out of the classroom. Prep students to ensure they know exactly where to go.
-When the class gets to the desired location, have students line up and do a quick head count. If your numbers match up, then go ahead and go down the list visually making sure all students on the list are present. It can get a little crowded to effectively take a verbal roll call when the other classes are so close.
-On drill days, share with your class the details about the drill. We want everyone to be as prepared as possible to do things in a safe and orderly fashion.
Great Job!
Evidence of Learning in Infinite Campus
During my daily travels and conversations I have been able to talk with most of you about the evidence that we are reporting in Infinite Campus up to this point. We probably should have at least one piece of evidence in campus at this point. If you have any questions, please set up a time to meet with me sooner rather than later. One important goal for instituting a Grading for Learning system is to make clear connections between student work and the standards that students should be learning about. Please err on the side of having too much evidence in campus, rather than too little.
Behavior Update
After two weeks of school last year, there was 18 discipline referrals...this year through two weeks, we have had 10. (I realize that different guidelines for when a referral should be entered can blur this comparison) I like to keep score though. I shared a document last week in my hopes to get everyone on the same page about how we will document behavior incidents. It was my intentions to have that help clear things up...if you still have questions, please let me know. As you notice students that may have a natural tendency to be disruptive, try to think of ways to connect with these students outside of class. It's like depositing money into the piggy bank that we may have to withdraw later when we have to help a student learn from behavior (I hope that analogy makes sense). With behavior, it is so important to be be proactive and consistent.
Intervention/Enrichment Time
On Friday, the lists for I/E time were set. I/E time is so important to target intervention for students that need it. From our early conversations, I feel like our reading interventions will be targeted and effective for our students. We will monitor progress and share goals with students so that they can move out of intervention if they meet these targets. If you are facilitating an Enrichment group, please share the importance of improving each of our students' literacy skills. Nonfiction reading and writing has been shown to be so important to this growth. I appreciate the effort that each of you put into making this time structured and effective.
Classroom Visits
The favorite part of my day is getting into classrooms and seeing the magic happen. I have been able to start sharing evidence with some teachers through email after a mini-observation. It is my hope to familiarize all teachers with the process of analyzing evidence from the classroom and think of each piece of evidence in terms of components on Danielson's Framework for Teaching. I have documented evidence, linked it to a component, and sent an email to a teacher following a visit. So far, I have been able to connect with each teacher afterwards. It has been a great way to begin the conversation about teaching practices. My goal is to create an environment where having an open conversation about teaching and learning a normal and non-threatening event in our school.
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I have been having a lot of fun being back in the middle school. I know we have had some bumps, and that there will continually be challenges that no one can anticipate, but I am excited about being a part of the journey that we are all on together. I have no doubt that our efforts will continue to make the culture of our school about learning, and that the data will continue to reflect these efforts. Thanks again for your openness to doing whatever it takes to meet our goals! Have a great week!
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