The Middle Update 5/29/2020

Resource of the Week
As this year wraps up and we look ahead to next fall, it will be important to assess how this spring went, and plan for how we will make improvements that will lead to maximizing student learning for all.  Over the next months, I will be seeking your input into what we learned as we work on our plan for the fall, operating under whatever safety guidelines are in place.  The article this week shines a light on the work that needs to be done for this preparation.

"Getting Ready to Teach Next Year" - Mary Burns

4th Quarter Grades
We'll look to run report cards starting on Wednesday (6/3).  Please have your grades and comments ready to go by Wednesday morning.  Please let me know if you have any questions or need someone to bounce ideas off of for student situations that may be unique.

The "Puma Way"
I'll keep you posted as we work to articulate our desired school culture.  The thoughts and feedback received so far has been impressive, and I think we are on to something that will be special.  More to come!

Congratulations Mr. Hazard
I enjoyed our tribute to Mr. Hazard on Thursday...a great career and impact.  We all wish Scott nothing but the best moving forward as he prepares for retirement.  Thank you for your service Scott!

Construction Update
Works continues in our building...I was able to take a couple pictures on Thursday morning.  The gym is full of elementary school equipment and that will start to be moved up on the hill starting on Monday.  It's exciting to see the changes unfold, and imagine what our learning spaces will look like next year.

Future Choir Room - Old Williams/Stone rooms

Summer Updates
This summer will be a little bit different in a lot of ways...no access to the building, COVID 19, virtual summer school, etc.  The blog will continue to come through, but not each week.  We know there will be a lot ot prepare for come August, and it will be a stressful time...please take time this summer for yourself, recharge, de-stress, and pay attention to your own personal wellness.  I hope you don't mind if I occassionally reach out looking for input and perspective as we prepare for the coming school year.

Thank You
Thank you for all you do to make up our awesome team.  I hope we don't see another school year like this...but how our team handled it, and executed solid learning experiences for kids could be a model for others to follow.  We have many kids who want to keep going and reading!!  That is a tribute to the amazing teachers we have.  I appreciate the contributions of each and every one of you.

The Middle Update 5/26/2020

Resource of the Week
We have spent the last couple of weeks discussing what the vision for the middle school culture should be, and how we can communicate that to our students and community starting next school year.  The short article this week provides a bit more detail to provide more knowledge about school culture.

"What Makes a Good School Culture" - Leah Shafer

Meetings this Week
We will have one Middle School Staff Meeting on Thursday at 10:15 am.  You can find the link in the calendar invite.  If you'd like to touch base as a grade level, please go ahead and communicate with your team about a collaboration time.

Congratulations Mr. Odden
We have a new Puma that arrived last week.  Congratulations to Mr. Odden and his family on the birth of their son, Ethan Michael.  He was born on May 19th.

Last Day Information
The last day for students is this Thursday (5/28).  As a reminder Friday is still a work day for staff and Dr. Shappell may have a virtual meeting sometime on Friday for some district-wide updates.  Details to follow.  We will be sending out our 8th Grade Celebration video, as well as the staff send-off video to students on Thursday morning.

Grades/Report Cards
Please have all of your grades and comments entered and ready to go by end of day next Tuesday (6/2).  We'll be starting the process of mailing out report cards on Wednesday morning.

The Middle Update 5/15/2020

Another week in the books, and this week I'd like to get a special shout-out to all of you who have worked hard, over and above the call of duty, to connect with our students...especially those that have had difficulty with this experience.  We were able to build momentum and connect with some that were having difficulty this week.  The next 2 weeks are still critical time for us to continue those efforts to engage and connect with all of our students!!

Resource of the Week
Giving students feedback is a fundamental piece of the work we do to guide students to improve their skills in every class.  The resource this week highlights how we can get students to be more responsive to the feedback we give them to improve.

"Maximizing Students' Responsiveness to Feedback" - Beth Pandolpho

Congratulations to Mr. Hazard!
Mr. Hazard is entering his final weeks of his teaching career and is looking forward to retirement.  Our current situation has really limited to scope of celebration and recognition of an outstanding career that is so deserved in this situation.  I want to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation for all Mr. Hazard has done for our students and the Music program in our school.  I'm sure there are many things that Mr. Hazard has just taken care of, that I'm sure we'll learn to appreciate more once a new school year starts.  Thank you Mr. Hazard and we are all wishing you a peaceful, enjoyable retirement once the school year concludes in 2 weeks.

8th Grade Send-Off
We have a couple of things in the works for our 8th grade students.  If you'd be willing to share a message with our 8th graders, please go ahead and do that, and send it to either Mrs. Serstad or Mrs. Graeve.  We also have a couple of students (Abby H., Melanie K., and Teagan T.) working hard to put something together for their class to recognize the end of their Middle School experience.

Remodeling
The process is underway in our building as I type.  I took some pictures yesterday to document what things look like prior to the work that will take place.  Enjoy!

The Middle Update 5/8/20

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week

It's no secret that I believe strongly that the work you do, day in and day out, is the most critical work there is in our society.  We all realize the potential for our impact...and I'm proud of how each of you embraces this responsibility and uses your influence to spread important values like kindness, respect, hard work, empathy...the list goes on.  Thank you for all you do.

I wanted to share Mr. Hausser's awesome message to his students...  "The Awesome Staff,  A Blue Scooter, and a Megaphone"

Resource of the Week
I believe that one thing that sets the most successful people apart from others is how they handle adversity.  We all face adversity in many different forms day in and day out.  Imagine if we were able to teach our kids to view adversity as an opportunity for growth.  This is easier said than done, and the impact emotions have on the brain during times of adversity is something that isn't easily overcome...but the resource this week provides some insight into how to successfully manage adversity.  Handling adversity maturely should be a key part of the "Puma Way"...a consistent message for our kids...

"10 Ways Successful People Push Through Adversity" - Deep Patel

Remote Learning
Our shift to Virtual Learning has been successful on so many fronts.  I wanted to share a couple of emails I received this week from parents:

"Hey Jerry - Hope all is well. Kudos to you and everyone else for doing such a great job with the online stuff during this mess. We appreciate the hard work everyone has been putting in. What a learning experience!"

"Hello Dr. Pritzl,

I have to let you know that Madeline has been enjoying her ELA with Ms. Hecht so much.  Ms. Hecht does a great job at keeping Maddy and the others engaged in learning during this remote learning situation.  Maddy looks forward to the class video meetings and discussing the books.  It is truly the highlight to her weeks.  Thanks for supporting the teachers and providing these great learning opportunities at home!"

With that being said, we need to maintain our hard work during the final 3 week stretch here.  Your work is being recognized to an even greater degree than when school is in normal session, which is great. 

If you notice a student that has been doing well become disengaged, we need to make sure we are reaching out to the parents.  These instances seem to follow a similar pattern...student is on track doing well...parents gain trust and assume things are still on track...kid slips and falls into the disengagement pattern...we reach out to parents...parents are surprised...kid gets back on track.

Let's finish the school year strong and continue to maintain the high expectations that we have set so far.  The kids will have 3 whole months off this summer...a long time without academic work.

I appreciate all you have done to make this successful in so many ways for our kids.

Construction Update
We are almost ready for the remodeling to begin...

Next week is the last week that we will be able to access any spaces beyond the front office.  So if there is anything possible that you'll need prior to late August, next week is the time to come in and check it out.  Our custodians have done an amazing job at organizing this massive project.  I appreciate all of you taking the time to come in and either pack up your rooms or purge materials.  We are almost ready!

Thanks for all you do for our kids!!!

The Middle Update 5/1/2020

It's May!  We have 4 solid weeks left in the school year to continue our creation of meaningful learning experiences for our students.  After May 28th, our students will have 3 whole months of summer break, with many having no learning structures in place...with the Spring we've had, it's hard to think about that much time away from the school building for our kids and staff.  So, as we look ahead to the month of May, think about critical skills our students will need, and how can we get the most out of our situation with our students.  I appreciate what each and every one of you do each day with students at the center of your focus.

Resource of the Week
I have started to tackle another book, titled "Time for Change" by Anthony Muhammad and Luis Cruz.  As I read, I thought I'd share some quotes from the book that represent some of my takeaways.  I have heard both Muhammad and Cruz speak, and both are leading the way in getting down to it takes to grow an exemplar school.  Some takeaways below...

On School Culture...
"A healthy school culture produces a professional environment in which educators unwaveringly believe that all students have the ability to achieve academic and social success, and they overtly and covertly communicate that expectation to others."

-This belief comes through in all conversations about kids, in both words, tone, and body language...whether it's with the student, or with colleagues about students in empty classrooms or offices...

"Hattie (2012) identifies the top-three factors, which all relate to culture and belief in or prediction of student achievement.
     1. Teacher estimates of achievement
     2. Teacher collective efficacy
     3. Student estimates of achievement or self-reported grades
Those educators work together to convince students that they can achieve the lofty academic goals that their teachers set for them."

On the Science of Human Motivation...
"The challenge of change is tough enough with the right skills and research-based strategies, but when a system operates from its own conjecture, folklore, and gut instincts, it makes the task nearly impossible.  Daniel Pink (2011) points out that gut instincts lead to one of two very ineffective assumptions.
     1. People are motivated through force -- the stick approach.
     2. People are motivated through incentives -- the carrot approach.
He notes that both assumptions are incorrect because people have much more complexity and nuance than their fears or material desires."

Construction Update
The bids are in, and the scope of the project in the Middle School is coming into focus.  There continues to be good news, and it's safe to say, most of our school will be unrecognizable when we can get back in our building in August.  Thank you to all of you for your work purging unnecessary items, packing up items to be moved, and being so positive in the process.  We are almost to the point of having everyone packed up, and things will start to get moved into summer storage places starting this week.  Findorff will be taking over our building on May 15th.

Student Pick-Up
In your Homeroom meetings or other conversations with students, feel free to encourage them to contact the school to set up a time to come in and get items from their lockers.  We have a lot of items (including Elementary and High School) to store and not much space to store them.

Middle School Video
Thanks to Mrs. Serstad for leading the charge on creating a video to send to our students.  We have all of the slots filled up, and there is still room for some creative additions if you have an idea.  Contact Mrs. Serstad for more information...videos need to be submitted by end of day Friday.

8th Grade Send-Off
I am looking for a couple of teachers and students who are interested in planning a send-off/tribute for our 8th grade students.  I have some ideas at this point that could be pretty cool, however, I need more creative energy for this project.  Please email me if you are willing to help with this project.

We Were Awarded a STEAM Grant!
This is very exciting news as we were one of a handful of districts to be awarded this grant, which will add many exciting pieces of equipment to our facilities...more 3d printers, vinyl cutters, laser cutters, etc.  Big thanks to Katie and Anna for their work on making this happen for our district!  More detailed information to be shared soon...