The Middle Update 12/18/20

We were back in the school this past week, and it was sure nice to see the students live and have interactions with them that weren't only through a screen.  From my perspective, I am so appreciative and impressed by our staff's ability to be flexible and provide great learning experiences for our students no matter what the circumstances are.  What we have accomplished in the second part of 2020 has been nothing short of remarkable.  I feel very fortunate to work with each of you. 

Resource of the Week

The article this week provides strategies that we can use to get our students to think in ways that will help them throughout their lives.  As we are able to get to know our students on a deeper level and spend more time with them each day in our current format, we have more opportunities to have these types of conversations with them.

"3 Ways to Get Teens Thinking Metacognitively" - Sarah Gonser

Larger Assessments

Our larger-scale assessments, like STAR and the Forward Exam, are important tools to measure both individual student progress, as well as the progress of our instructional efforts as a whole.  I was really disappointed that we were not able to take the Forward Exam last spring.  I look forward to these opportunities for our students to show off the skills and knowledge they have attained in our building, and also for the opportunity for the public to see the results of the strong efforts made by our staff to put our kids in position to be successful.  

Many of our students took the STAR Reading and Math Test this past week.  I have not had the chance to comb through the data in great detail, but at first glance, the growth showed from this assessment was pretty impressive.  This type of data speaks to the passion that we have to provide high quality learning experiences for our students even in such a challenging environment.  The Forward Exam is on schedule to be administered this year, and I look forward to this opportunity for our students and our school.

Flexible Mindset

Over the course of the experience of this school year, I have come to notice and appreciate the attitude and mentality of the adults that work in our school.  I have noticed a "go with the flow" mindset, and have appreciated this very much as we have faced things that have come up that are unexpected, and in many cases inconvenient.  I appreciate working in an environment where we have high expectations, but also understand the importance of making the most of the different circumstances that we encounter.

Puma Pride

Sometime on Monday or Tuesday, please have your Homeroom students log into IC and take a look at their current 2nd quarter scores.  We'll (Mrs. Andringa) be distributing tickets to Homeroom teachers, and for every ME a student currently has, please give them a ticket and have them put their name on it.  We'll collect those tickets and have a drawing on Tuesday afternoon.  Any student drawn can come down to select an item ranging from a candy bar, pack of gum, or a $5 BP gift card.  If a student does not have an ME, potentially set up a plan to earn a ticket by meeting Puma Pride expectations for the day on Monday and Tuesday, or something like that.

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 12/11/2020

 We are back to the building on Monday.  We may have to re-establish the routines and procedures that we had in place prior to our virtual learning experience. This will be an important week and a half before the Holiday break!

Resource of the Week

Our resource this week takes a look at the lessons learned by schools during the past 9 months.  The importance of strong relationship building, innovative instructional strategies are things we have seen and know much about.  I thought the part about forming community partnerships is an area that we can explore further in our school.

"What Educators are Learning During the Pandemic" - Becki Cohn-Vargas

Return to In-Person Learning

We'll be back together in our building on Monday.  You all did a great job with our students while we were learning virtually!  There certainly are natural strengths to the all-virtual model and there are other strengths to being in-person...with the main strength being more engagement by more kids on the schoolwork while kids are in the building.  We'll continue doing the best that we can, learning along the way...and as we have almost made it to the year 2021 and the 2nd semester, the planning for next year begins...lots of things to takeaway from what we are doing now, and how it will impact how we can be even more amazing in the fall of 2021.

There was one mistake in the announcements from Friday morning...It will be an A day for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades - It will be a D day for 5th grade.

Message to Families on Friday

The following message was sent out to families on Friday...

Hello,

We are planning to return to our in-person learning model on Monday, December 14th.  We will return to the same procedures we had in place prior to our pivot to Virtual Learning in November.  As we look ahead to Monday, please take note of the following:

-A big part of our Mitigation Plan is for people who may be at higher risk of transmitting the virus to stay out of school.  Please do not send your child to school if any of the following are true:

     *He/she has symptoms of COVID-19

     *In the past fourteen (14) days, they have had a known close contact with someone who is confirmed as having COVID-19; or

     *There is anyone in the household currently waiting for a COVID-19 test result. 

-We will be spending time outside, so please make sure students are dressed to stay warm in cold weather.

-Our virtual learners will now go back to the meeting times with teachers that were in place prior to the pivot to all in-person learning.

     5th (coordinate w/your classroom teacher)      6th      7th      8th

We appreciate the flexibility you have shown during this school year and the support given to your student in making the most out of this learning experience.  Please contact us with any questions that you may have about the upcoming adjustment in our learning model.  

Continuous Improvement and Innovation

As we get comfortable and understand our learning model, we have more of an opportunity to address the areas that hamper our ability to educate all kids like we know how to do...for example, not being able to see and work with each kid one on one.  As we have learned this year, we have made many improvements along the way, and I've had a chance to talk with many of you who have ideas for how to fix those areas that have been frustrating up to this point.  Let's continue to share those things with each other, and continue our work to make the difference in the life of each one of our students.  Every day is another opportunity to impact the trajectory and life of a kid.

Thanks for all you do!!

The Middle Update 12/4/2020

 Resource of the Week

Our resource this week comes from within.  Each week, I get the chance to connect, observe, and talk with all of the teachers in the building, sharing the things they've learned and what strategies they have utilized to make the most out of the educating our kids virtually.  Being a part of those conversations, I have learned a lot, and there is a lot to learn from each other.  This week's resource comes from the strong staff that we have in this building.  Feel free to reach out to your colleagues to learn more.  Thanks to all who shared the following successful strategies to share with others.

"I have been using the waterfall technique for discussions. This allows for a universal response where all students answer the question at the same time. To do this students are asked a question and type their answer in the chat. They are asked not to submit their response until I say and then you see a 'waterfall' of responses come in at once. I have students read through the answers and give shout-outs to other students. Then I read through a few and share what I like and a couple ways they could make their answers stronger. I have done this after students discuss in breakout rooms to help make sure everyone has ideas. You can also have students raise their hand to gauge how much more time is needed as they respond." - Amber

"I have found that giving students time to work on their assignment with me and with one another on the google meet to work very well. This way they can get immediate feedback and help. This also helps with late/missing work as students finish their assignments during our class time most days." - Stephanie

"Not something I did in particular, but...Earlier this week, I did a very informal poll with my homeroom and also asked students I saw in Google Meets for support about what worked best for them with Google Classroom and finding their assignments and what to do. The overwhelming majority said having everything on a Google DOC was what they preferred because it was one page that had everything on it in one place. Parents I talked to said they preferred that also because then they only received one email with what was posted vs. being inundated every time someone posted something. (For example: Math)" - Bonnie

"What’s worked for my class is meeting everyday and completing the Math, ELA and Science lessons together as a class. I have many low readers so even completing the readings together has been helpful. Additionally, my class loves working in groups so the breakout rooms has worked so well with my students." - Shelby

"I think the 3 biggest things that have worked well are utilizing breakout rooms. I have used breakout rooms to help with projects, group students based on how they are doing with the lesson, etc. The second thing that has worked well is starting mornings off with something fun; a song (It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day) or sharing about their day/weekend (plans and what happened). Lastly, I have recently been asking them how things are going by raising their hand (which we both love) or as a question/poll in google classroom/meet. This way I have immediate feedback on how they think things are going. Since I can't see their paper or body language really well on a screen this has helped me tailor instruction better. I can move on and come back to certain things with students or put them in breakout rooms, to help them understand the material." - Abby

"I've made sure to build in time for personal connections/relationships as much as possible.  Also, adjusting the pace or the scale of the work that is pushed out." - Julie

"Something that has worked REALLY well for me is talking to my colleagues. Having a quick conversation on the phone to check in on their day, celebrating joys of students together, and troubleshooting struggles has helped me during virtual learning. I never knew how much you can miss adult interactions." - Heather

"I have been doing 1-2 days a week of "LIVE" PE with my 6th and 5th graders.  We do a workout together, some challenging and some fun ones!  It has been a huge learning experience for me and has been fun!" - Jenny C.

"When kids struggle to turn in assignments in the google classroom, marking them missing in the infinite classroom has inspired a fair amount of students to turn work in."  - Ty

"I love using the features of Google Meet!  The class likes doing polls and using the question feature.  I also love the breakout rooms.  It is so nice to pop in and out of rooms to work with specific groups without the distractions that we have in the classroom.  I also love to be able to send kids into rooms and then work with the students that need more help.  (The hand raising feature is great too)." - Katy M

Another Week of Virtual Learning...

After a couple weeks of virtual learning, we learned yesterday that we will be engaging in at least another week of virtual learning.  I want to thank all of you for your efforts, doing a great job of teaching, and providing effective learning experiences for our students.  We have come a very long way in a short time period.  As we head into next week, please continue to report any students that report they are ill, or have been a close contact to a positive COVID case, or have tested positive themselves.  This information is a critical piece to what goes into the in-person learning decision-making process. 

Self Care

I'm sharing a graphic that shares activities that are good for one's mental health.  Take a look and continue to look to incorporate some of these activities into your daily routine.