Nuts & Bolts - Week of 3/21/16

Rehearsals for the Teacher / Student Air Band in Bethany's Room this week Tuesday-Thursday after school.

3/22 - Performing Band at District Festival
3/23 - Orchestra at District Festival
3/23 - Staff Meeting in Room 34
3/25 - Career Day Schedule + Pep Rally

Shout Out! - ALL Teachers!

I saw this infographic pop up on my Pinterest feed and it really resonated with me. We genuinely know that you ALL are doing SO much for our students and community. A lot of it goes unseen, but we recognize all the hats you wear, the layers of support you offer, and the genuine skill it requires to do your job!

Tech Tip: SELPA Padlet

Thanks to Shirleen for sharing this resource from a training you attended recently. Not only does it demonstrate a novel way of using Padlet, but it also is chalk full of resources. I encourage everyone to look at the UDL (Universal Lesson Design) resources embedded. There's some great tools / ideas there.

Mindfulness in the Classroom

Linda Yaron believes in purposefully integrating instruction about mindfulness. Her goal is to equip students with skills that keep them solutions focused and perspective driven. I especially appreciated her guided techniques for teaching students to handle emotions. Eventually, students "come to realize that though they may not be able to control their outer circumstances, they can manage their responses and approach life with awareness and curiosity, rather than reactivity." ARTICLE

• Messages of Growth and Reflection
• Ritualized Pauses in the Day
• Tools to Navigate Difficult Emotions
• Mindful and Reflective Curriculum

Nuts/Bolts - Week of 3/14

Student Behavior - An emergency meeting was held on Friday aimed at addressing the concerns of staff that student behavior is "off the mark". We collaboratively agreed to the following:

• DO NOT hesitate to sign students PRIDE Cards for disruptive, disrespectful, or defiant behavior. 
• Consider asking habitual students and/or classes to place their PRIDE Cards on the desk beginning of class. 
• If/when behavior is serious and/or has been addressed multiple times, contact parents and/or write an admin referral. 
• For a more "immediate" consequence to the student, consider a "Half Sheet" and corresponding lunch, break, or before/after school teacher supervised detention. You can directly supervise it yourself -OR- teachers interested in collectively sharing this responsibility can use this shared Google Sheet to organize themselves for coverage. 
• To assign a teacher-supervised detention:
• Fill out a paper "Half Sheet" (half / full sheets placed in your mailbox)
• Check this Google Sheet to know where/when you can send a student.
• Fill out this FORM (bookmark this) to assign a student.
• Double-check that your student actually attended by checking this LINK (bookmark this) after the date/time. For "no-shows" fill out admin referral.

WEB Lollipops - Do what you can to discourage sales of candy during class. Students have been given permission to sell at lunch under Vanessa's supervison.

Shout Out! - Hamlin

A big shout out goes to Renay for so many reasons! Taking on 6th grade ELA & Honors ELA this year with gusto! Mentoring her new counterpart Catherine. Diligently working as our SCAC representative to write our School Site Plan. Reminding students how "good they have it" through an in-depth study of local poverty. Actively participating in Yorba Linda's Rotary Club. And the list will definitely go on with this true
Trailblazer. Thanks for all you do to serve our school and community Renay!

P.S. We all wish you a speedy recovery from your emergency appendectomy last week!

Tech Tip: Google Drawings

Ever consider using "Google Drawing" to have your students mind-map, visualize, brainstorm, etc.? The uses are endless. Here's the cheat sheet from "Shake-Up Learning'

8 ways teachers can talk less and get kids talking more

This article advises 8 strategies to increase student-centered communication, while promoting positive behavior expectations, while focusing on reinforcing critical thinking. Great summary of strategies that meet anchor standard targets for Speaking/Listening. For details about each strategy, read the short article. 

1. Don’t steal the struggle.
2. Move from the front of the classroom.

3. Teach students signals for your often-repeated phrases and for transitions.

4. Use non-verbal reinforcement for behavior whenever possible.

5. Turn your statements into questions and prompts.

6. Instead of asking, “Does that make sense?” say, “Can you put that in your own words?”

7. Stop repeating yourself.
8. Notice moments when you summarize/review for students and instead get their input.

Nuts & Bolts - Week of 3/7/16

1. 3/9: Structured PD - Suggest Topics on this Padlet -- double-click on the padlet & type your choice(s)
2. PTA Thank You - Reminder to send a nice thank you note to PTA if you received a grant. 
3. 3/11: St. Patrick's Gathering @ Sandy's 
4. Introducing Cart F - A Calendar has been created for this and it is available to ALL for booking. I'd like to suggest new homes for Cart B & E to make them more accessible. Thoughts?

• Cart B - ? (Science)
• Cart C - Room 59 (ELA)
• Cart D - Room 42 (Math)
• Cart E - ? (History)
• Cart F - Network Room (ALL)

Shout Out! - Paola Hellwig

February was a Trailblazing month for our very own Paola. In early February, Paola organized an on site fieldtrip for TRTV students with LA36. Through WE Club, she recently facilitated the collection of over 500 stuffed animals for OC Rescue Mission.  In late February, she completed training she began this past summer for teaching Code at the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey. Both of her daughters competed in the Middle School Track Meet and she cheered on the rest of the team from the stands. Thanks, once again Paola, for ALL you do inside and outside of normal hours to put students first! 

Marzano Center Essentials for Achieving Rigor

After digesting and reflecting on last week's article about "Redefining Rigor", I was on the hunt for some practical applications for educators. In my search, I came across this publication: "Teaching for Rigor:A Call for a CriticalInstructional Shift -- Why essential shifts in instruction arenecessary for teachers and studentsto succeed with college and careerreadiness standards." A graphic on page 17 caught my attention, as did this quote: "This model provides teachers with the tools they need to intentionally align their instruction with higher taxonomic levels as well as purposefully plan for student autonomy."