Nuts/Bolts - Week of 1/30/17

RISE Cards - Give 6! 
If you are "On Cycle" please schedule Formals with Evaluators ASAP! 

Monday, 1/30 - Homeroom Schedule - Lesson 5, Part 2; Start of 3rd Quarter
Tuesday, 1/31 - 
Wednesday, 2/1 - Horizontal Team PLC, Identify Students in need of interventions/supports
Thursday, 2/2 - 
Friday, 2/3 - MS Dance 3:40-4:45pm

Shout Out! - Suzanne Borgese & Eric Plunkett

Suzanne continues to discover ways to support all learners. Her morning math study sessions have increased scores on Math Quizzes. She continues to demonstrate leadership as a member of 2 state level committees on credentialing and as an active consulting teacher as part of the district's induction program. We're hopeful our nominations earn her a "Teacher of the Year" recognition from the district! 


Eric has facilitated 2 great trainings for staff on Illuminate assessments. We appreciate the extra time and energy he has put into supporting the adoption of this new platform. In addition to that, he keeps kids engaged and entertained in the classroom, is Math Department Head, 6th grade horizontal lead, is finishing his Master's degree, and still finds time to assist staff with technology. Thanks Eric! 

Tech Tip: Amazon Cloud Reader

From time to time you may want to display a book on your SmartBoard. However, the Doc Cam is not the only solution for this. Using Amazon's Cloud Reader, you can display a digital book through your laptop complete with highlights, annotations, etc. Great visual access to the text while also demonstrating 21st century literacy. Buy or download a free digital book and access using this website: https://read.amazon.com/

5 Big Ideas In Education That Don't Work

I just read this interesting article on NPR. As contemporary educational reforms are grabbing more attention in mainstream media, it was interesting to read at least one perspective on 5 of the "popular remedies for school ills...(NOT being) as effective as they're sometimes thought to be." 

Nuts/Bolts - Week of 1/23/17

Class Dojo - Please remember to enter scores!
RISE Cards - Give 6 Daily
Admin Referral? - bit.ly/TRadminref
Gradebook Questions? - Jalinda and Mike are happy to help!

Monday 1/23 - Homeroom Schedule; Lesson 5, Part 1
Tuesday 1/24 - PBIS Team Meeting @8am, Mike's Office
Wednesday 1/25 - Science Reward Day; District Initiative PLC, Room 32
Thursday 1/26 - Positive Behavior Reward Day Schedule; PTA Play 6:30-9pm
Friday 1/27 - Non-Student Day; Lunch or Early Dinner?; PTA Play 6:30-9pm
Saturday 1/28 - PTA Play 2-4:30pm & 6:30-9pm

Shout Out: Jennifer Beu & Lisa Gilles

Jennifer continues to provide exemplary customer service in our main office. She handles attendance for our close to 1,400 students and does so with grace and skill. When subs don't show up, she's a master at getting coverage quick and saving us the headache of being understaffed. Great job Jennifer!

Lisa Gilles seems to be everywhere all the time. She's a perfect fit for our campus. Twice in the last week, she's been the first on the scene to initiate calls to 911. Our kids and staff really like and respect her, and we are very fortunate to have her keeping students safe and following our behavior expectations. Great job Lisa! 

Tech Tip: Extending Google Tools with Add-ons

Kim Voge (TOSA) just shared this through her Google Classroom. If you're not already part of her classroom, I highly recommend you join as a student to her BYOD Classroom! She's always sharing great tips and resources! Class code:  

BYOD

191671r

This is a cool game-board format to teach teachers how to use extensions and add-ons. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ObnkqQiFK5k3Y1kizKeBQdQCsc2rUC6iBvAefQalHzI/edit?usp=sharing

The Tyranny of Being On Task

I just read this ARTICLE from Edutopia and it suggests that there's a place for organized chaos in our classrooms. Students need periodic breaks to ease brain strain, and the perceived demand that they should always be on task is unrealistic.

What Does the Science of the Brain Tell Us? - When they take risks and explore they receive a dopamine reward for doing so.

What Can We Do?
Brain breaks prevent the brain from becoming overloaded and give time for information to be processed and retained effectively

Nuts/Bolts - Week of 1/16/17

Sub Plans + Supervision - Please remember to write in your supervision duty to your sub plans. We still expect subs to cover supervision duties in your absence. Also, please be on time to your assigned duty. I know it's hard to kick kids out of your class, but we're relying on you to ensure student safety. 
Planner Signatures - Remember. 3rd line should be an admin referral sent electronically by the teacher signing the 3rd line using this LINK. If you ask and they don't have it, that's an admin referral using the same link. If all 3 lines are already filled, that's an admin referral using the same link! 
Give 6 RISE Cards Daily! 
CICO Students- Most important, please remember to make a face-to-face verbal connection with the student to inform them of their progress + award points by day's end! 
PTA Play Lion King Jr. - Please consider attending this performance as many MS students perform and would love to see you there! Buy 1 get 1 deal for teachers to see both casts. 

Monday - MLK Day Off
Tuesday - Homeroom Schedule - Management Tuesday
Wednesday - PLC District Initiative
Thursday - WEB Leader Actvities
Friday - "Look Alike" Day + TRTV Schedule
Looking ahead:
1/26 = Positive Behavior Reward Day Schedule
1/27 = MS Non-Student Day / 2nd Qtr. Grading Day (Want to bring in or go out to lunch?) 

Shout Out! - Schneider + Faller + Sullivan

Schneider - For promoting student and staff health by having her Life Skills kids cook a healthy recipe for the class and running the after school fitness group. BTW: I really enjoyed the zucchini pizzas and the kids enjoyed this fun project.

Faller - For exhibiting student artwork around campus and reminding us of our students' amazing creativity and imagination! He also painted our main office front window for the holidays pro bono! 

Sullivan - For consistently pushing the boundaries of technology in her ELA classrooms by integrating Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Sites, etc. She's truly engaging students in 21st century digital literacy! 

REMEMBER: My offer is still on the table if you'd like to visit any classroom, any period, any day! We have some amazing programs, and I'm happy to give you a period to take a tour and explore all the amazing programs and activities our students are engaged in every minute of every day! 

TechTip: PBS Learning Media

As we seek to engage our learners in genuine 21st century learning, not only are we looking for ways to integrate technology into learning tasks, but we're also seeking to find current real-world connections for our learners. 

This website has a great layout with filters that let you drill down to resources for all content areas by grade level and resource type including: articles, audio, videos, webpages, media galleries, and more. 

http://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/

Review Overload and How to Keep Content Fresh

Keeping content fresh for our diverse group of learners is a challenge. This article suggests at to "Be fearless in trying innovative ways to present your content and creative ways students can present their learning." This Edutopia Article offers some suggestions that not only save time, but also demonstrate the importance of absorbing input from various sources. These suggestions are fleshed out a bit in the full article:
1. Have students bring in resources related to your content.
2. Bring an expert into the classroom.
3. Confer with lower grades about their process and material.
4. Follow people, subscribe to feeds, and become a current content curator.
5. Stay current on pedagogy.

Nuts/Bolts - Week of 1/9/17

Happy New Year! 

RISE Cards - Give 6 Daily! 
2nd Quarter Grades DUE - Aeries.net opens on 1/23 and closes on 1/31. 
CICO Kids - Please remember to record scores in Class Dojo by day's end. Students can earn up to 5 points each class period. We will re-evaluate the students at the end of the semester. 

1/9 - Rx Project Guest Speakers in PE Classes
1/10 - RTI Sweep, Benchmark #2 (During PE Classes)
          Homeroom Schedule: 6th-slide 38   script 87; 7th-slide 40 script 85; 8th-slide 35 script 85

1/11 - Structured PD PLC; 2pm-4:30pm Modular Furniture, Rm 17

1/12 - Bridges to Tomorrow Fieldtrip (8th Grade Girls); CASL Workshop (Leadership 
          Students Gone)
1/13 - PM Assembly Schedule - Pep Rally! 
          6th Grade - You are Sponge Bob so wear yellow!
          7th Grade - You are Squidward so wear blue!
          And 8th Grade - You are Patrick so wear pink!

Shout Outs! - Hellwig, Schlenz, Chapluk, Saltzman

Paola and the Hellwig family for hosting a fantastic holiday party. We all had a great time and appreciate your hospitality. Thank you! Also wanted to recognize the WE Club's efforts in collecting blankets and jackets for the "WE Won't Rest Campaign". Grand totals should be announced soon! Thanks for leading this club and teaching students about the importance of service locally and globally. 

Jessica Schlenz for putting on an amazing production of "Singing in the Snow". Every year I feel like the performance gets better and this is directly the result of Jessica's hard work in preparing them for such a big performance. Great job! 

Mary Chapluk for engaging her JUMP Club in community service with our Toys for Tots drive. Over 400 items were collected thanks to her leadership and teachers' efforts in their classrooms. It's a great feeling to see our students and community giving back! 

Nicole Saltzman for jumping in head first with "Formative" (resource from a tech tip I posted) and using it with her students. I appreciate her innovating and piloting new resources to engage her students. Great job!

Tech Tip: Google Classroom Resources

On 1/4 I had the opportunity to provide a Google Classroom training at Rio Vista. I felt proud to share the many different ways I have seen Travis teachers using this platform here to share resources, push out assignments, etc. I was able to curate some additional resources prior to the training that would be beneficial for beginners to pros. Hope you find it useful. 

Google Classroom Resources

Top Issues Capturing the Minds of Educators and Parents This Year

This article from MindShift highlights some of the most "clicked-on" educational articles of 2016. In my quest to curate the web and find meaningful for resources for you, I'm constantly seeking out (as this article puts it) "ways to reach all facets of the complicated learners that sit in our classrooms, diving deeply into research about self-control, mindfulness programs and teaching strategies to give students structures for their thinking." Within the article are some great resources for student engagement, de-escalating situations, increasing depth, etc. Worth a read!