Nuts/Bolts - Week of 2/27/17

- RISE Cards - Give 6 Daily! 
- Support WE Club's Pasta Drive 
- Supervision Team B - Please be on time to duty & write it into sub-plans
- Schedule Formal Observations with Evaluators
- Admin Referrals - Reminder to automatically submit if/when 3rd line in planner, major 
  behavior, cell phone, and PE Non-Suits, and Academic Dishonesty.
- CICO Begins Tuesday - Teacher Instructions
- MTSS - If you are implementing academic, behavioral, or social/emotional interventions 
  with student(s) consider documenting them in this shared space

Monday, 2/27 - Management Monday
Tuesday, 2/28 - 7th Grade Registration, MPR; Geography Showcase 6-7pm
Wednesday, 3/1 - Vertical PLC
Thursday, 3/2 - 8th Grade Registration, MPR; Mike's Gone
Friday, 3/3 - End of 3rd Qtr. Progress Report Period; Mike's Gone

Shout Out! - Dennis Anderson

A quick shout out to our fantastic custodian Dennis Anderson. Dennis always goes above and beyond the call of duty. He works every Sunday on top of his 5 day week and did a great job handling the recent vandalism incident in the back portables. I was impressed by his quick response, resourcefulness, and follow through. 

We are very lucky to have Dennis on staff! Thanks for your dedication to our school! You ARE a true Trailblazer! 

Tech Tip: My Simple Show

You may have noticed an increase in black/white animation for TV commercials, YouTube, etc. This simple format for presenting ideas is a classic and may be a novel way to format information for direct instruction or group projects. 

My Simple Show lets you write a script, drag/drop illustrations, and then create a video. You can upload your own audio, etc. 

Take it for a test drive! 

Students Learn from Inquiry, Not Interrogation

I just read this brief article on Middle Web and it provided interesting insight into how students perceive questioning in the classroom. "Very few students understand questioning as a process for collaborative exploration of ideas and a means by which teachers and students alike are able to find out where they are in their learning and decide on next steps." The article goes on to describe quality questioning concepts. 

This article also resonated with me as a way to transform student's perception of questioning in the classroom: "eliminate hand-raising by volunteers as the method of choice for student answering – and substitute this with response structures that engage all class members in thinking and coming up with their best responses."

Nuts / Bolts - Week of 2/20/17

- RISE Cards - Give 6 Daily! 
- Support WE Club's Pasta Drive 
- Supervision Team A - Please be on time to duty & write it into sub-plans
- Schedule Formal Observations with Evaluators
- Admin Referrals - Reminder to automatically submit if/when 3rd line in planner, major 
  behavior, cell phone, and PE Non-Suits, and Academic Dishonesty.
- CICO Begins Tuesday - Teacher Instructions
- MTSS - If you are implementing academic, behavioral, or social/emotional interventions 
  with student(s) consider documenting them in this shared space

Monday 2/20 - No School 
Tuesday 2/21 - Homeroom Schedule ; Spanish Classes @ Esperanza

     - 6th grade slide 56  script 125

     - 7th grade slide 72  script 127

     - 8th grade slide 67  script125

Wednesday 2/22 - District Initiative PLC; Ashlea Patterson & Angel Browning presenting "Facilitated IEP & Supporting Students To Decrease Behaviors"

Thursday 2/23 - Men's Choir @ Esperanza; Advanced Orchestra @ Disney

Friday 2/24 - TRTV Schedule ; Dress Up "Decades Day"

Shout Outs! - Bethany Curtis & Vanessa Amorin

Wanted to thank Bethany for a free virtual tour of the "Great Wall of China". A week ago I joined her class using Google Cardboard / Expeditions. The entire class was "plugged in" and exploring various locations along the wall. Really cool! Bethany continues to be on the cutting edge of technology and her kids are consistently engaged by her quick pace and great sense of humor. She's a talented educator, and we are very lucky to have her at the Ranch! 



Vanessa continues to show great leadership capacity in her role as WEB director. I am always impressed by the number of activities coordinated by her team of WEB leaders. All this is done with a commitment to ensuring our 6th graders transition to middle school successfully. On top of that, she is teaching Spanish 1A, Spanish 1B, Math 6, and Math Lab. If you weren't counting, that's 5 PREPS! Yikes! She has handled it all with grace and professionalism. Thanks for your hard work and dedication Vanessa. Eres una maestra con muchos talentos y fuerzas! (grammar check please!)

Tech Tip - Recap

I grabbed this tech tool from a blogger on Teach Thought. Sounds like a cool app that allows teachers to ask a ? and students respond via video response. Videos are auto-mashed into a "Daily Reel" that you can review and/or play for the class.

"If you want to know what students are thinking about a certain topic, have students reflect on learning or gather feedback about the methods you are using in the classroom, then take a look at Recap. Recap is a free video response tool that enables you (the teacher) to ask questions (through video or in a post) and have students respond by creating a short video response."

Link to RECAP

Are you a giver or a taker? | Adam Grant

What implications does this TED-ED have for us as educators, colleagues, employees, friends, family members, etc? This is a very interesting perspective about interpersonal psychology. I love the concept of "building a culture of productive generosity" where "Givers" succeed and all stakeholders share feedback openly. By assuming positive intentions and engaging in "Five-minute favors...(we can) find small ways to add large values to other people's lives." 

Nuts/Bolts - Week of 2/13/17

RISE Cards - Give 6 daily! 
ZAP Students - If a student is "zapped" they must report to the ZAP room or they receive detention; please do not invite them to your room UNLESS you have 1st checked the ZAP list. 
CICO - Officially begins, fill out the sheet EVERY DAY in the student's planner! More importantly, use this as an opportunity to make a positive connection at the end of class EVERY DAY! LIST
MTSS - If you are applying an intervention for a student, consider "logging" your progress in this shared spreadsheet as part of the SST process. Bookmark the link for easy access 

MONDAY 2/13 - NO SCHOOL
TUESDAY 2/14 - Valentine's Day! Second Step Curriculum Lesson 6, Part 1; Jennifer Beu's last day. :-(
WEDNESDAY 2/15 - PLC Structured PD
THURSDAY 2/16 - WEB Leaders meet with 6th graders
FRIDAY 2/17 - Sports Day! Dress Up! 

Shout Out! - Ashlea Patterson + Brian Shay + Marita Buckley

Ashlea is our new school psychologist. She has made a great addition to the Travis team. She is extremely knowledgeable and has jumped in head first to help manage a large K-8 case load. If you have any questions, her door is always open. Ashlea has a great sense of humor and we ALL appreciate her hard work! 








Brian & Marita are once again running intramural sports activities at lunch to keep students engaged in physical activity. They also co-advise our athletic club and recently ran a very successful campaign "Soles for Souls". They collected a mountain of shoes to donate back to those less fortunate in our community. We appreciate their hard work, dedication, and focus on student health and community service! Great job! 

Tech Tip - Listenwise

I guess I'm on a podcast theme this week. "Listen Wise" is a website that provides teachers a great platform for finding contemporary podcasts about current events. As we all seek to give our students more listening practice, podcasts are a great way to bring this into our classrooms. It's sorted by content, and includes options for printable handouts, comprehension questions, and even integrates "Socrative" for quick quizzes. 

There's a premium version, but like Newsela, there's a lot available for FREE! 

Cult of Pedagogy - Podcast

This is an amazing iTunes Podcast that you can subscribe to with your own iTunes account. Jennifer Gonzalez brings in parents, students, researchers, etc. to cover the most contemporary ideas in pedagogy. (You'll only be able to play this podcast if you have iTunes loaded onto your computer). 

This episode I'm sharing is entitled: 
Episode 27: How to Motivate Students: Five Questions for Teachers

Nuts/Bolts - Week of 2/6/17

3-Day Weekends Ahead!

Give 6 RISE Cards
Support WE Club! - Rafikis make great Valentine's Gifts!

Monday 2/6 - Management Monday (Students need devices for 3rd Qtr. Goal Setting + Career Day Survey).
Tuesday 2/7 - Mardis Gras Day!; GATE Training Part 2; Spanish Classes at EHS Carnival
Wednesday 2/8 - Team Leader Meeting @ 8am, Mike's Office; PLC = Vertical
Thursday 2/9 - 7:45-8:15am - "Donuts with Dads", Watch DOGS Event in MPR. Stop by and visit your DOGS!
Friday 2/10 - Everybody's working for the weekend!

Shout Out! - David Gillette & Dominic Anslow (some of our newest recruits!)

David continues to receive high praise from students, staff, and parents. His calm attitude and strong work ethic have quickly earned him Ranch cred. I'm super thankful he supervised 2 Saturday Detentions recently. He and I wax philosophical on the blacktop from time to time. Did you know he's a drummer (3rd or 4th educator on campus!) - Drum circle at break guys? Great to have you aboard David! 



Dominic has quickly adapted to middle school and kids. He needs to giggle a little more when people use potty humor, but all in all I think he's a great fit! He's teaching 6, 7/8, and Geometry. Skills! He also provides free entertainment at break and lunch sometimes. He really knows how to juggle a soccer ball. Maybe he can perform with the drum circle? Welcome aboard Dominic! 

Tech Tip: Skype in Classroom + PeaceCorp OMG!!!

Gina Glaze sent this image to me. It reminded me of my own journey into teaching. I had a B.S. in Global Studies from UCSB. I wanted to see the world and joined Peace Corps as a high school English teacher in Lesotho, Southern Africa. When I returned and began teaching stateside, I always hoped I'd be able to connect students to the experience of a volunteer in a foreign country. Imagine students connecting with another country, communicating with people from a different culture,  and gaining tremendous perspective at our school! Awesome that there's technology to support it nowadays! Tremendous possibilities!!!

The Tech Tool: Skype in the Classroom = Skype in the Classroom is an online community that enables thousands of teachers to inspire the next generation of global citizens through transformative learning over Skype
The Peace Corps Connection: Peace Corps WorldWise Schools

Inspired by PYLUSD Bloggers

Room 30 holds a special place in this resident geek's heart. A weekly cohort series was expertly facilitated and taught there 9-10 years ago by Jennie Bremer. I was lucky to be one of the ten teachers in Rm30. I directly applied her ideas with students and now with staff. Proof? THIS BLOG YOU'RE READING = byproduct of her training. Thanks for introducing me to Blogger 10 years ago Obi Won (i.e. Jennie)!




Director of Secondary Education, Cary Johnson, similarly inspired me to blog. He sends his own edition to administrators: The Principal Press. I love reading it and always find great articles, resources, etc. He curates the web reading and finding contemporary articles and resources aligned with our shared core values. He found the highlighted quote below. It speaks to our unique responsibility as educators of 21st century learners: 

“Work on [a new social compact] has to start with every school teaching children digital civics. And that begins with teaching them that the Internet is an open sewer of untreated, unfiltered information, where they need to bring skepticism and critical thinking to everything they read and basic civic decency to everything they write.” -- Thomas Friedman 

Thanks Yoda (Cary Johnson)!