February 4 - 6th Math PD
February 6 - GreenBear - 5th grade
February 13 - 5th Math PD
February 14 - Valentine's Day
February 17 - President's Day - No School
February 18 - Collaboration Day
February 19 - 4th grade to Tinnin Center @ 9:00
February 19 - 5th grade to Tinnin Center @ 12:30
February 19 - 6th Math PD
February 20 - 4th Beta Induction @ 6:00
February 26 - 4th Math PD
March 4 - Earthquake Drill @ 1:15
March 4 - Fire Drill @ 1:30
March 4 - 6th Math PD
March 5 - Intruder Drill @ 9:45
March 5 - Storm Drill @ 10:00
March 10 - 5th Math PD
March 11 - 4th Math PD
March 12 - Kids On Broadway
March 13 - PBS Day (With Kona Ice)
March 16-20 - Spring Break
March 24 - 5th Math PD
March 24 - 6th Faculty Meeting
March 25 - 6th Math PD
March 25 - 5th Faculty Meeting
March 26 - Band Recruitment Concert @ 9:30 @ JH (6th only)
March 26 - 4th Faculty Meeting
March 27 - Trivia Night @ 6pm
April 6 - 4th Math PD
April 6 - Choir Dress Rehearsal @ 6:00
April 7 - 5th Math PD
April 7 - Honor Choir Concert @ 6:30
April 8 - 5th to Mingo
April 9 - Honor Choir to Cardinals game
April 10 - No School
April 13 - Collaboration Day
April 14 - Intruder Drill @ 1:45
April 14 - Fire Drill @ 2:00
April 21 - Art Show @ 5:30
April 28 - 6th Faculty Meeting
April 29 - 5th Faculty Meeting
April 30 - 4th Faculty Meeting
May 8 - Mark Twain Trip
May 11 - PBS Day
May 12 - Field Day 4th
May 13 - Field Day 5th
May 14 - Field Day 6th
May 18 - Awards - A Hallway
May 19 - Awards - B Hallway
May 20 - Talent Show
May 21 - Last Day of School
Walk Through Feedback
Wednesday, we had administrators from all over the district in our building observing in different classrooms. They were looking for learning targets, data displays, and feedback. Normally, when we have these visits, we meet for a little while then observe for a little while and then debrief about what we saw. This visit, we spent two and a half hours on this process. Some of that was because we observed a little longer, but the rest of that time was on the debrief. They had so many positive things to say about our school that we talked for ninety minutes.
Dr. Dill is a huge proponent of using the thought exchange as a way to drive discussion, so we all placed our comments into the thought exchange and rated each other's thoughts. The word cloud above is what came out of that. Words that are larger were used more frequently. Words like "learning" and "thinking" were mentioned a lot. There were many comments regarding student behavior and the impact that PBS was having. One person even said how "delightful" our students were. I can't tell you how proud that makes me.
The comments from the thought exchange can be viewed here. I took several pictures and I know several other administrators did as well. Some of you may have gotten feedback from them directly. Here are some of the things I saw:
You may have noticed that we have had a recurring topic of class averages come up. I bring it up because anytime I see that a class is not performing, it tells me that there is a problem in our Tier 1 instruction. Tier 1 instruction is the stuff you do in the regular classroom with the whole class. If your class average is low, it's because your kids are not getting the concepts from your classroom instruction. If this is the case, you have to reteach. You may not have to reteach to everyone, but you at least need to pull a small group back to make sure they are up to speed.
One possible solution to this is through the use of backwards design. Backwards design is one of those buzzwords we hear about every once in a while, but does anyone really understand what it means. When you plan instruction, where do you start? You begin with your assessment. How am I going to know if my students understand the learning targets? What is it going to look like if they are successfully doing what it is I want them to do? Then you work backwards. What tasks and activities will lead them to being able to be successful and understand the learning targets? What preconceptions and misconceptions are they going to have about the learning targets? What instruction is going to address the misconceptions and preconceptions?
Making sure that instruction aligns with assessment is vital. When you start with the end in mind, you have a better idea what you need to be addressing while instructing.
Another issue with grades are intentional non-learners. You may be thinking, what's the big deal. I give students the assignments and they either do them or they don't. I can't help it if they are lazy.
This is a real problem. I know you work hard to create engaging lessons. It's very frustrating when a kid does not put in any effort and refuses to help themselves. As someone who has been around for a while, I can safely say that this is not a new problem. It's different. There are more distractions today than there were a few years back, but intentional non-learners have been a thing since there has been school.
So, what do you do? Keep after them. Don't give up on them. Call the parents. Use Saturday schools. Do what you need to do to keep them engaged. Don't forget our mission and vision and, more importantly, our collective commitments. They are here if you need a refresher.
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