December 2, 2011

December 2, 2011

"When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself."  Plato

The holiday season is upon us and most of us are compiling lists of gifts to give. Have you thought about the gift you are about to give your students and their families?

According to the research of Jean Kerr Stenmark, one of the greatest gifts students can receive is the capability and willingness to assess their own progress and learning.  You are involving your students in their ability to analyze their thinking processes as you prepared them for student-led conferences.  

Allowing your students to lead their own conferences promotes the following:

* Students take a lead role.

* Work samples or demonstrations are used to show proof of learning.

* Students invite an audience to participate in the process.

*  Audiences take an active role and give specific feedback to the learner.

*  Ultimately, your students become assessors and thinkers about their own work. 

Over the next two weeks you'll be giving your students a gift - the ability to take the lead in assessing their work by leading their own student-led conference. 

Calendar

December 5 - 9th:

(Student-led Conference week option)

Tuesday 6th:

*RTI meeting 7:15 a.m.

*SAC meeting 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, 7th:

*No PD

Thursday 8th:

* Kindie Share Evening 6 p.m.

Friday, 9th:

*Lock down drill 3 p.m.

(see me if you have questions in regard to this drill)

December 12- 16th:

Monday, 12th:

*Vision and Hearing testing

Tuesday, 13th:

* RTI meeting 7:15 p.m.

Wednesday, 14th:

*New Parent Orientation

*All School Meeting

*No PD

Thursday, 15th:

*EPR's due

Friday, 16th:

*1st grade field work to Chinese Cultural School

*Crew Holiday parties?

***** Reminder to communicate to parents that students WILL come to school on Friday, Dec.16th. They will NOT come to school on Tuesday, January 3rd. First day back for students will be Wednesday, January 4th.

Love and Logic

9 Essential Skills: Skill Number Nine

Guiding Students To Own and Solve Their Own Problems

Love and Logic Step One:    

Empathy

                                                    "How sad."

                                                    "I bet that hurts."

Love and Logic Step Two:     

Send the "Power Message."

                                                     "What do you think you're going to do?"

Love and Logic Step Three:  

Offer Choices

                                                     "Would you like to hear what other kids have tried?"

                  

*At this point, offer a variety of choices that range from bad to good. It's usually best to start out with the poor choices.

Each time a choice is offered, go to step four, forcing the youngster to state the consequences in his/her own words. This means that you will be going back and forth between Love and Logic steps three and four.

Love and Logic Step Four:    

Have the child state the consequences.

                                                     "And how will that work?"

Love and Logic Step Five:    

Give permission for the child to either solve the problem or not solve the problem.

                                                    "Good luck. I hope it works out."

Have no fear. If the child is fortunate enough to make a poor choice, he/she may have a double learning lesson.

A good problem to have...

There is a growing frustration with the lack of access to the lap-top carts. We need to have a brainstorming session as a teaching crew to figure this out. We will do that on the Tuesday that we return from Winter Break. In the meantime, to get by until we can all have a voice in that brainstorm,we are adding one more cart to the checkout rotation  and working to put together an Ipad cart for rotation. 

Walk-through Focus:

For the next two weeks as I make visits to your classrooms I will be providing you with feedback about your teaching language and the dialogue between teacher and students and student to student.

Please remember that I'm only there for a very short time and I only observe a snippet of what goes on. If my email to you offers data, things I notice, wonders or suggestions - they are for you to ponder and do with with them what you will. I know that the thought you have put into your plans, your rational and decisions for what you have designed are not always evident in a quick observation. Please provide me with suggestions for the feedback that would be the most meaningful and useful to you as we move forward.

Observations:

                                              

Please find a minute to visit with me to schedule the observation cycle if we have not completed your first formal observation. The google observation calendar is closed.

Featured Folks:

Authored by Valerie Weyand

First off, I want to say "Thank you!" to the Renaissance staff for your warm welcome and friendliness as I joined the staff this school year!  All of the smiling faces and kind comments reflect a very supportive and collaborative community! 

I'm a Denver native, having lived all but my four years as an undergrad in metro Denver.  I grew up in the Wheat Ridge area, and nearby, my parents owned a recording studio and made radio and television commercials, which made for some unique opportunities and experiences for our family.  I frequently sang on commercials that aired in the Denver area and in many other markets across the country, and did a lot of performing and singing in a group with some other teenagers and through my high school's music program.  After high school, I got my undergraduate degree in Speech/Language Pathology from Texas Christian University, then attended the University of Denver for graduate school.  I started working at a private clinic in the Tech Center and then had a private practice and taught part-time at Metropolitan State College. 

Through some unusual circumstances I became interested in learning American Sign Language.  Learning about the unique experiences and culture of deaf people, along with ASL, became a passion  for me and I became involved with a group of deaf people who wanted to establish a charter school for deaf children that used ASL as the language of instruction.  I was a volunteer with that group for over five years, during which the Rocky Mountain Deaf School, a charter school in Jefferson County, was established.  Almost 15 years later, the school continues to thrive, offering great opportunities for deaf  children, tailored to their unique learning needs.  

My interest in ASL and deaf culture, along with ministries I was involved with at my church, were more compelling to me than the business side of a private practive, prompting me to leave private practice to seek a position where I didn't have to be concerned with generating clients and watching the books!  A position was open in Douglas County 23 years ago, and I've been here ever since.  I worked at South Elementary for 9 years and then at Pioneer Elementary until school year 2010-2011 when I was assigned to North Star Academy, along with Pioneer, and then to Renaissance and Pioneer this year. Working in an elementary school setting allows me to do the clinical work that I enjoy so much, and I never have to do anything to generate business -- there are always plenty of children who have needs!

Outside of the school day, I still work with a few private clients, and I am very involved in ministry at my church.  I continue to interpret as a part of the deaf ministry at my church and for friends from time to time.  I love hanging out with friends, doing creative projects around my house and gardening.  I've never been married or had children, but I've been blessed by knowing so many amazing and wonderful people!  I am so grateful for deep and long-held friendships, and for family, especially wonderful nieces and nephews who remain close, even though they are now all grown up. 

  

Peek Into the Life of our School:

Student's of all ages leading drum circles.

Valerie with several of her Speech/Language students

Students assessing themselves using the tennis rubric prior to starting the unit. 
Formative Assessment

Doug supporting students as they identify their skills on the rubric.

Noreene getting 3rd grade up and running with their email accounts.
Please be sure to send home the Google Apps FAQ document to parents so they are aware of their role and responsibility in supporting students using digital tools.
(FAQ doc sent to your from Noreene)

Quote I stole from the tag line on Pam's email:

I loved this quote because it reminded me to stay focused on what is within our control and to see the bounty of opportunity in all times and things.

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There's a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in.

Have a great weekend!