May 1, 2015

Inspiring thoughts....

This is the quote Pam read to us.

More from Steve Jobs....

“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Read more: http://www.cheatsheet.com/technology/20-most-memorable-quotes-from-steve-jobs.html/?a=viewall#ixzz3YlMyDEOk

Here's the link to the google doc to keep our conversation going and growing until Wednesday when we can resume our collaboration:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qufjuz8F6rCvm9kdDDK1oRqdCboY3t5Z9wTryrA1Glw/edit

Calendar:

May 4 -8th:

Monday:
Suzi's Crew out on field work

Tuesday:
Staff Appreciation Tuesday
RTI 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:
No Beat - Page to Stage Presentation 9:30 a.m.
CITE 6 Team meeting 8:30 a.m.
PD: 1:30 DLMC - same as last week - all interested staff invited - continuation of our mission and vision exploration

Thursday:
Deborah out for admin meeting

Friday:
Band and Orchestra Concert 1:45 - 2:30 p.m.

May 11- 15th:

Monday:
District Art Award Ceremony 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday:
Staff Appreciation Tuesday
RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:
The Beat
PD: Third Grade Portfolio Showcases

Thursday:
Deborah out in afternoon for elementary admin meeting

iReady: Are you ready? 

It's important that you complete end of year testing with iReady. We need that data for you to upload into CITE 6. Remember, you will have a member of the CITE 6 team sit with you to do this. But you need the data! IF you haven't already done your end of the year assessment - do it soon. I am also inviting Carolyn Burtner back to help us interpret the data.

Rosetta Stone

We need to have a brief conversation on Wednesday afternoon about Rosetta Stone and next year. We will need to decide what grade levels will be using it. We need to decide what our implementation will look like for next year. Think about it now and come prepared to weigh in.

Rockies Tickets

I have 8 Rockies tickets for Tuesday, May 5th at 6:40 p.m. If you are interested, please let me know by this Friday at noon. If we have more than 8 interested people, I'll draw names.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Deborah

April 17, 2015

As I passed through Chelsea's classroom I saw this music resource sitting out.

It made me smile and happy inside.

Why? Because it's just another way we give students the opportunity to explore their passions and the process of their own personal self-discovery of who they are becoming as people.

It's a sign that we don't live in a box about what instruction could be for elementary students.

Then I found out that Wendy brought this resource in. 
Who knew Wendy was a 'metal head'?

Wendy and Haven share a passion for Metallica.

Wendy works in first grade and Haven is in sixth grade...
so how does she know?

Ultimately, this is what makes my heart sing.

 A community that knows no boundaries 

of sharing, connecting and caring.

Thanks Wendy - you inspire me!

Calendar:

Week of April 20th
* Suggested week to do iReady
Third Grade out on Winter Voyage

Tuesday- RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday- PD - personal choice (plans, student reports)
Thursday- Debbie Out- READ Act meeting
Deborah out - PD session w/select staff

Friday- NO SCHOOL 
District Art Show begins



Week of April 27th:
2nd round of PARCC
Library closed

Tuesday: RTI meeting 7:30 a.m. 

Wednesday:
PD: 'Think Tank' - all staff/library 1:30

Thursday:
Jill's first grade Voyage

Dates for end of year planning:

Wednesday schedules for the rest of the year:
May 6: TBD (might be a continuation of our 'Think Tank' on the 29th)
May 13th: 3rd Grade Portfolio Showcases
May 20th: 6th Grade Portfolio Review
May 27th: 6th Grade Portfolio Showcases
*Implication for you - if you need a Wednesday afternoon for report cards, it needs to be Wednesday, April 22nd.

Last week of school:
Tuesday evening, June 2nd: 6th Grade Closing Ceremony 6:30-8:00
Wednesday morning: All School Drum Circle - Last day of school

End of Year Report Card for Parents:

** The Leadership Team is working on having more direction for you on what our end of year report card criteria might be. In the meantime, use the template created to mark student growth and achievement and we will communicate with you soon about the personal comments.

Think Tank

Wednesday, April 29th, we are going to gather together as a staff to engage in a philosophical conversation to set our direction for the coming year. In preparation, do some personal thinking about the needs you have professionally and your thoughts about where we need to grow as a school. We have a team attending the DSchool this summer and their mission will be to solve a problem in an innovative way and to bring their ideas and discoveries back to our collective group. It will be important for them to embark in that undertaking knowing our thinking and the direction we want to head. They'll also want to be solving an authentic problem that we identify together. Personally, each of you might be engaging in some professional development over the summer and it would be helpful to each of you to know how your personal work can fit in the vision of the larger vision of the school. 

To support you in thinking prior to our Think Tank, I am sharing the thinking of the Leadership Team from our last meeting. To spark our thinking we used some questions to guide our thinking about our professional development and next steps for our school. Reading over them might spark your thinking. You might agree, you might have other ideas, you might be able to build on the ideas. After the Leadership Team engaged in this brainstorm, we agreed that we needed to do this as an entire staff. Below are the notes from our meeting. As you read them over, jot down your thoughts so that we can move easily into our shared inquiry of next steps for our school.

• What are some predictions we are making? (about our needs professionally to grow)

Differentiation

Assessment

Design Thinking

Reading Recovery -shared learning experience

Vertical Alignment

Math approaches = similar structure as RR training

Team Teaching - SPED/Literacy specialists with classroom teacher

New Team Planning - curriculum development

Classroom Management

Love and Logic

4 C’s/21st Century Skills

• With what assumptions are we entering?

That new teams won’t need additional time to create new curriculum?

That everyone understands and can backward plan. That we all are integrating? That we teach/assess the 4C’s and 21st Century Skills - okay - maybe we shouldn’t have made this assumption -

• What are some possibilities for learning?

Design Thinking - mindset shifts - solving some problems. Differentiation seems to be the big idea - the others fit together -

Design Thinking = RR training=Team Teaching

• What seems to be surprising or unexpected?

How integrated it all really is. Maybe we need to think of it that way. That nobody talked about assessment - it’s inherent....

We don’t have anything that is data driven? This is all about teaching to learn - process and strategies

• What are some patterns, categories or trends that are emerging?

Differentiation, integration, collaboration, problem solving - not looking for a model - we want to figure it out.

• What are some things we have not yet explored?

Team Teaching / our space/ schedules / sharing students/ more student choice to follow passion learning

Student Data?

• What inferences/explanations/conclusions might we draw?
  

That next year will be an exciting platform for us to play and perform. Going beyond the minutia - it’s exciting!  It’s transforming.  A staff with a growth mindset. Evidence of the necessary paradigm shift.

• All of these promote problem solving and strategies
• All of these increase student engagement and ownership
• We wonder how the increased ownership might impact state assessments/test scores?
  

• What additional data sources might we explore to verify our conclusions of the data in the doc?

* If time, it would be valuable to also have a shared discussion about Rosetta Stone and iReady.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Deborah

April 4, 2015

What an incredible spring break - we were treated to some spectacular weather!  I look forward to hearing how you all spent your time.

We meet together on Monday in the library at 8:30 for the Mindset book discussion and to reconnect. 

The rest of the day is yours to use to get your head back in the game:)

Calendar:

April 6 - 10:

Tuesday:
RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.
Debbie out to READ Act meeting

Wednesday:
PD: Personal and team planning

Week of April 13th:
Kenny's Crew out on Voyage
CMAS testing for 4th and 5th grades
Tests will take place on M, T, TH, between 9-11 and 1:30 -3:30
NO RTI
Thursday - Deborah out to admin meeting



* Thinking of Jill who is supporting her father. Jill's father will be undergoing a triple bypass on Monday.

Have a joyous Easter and enjoy your last two days!

Deborah

March 13, 2015

Wow!

We are heading into the last week before a break, which can be stressful for students and teachers. We've already begun to see a rise in undesirable behaviors and a rise in student-to-student conflict. It's to be expected - unfortunately. So, we can only plan for it. Before and after breaks is always a good time to lean toward more structure and tighter boundaries. You can ease up later.

I'm excited to share with you the movie https://youtu.be/ZrYEa8kU3IU that was made on some of the learning that has taken place in Lisa and Kenny's Crews. It's so well done and really gives the 'flavor' of the authentic learning experiences that we create at Renaissance. We all work together to prepare the kids - through a learning progression - to actively engage in the learning that happens at the end of their journey here at Renaissance. (Powerful argument for a middle school!) The students featured started here in kindergarten. I'm thinking that we can all celebrate seeing how far they've come and that what we do collectively, is worth it! 

 Kenny and Lisa - wow! Thanks for articulating with such clarity in this movie the vision and mission of our school. Really motivating for all of us, and renews our sense of shared purpose. We are an inspiration to each other, and thanks for this dose of motivation when we might all be running a little low on that! I know this movie was just the 'serum' I needed this week. 

 Chelsea...wow! The Improv showcased at the Artist Edition was fantastic! Parents were standing around with their jaws dropped. I heard over and over, "I had no idea kids could do that?" The peek into the musical will fill the house. Bravo!

Pam...wow!  I think I can say I'm guilty of taking for granted the craftmanship that will come from within the walls of your art room. As I walked our halls and thought about all that has to be done over time to produce the art displayed, I am just in awe. 410 pieces of art showcased - incredible. Thank you for the perseverance it took to see it through.

Julie, Billie, Jodie...wow! Thank you for being so 'on it' and such incredible problem solvers to support the facilitation of the PARCC. No easy feat and took so much prep work. We can't do anything without  you!

Debbie...wow! You did it! You managed and facilitated the administration of the PARCC for an entire school! I know you've attended countless meetings, lost sleep and hair, and still you smile! Bless you.

Wow...to all of you! Each and every one of you has done amazing things this week - that's what makes us such a connected community. Thank you each for your dedication and spirit!

 Student Led Conferences:
*Please remember to make arrangements for early or late conferences and how you will arrange entrance into the building for parents.

*Wondering if anyone decided to try the model of having conferences go on all day - students stepping aside to conference with their parents and you stepping in for a section of that. That would involve planning for a certain amount of flexibility and independence during the week, but could be another way to lean toward a more organic experience? Let us all know if you tried something new!



March 16- 20:

*Week of Student -Led Conferences (if it is the right fit for your Crew)
(If you are not doing conferences this week, that needs to be communicated to families so that we don't have confusion.)

* Please remind parents that we DO have students in school on Friday, March 20th and do NOT have students on Monday, April 6th.

* PARCC make up sessions

Tuesday:
RTI Meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:
The Beat

Friday:
4:20 p.m. Skip to your car

I found this on twitter...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Deborah

February 27th, 2015

Change brings new opportunities

I had a full blog post written and ready to go last night, and then changed my mind. That blog post was about Student Led Conferences and wondering if we had a fixed or growth mindset when it comes to our approach with them? Are we stuck in old ways of thinking and doing? 

But this notion of growth mindset really has me examining everything in my world. It's that time of year again to complete the budget and staffing sheets. It's time to reflect - and with this comes the opportunity to look at doing things in fresh and new ways. I've visited with all of you who have expressed an interest in a personal or professional change. No firm decisions have been nailed down...but the process is under way. There is a lot of positive energy along with it! There is also some fear, anxiety and lots of challenge by choice! How cool is that! The desire for increased collaboration is driving the changes and that speaks volumes to our growth as a school. 

I would ask that we avoid the traps of human nature to let our thoughts go to the negative. To catch ourselves when we start to wonder why, or what happened, who wasn't doing a good job, who was not a good team member that caused people to shift around. That is NOT what this is about. We have evolved as a staff to a new level of collaboration and growth and we are not going to drag that line of thinking with us! I know that we hear things going on in other schools - they sound bad sometimes and fear nags at us. Come visit with me if you are worried or wondering...

When the chess pieces stop moving on the board, I'll share the exciting news. Together, we will 'raise em' up' and celebrate the new opportunities and the creative energy! There has never been a time when we haven't been Crew, but it just gets better and better!

Go Debbie!
What fun! Teaching kids to take the PARCC!

Mandatory State Assessments

New information from the State Board of Education

On Wednesday, February 18, the State Board of Education voted to hold schools and districts harmless (in terms of accreditation and accountability) for parent refusals of state-mandated assessments.  While this is a shift in the state board's stance on refusals, we are still obligated to administer the assessments in accordance with the law. We need to have a record of all parent refusals to present to the state if our school would drop below the federally required 95-percent participation rate.
If you decide you do not want your child to take an assessment, we must collect evidence of your refusal. Documentation of a parent refusal may include:
* An email from parent
* A signed parent refusal form

* A phone call from the parent that we note on a refusal form

The State had said that any student present had to be tested. They are now saying it is up to the school whether kids who opt out can be in school or not during testing. I am going to continue to require that students who opt out stay home - we just don't have the capacity to manage an alternate plan for kids who opt out. We are using all our man power just to facilitate the requirements for administering the assessments.

* Please note though that kids can come to school during the window between the morning and afternoon testing sessions.

Here is the link to the blog post I sent out to parents today:

http://renaissanceprincipal.blogspot.com/

Cheyenne is so proud of her poster.
When I asked her what the most important thing I should notice was, she said with earnest,
"Notice that it is all about systems."
And then, with a twinkle in her eye, she whispered,
"and they help you poop!"

Peer feedback for Cheyenne's Health Fair Poster

Calendar:

The Next Three Weeks before Spring Break
(yes, it really will come)

March 2 -6:
Monday:
* WorkDay Training 7 - 8:30 a.m.
Debbie out in afternoon

Tuesday:
RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:
The Beat

Thursday:
Deborah out- admin. meeting





March 9-13:
* PARCC Assessments Begin - scheduling implications
* Library Closed due to testing

Wednesday:
Life Is Art: Artist's Edition 4:00- 7:00

Thursday:
Deborah out - Elementary Admin. meeting
WorkDay training session 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

Saturday:
Life Is Art Fundraiser 6:00- 10:00 p.m.




March 16- 20:

*Week of Student -Led Conferences (if it is the right fit for your Crew)
(If you are not doing conferences this week, that needs to be communicated to families so that we don't have confusion.)

* Please remind parents that we DO have students in school on Friday, March 20th and do NOT have students on Monday, April 6th.

* PARCC make up sessions

Tuesday:
RTI Meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:


The Beat

Learning so much from each other...

 - feels like I could say that every day. Just this week, Tyler shared an analogy with me about the job being like a waterfall. Just never stops roaring. Sometimes, he has to step out of the waterfall and sit quietly on the banks and just rest from the energy, noise and motion of the waterfall. To take time to reflect and rejuvenate - not completely away, but not standing in it either. Wow! That really spoke to me and I've been thinking about it all week. Sometimes, the only 'balance' we can find, is in our thoughts. We can still be fully present - living in the moment - but with less intensity?

Have a great weekend!

Deborah

February 13, 2015

A picture is worth a thousand words -

and this week, Billie's photo says it best...

Thank you Billie for sharing this awesome photo that you took!



Calendar

February 16 - 20th:

Monday - Play time for you!

Tuesday:

RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.

Visit from Cindy, our director 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.

SAC meeting 5:30 p.m.

REA meeting 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday:

Second Grade leaves on Winter Voyage

Fifth Grade Discovery leaves on Winter Voyage

No Beat this week

PD: 1:30 p.m.

Thursday:

Deborah out in morning for budget workshop

Friday:

Debbie out in afternoon for PLS meeting

Saturday:

Apple Award Banquet

February 23rd - 27th:

Monday:

Third Grade leaves on Winter Voyage

Kenny's Sixth Grade leaves on Winter Voyage

Deborah out of the building

Tuesday:

RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:

The Beat

PD: 1:30 p.m.

Have a wonderful three day weekend!

Deborah

January 30th

Calendar

February 2 - 6th:

Michelle's Crew Winter Voyage

Tuesday 3rd:
7:30 RTI meeting

Wednesday 4th:
CITE 6 Team Meeting (out of building in am)
The Beat
1:30 PD:
1:30 -2:00 Web Path Training Demonstration in library for those interested
 Personal Plan
4:00 Community Social - Rink at the Rocks

Thursday 5th:
Deborah out for admin meeting



February 9 - 13th:

4th grade on Winter Voyage

Ms. Lisa's Crew on Winter Voyage

Monday 9th:
Deborah out

Tuesday 10th:
 7:30 a.m. RTI meeting

Wednesday 11th:
The Beat
Debbie out
1:30 PD: Personal Plan

Thursday 12th:
Deborah out - elementary admin meeting

Friday 13th: 
No students
Professional Development Day:  

     *Morning presentation facilitated by Kenny and Lisa

Peek Into Classrooms...

How clever are these kids - one squirts soap into your hands -
the other holds a spray bottle for water -
only you think you need running water!
They worked together so smoothly - each understanding their roles and responsibilities.
These are our future leaders!

A pause to consider how far we've come...
These pictures feature Kathy's Crew, but they could be every Crew in our building.
Below is a picture of Ipads laying out on the table, labeled with student names - in their own handwriting. Remember when these would have been notebooks or giant, clunky three ring binders? Now, kids are not jumping up and down because there are Ipads in their classroom - they see them as a tool for learning -  not for games.
I'm picking on Kathy here because she wasn't so sure about whether digital tools and technology had a role in the education of a kindergartner. Today I caught her demonstrating how kids could make their own Educreation using the pictures they took with their Ipads locating common objects in their room that were rectangular prisms.
My, my but all of us have come a long way in the way we think about things, and thus, the learning experiences we are creating. How exciting is that!!!

Chelsea is still standing in this picture. I was going to check in on her at the end of the day. 

Way cool the way students were providing peer feedback - and good stuff too - as each student was committed (look at Cullen's face!) to learning the chords because they were so invested in being able to play and sing a song that mattered to them. As I watched, I could hear kids humming the song they were eventually going to master. It was like they kept singing it to themselves as a reminder - "yeah, this is why I'm gonna figure this out! I'm going to sing this really cool song, because I'm that good!"

It makes my heart sing that we continue to nurture the self expression of every child.

Ah yes, that personalized, explicit feedback that makes all the difference!

I met with this dynamic group of Ambassadors, and once again I heard a resounding response that they thrive with the opportunity to have a voice in creating this experience for our community. Not a single student has not agreed that they love doing this experience as multi-age group and value that they have made 'new friends'. They can talk so naturally and so organically about the collaboration and creativity they valued in this experience. They can also talk about having a new perspective about the role of the audience and how that new perspective will change their behavior. (I think there's a World Class Outcome there...)

Does it not just make your heart swell each week when you see them up there and the pride they have in what they've created? What are they learning about being risk takers? Every week I'm just in awe of what our young people are wiling to risk - a testimony to the safe culture and sense of belonging they have in the larger school community. We are doing it!

I don't have the pictures to share ( I have them on individual teacher Ipad note pages), but want to share that I see such amazing things happening! I see teachers taking huge risks to evaluate what they have been doing and make changes - to jump even though they aren't sure just how to do it. I see teachers showing and coaching each other and figuring it out together. I see learning stories in classrooms.  I see revision everywhere!

I hear people wondering about new approaches and making connections. I hear sharing. I hear kids receiving lots and lots of personalized feedback and conversations about purpose and why learning matters.

I see kids learning and growing. I see teachers learning and growing.

I see unity in purpose.

Have a spectacular weekend!

Deborah