Alt Ed Week December 5, 2011

Happy December! As we hurl through the year at breakneck speed I look forward to these pre-holiday weeks to slow down and take stock of our progress this year. Take some time yourself to look at what is working for you, for our kids, and what is not. With what will you enter 2012, and what will you leave behind?

Bravo Zulu!

Bravo Zulu Dolly Knuth and CHOICE kids for leading the most bountiful Food Drive I have ever heard of. Last week when Dolly announced over 1900 food items collected and donated to the Burien Food Bank I about fell over. I have been involved in many Food Drives over the years at schools big and small. Only the largest schools approach a thousand food items at a time. Amazingly, Dolly’s kids, at our very own and modest CHOICE Academy far exceeded what I have ever seen before. Congratulations Dolly and Bravo Zulu for a job Well done!

Instructional Point: PBIS Universal Expectations
Advisory is one way that helps us find the time and space to connect with kids and teach them “everything else” from college and career exploration and the social skills that will allow them to be successful in life. Advisory gives us a venue to reinforce and re-teach the universal behaviors we expect of our students: Respect, Responsibility, and Dedication at New Start, and Excellence at CHOICE. Are you teaching this?

This week I remind you to touch on the Universal Expectations often. Please double check that they are prominently posted in your classroom. Then, refer to them often, every day, in some way, in every period. This can be explicit, or subtle. It can be as simple as publically telling a student, “Hey I saw that. That was very respectful how you spoke to your peer.” (Give them a ticket). Or you could lead a whole class discussion about the Responsibility of being prepared for class. However you do it, hit these expectations every day in Advisory and in regular content classes. It doesn’t take much time or effort, and with every teacher doing so, your action reinforces the importance and focus of positive behaviors at school, and in the classroom. I’ll be coming around this week looking for indicators of how you connect the Universal Expectations to your everyday teaching and Advisory.  I am looking forward to what I find.

The Week Ahead…
This week I am putting some focus on PBIS and contemplating some collegial observation structures across classrooms. As I said above, I am taking stock and investigating what is working for us this year and what to leave behind for 2012. May I suggest you do the same in the shortened tempo of the weeks before a new year?

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
New Start/CHOICE	New Start/ERAC	HCC / New Start	CHOICE	New Start
Dec 5	Dec 6	Dec 7	Dec 8	Dec 9
NS Morning Meeting Web Meeting re: edline NS In Classrooms CH Detention	Planning Time NS AP Meeting District Principal Meeting	Gateway Monitoring Visit NS Observation NS Host Equity Team Visit NS Staff Meeting	CH Native American  Presentation CH In classrooms CH Staff Meeting	Weekly w/ Kati S NS PCT ELL Weekly/ Andrea L

Have a wonderful full week!