Monday Points: May 20, 2013

This post marks the 60^th edition of the Monday Points blog, and the last of the 2012-2013 school year. It is a spring farewell edition until new students come next year.

Celebration Points:

The New Start Talent Show was a highlight of the last week for me. You may or may not know - for years now - we have only had mere modicum of success trying to launch a traditional Talent Show…until last week. Granted, mostly staff participated with singing songs, touching poetry and even magic tricks! The kids loved it. Oh how this reminded me how important it is for our students to see their adult role models in such a different light. Staff made themselves vulnerable, and exhibited courage in order to make a solid New Start talent show a reality…all in hopes to inspire more kids to participate next year. It was great fun. I was so impressed by our teacher’s willingness to get up there and cut loose for the enhancement our student’s experience. That is love! Thank you. (A side note, that I need to be working on my routine for next year, take some tap lessons or something. Also, we’re trying a first ever New Start Dance this week. It is a year of first!)  

Instructional Point:

My closing instructional point is to think about reading and reading at grade level. As we learn about the common core, I was exposed to an interesting piece of data a few weeks back.

Reading Levels of students of different levels of achievements
Achievement Level	Minutes of Reading Per Day	Words Per Year
90 Percentile	40.4	2,357, 000
50 Percentile	12.9	601,000
10 Percentile	1.6	51,000
Source: Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988

I hope you can infer my point here, but the above table tells me something substantial about how much time students spend reading and their achievement levels at school. I have recently taken great interest in how, and how much, our students interact with text. Be it informational or Literary, as the common core describes, the reading must be at grade level in the anchors standards of the ELA.

Take a look at this graph and think about it this week. I am curious how you think (initially) this might affect your teaching practice…all of our practices. As we talk about our school improvement planning through the end of this month I’d like to talk with you individually or as a group how we can increase student’s engagement (not just exposure), for sustained periods of time with complex texts. I look forward to hearing from you.

PCT Points: Two PCTs remain this school year.

May 31, 2013 1:00 @ CHOICE and 1:30 @ New Start: School Improvement Planning. The stagger start at respective sites is so I can spend some time with each of you. Leadership team will lead us through the final steps of our SIP as we continue to vigorously plan for next year.

June 7, 2013. 1:00 at Elliot Bay in Burien: All Staff Appreciations. I sent a separate email on this last week. Our mutual recognitions appreciation for each other as individuals is important. I have set aside required collaboration time for all staff to come together for this very purpose. You are required to join your colleagues in a time and space set for this very purpose.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
May 20	May 21	May 22	May 23	May 24
Final Monday Points Evaluation Writing Community Support Meeting Success Academy Review Sped Meeting Teachscape Study Group	In Classrooms Indistar Work Staffing Planning ELL Service Plan Transition Planning Meeting EOC Proctor Training Sped Intake Review Meeting	IEP Meeting Staff Meeting Prep M/Tech Services CHOICE Staff Meeting	Geometry EOC New Start Night New Start Dance	Bi-Weekly Staff Appreciations District Principal’s Meeting Committee Weekly Admin Lunch with Office Team Furlough Friday

There are four weeks of school left starting today. While this will be the last Monday Points Blog for the year, I will continue to send out Final Weeks Calendar up until the end. The Final Weeks email will provide important logistical considerations and notes during these increasingly busy days. Please stay tuned to email to avoid missing any late, last minute memos. Calendar looks like this:

May 20 – CHOICE MSP Reading

May 21 – CHOICE MSP Reading

May 22 – CHOICE MSP Writing / Staff Meeting

May 23 – CHOICE MSP Writing / Geometry EOC / New Start Night & Dance

May 24 – Early Dismiss / Furlough Friday Afternoon (Certificated)

May 27 – Memorial Day (No School)

May 28 – Sun Day (No School)

May 29 –

May 30 – Algebra EOC

May 31 – PCT New Start / CHOICE School Improvement Planning

June 3 – Regular Day

June 4 – Biology EOC

June 5 – Regular Day

June 6 – New Start Graduation Walkthrough

June 7 – CHOICE Graduation Walkthrough / PCT All Staff Appreciation

June 10 – Regular Day

June 11 – Extended Lunch BBQ / CHOICE & New Start Grad Practices

June 12 – Graduation Two-hour Day / Commence CHOICE (10:30) & New Start (1:00) /Summer Party (4:00)

June 13 – Last Day Three-hour Day / CHOICE BBQ / Summer Checkout & Grades

And so we are off to a great and certainly exciting final few weeks of the school year. This week brings MSP Testing to CHOICE, the Geometry EOC at all sites, A New Start Curriculum Night, followed by a Dance at Salmon Creek Gym (First Ever). Friday is a certificated Furlough afternoon for teachers. At 12:00 all Certificated staff are directed to leave campus and enjoy a nice long weekend. For all of us, (have a good weekend too)and remember that due to little or no snow this year, classes resume after the Memorial break, on Wednesday May 29.

I look forward to our many meetings and events ahead. Have a wonderful week and final dash to Summer!

Mike

Monday Points: May 6, 2013

Monday Points

May 6, 2013

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! This week Monday Points welcomes guest writer, our esteemed counselor, Andrea Love…

Celebration Point:

I want to take a few minutes to acknowledge the great work that went into the garden in the court yard as well the music project that is starting to take shape. Both of these projects are examples of staff going above and beyond, community involvement, and authentic hands on learning experiences for our students. In addition to that, I for one, am thrilled that this central space on campus is something beautiful that we as a school community can take pride in.

Instructional Point:

We had our last Success Academy of the year last week (April 22-25). It was a really great group of students who I am excited to welcome onto campus. We have started finishing the Success Academy class with a small Graduation Ceremony. During this ritual students have an opportunity to articulate what they value, their goals, and what motivates them. They also receive a certificate and have a group picture taken.  I believe that this is an important piece of what we do in the class for two reasons: first we as a whole group are taking time to acknowledge an accomplishment and an important milestone in student’s education and second students are required to present in front of the group, practicing their presentation skills. What are other ways we can mark important accomplishments and milestones? How can we increase opportunities for students to get up in front of a group and present?

Data Point:

A few weeks ago I collected data on our students’ mental health at New Start. I have turned this information over to a student who is using it in her Senior Project (after taking steps to ensure confidentiality). However, in my initial glance through the surveys I was surprised by some of the responses that I saw. Fortunately, fewer students felt depressed or exhibited symptoms of depression than I expected. This was very encouraging. What can we do to continue the conversation about mental health and to ensure that students basic as well as emotional needs are met so that they can focus on learning?

Guest Writer’s Point:

As you know, this week our students at New Start are presenting their Senior Projects. In a few weeks students will also have their second students led conferences of the year. These are both important rituals that we as an entire school engage in. How can we continue to increase the weight that these events carry as well as the buy in from students? What would make these experiences more authentic? I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this as the next few weeks unfold. Thank you for all of the work that you have put into supporting our students in these endeavors. 

PCT Point: May 10, 2013. 1:00 @ New Start and CHOICE Sites: “Indistar the new SIP”

This Friday sites meet at their respective locations with all staff to inputs action plans for school improvement and learn about the Indistar processes.  

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
May 6	May 7	May 8	May 9	May 10
Weekly Letter AP Appeals Evaluation Writing M/Parent Sped Meeting Teachscape Study Group	Evaluation Meetings In Classrooms Staff Meeting Prep New Start Staff Meeting	New Start Teacher Breakfast District MTSS Work Indistar Work PCT Prep Evaluation Meeting	Navigation 101 Conference (Seattle) Advisory Retreat Strategic Planning Meeting	Woodside Teacher Breakfast Weekly Admin Meeting ELL Planning PCT: Indistar HEA Update

Please take some time to appreciate our teachers this week for their hard work and commitment to students. Have a great sunny week.

Mike

Monday Points: April 22, 2013

Here is wishing you a good Monday. This week we begin Success Academy which means final week for Session Five. I hope you all had a restful and relaxing weekend.

Celebration Points:

 Cheers to our district ELL department and their ability to get students access to Student Proficiency Credit. In my years of working with students for credit recovery/advancement, this is truly one of the most exciting student opportunities to come along. I am flush with joy over this chance for our students to earn language credit based on their proficiency in speaking, writing and understanding another language. CHOICE had its initial meeting last week. This week New Start students who are interested meet in the computer lab on Tuesday at 11:00.  Please do your part to get the word out to our students about this long overdue celebration, and credit earned of their skill in second languages.

Instructional Point:

I’d like to give some words, and remind you, about the importance your role as an Advisor plays in the overall teaching and growth of our students. I am professionally convinced in the power strong advising can bring to good instruction. True, you are a content teacher first, but it is critical that you too understand how your actions advising students can move our teaching into a “Distinguished” level of instruction.

In Charlotte Danielson, Distinguished level teachers are generally characterized by their students taking ownership of their learning. As an Advisor to students, you can substantially affect students taking ownership by setting the core content aside (for a bit) and setting a larger context for our students’ learning.

Thirty minutes of Advisory, each day, gives you the unique opportunity to get to truly know your students by name strength and need. It is not the kind of access that I, our counselor, or other adults will realistically ever have in our current school settings.

When you have built that consistent ongoing relationship with a student, you can have the meaningful, trusting and reflective conversations. You can talk with each of them about what behaviors they can improve upon, and those the can enhance to be a better learner, and ultimately more successful in school. You are truly their daily guide and coach to help them navigate and achieve in our learning environments and the community at large.

Think about it. If you did not exist or provide the advisement you do for many of our students, where would they be? How would they create a vision, or connect these things we call school, teaching and learning to a real world, college and their career for after they graduate?

There certainly are other committed adults who also see to, and ensure our kids are well situated and navigating the larger setting of school. Our counselor, for example, creates, oversees, and very well promulgates a broader more comprehensive program of supporting students socially and academically, which leads them to success. TO some extent office and administrative personnel have a role in this effort. We are strategic and effective in our multiple approaches, but there is a numbers and time challenge to working with every kid every day.

The power of a daily Advisory allows you see your kids every single day. Every day, it is in your schedule, to interact, check in and talk with our kids about their future. You are the one who daily reminds them they need to be ready to learn, and why. (Even if they are not asking yet!)

Do not sideline or underestimate your role as an Advisor. It is a proud and important role, which if done thoughtfully and with tact, leads students to taking ownership of their learning and success. Do not let this opportunity to be the Teacher Advisor fall to the wayside. It is not an additional chore. Advisory is a very important part of your teaching. In fact, Charlotte Danielson, herself, might argue that an Advisory “Distinguishes” your overall instructional practice.

PCT Point: Friday April 26. Team Time or District Job Alike

This Friday PCT is a district wide job alike  collaboration or meet in the building team of your choosing.  Please let me know what you will be doing for PCT.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
April 22	April 23	April 24	April 25	April 26
Weekly Letter Teach Success Academy CHOICE Parent and PSO Meetings Evaluation Meetings and Writing Teachscape Study Group	District Principal Meeting (All Day ERAC) Evaluation Meetings and Writing	District RTI/PBIS Planning Team (All Day ERAC) Evaluation Writing School Board Meeting	Teach Success Academy In Classrooms Evaluation Meetings SPU Recruiting Fair	Tier III Training Fire Drill Weekly Administrative PCT: Team Time Supervision and EOC Approvals

Have a wonderful last full week of April!

Mike

Monday Points: April 15, 2013

Monday Points

April 15, 2013

Welcome back from what I hope was a restful and relaxing Spring Break! Today we begin the last quarter of the school year. As every year, the tempo will increase over these next ten weeks as we start down the road to Graduation and the end of the year.

Celebration Points:

Ahoy New Start sailors. The 3^rd Annual Adventuress cruise has been completed safely, and our kids are home! I want to congratulate Teacher Kelsie Maney for organizing, coordinating and her leadership through the “Adventuress adventure” with 24 of our students and the crew of SS Adventuress. In addition to a three-day overnight sail around Puget Sound with our students, Kelsie worked closely with our partners, Sound Experience and the Youth Maritime Training Association, to keep this amazing hands-on learning, team building and authentic sailing experience alive and truly accessible to our students. Celebrate by asking the students about their experience, and giving sincere thanks to Kelsie for her commitment to our students.

Instructional Point:

Smarter Balanced is the assessment consortium that our district and state will be working with in coming years for student performance testing. The idea is this organization will manage and align state testing with the new Common Core as we sunset current state standards. We have started the conversations this year and will begin teaching to the Common Core next year. This week I want to introduce you the Smarter Balanced website http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/ , which has incredible amounts of information about Common Core, standards and the assessments we will soon be engaging with our colleague schools and students. The link I have included is a page with sample performance tasks and assessments in Math and ELA standards. Over the break I have placed a hard copy of these standards in your teacher box. Please take a few minutes to look at the standards we will be learning to teach too soon, and “dip your toes” into a few of the sample questions at the Smarter Balanced website. http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/ It is important that you have a sense of the rigor and increased performance expectations we will soon be having of our students, and your teaching!

PCT Point: Friday April 19. 1:00 @ Salmon Creek. Pedagogy of Confidence

Our last discussion (this year) around our shared reading of Pedagogy of Confidence will be facilities by colleague Mrs. Dindria Barrow who is going to share with us some of her related graduate research about student self-concept, personal identity in cultural groups and bicultural settings (such as school).  I want to thank Dindria in advance for offering to conduct our next collaborative learning and sharing experience around how students’ self perception is formed in the environments we grow and teach our children.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
April 15	April 16	April 17	April 18	April 19
Weekly Letter Staffing Prep Staffing Meetings (ERAC) In Classrooms Sped Meeting Teachscape Study Group	Evaluation Meetings Transition Planning In Classrooms CHOICE Staff Meeting ELL Symposium	Evaluation Meetings In Classrooms Language Credit Meeting (CHOICE) Evaluation Meetings Discipline Hearing (ERAC)	Alt Ed Leadership Team Retreat (All Day)	Evaluation Meetings Counselor Meeting Weekly Admin Meeting PCT: Pedagogy of Confidence Evaluation Meetings

And away we go into another exciting and glorious fourth quarter run! Have a fantastic week and welcome back!

Mike