“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle
The 2015 Senior Spirit Week leaves little doubt that we educate hearts at 102. Throughout the week our 8th grade students collaborated, celebrated, competed, and most importantly, found joy in engaging closely with one another. Student achievement means much more at 102 than simply what students do each April, and test scores alone are wholly inadequate to measure the impact of our work in preparing students to lead happy and fulfilling lives. I’m not sure how things like Spirit Week can be quantified and measured, but seeing every student and teacher in all five 8th grade classes decked out in class colors screaming chants after school tells me we are doing something very very right.
Weekly Highlights:
With expert use of redirection strategies, Ms. Danielski successfully refocused a distracted student without needing to interrupt the flow of the lesson for the other students. When her initial least invasive refocusing attempt (proximity—moving closer to the distracted student) did not achieve the desired student response, she used non-verbal gestures as a follow-up strategy. Still unsatisfied with the student’s attention towards the teacher, she was able to refocus the student by using a slightly more invasive strategy and stating his name in a low volume. Pausing instruction to correct one student’s misbehavior can often cause other students to lose focus, and Ms. Danielski was able to protect precious learning time for all students in the classroom.
When her students asked for guidance in rounding large numbers during work time, Ms. Monteleone supported them not by thinking for them and giving them the answer but by reminding them how they can apply a newly-learned strategy. Singing along with their teacher, “Four or less, let it rest. Five or more, let it sore!”, students successfully completed the assigned task independently. Like other habits of mind, problem-solving skills are forged slowly over time, and it is crucial that we allow students the room to practice doing so each day at every grade as they learn new content.
Things You Need to Know:
-2015 State Released Questions for Math and ELA (Grade 3-8): The released questions from the state exam help us better define CCLS and give clarity to student learning targets, and you should reference these materials to ensure your instruction sufficiently aligns to state expectations. You were provided with hard copies of these documents with select questions, and you can access the full version below:
-Teacher’s Choice Reminder: Teacher’s Choice has been renewed for the 2015-2016 school year. Educators can submit a form to be reimbursed for school-related items. Please keep your receipts and find more information here:
You may also speak with our purchasing secretary Jeanene if you have any questions.
-Updated Field Trip Request Form: In order to better support and protect our school and teachers from issues that may arise during field trips, Ms. Atkins has updated our Field Trip Request Form and it will be available in the main office beginning next week. I will be making it available in digital form shortly and you are welcome to email me if you have any feedback.
-Read Aloud Day on 10/23/15: Read Aloud Day is just around the corner, and you are encouraged to invite visitors and other members of the community to be guest readers. Please reach out to your assistance principals for more information.
-Students Running During Fire Drill: Please be mindful in reminding children not to run during fire drills. Although swift exiting is encouraged, running disrupts order and is especially dangerous when it takes place outside of school grounds.
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