Monday Morning Message 2018-2019

We are off and running in this new year.  The next few months are going to be crazy for all of us.  It is important to take time to take care of yourself during this busy time.  We want to be the best self we can be.  I read this great article over the weekend and hope you can get some great strategies to help us with our stress load.  Click on the link below:    Teaching is as stressful as an ER Have a wonderful week Mighty Manatees!

Good morning,  Welcome back! We hope you had a nice and relaxing break. Back the grind...but on a positive notice half the year is over. Here's to another great two quarters together! I wanted to share an article that ties in nicely with our new year. We all have personal and professional resolutions that we set at the beginning of a new year. It is important we take a second to reflect on our previous year in order to grow and flourish in the following year. Where do you want to grow? What do you want for your/our students? Of course we want the best, but how do you define/model that to our/your students? What do you do/say to help encourage and promote learning in a safe and enjoyable environment? What plan do you have to turn your professional vision into a reality? Please take a second to read the article below. I hope you find one take away to make this year successful. It lies in your hands, we are here to support, encourage, and motivate one another to be strong educa...

Formative assessments are an important part of effective teaching. They should be integrated into the teaching and learning process. Formative assessments are "for" learning while summative are "of" learning. These assessments should help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques and academic support. The goal of formative assessments is to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and student learning "while" it is happening. Grace recently asked everyone to fill out a survey on what formative assessments you are using. As a district, we are moving towards common formative assessments. I found two articles below that does a great job explaining formative assessments further. Within the articles, they give questions that you should be focused ...

A few weeks ago, our Monday Morning Message discussed the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning.   We discussed Purpose that included information related to standards and learning targets and teaching points.   Today I would like to cover Assessment for Student Learning.   We learned last week that Element #13, reflecting on learning, is one way to assess the progress of your class toward the learning goal.   Research has shown that asking students to identify and record what they are confused about enhances their learning.   Reflection data are also useful for diagnosing errors or gaps in students’ knowledge (Butler & Winne, 1995; Cross, 1998).   The use of reflective journals, think logs, exit slips, knowledge comparison, and 2 column notes are just a few ways teachers can help students reflect on their learning. When looking at assessment for student learning, we want students to be able to assess their own learning in relation to the targe...

Good morning, November is a time to give thanks, show appreciation, and share gratitude. We can not let our busy lives and schedules take away from the fact that we still are incredibly thankful for many things in life. Each day in November I challenge you to name/think about one thing you are thankful for. I hope having that as a focus for your day will bring you joy. No matter the circumstances around us or in our lives we are all blessed. There are so many outside factors that play into our happiness but one thing is for sure, if we lean on one another and work as a team we grow in a positive manner. We learn to appreciate the little things in life. Grace and I are very lucky to work alongside each and every one of you. We are thankful to have a supportive, loving, and hard working staff. You continuously go above and beyond making sure we are meeting our students needs behaviorally, socially and academically. Your time, effort and hard work does not go unnoticed. For the month of...

Tips for Teaching Students With ODD Oppositional defiant disorder, otherwise known as ODD, is a condition in which children regularly demonstrate anger, opposition and defiance, especially toward those in authority. It can be a challenging issue to manage in the classroom, and recently in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group, teacher Whitney N. asked for tips on working with students who are diagnosed with this disorder. Here’s what our experienced teachers had to say: 1. Avoid Power Struggles Most of our teachers agreed: Stay out of those winless power struggles. As Kris W. said, “Pick your battles. A student of mine corrects me all the time, whether I am wrong or not. I answer back, ‘OK, let’s double-check that.’ If I made a mistake, I correct it and we move on; if he’s wrong, I silently let him to figure it out.” Often children with ODD need a safe space to go for a five-minute break when they notice themselves getting overwhelmed and ready to challenge. “Put out books, col...

My Kid With a Disability Deserves to Be in the Same Classroom as Your Kid, Because His Future Depends on It September 27, 2018 by JILLIAN BENFIELD As I walked through the lobby of my doctor's office in a dreamlike state, my mind was hyper aware of the unfolding events, but everything around me was blurry. "Benfield . . . Benfield . . . Benfield?" I snapped out of it and walked to the front desk where I found a receptionist whose eyes were heavy with pity. It was clear everyone in the small-town office knew, but what did they know? I'd received a call an hour prior from my doctor saying that our noninvasive prenatal screening results were back, the results were not good, and we needed to come see him right away. My 20-week pregnant body fell on the kitchen floor, the words, "Oh no, oh no, oh no" poured out of my mouth, matched by rapid tears that streamed down my face. My husband and I walked into the doctor's office knowing the NIPT screening ca...