Month: October 2013

Coordinator Communication for October, 2013

 - by price_s

Happy October!

November Visitations: I am looking forward to meeting with each of you, during the first week of November. These quarterly visits allow us to connect, on a regular basis, regarding your individual program whereby I can provide support, guidance and commendations. Below is my visitation schedule. I will do my best to stay on track, but please allow for a little leeway; 5-10 minutes either way. In addition to a few topics I would like to chat about, please have your Monitoring Notebook available and ready to share, along with any questions you may have. Likely Topics of discussion: 1) Intervention Schedule/Master Schedule (who are you serving, how often, what content area(s), curriculum, etc.); 2) upcoming compliance items; 3) parent engagement activities; 4) Q and A’s

Coordinator Friday at 4 Invitation: Last spring, the idea of scheduling Friday at 4 gatherings for our Coordinator group was suggested as a way to stay connected, support one another and….most of all, have fun! I think it’s a great idea, so I have selected some dates to get us through December. Due to busy schedules, attendance will be hit and miss. Mark your calendar and come when you can! Locations TBD – suggestions welcome!!

  • October 18
  • November 15
  • December 13

Our Group Norms: do not reflect our discussion on 9/3o.
NORMS are agreements among members of a community about how they will treat one another.
We will…

  • Continue to be a friendly, respectful and supportive group.
  • Use a variety of venues to communicate and exchange ideas.
  • Openly share tips and tricks and support others facing new tasks.
  • Strike a balance between focusing on the end result and the path we take to get there.
  • State what we need rather than complaining about what we don’t have.
  • Be a fully present and engaged participant.
  • Direct questions to the person best equipped to respond.
  • Find a balance between maintaining compliance and ensuing a successful program.
  • Use kind words when offering constructive criticism.
  • Understand differences are not personal.
  • Be respectful with our use of electronics.
  • Take responsibility for following the group norms.

Our Group Rules: RULES are set by the facilitator to ensure basic safety and efficiency in a group.
1) Listen
2) Speak respectfully to one another
3) Welcome differences of opinion
4) Talk one at a time
5) Use “people” instead of names when discussing problems in a group

SMART Goals (For Title I Coordinators, ESCs and Testing Coordinators): I’d like to share an opportunity that would allow you to collaborate with colleagues, in a similar position, on your SMART goals. I recognize the uniqueness of your position and that your SMART goal will be slightly different from that of classroom teachers. As such, we (Marlee/me) would like to extend an invitation to provide a venue for collaboration that is designed to support your goals, as specialists, in a building. Depending upon the needs of the group, this may include the development of SMART goals, measurement tools to assess progress, resources and strategies to support implementation, collaboration and discourse, etc. to assist with the new Teacher Effectiveness and Growth Model. This will also provide opportunities for cross-district collaboration! The framework of this group is flexible and can be adjusted to meet the needs of the group. Collaboration may include small/whole groups meetings, online meetings, individual support ~ whatever the need! Marlee and I, with support from the elementary SDSs, will help facilitate and support this group. If you are interested, please email Marlee. Our first gathering will be on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 3:30, in the Tower Room.

Quickbase: A friendly reminder to check the boxes indicating a student is (1) receiving Title I services (date started, too), (2) a parent/school compact has been signed and (3) a parent notification has been sent.

Tech Equipment Survey: If you haven’t done so already, please respond to Monica’s survey by Friday (10/4) if you are interested in some additional equipment. Monica and I will be meeting, next week, to make decisions about distribution.

Additional PD Opportunities: GO Solve Word Problems Refresher/New Learning PD on December 9; 8:00-11:00 GO Solve Word Problems is an adaptive math software program that teaches students to look beneath the surface in word problems and recognize the underlying mathematical situations. Students learn to understand word problems and reinforce their learning through adaptive practice.

  • Grades 3 to 6 for on-grade; up to grade 8 for intervention
  • Three modules –
    • Addition and Subtraction;
    • Multiplication and Division;
    • Advanced Multiplication and Division
  • More than 1500 practice word problems
  • Adaptive so that all students are appropriately challenged
  • Implementation options that enhance any core curriculum

In an article entitled, “Habits Improve Classroom Discussions” the author believes that when discussions are “built on the foundation of great habits, students blossom into their own as speakers, listeners, and thinkers. And when they need those skills even more – in whatever hundreds of things they choose to spend their lives learning about – they’re ready.” These are the habits he believes teachers must instill in their students week after week:

–   Speak audibly.
–   Speak in complete sentences
–   Interact peer to peer.
–   Elaborate
–   Build off others’ answers
–   Evaluate others’ responses
–   Praise your peers
–   Use universal prompts with peers (e.g., “Tell me more.” “What in the story makes you think that?” “Why do you think that?” “Why is that important?”)
–   Don’t tell the answer
– give a hint so another student can tell it.
–   The teacher should let students facilitate the discussion, and when students get off track, redirect
–   The teacher should use written responses done during independent reading to guide the conversation.

How Affirming Values Can Reduce Stress and Boost Achievement: An Ed. Magazine article entitled, “What’s the Big Idea? Use Teacher ‘Talk’ to Reduce Student Stress” reports on a study from Science on the remarkable impact of teachers asking students to briefly affirm their most important values in writing just before a high-stakes test. Students’ stress dropped dramatically, and when scores on the test were analyzed, the black-white achievement gap decreased by 40 percent. “Because emotions are biological processes based on social interaction,” says Rappolt-Schlichtmann, “teachers can help their students manage school-related stress through the language they use in the classroom. When prompted, the mind can be a powerful tool to de-stress the body. Actively relieving stress is a skill students can develop with the support of knowledgeable adults.”

Family Engineering Event at Willa-g: Willa-g’s Family Engineering event (facilitated by Mia Jackson) is scheduled for October 16. Eight Coordinators have accepted the invitation to “work” the event as a part of an extended training opportunity to learn more about how to host an event; despite the six person cap – I just couldn’t say “no” to additional interested Coordinators. The participating Coordinators are: Jenny, Corianne, Aline, Terri, Luann, Robin, Dayna and Melissa.

Family Engineering Starter Kit: Please remember to stamp the kit “Title I” and include the kit on your inventory!

Mentor/Mentee Program ~ I am pleased to share that the following Coordinators will be partnering in our Mentor/Mentee Program. Thank you to our mentors for their enthusiastic willingness to support those new to the position. The “go to” person is not only a valuable resource, but working together is always more fun!

  • Melissa, Terri and Aline will work together;
  • Carissa and Luann will work together;
  • Corianne and Jenny will work together!

DATES TO REMEMBER:
October
10/3: SMART goal gathering (optional; see above)
10/18: Coordinator Friday at 4

November
NO professional development or principal/coordinator meeting
Week of Nov. 4-8: Title I School Visitations
11/8: Compliance documents, year to date, are due
11/15: Coordinator Friday at 4

The below listed compliance documents are DUE to Penny no later than November 8. There are no Title PD’s or meetings in October/November, so paperwork will need to be printed and sent to Penny via inner-district mail. You are welcome to drop by the Instruction Department OR give the documents to me during my November visit to your school, whichever is most convenient. Coordinator Resources may be found at this link.

Targeted Schools (TAS)

  • Copy of Targeting Sheets, by grade level
  • Priority list of identified students
  • Copy of parent notification of services, including a copy of the “exit of services” letter

School Wide Schools (SWP)

Both TAS and SWP

December
12/9: Coordinator PD (8:00-2:30); Beyond the Bake Sale reading assignment is due Beyond the Bake Sale book study rdg
12/9: Principal/Coordinator meeting (2:30-3:45) NOTE time change of an additional 15 minutes, barring space availability
12/13: Coordinator Friday at 4; Location TBD

Have a great month of October! Please contact any member of the Title Team (Bee, Linda, Penny or me) should you have questions, concerns or praise!

In: Uncategorized | No comments »