Rigor is Not a Bad Word!

Right is Right

Right Is Right is about the difference between partially right and all-the-way right—between pretty good and 100 percent. The job of the teacher is to set a high standard for correctness: 100 percent. The likelihood is strong that students will stop striving when they hear the word right (or yes or some other proxy), so there’s a real risk to naming as right that which is not truly and completely right. When you sign off and tell a student she is right, she must not be betrayed into thinking she can do something that she cannot.

Here is an example of that technique in a classroom discussion.  Please read the set up for the video and then watch the video.

This concept reminds me of what I witness many times in elementary classrooms.  Teachers want to prevent the student from feeling bad and getting an answer wrong so they support the students even when incorrect and shallow thinking responses  are given.  Many feel they are doing something positive for the student...but they aren't.  Those teachers are actually creating a space where mediocrity is accepted and students begin to realize that no matter what they say or do, they will be rewarded.

As you know, the real world is not like that.  College professors do not draw smiley faces on crappy work,  Spouses do not brag about the mediocre dinner their spouse cooked.  Credit companies do not reward people for paying parts of their bills.  Bosses do not (or should not) sugar coat performance reviews.  It is our duty to love our students enough to push them past "almost right thinking". 

This will need to be added to you toolbox and please turn to page 35 in the Teach Like a Champion book for more information.

Hope you have had an amazing weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Angela

The Week of March 27-31, 2017

Monday, March 27

• Unit Assessment Begins
• Dress Down Day- All money needs to be turned in to Mrs. Griggs (staff must pay if they wear jeans and are not using a pass)
• Safety Patrol Members Begin Today- Please turn in returned permission slips to my box
• SIT Mtg in Cafe at 3:30 PM

Tuesday, March 28

• Progress Monitor Red TRC/DIBELS Students
• PLC (RtI Focus)
• 5th, 6th, 7th  8:30-9:30
• Kindergarten    10-11
• 1st and 2nd       12-1
• 2nd and 3rd       1-2
• Support Staff     2-2:45
• Potluck (prepared by 4th/ 5th/ 6th & 7th) in NEW Staff Relaxation Room 11-12:15

Wednesday, March 29

• Hill out until 9:30
• Mr. Thomas, Mrs. Candy Caine, Ms. Jones at UNC-P Job Fair 8:30 AM-3:00 PM
• School Leaders Mtg at 3:30 (Focus: SAM)

Thursday, March 30 (Look Your Best Staff)

• Awards Day K-3 8:30-9:30 at Hay Street UMC
• Awards Day 4th-7th 1 pm-2 pm at Hay Street UMC
• Pay Day

Friday, March 31

• Spring Portraits Please see schedule emailed by Mrs. Trojan for your time and location

ALL IN

This past week, a team of TCEA educators had the chance to visit Henderson Collegiate in Henderson, NC as part of a professional development opportunity entitled Low Performing School Boot Camp.  This school's focus is preparing all of their students for college and everything they do at the school can be traced back to their mission...their focus.  And their results are AMAZING!! Here is a portion of their School Report Card:

Achievement 85 

Growth 100.0 

School Performance 88 A+NG 

(NG is not growth but their growth is 100)

EOG Reading 82 B 

EOG Math 86 A 

Click here to learn more about this successful charter school.

The school was founded back in 2010 but in 7 short years that are impacting their community and students' lives for the better.  WE can do the same things for the students in the Fayetteville area and we do not have to wait 7 years to do so.  WE must do it now for the sake of the students we are entrusted with.  During our Faculty Summit tomorrow, members of the team that visited Henderson Collegiate will share with you some of the amazing things they witnessed there.  

One thing they do differently at Henderson Collegiate is they have bought in FULLY to Teach Like A Champion.  That is not happening at TCEA but it will be in full effect beginning Monday, March 20 2017.

That is tomorrow!

How will things be different tomorrow?

You will need to make sure you have read the descriptors for all of the following strategies in the TLaC Book:

SLANT

Show Call/ Cold Call

Thresholding

Do Now

Entry Routine

Tracking

No Opt Out

Post It

If you do not have a book, you will need to see me for that.

Next, please know that we will be building on to those strategies with the following two strategies:

Exit Ticket (click here to see a video of skill)

Begin with the End (click here to see a video of skill)

Exit Ticket is something we should see in the room and you are either doing it or not. Begin with the End is seen in your planning and the conversations we have with you after we observe lessons or we discuss the results of assessments with you.

We will be adding new skills each month so get ready to move at a quick pace. You will need to study, practice, read, etc. so you will be an expert on these strategies. These are not optional so embrace and move forward.

Finally, you will see a revised Walk Through form during the first PLC session in April. The focus will be on the fidelity of the use of these strategies and what it looks like when you are implementing the strategy at the highest level.

I know that for some, it seems that the rest of the school year is just like a roller coaster coming back to the starting point. I feel that we still have much to cover and many loops and dips in the school year before we can "coast" back to the finish line. I thank you, in advance, for all of your hard work over the coming weeks.

Hope you have enjoyed your weekend and I'll see you tomorrow!

Angela

Week of March 20-25, 2017

Monday, March 20

• Faculty Summit at 3:30 in cafe
• Board Mtg in Music Room at 5:15
• Final Observations Begin (These are unannounced and completed by Hill and Thomas)

Tuesday, March 21

• PLC (focus is SST)
• 5th, 6th and 7th- 8:30-9:30
• K- 10:00-11:00
• 1st and 2nd 12-1
• 3rd and 4th 1-2

Wednesday, March 22

• Admin Mtg in Office 9:00-10:15
• EOG Boot Camp Mtg (please see email if you are to attend) in Cafe 3:30-4:15
• Enrollment Lottery 5-6:30 PM

Thursday, March 23

• National Chip and Dip Day

Friday, March 24

• Hill and Falls at Teacher Recruitment Fair at Campbell University (9 AM-4 PM)

Saturday, March 25

• TCEA Job Fair for 2017-2018 

If you have not shared the Flyer please help us out and do so ASAP.  Also, you can share our online application.  The link is here:  http://bit.ly/2mhO4ha

If You Plan It... They Will Come (Part II)

This week is a short week but a very important one.  Thank you, in advance, for planning for the upcoming conferences and building those relationships needed for our school to be successful.  Here are a few reminders of what you need to include at this round of conferences (same as last round):

• Parent Sign In Sheet (Please turn in to Mrs. Hill by 3/24/17)
• i-Ready Parent Report from last benchmark OR a written report (your choice) with student's strengths and weaknesses and ways parents can work with student on ways to improve (this replaced the ISP in the fall and you must have something that documents student's progress so far)
• A sheet for you to record parents concerns and what you discussed (you need this for your records if sometime pops up later)
• Student work for parents to look at and ask questions about
• Retention letter if it applies and you have not discussed this yet

We will have a table with parent surveys about our conferences at a table near the entrance of the school to collect data and use this info to revise conferences for the 2017-20189 school year.

Remember...if we reach 90% of our parents showing up at our conferences by March 24, 2017 students will be able to offer a fun challenge to the administrative team and can have a fun dress up day before the end of March!

If you have any questions regarding conferences, please let me know as soon as possible.

Have a great Sunday and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Angela

Week of March 13-17, 2017

Monday, March 13

• 3rd Trimester Begins
• Grades Due at 8 AM
• K/1 Dental Health Presentations in Cafe (please see email from Dr. Caine)
• Hill out until NOON
• Dr. Seuss Tea at 2 PM in Cafe (I will email the list of students who can attend by 8 AM 3.13.17)
• IS Planning Mtg in Cafe at 3:30

Tuesday, March 14

• Hill, Pearsall, Clough, and Majka out at Low Performing Schools Bootcamp Mtg.
• Pond out at MTSS Mtg
• Progress Monitor Red TRC/DIBELS Students
• PLCs (focus will be on Arts Integration In Daily Lessons
• 5th, 6th, 7th: 8:30-9:30 facilitator: Falls
• K- 10-11 facilitator: Lee
• 1st and 2nd 12-1 facilitator: Grunden
• 3rd and 4th- 1-2 facilitator: Jones

Wednesday, March 15

• Progress Monitor Red TRC/DIBELS Students
• 2nd Trimester Award List Due To Mr. Thomas
• IS Lesson Plan DUE - Block 6
• Beginning Teacher Mtg in Cafe Location TBD (please email me if you want to host us and haven't this year)
• FEO Mtg in Cafe at 3:30

Thursday, March 16

• Please submit your new Safety Patrol Members for 3rd Trimester on 2nd page of this document. (These new people will be trained on 3/17 and will begin on 3/20) Link to submit: here Also, please make sure your 2nd trimester names are correct...students will be getting a certificate at awards day this month for their service.
• Early Release at 11:45 AM (Please see schedule emailed to you for day)

Friday, March 17

• Students attending field trip will meet in Office at 10:30 and will need to take backpacks with them to the event. A list will be emailed out by Thursday of who will be attending field trip.
• Early Release at 11:45 AM (Please see schedule emailed to you for day)

If You Plan It...They Will Come!

Parent Conferences are less than 2 weeks away.  Now is the time to prepare to ensure that we get at least 80% of our parents in our building.  Do you struggle getting parents in the door or have your conferences turned stale? Look no further!!! Please explore this week's blog and feel free to leave comments on anything you do that make conferences successful for all parties.

If we reach the 90% mark, the students will be able to vote on a challenge for administration to complete.  We will also allow a special wacky dress down day for students as well.

To be included in this count, the conference must be held by March 24, 2017!

Here is a video with some great ideas for making a great impression at our upcoming Report Card Conferences.

Also, here is a goal sheet that your students can complete that you could have the student share at the end of the conference or that you could share with the parent.

Their student is the KEY!!!

Have students complete an invitation in their own words on WHY it is important for them to come to their scheduled conference!

I know that many are saying...there isn't enough time for all of this.  Well, use all of your time wisely.  While they wait to see you, have student samples available for them to see.  Or, allow them time to look through student samples at the end of the conference and provide sticky notes for them to leave questions and you can follow up with an email or Dojo!! It is a non-negotiable that student work should be a part of these parent conferences!!!

Please make sure you share any comments below with our staff if you have strategies that would positively impact our conferences!!!! Thanks for all you do and see you tomorrow morning!

Week of March 6-10, 2017

Monday, March 6, 2017

• Committee Mtg (All groups will meet in cafe' for quick description of roll out of Staff Recognition Program and then break into meetings= 5 minutes)

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

• PLCs (Focus: Core Matrix)
• 5th,6th and 7th: 8:30-9:30
• K: 10-11
• 1st and 2nd: 12-1
• 2nd and 3rd: 1-2
• Support Staff: 2-2:45
• PROGRESS MONITOR YELLOW STUDENTS
• Drama/CSP/SEL IS Presentation - Block 5

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

• PROGRESS MONITOR YELLOW STUDENTS
• Admin Mtg in Office @ 9:00-10:15 AM
• Music/Visual Arts IS Presentation - Block 5

Thursday, March 9, 2017

• Hill Out (Will be at school between 7:30-8:30 and will return to school at 3:00-3:15)
• Dance/Media Arts IS Presentation - Block 5

Friday, March 10, 2017

• Teacher Workday (Optional) If you are going to take the day off, please complete this form by Tuesday, 3/7 at Noon. Survey is here.
• End of 2nd Trimester...GRADES DUE MONDAY AT 8:00 AM!!!!!