October 6, 2017

It's the weekend!

Check & Adjust

Not everything goes as planned.  A year ago I figured that by now we'd have the entire BP up and running effortlessly.  I thought that about 89% of all students would be killing it on whatever test they had to take and I figured we'd have dialed up student supports to a level unknown anywhere else on planet Earth.  Yes, I am exaggerating a little bit and yes, I can get a little grandiose at times.  The reality is, however, that we've hit a spot where it's time to slow down a little, collect ourselves as a group, and move on together.

Earlier today I sent out communications that we were making changes around making classroom visits for peer HQV and HMH visits voluntary.  The why of this is to help provide some sense of relief to folks who have been feeling overwhelmed by new programs, curriculum, and assessments. We could have rallied, we could have pretended like it was all okay, but it's not for some folks and we needed to make changes accordingly to support those teachers. "Getting there" really won't be much fun if nobody else makes it. It won't be good for kids and it's not respectful to the people doing the real work here. Installing the blueprint, improving outcomes for kids isn't about me. It's about us.

So, are we caving on the blueprint?  Nope.  Are we giving up on progress, on kids?  Absolutely not.  We're continuing to offer all of the supports that we offered yesterday, but we're making them available on a voluntary basis for now. We're letting you access what you value, what you can do, what you need to help your kids.  We have added a lot this fall that is new. These moves recognize that, honor your work, and give a little bit of relief while you continue to settle in to the new curriculum units and programs.  This is paying attention to outer-ring of the blueprint stuff.  We're pausing to allow for a breath, to build some team, and to re-charge.  We've found a few things we need to make sure we communicate better, done some listening about concerns around pacing and assessments, and have some big picture questions to answer about how to have really meaningful conversations about instruction without somebody mentioning the "M" word (Marzano) and instead staying in the conversation and being able to really talk about how we get better at doing things that all kids need.

I am grateful for your work and focus on children!  Please continue to keep our collective focus on them and their needs while we build systems to make our organization even better at serving them.

Thanks!


DYK: Lions are the national animal of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore

Deep Thoughts: "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."  
- Benjamin Franklin

Articles of the Week:

The Las Vegas shooting creates another very difficult situation for young people (and older people) to try to understand. I found some of the resources in this NY Times article thought provoking and useful as a way to try to help increase understanding and awareness of the many complicated factors involved.  So, here is the article, offered as a resource, or just something to think about:

Resources for Teaching and Learning About the Las Vegas Shooting

State Chiefs: We Won't Walk Away From Disadvantaged Groups Under ESSA

Thanks & Appreciation:

• Business Office - thanks for all of your work for the audit this week!
• Walk to School organizers and volunteers, including Kaitlyn Burns!
• Ty Schmidt from Norte!
• Traverse City Police Department for safely escorting students and volunteers to schools during TC's walk to school day!
• Grant Chandler - ongoing Blueprint support and wisdom
• Mail guy Mike

Announcements & Reminders:

• Julie will be sending out NWEA Student Progress Reports to schools beginning early next week. 
• October performance management meetings have been (or are being) cancelled. I'll be reviewing PM templates with principals on October 19th and 20th
• High Quality Visions data collection forms are nearing completion (Thanks Grant!)
• These forms will be used to collect HQV data this year
• Once the principal completes the checklist, a copy will be emailed to the principal and the teacher
• HQV will be reported out at performance management meetings, but will contain no teacher names or identifying info.

This Week in the Blueprint: 
Today at the DAN, discussion was around third grade reading law communications to parents

Parker's Calendar

This Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• Silver Lake Visit
• Board Curriculum Agenda Setting
• Joint Principals Meeting

Tuesday

• Board Communications
• ET

Wednesday

• Board Finance
• Parker/Chandler
• Huddle

Thursday

• Lansing / MDE Title II Workgroup
• Curriculum Technology/Reynolds

Friday

• Secondary Hangout
• DAN Meeting
• Bond Election Capital Planning
• Illuminate Meeting

Next Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• STEM Meeting
• Thirlby Band Expo

Tuesday

• ET
• Soma/Parker Bi-Weekly

Wednesday

• Huddle
• Curriculum Leaders

Thursday

• Parker/Chandler

Friday

• DAN
• Lawn darts
• Matlock 

This Week in Photos:

#greatday

#happyhealthyreadytolearnkids
#walktoawesomenessday

 #walktoschool
#hikaitlyn
#saferoutestoschool

#thanksty
#community
#ialwayscarryanumbrella

 #middleschool

 #greatdayforafiredrill
#kidsouttheresomewhere

#madsmadetheblog
#pr
#attagirl