Week 1

Great Things We Noticed: 

• The First Day of School! 
• Longi getting the school First Day of School ready! 
• All staff going all out during out Playworks training!
• Rhonda Tilton using whole body engagement with her students! 
• Play First, Eat Second - Thank you for your patience this week! 
• THE ROPE at dismissal! 
• Using what you learned and teaching PLAYWORKS! 

Nuts and Bolts:

 

• Schedule your 1:1 with Cindy by TODAY!
• Team Leaders - please Master Schedules completed by Friday 8/16
• PE Minutes not longer have to be turned in for verification BUT should be documented in lesson plans AND be available for review by auditors or district personnel.  
• Don't forget to sign up for  Dibels time with Erin (if you need it)
• Each team will be provided with a hard copy of the Playworks play guide to share and reference as needed.  
• SCHED is the new PD Hub... an email was sent to your GMAIL account providing access to SCHED.  This is the place to sign up for PD opportunities in the district - More information forthcoming!
• Mystery Science will be up and running next week - or so I was told.... 
• ALICE Training:  Complete by 8/30!! 
• MANDATED REPORTER TRAINING: Complete by 9/30!
• Take your STRENGTHS ASSESSMENT!  You don't have to read the book to learn your strengths! Find the link to the results survey here.
• We have decided to do our "discipline assemblies" during lunches next week - no class time taken! 

Friday Focus: 

CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING 

(adapted from AVID Culturally Relevant Teaching: A Schoolwide Approach)

Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT) encompasses more than designing engaging activities like multicultural days, research projects or using multicultural literature.  While all of these activities are great for students and schools, CRT encompasses a process that might require you to step outside of your comfort zone and change your thinking about your students and how to best teach them.  CRT is a way teachers can say "I see you as an individual. I respect and celebrate the different background and experiences that you bring to this classroom.  I am here to support, guide, and work with you on your journey to academic, career and personal success." 

The term "culturally relevant teaching" is a "pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referent to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes."  Culturally relevant teaching is the process of developing cultural responsiveness and begins when a teacher recognized the cultural capital and tools students bring to the classroom.  The teacher is able to then respond to students use of these cultural learning tools positively by noticing, naming and affirming when students use them in their learning.  

Creating a culturally relevant classroom requires teachers to achieve the following: 

• Foster a growth mindset within themselves and their students.
• Recognize and understand their own cultural beliefs and biases.
• Realize the critical need to develop relational capacity with their students. 
• Create a learning environment that is safe, supportive, and respectful.
• Maintain high expectations of all students.
• Embrace the importance of equity in meeting the needs of students.
• Provide support of learning through scaffolding and differentiation.
• Bridge connections between home, school and community.
• Consistently evaluate their teaching practices and adopt a willingness to change in order to address the ways in which their students learn.
• Embrace learning and growth for themselves and their students. 

How do you foster these ideas in yourself and your classroom?  How do we foster these in our school?  (You can always comment below...)

GAME OF THE WEEK:

I Love My Neighbor

https://www.playworks.org/game-library/i-love-my-neighbor/ 

Great way for students to get to know one another! 

Upcoming Events: 

8/20 - Team Meeting - 3:00 E103

8/21 - Classified Staff Meeting - 2:00 E103

8/22 - K-12 Principals Meeting - Carrie Out 8:00-12:30

8/23 - Custom School Principal Meeting - Carrie Out 12:30-4:00

8/23 - PTA Fundraiser Kick-Off Assemblies (times TBD) - Fundraiser through 9/5

8/26 & 8/27 - Dairy Council Assemblies (times TBD)

8/27 - Staff Meeting 3:00 - E103 - "WIN" Time

Birthdays: 

8/1 - Lakisha Harris - 6th Grade

8/7 - Cindy Olvera - Noon Supervisor

8/12 - Priscilla Skeet - Preschool Aide

8/21 - Tina Sumerford - 6th Grade

8/24 - James Hara - K-3 - SDC M/S

8/26 - Ron Sheffield - 1st Grade

8/26 - Steve Carrasco - 6th Grade

8/29 - Carol Ortega-Koelling - SDC - K-2 M/M

8/29 - Karla Ramirez - Noon Supervisor