From Identification to Action

Second semester is well underway even with the recent weather delays and cancellations.  As we continue throughout this semester with our Monday collaborative behavior and academic teams the goal should be to have impact with those that we have identified so that they are more successful meeting our behavior expectations and being success academically more often more of the time.  The students that teams have identified often have gaps in their skills to behave and to achieve academically in our classrooms.  As teachers our job is to help close these gaps through collaborative problem solving.  We are pretty good at identifying students now our challenge is to help these students because that is what is best for these students, what is best for our school, and what we do as educators.  

As core teachers have met with me this past week and the upcoming week, NWEA data has been the focus of our conversations.  NWEA assessments are designed to help us know where students are academically and serve as yet another piece of information for us to really know our students. This has been our emphasis all year because when we know our students both as kids and as students we will be more successful.  This data helps us purposefully plan our instruction to meet the needs of all students, those students that are in the 95th percentile and those that are in the 10th percentile.  Use this data to help problem solve on our academic collaboration days.  Use each other, use our interventionists to help meet the needs of our special education population,  use Ryan Ahlrich and our ELL checklists to help meet the needs of our ELL population, use the tier 2 strategies, and use what we already know about students to purposefully plan. 

Collaboratively sharing strategies to put into action to help identified students is what our Monday PD times are designed to for.  By sharing and brainstorming strategies we can more purposefully plan instruction to meet the needs of these students both academically and behaviorally.  The leadership team has put together Tier 2 strategies to move from identification to action for these identified students.  This is in no way and exhaustive list rather a starting point to take actionable steps to closing gaps both academically and behaviorally with students.  Discuss them as teams, purposefully plan for them, and try them.  If they fail, adjust and be responsive to the students needs.  So as we continue to move through the second semester ask yourself, How are you purposefully planning for all of your students?

From Identification to Action

Upcoming @ Lincoln

State Readiness Test -  Monday 9:20 for Late start schedule (2nd period)
      Should there be a delay:
         1st period - 10:05 to 10:45 State Readiness Test
         2nd period - 10:49 to 11:09
         Normal 2hr delay schedule for the rest of the day.
My thinking on this is that because this is the first time we have done anything with ILEARN I have taken ten minutes from 2nd period to provide a buffer in 1st period.  We must complete the test by 11:00.  I will not be here on Monday so if you have any questions with the test ask Julie or Craig.  Be sure to reread the directions here.  2nd period teachers that were planning to be off during our test will need to be prepared in case of a delay.

Spirit Assembly scheduled for Friday will be rescheduled - TBD  not sure we will do it next Friday we will have to wait and see what next week will bring but we will reschedule.

Geography Bee and Art Extravaganza- Both are scheduled for Wednesday evening. We would love for staff to come out for both events to support our students.  Weather permitting.  

High Ability Math Training-  This is scheduled for Wednesday Jan. 30th, if school is cancelled or delayed it will be rescheduled for another date. 

Life Skills Class prepares for field trip-  Our life skills students will be traveling to the Marshall County Humane Society in February and are asking for donations for the dogs and cats.  Here are the items they are seeking, please consider donating, donations can be dropped off in room 115.  

Items needed for the Marshall County Humane Society

*Bleach

*Paper towels

*Blankets

*Dog treats

*Cat treats

*Kitty litter

*Dog/Cat toys

*old stuffed animals

*clorox wipes

*litter box liners

*hand sanitizer

January Survey

Have a safe and hopefully warm weekend!