Relentless pursuit of Amazing

Now that we have the year well established it is now time to be relentless in our approach to be AMAZING.  We have laid out our classroom procedures for students, have completed our NWEA fall testing, completed our two consecutive four day weeks, introduced new technology, received a baseline for college and career readiness via our ILEARN scores, and worked hard to establish positive connections with all of our students in just one months time but now it is time to get even more serious about our approach to AMAZING.  Here are some ways that all of TEAM LINCOLN can continue our quest to be AMAZING by learning together and leading together.

1. Relationships:  Amazing starts here.  Continue to build positive connections and relationships with all of our students.  Repair relationships that might be off to a rocky start with some students by believing in our students.  Many of our students will not believe in themselves and do not believe that they can learn and grow.  As teachers it is our job to help students and to help students believe in themselves by believing in them.  Do not blame them rather believe in them and be relentless in this effort.  This is how we can be AMAZING.

2. Collective Responsibility:  Amazing starts here.  Amazing schools identify with all students as our students.  This may seem obvious however some schools fall into the trap where teachers may identify with only students in their classrooms or leave the responsibility for achievement and growth to those that work with specific students such as special education teachers, ELL teachers, or other interventionists.  Amazing schools take collective responsibility and all kids are our kids and all kids are your kids.

3. Collaboration:  Amazing starts here.  Collaboration includes teachers sharing what works and what doesn't.  We become amazing when we are working together not in isolation.  Our ability to be relentless in our pursuit of high functioning teams of teachers that push each other to share strategies that work and those that don't, to share the air in our meetings so that all have a voice, and that grow together will help us be amazing.

4. Thinking:  Amazing starts here.  Requiring students to think at high levels, levels that they are not used to thinking at.  This is hard work and requires teachers to think as well.  Having the mindset of an assessor and assessing what level of learning tasks we are preparing and asking students to do.  A relentless pursuit to help students have growth mindsets with these high level learning tasks.  To help students learn from productive struggle.

Each of these requires us to be together learning and leading.  To be relentless in each of these.  Each of these will help our students and help our students to be AMAZING.

AMAZING Accolades:

Sam VanLue and staff-  Besides the amazing coffee cart each week, the life skills team continues to do amazing work together for our students.  Special accolades to Mike Maza for taking charge in an emergency with one of our 6th grade students.

Math and Language Arts teachers- These teams began their relentless pursuit of Amazing with two really good work days where they looked at student learning data and determined the focus for student learning.

Bob Garrity, Angie Bronicki, and Riley Heeren for their growth mindsets with learning from our Apple experts through the Apple coaching cycle.

All teachers for their continued hallway supervision each period.  The presence of teachers everywhere deters student misbehavior.

Upcoming @ Lincoln

Monday PD-  Tomorrow- Meeting the needs of all learners- meet in Red room 7:45 Bring iPads
Sept. 16th- Behavior RTI Team Collaboration
Sept. 23rd- Academic RTI Team Collaboration

Technology Committee Meeting - Wednesday 3:15 Mr. Horvath's room

Behavior Team Meeting- TBA

Progress Reports- Wednesday Sept. 11th

Monday Advisory- Student Council Officer voting/Announcements/Suicide Prevention (this can be done on Wednesday as well)/ Yearbook Fire Sale flyers please pass out.