Staff Newsletter

Student Engagement - Pacing of the lesson- The class has a purposeful pace and students are engaged in the work of the lesson. Students who finished assigned work early engage in meaningful learning without interrupting other students learning.

Student Discourse - All or almost all students contribute to conversations with partners or groups aligned to content of the lesson.

You will see me more in the classrooms. Those who are new to Claywell I will tell you my levers that increase learning that I look for. There are nuances within all of these, but in my experience I break it down into the below parts. I need you to know that when I come around I don't have a doubt that I will see excellent instruction. That is a given. It fills my bucket to get in the classroom and see that what we are working on is implemented.

Lever 1- I truly believe in the importance in a plan. A plan not only instruction ,but for life. I told you before my dad always told me, " Plan your work, and work your plan." That has stuck with me through life and definitely translates to teaching. The focus on collaborative planning is so important. Teacher feel like they are in silos in education. We have broken down those walls and the discussion is rich. We plan in the morning and one day after school. I know many of you plan for more than one day with your partners.

Lever 2- Instruction--Once you have the plan in place then we implement the plan. This is solid instruction that is well planned out with good pacing, and doing periodic checks for understanding. All kids are engaged in high level work appropriate for their grade level. Remember all are kids no matter their level should exposed to high level thinking. We need to also remember our high achievers. They need that enrichment as well.

Lever 3- Learning- The ultimate goal is for our students to learn. This is where the relationship comes in. If you know how your kids learn and the things that motivate them they will learn. This is where that planning piece of misconceptions that you already know makes learning more efficient.

Level 4- Assessment- We have worked on assessing the students throughout our lessons for the past two years. The idea is you are diagnosing instead of reviewing an autopsy which in this case would be the weekly test. Having a clipboard and making simple notes addresses this through each lesson. You also have to review the assessment with the kids, and grade it in an appropriate amount of time. Let them know how they did. If the kids know you will grade their work quickly you will set a fire for learning. Trust me.

Lever 5- Show the kid's work. I am a big proponent of putting up the kid's work as you know. It doesn't need to be the finished product. It can be messy. Put their work up in the classroom and on the bulletin boards. Change this work out frequently. Kids and adults like to be acknowledged. So much of learning is psychological and dangling the carrot, The kids want to be valued and they value your opinion of them.

The two sessions i sat in on so far have been purposeful and there was great conversation. Our goal is to be seated and ready to discuss at 7:05 the one day that you are meeting with Brittany or Vanessa. It looks like we are picking up where we left off which is great.

We are about five weeks into the school year. Let's plan for about five minutes every few weeks to get new student work up on the bulletin boards. The kids should be celebrated and exemplars are always beneficial in an academic setting.

Now that the morning show is on TEAMS we should have it up and running each morning in every classroom. The morning show is another way we communicate with students and provide incentives for learning. I will also be on everyday saying the Pledge of Allegiance and communicating bulleted items you will need to know. Thanks everyone.