Sunday Shakedown

Remember when we gathered at summer inservice (teachers) and you were given ingredients and a recipe (and cute chef hats of course) to make homemade soft pretzels? That "curriculum" was the same, but what was created was different. We had pretzels that were thick, thin, woven into words, hard, soft, and some more burnt than expected. As an analogy, we likened this to our work in educating our learners, and in fact it is a great parallel to teaching being a craft, not an exact science. Prior to the week of the break, we had an interesting collaborative with LCA that reminded me about three things: 1/ The importance of the essential standards and the decomposing of those standards as they related to curriculum. 2/ Our goal as a guiding coalition to share instructional practices and how we select effective ones, not just sharing resources. 3/ The great minds of educators to know students and standards. This depth of knowledge and reflection is what makes you wise professionals.

Last week, we were in learning center A for collaborative. This time, we were visiting a math strategy that was taught by Eureka. In the strategy, students were to add two single digit numbers (under twenty) and decompose one number to help the other number reach ten (a friendly number). There had been previous lessons on the importance of "making ten" and strategies for "counting on". What was great about this session is that each teacher brought their student work, and were perplexed, and maybe disappointed that the strategy didn't work effectively. The students were more successful with counting on and performed worse on the topic ticket. It caused them to pause, and reflect. We examined the standard, alongside the curriculum to see where this strategy fell on the Instructional Focus Document. What the teachers then shared was that in the current week lessons, the next strategy was rectifying the confusion from the week before, they wondered and wished these lessons had been reversed in order. That led to a discussion on the importance of previewing the entire module at the beginning, and not just looking at the week ahead to select what is important to track. It had us wondering how we could rely on a walkthrough of the whole module and study of the strategies to better understand before teaching. We chatted about how we might weave this into our collaborative process. One thing I know another school does is having each teacher take a topic in the module and study it. Then during collaboratives they could each share out so that the progression of skills is evident. It would help us identify early what we predict to be misconceptions and how presentation, order, and what we know about our learners leads us to craft our lessons and presentation of content.

All this to say, I saw a quote about cooking that could be paralleled to teaching, it said, "I watch cooking change the cook, just as it transforms the food." This type of work as an interdependent team of colleagues has quite a bit of potential to help all students learn at high levels. I hope through sharing these stories you grow as teams, and students grow as learners. Thank you all for your hard work.

• Thanks to Jessica's husband for the reel of our Thanksgiving meal packing day
• Thanks to all who donated, we had more than enough food for the families of our school and they were all so very grateful
• Thanks to Melinda Armstrong for hosting and preparing a great Thanksgiving lunch
• Thanks to all for a great day of Thank You Grams, the givers and receivers were so happy!
• Prayers and well wishes for Caitlin Sanders who lost her grandfather this weekend and will travel to Ohio later in the week to attend his funeral
• Thanks to all whose classrooms we visited for ELA walkthroughs, there was wonderful things happening all over the place

From KCS Technology Director - Andy Arnold

KCS Staff –

Just a quick reminder to be cautious when opening emails, clicking on links, and downloading attachments. There are ongoing email campaigns from malicious individuals trying to steal your information. They often create fake Gmail accounts using the first and last names of people in leadership positions.

For example, if you receive an email from make sure to carefully check the email address. This doesn't mean I've been hacked; it just means someone is impersonating me in an attempt to deceive you.

If you receive suspicious emails like these, please report them as phishing attempts through the phishing button in your KCS Gmail, or simply delete them.

While we have various protections in place to help defend against these threats, no system is foolproof. So, your vigilance is the most important defense. Please help protect KCS by staying alert!

Each year, we ask families if they are in need of holiday support. This year, so far, 32 families have made this request. I suspect we will add a few more, however, below you will see the QR code to register to support a student. This was sent home last week to parents, so many are already fill, but keep you eye out if you would like to help. Again, another great example of our school families helping one another.

In the coming weeks, you will balance both your regular duties to support small groups and individual students on skills that are next steps in their learning path, with supporting the implementation of benchmark testing. Your role in each of these settings is support, but that support may look different depending on the learner(s). This type of differentiated support, reminded me of the training Logan Burton provided for our staff earlier this year. She helped us be aware of several ways we make learning more accessible for students by adjusting one of many factors. See the graphic below. I thought you, as those who provide this support alongside teachers, might like to see it described. In addition, she shared a video about airplane cockpits. It was powerful in thinking about giving people (students), what they need to succeed, and being careful not to "just make it easier". We want to hold all students accountable for learning at high levels and being able differentiate allows us to do that. It's a bit long, but if you can find time throughout the week, it is a great watch.

Monday: Collaboratives for LCF, LCB, LCE; 5th grade Girls Family Life (all week in Auditorium)

Tuesday: Eureka implementation walkthrough (schedule is linked HERE); After school district math collaboratives

Wednesday:

Thursday: LCD, C, A collaboratives; Holiday mix and mingle

Friday: Flannel Friday

Coming soon:

Tuesday, December 3: Eureka Math implementation walkthroughs with consultant (all day) HERE is schedule.

December 12: Judging of door decorating contest

MOVED to December 18- Modified day for STEM Challenge day

Important Schedule updates:

QWA December 9 K-5 AND 3-5th science

December 10th-test 2-5th ELA

December 11th-test 2-5th ELA

December 12th-2nd and 4th test math

December 13th 3rd and 5th test math

December 16th and 19th collaboratives will MTSS meetings since our January ones will be data conferences. Please look for agendas for these meetings soon, as these will look a little different and will take some front end work to save us time and increase our productivity.

The Great Minds team of teacher-writers have scheduled virtual professional learning sessions to support educators teaching Eureka Math Squared. Participants must pre-register to participate. Each session is one hour in length. Please have your print or digital Teach book and any applicable handouts available for each session. Below is a list of the sessions scheduled at this time. All sessions are optional; choose any session in which you have an interest.

Use this link to register for any sessions: Eureka Math Learning Lab. Scroll down until you see the list of sessions, a description of each session and the registration link (box with date/time) for the session. You will receive an email with additional information and a link to join the Zoom session.

Teachers who would like to receive professional learning credit should register using their school email address. While attending the session, use your first and last name to identify yourself during the meeting. (You can do this by clicking the "rename" option in Zoom and ensure that your first and last name appears correctly on the screen.) Once the session is complete, you will be issued a certificate of attendance. Please forward this certificate to me within 2 days after the session and I will send the information to be updated in your professional learning log in Aspen. Please note, if you are watching with a team, each person will still need to log in individually and identify themselves on the screen to receive a certificate.

Pam

• Class meeting lessons are linked HERE. A few key things to remember for this year:
• Traditional class meeting (agenda,, compliments, class solving of problems, follow through on old problems) directions are linked HERE
• You may recall as well, that we have a Zones of Regulation integration lesson document linked HERE

Behavior Strategies and Supports: Lack of Participation/Disengaged

Although it may not seem like an SEL or behavioral issue, disengaged students can be the source of disruption to learning for many students, and can have causative factors related to social emotional skills and regulation. Lack of work completion and participation can be the result of low motivation, learning difficulties, a lack of understanding, or behavioral problems due to unmet needs.

ADHD or other executive functioning disorders can make it difficult for students to maintain focus and manage time and materials. This can result in lack of participation and low work completion, along with making students feel defeated and unwilling to attempt a task.

Fear of failure may lead to lack of participation and low work completion because students may feel anxious about completing assignments incorrectly. They may feel unengaged and unmotivated because they do not see the relevance in what they are learning or being asked to do.

Home environment and behavioral issues can also impact a student’s ability to complete tasks, whether as a result of defiance or lack of meaningful support outside of school. Some students may also have stress-related anxieties from outside school (home environment) that distract them from tasks they are being asked to complete.

What can we do? Helping students to set a goal, then breaking it down into manageable steps helps to develop self-management and responsible decision-making.

Tier One interventions:

Tier One interventions can be used in combination, and should be tried for at least 2 weeks. As with many behavioral interventions, you may see the behavior worsen before it gets better when an intervention strategy is applied.

• Positive Reinforcement (praises effort and small successes)

• Frequent check-ins (offer immediate assistance to reduce “stuck” time)

• Address the underlying issue, if known

• Alternate methods of completing assignments - providing choice works best for all students. This works well for students with problematic work completion behaviors because it takes into account that students learn in different ways and it provides the means for all students to understand and complete expectations.

• Examples (depending on the assignment):

• Verbally giving answers

• Drawing a picture, graphic, diagram, etc.

• Using a computer to type out an assignment

• Putting answers on index cards

• Have student do a demonstration or experiment

• Record verbal responses on computer mic

It’s also appropriate to guide students towards the mode of completion that you see being more successful for them. These strategies are individualized, and do take more effort to implement, but can effectively make a huge difference in the learning environment for students who consistently fail to complete assignments, particularly when the cause is not due to lack of academic understanding.

• Break the assignment down into steps

• Get clarification on directions from the teacher

• Prioritize tasks

• Have deadlines

• Establish a check-in point

• If possible, provide pictures or rubric

• Use a planner or color-coded folders to help students organize their work and task timeline

• Give student a buddy (collaboration) - this is effective when both students are aware of the purpose of the arrangement and expectations

Helpful site for more Tier One level interventions for lack of participation and low work completion: www.pbisworld.com

If you’ve tried multiple Tier One interventions with no success, you may want to check out Tier Two interventions for low work completion. Examples of these include:

• Behavior chart

• Structured breaks (If, Then)

• Non-verbal cues and and signals

• Reward system

• Self-monitoring

• Teach Organizational Skills:

• Some basic strategies include keeping a planner or calendar, frequently organizing storage areas with the assistance of a teacher or peer

• Checklists

• Daily schedules

• Keeping things in one location

• Organizational folders with a “to do” and “finished” side

• Visual schedule

• Parent assistance with daily helping student to organize and sort work, belongings, and materials

• Turning in all complete work to one location and/or person

Overall, there are lots of sites to consult and many strategies worth trying and developing. Any type of individualized support does take extra time and work, but rewards can be significant for each student and for the classroom as a whole. Setting goals and establishing steps towards reaching them is beneficial for all students, but can be especially impactful for students who struggle with completing assignments.

Helpful websites:

https://www.pbisworld.com/ - this is a great website with many resources for tiered responses to specific identified behaviors.

The Deputy Chief Fire Inspector will be visiting Kingsport City Schools

sometime after Fall Break. He will be checking classrooms, common areas,

and offices. Please make sure your classroom or office space is ready for

the comprehensive visit.

• No candles or even plug in scented candles
• Any LED or Christmas lights plugged into wall outlet and not power

strip.

• Keep all doorways clear that may block an easy exit. Stairwells MAY

NOT be used for storage.

• No magnetic or wood wedges to prop open doors. ALL doors must

shut, latch, and lock correctly. If this is not occurring, let Bryan know
and he will submit work order
 Power strips must plug directly into the wall outlet…and extension
cord cannot be used to plug a power strip into the wall outlet.

• Power strips cannot be “piggy backed” … (plugged into each other).
• Residential extension cords cannot be used in the classroom.
• There must be at least 18 inches of space between the ceiling,

sprinkler head, and anything stored or stacked in a classroom, office,
or storage closet.

• Microwaves, small microfridges, etc. MUST plug directly into the wall

outlet. These items cannot be plugged into power strips or extension
cords. THIS IS A REOCCURING ISSUE that we get wrote up every
year. PLEASE look at your microwave and refrigerator if you have
one in your room and make sure it is plugged into the wall outlet. If
you cannot achieve this request because of placement of appliances
in your classroom—please move them so they can be plugged
directly into a hard-wired outlet.

During the visit this year (weather dependent) we will be having a fire drill.