Weekly Update

Team,

TEAMS

Being a human can be really messy. We are thinking/feeling beings, and day-to-day life in its current state is not always designed to meet our needs. We have a lot of input coming at us, whether that be through our smart phones, work demands, or the expectations within our home life! It can be tiring and our brains are not fully ready for the onslaught of input. 

Take that idea, and then put people in teams to work collectively, and it can become tricky! I say this often, but our school culture is the sum of our teams. What we bring to our team (our energy, our unique gifts, our knowledge base), how we operate on a team, and our mindset about the value of collaboration are instrumental pieces of a positive culture. 

Some notices: 

• I have witnessed a special area team revise, improve, revise again, and collaborate through a planner. 
• I've witnessed teams have some honest conversations and gut checking in order to make the team operate better.
• I've noticed teams use stand-up meetings to quickly touch base, especially when they are working on opposite sides of the building.
• I have witnessed teams take time to celebrate one another, notice the talents of one another, and leverage strengths. 
• I have seen teams learn about data and look at data together, in order to make informed decisions.
• I have noticed teams of people working together to meet the needs of each child through a problem solving approach. 
• I've noticed teams take ownership over our school--be it through school improvement efforts, management efforts, or just extra-curriculars. 

There is nothing more powerful than a collectivist mindset at work. We need one another, and our school does a remarkable job at focusing on our teams. Please know that I notice this and that I could not be more proud of how we live out our school value of collaboration. Kudos. 

Sub Plans

At our last Management Team meeting, we discussed what is essential when there is a sub (that is, sub plans) in order for the sub to fully work with a class. In the future, everyone will be getting a common folder. Inside the folder will be a school map, emergency plans, a directory, and any other pertinent school-based materials. 

More to come, but wanted to make sure all were aware that this was a task that Management Team looked at.

December 20th, staff breakfast!

If you have not signed up yet, I'd encourage you to consider joining us on December 20th. We could use a few more hot dishes! 

click here for sign-up!

From Jason

Many people have participated in previous years in the free online Ditch That Textbook Conference.  This year it runs from December 12^th - January 6th.  Once singed up you can watch presentations on your own time.  

 

Here's what it's all about it: 

 

It’s called the Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit. There are nine video presentations from awesome presenters on topics related to tech and solid teaching and learning. Including previous years’ sessions, you’ll have access to more than 80 video presentations! 

 

This year, it’s scheduled for December 12, 2022, to January 6, 2023.

 

Get registered for free at: DitchSummit.com.

 

HOW IT WORKS: New presentations are released every day. They remain available until the end of the summit so you can re-watch or catch up on any you’ve missed. They’re pre-recorded, so you can watch them whenever you want until the summit closes. After that, the summit ends and the videos are unavailable to watch anymore.

 

This year’s speakers include:

• Ken Shelton, education leader and techquity advocate
• Cornelius Minor, author and consultant, The Minor Collective
• Jed Dearybury and Julie Jones, authors and playful learning advocates
• Holly Clark, author, speaker, and blended learning expert
• Amanda Sandoval, history and EL teacher
• Hedreich Nichols, consultant and award-winning educator
• Mandy Froelich, educator mental health change agent
• Al Thomas, educator, filmmaker, photographer, YouTuber
• Michele Eaton, online academy director, author, speaker