Healthy Recipe

 

Weekly Update

 Team, 

Need-to-Know: 

• No meeting weeks continue for two more weeks. 
• SIT is starting school-wide coffee hours on Friday am as a way to work toward our goal of remaining connected across the school. Consider additional ways you can connect with colleagues that you don't normally see or work with. Our students see this! 
• For placement this year (after spring break), we will continue to utilize the spreadsheet method versus traditional placement cards. This saves a ton of time from the office lens. 
• Thanks to those of you who put in a request to consider a different level. Any level staffing switches will be communicated prior to placement starting pending no unforeseen situations.

Chew-on-This:

How are you fostering discourse? Do these questions only need to be used for math? Don't forget, learning is a social process! 

 

Keep Learning: 

Learning is a social process--keep learning!

Weekly Update!

 Team, 

Need-to-know: 

• No meeting weeks start after break! This occurs for three weeks. 
• Best of luck to Mrs. Merrill! She is leaving us for a bit to have that beautiful baby! Please welcome Lyza in her absence. 
• The drinking fountains in our school are now on for students to use. 
•  The report card window is currently open! 

Nothing to chew on or read this week...instead: 

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Weekly Update

 Team, 

Need-to-know: 

CIA 2/15/22

On 2/15 at 7:45 am we will have a CIA via Zoom. We have two outside presenters coming to share the Anti Racist Curriculum Project, and they will also share some resources that are available to you around this work. 

Let's be real, it can feel scary to approach anti-racist content given the current climate beyond the walls of QUEST. On our summer day many expressed fear in approaching this work. I hear that, and my hope is that they give you some ideas and model some approaches that can be utilized. In addition, they offer a great model of inquiry! 

Zoom Link: 

Derek Warren is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: QUEST staff meeting 

Time: Feb 15, 2022 07:45 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE MEETING!

Meeting ID: 965 4619 8679

Passcode: 221165

Meeting ID: 965 4619 8679

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/arH6QTbOI

Break Hours

QUEST will be open on Tuesday through Friday during break, 7-4:30. There will also be some evening hours due to sports, but those are currently still up in the air. 

Change in Levels? 

Last call! If you have interest in switching levels, please communicate that to me via the Google Form by 2/18/22. Please remember that requesting a switch doesn't guarantee a switch, but I have in interest in knowing this information should a switch be possible and appropriate. The form is found here!

Chew on this: 

Keep learning: 

How often does each child that you work with experience praise? Have you ever considered tracking this information in order to really measure the impact? This article might make you think. 

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Weekly Update

 Team, 

Need-to-know: 

SIT Challenge and our goals:

I've been loving the cross-school chatter and laughter over the mystery people brought to us from SIT. As mentioned in Dr. K.'s video, culture and climate will continue to be a focus for our district next year. 

I recently read that 90% of educators (leaders, teachers, staff) have considered leaving the profession given the loss of civility in society and pandemic stress. That is brutal, and that statistic makes me scared for kids...kids who deserve to show up in a school, each day, where their teacher is happy to be there. QUEST can always be different. We can control what we can control, drown out the noise, but also be there for one another. 

As I strolled around the school this past week, I overheard people chuckling and problem solving-- together--over who the most opinionated, three-legged-dog-loving person was. I even witnessed a teacher ask a kid if they knew of a staff member that had a golden retriever.  Climate can change with the weather, and will fluctuate day-to-day, but culture is much deeper. QUEST values its culture and its history, so let us always continue to make that a priority--even on years it is not a district goal. 

Thanks for being awesome colleagues and champions for kids. Together, we can do anything.

G's on the Report Cards: 

Greg and I are starting a conversation at level meetings around goal setting--the intent, whether we are "really" promoting agency in the current state, and the confusion of G's on the report cards. After we hear from each level at a level meeting, which is a time to really unpack and process our thoughts and opinions, it will be brought to a school vote. Meaning, teaching staff that fill out the report cards will be asked to vote; this will inform the final decision and next steps. I am sharing this to be transparent with the decision making process. 

Some critical questions for all of us to chew on: 

-Do students know their goals? Can an outsider walk into the class and ask a child what their big goals are for the year, and the student able to articulate it? 

-Can students reflect and measure if they are reaching their goal? Do you have a process to do this a little at a time? Or, is it a last minute cram session before portfolio share? 

-What is the "just right" amount of goals by level? 

-How does goal setting and portfolio share, if done with the student as the centerpiece, build agency? 

Report Cards: 

IC will be opening soon, with a closing date of March 11. Please remember no comments are necessary this marking period as we do portfolio share. 

Principal Pick

We will re-convene for the Principal Pick read aloud time in March. I was hoping to restart it this month, but with the Erin's Law presentations and the shortened month, it is best to pick it back up full-steam-ahead in March. In the meantime, I am always available to read to your classroom. If you want me in, just ask. 

Chew on This:

Keep Learning: 

Click here! Consider how you can look at the data you collect through a lens of equity. Who is being served? Who is being missed? 

3-8 Grade Testing Info

With 3-8 exams in the not-too-distant future, you might be interested in the options of locating and assigning released NYS questions in the eDoctrina system: 

Assigning NYS Released Exams or Questions in eDoctrina.pdf . 

You can assign a whole year’s worth of released questions very quickly (page 2) or make a creation of your own that pulls from different years (pages 3-4).The best part is that all you need to do is select what questions you want to assign as the answer key and standards have already been completed for you!

Please check out my eDoctrina BOCES Support site for several other Help Docs and please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you and/or your school with eDoctrina implementation.

Ryan Maier, Instructional Technology Specialist

Monroe/Orleans Accountability, Assessment & Reporting Services (M.A.A.R.S.)

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Weekly Updates

 Team,

Need-to-know: 

What if...

Lately, I've caught myself admiring the problems all around me. Covid, masking, the January sky (no sun), too busy...every ounce of me wants to snuggle with the issues and let it be a reason to feel grumpy.  But what if when times got stressful, we pushed deeper toward what works. What if we looked at the stressful times differently and found the lesson in the stress. This week you were pushed through CIA and through your level meetings to write positive emails/notes. What if you made that a regular practice? How might the gratitude you feel help shape your day? Gratitude works, but don't take my word for it: click here!

From last week--COVID Testing

Aside from the other testing protocol that the district is doing, we will now also be offering a testing option before school on Mondays. This is voluntary and for those without symptoms. Our testing occurs in the nurses office, and John and Christin are the two in charge of this testing. 

From last week--SIT Challenge

Find a way to connect with your colleagues and HAVE SOME FUN!

Each morning, Monday through Thursday, you will receive an email with a new clue describing a staff member at QUEST.  The clues become easier each day. Use your detective skills to figure out which staff member is being described.  When you are confident in your answer, use the link that will be provided to submit the staff member’s name. You may submit your answer at any point in the week.  This is a fun and completely optional and voluntary challenge, but we sure hope you will opt in on the fun.

Two prizes will be awarded; one for the first person to submit the correct answer and one prize that will be randomly drawn from all the correct responders.

QUEST Lotto

We currently have 65 K applications with a week to go. This year, we will hold our lotto via Webinar so parents can watch. It won't be long now before we start placement! 

Lockers

If you have students who use the lockers, please remind them to place all their items inside their locker each morning. It gets tricky this time of year with all the winter gear, and it becomes a safety concern when the hallways become an obstacle course. We have some friends who need assisted walking, and we have had more than one item also show up in the lost-and-found from not being placed in a locker. Please be sure to remind kids daily to tidy up their stuff that is located outside the room. Thank you! 

Chew on this: 

A friend shared this video with me. Are you above or below the line? Based on where you are, what do you need to continue to do or do differently? This video is intended for leaders, but it applies to all of us. Let's support one another as we all work to remain above the line! 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO

Keep learning: 

This is the third article that Mr. Booth shared with us regarding agency. It is important that we continue to push toward greater levels of student agency. After all, it is their learning and will be their journey for years to come. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ARTICLE