O Christmas Tree.....

Here we are, two days to go.  I'm sure it will feel like two weeks.  From what I am hearing, there may not be too many students at school on Tuesday.  I'm actually not sure why, but expect fewer students.  Tuesday morning is Polar Express for grades K-4 and Christmas Breakfast for grades 5-8.  Gina will be playing the videos created by her video production club at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and will send out directions for how to view. 

Thank you Heather, Kelly, Paula, and Derrick for a great Christmas Show!!!  Thank you Charles and Jose for making the sound happen!!  Who knew we had such talent in our students.  Great acting and singing!! 

I hope everyone has a restful and joyous Christmas with your friends and family. 

O Come O Come Emmanuel

As we enter the Second Week of Advent, let us remember to pause in the midst of the usual Christmas chaos and thank the Lord for sending his Son so that we may be saved.  Let us also thank the Lord for the beautiful gift he brought to the Wiles home this past week.  We have much to be thankful for.  Come Jesus, come quickly!

Thank you Julianne for putting together our Advent Retreat.  We truly are blessed to have Julianne take on these extra tasks that there is never enough time to get to.  By doing the framework for these days, it allows teachers the time to focus on creating one activity to share.  I walked through the school a number of times throughout the day and I would like to share my thoughts of how we can improve our retreat days.  I first would like to share something that Fr. Dermot said to me in August when we were talking about our Faculty Retreat at the start of the year.  After I talked a little about it, he asked me if it was a retreat or a workshop.  Those words keep coming back to me, particularly as I walked through the school on Friday.  The framework for a reflective retreat was there, but we may have strayed from the path at times.  Advent is a joyous time and the retreats tend to be more lively than during Lent, but here are some things to think about for the Lent retreat, a time when we should quiet our hearts:

• No one should be talking above a whisper.  Retreat days should be a time when we stay very quiet and move toward having a close, personal relationship with Christ.  
• Hands-on activities are necessary, particularly for younger students.  However, there should always be a time for prayer, meditation, or reflection that goes with the activity.  One idea I've used is to make a retreat journal for each child that we would go back to throughout the day so that students could make connections and understand the meaning behind what we are doing.
• Activities should be making, creating, interacting.  Students should not be coloring worksheets or playing games.  They should be making advent wreaths, jesse trees, mangers, etc. to take home and share with their families.  They should be reading the bible and acting out how the story might look today in modern times, or create a visual art or song based on a bible story.  They could make and pray the Advent stations of the cross.  
• Be prepared for everyone moment of the retreat so that transitions happen smoothly and quietly.  
• We should also do everything possible to ensure that we do not use subs on a retreat day.

Many of these things were happening on Friday and I did see some great things.  I also understand that retreats are easier as they students get older.  I also know that sometimes things are beyond our control like a hurricane that moved the Early Childhood conference to the day of our retreat.  I only offer these thoughts as some things to think about for the next retreat, especially as we struggle to bring the children closer to Christ.  If we can make that relationship stronger, the begging and pleading at home to be taken to Mass on Sunday will also grow stronger.  

You may want to show the powerpoint from this weekend at church to your class.  Thank you Gina for helping me (or pretty much doing it while I watched) with the presentation.  Your students might enjoy seeing themselves.  It will be on Facebook Monday and maybe we can show it on the Morning Show.  

This week I will be gone Wednesday morning at a principal's meeting.  Monday is a Holy Card free dress.  The Christmas Show is Friday.  Friday is also a half-day and you are free to leave after carline.  The calendar was still showing Parish Christmas party for Friday afternoon but we took it off.  That was our original plan back in May but it has been replaced by our Epiphany Party.  Please be sure you have responded to the invitation by indicating how many and the ages of your children if you are bringing them.  If something is preventing you from attending, please come talk to me first before replying no.  Thank you and have a Blessed week.  

Happy New Year

The First Sunday of Advent ushers in the new Liturgical Year.  This year is Year B in the Lectionary.  As we prepare our hearts to receive the gift of Jesus' birth, let us pray for confidence in God's love for us and trust in his power to do what is best for us.  At my retreat on Friday I heard many things that spoke to me.  In particular was the idea of emptying ourselves so that God can penetrate our hearts.  In order for that to happen we need to let go of all our worries and live in the moment.  Buddhist Mindfulness - intentional, deliberate focus on the present - is one way to do this.  The Buddha said, "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."  How difficult a thing this is for us to do, particularly in our profession.  

Another way to empty ourselves for the Lord is by following St. Teresa's idea of Contemplative Prayer.  Contemplation is a great act of love. We desire God as God desires us. We give our hearts to God, and it is within our hearts that we encounter God in his Son through the promptings of the Holy Spirit. A person puts aside the self—the “me”—and sees everything in terms of the gospel and the unconditional compassion of Jesus Christ. It requires few if any words.  Here is a suggestion from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on how to proceed with Contemplative Prayer:

• Find a quiet place, you can have music playing
• Find a comfortable position, breathe and quiet yourself
• Focus your attention on an image of Jesus
• Acknowledge the things that are trying to get your attention---thoughts, worries, plans, aches and pains, sights and sounds around you.
• Slowly let these things go.
• In your silence and stillness, let God’s Spirit within you make itself known.
• Do not expect anything to “happen”; put yourself in God’s hands.  

And finally I would like to share a quote from Blaise Pascal for you to think about, "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of."  When I realized what it was saying, it made so many things clear.  Maybe it will speak to you too.

The representative from our cleaning company will be here Tuesday for a walk-thru.  If there is something you would like me to point out or tell him, let me know.  I am considering a new cleaning company for the school.  I met with the rep and had a good feeling about the work this company does.  One plus is that they are very familiar with cleaning schools.  If there is something you need done in your classroom over Christmas break, please let me know by Friday.  Hopefully the new AC will be installed over break.  This should alleviate some of the leak issues we have been having.  I'm also hoping the awning will be installed over break and we ordered 4 new picnic tables for the playground thanks to the Angel's paddle item.  Another addition to the property will be 4 more speed bumps in the parking lot which hopefully will slow down drivers who currently race through the lot.  Allen and I are working on getting these ordered.  The Lord is good!

Please be sure to pass out envelopes on Friday and remind students that this weekend coming up is the weekend to wear their uniform and grab a holy card for free dress.  Thank you for all you do and I am praying that everyone experiences a meaningful retreat this Friday.  

Tis the Season

Welcome back.  I hope you all had a restful week and are ready for a very busy few weeks.  Do not slack in your expectations.  There is a tendency to get off track during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but you will regret it when the end of the trimester comes and you only have 1 or 2 summatives.  Keep the students focused on their learning and there will be less stress.  And...... If you missed Black Friday there's always a chance to grab some deals with Cyber Monday!  

Here are some happenings this week:

• PTCO will begin decorating for Christmas
• Please send your Honor Roll list to Karen and Charles before you leave on Monday.  This is for Grades 5-8 only.  Please see the Parent/Student Handbook if you are unsure of what the requirements are for the two honor rolls.  Also, be sure you are looking at the revised report cards from Friday, Nov. 17.  
• Arthur Carapella from Pre-K 4 will be Principal for the Morning on Wednesday, Nov. 29.  He will attend Mass with me and then we will give out honor roll certificates.  We will spend some time in classrooms and then he will have lunch with me in the office with 2 of his friends.
• Charles and I will be out on Friday at an Administrator's retreat.
• Friday is Marvelous Mustang day.  Please be sure you contact the parents of the student you give a certificate to.  Every teacher must contact parents themselves, not just the homeroom teachers.  
• Friday is set-up day for the St. Nicholas shop which will take place next week Mon-Thurs. 
• I have two observations to complete and will send out a sign up to go over your observations.  

Have a wonderful week!

What are you thankful for?

It's the time of year when we recall all the things we are thankful for.  I am thankful that I've done most of my elementary observations so I don't have to sit through another Pilgrim lesson.  I'm thankful for everyone who played a part in making our Angel's event a memorable evening.  I'm thankful for each and every one of you who go beyond minimum and make things happen for our students and our school.  I am thankful to work with some of the most amazing people in Catholic education.  Be sure to take some time this week and let your students know the things they do that make you thankful they are a part of your life.  

Once we return from Thanksgiving break things will move quickly and many things are happening.  1st grade share boxes, Santa shop, Advent retreat, Christmas program, and more.  This year we are breaking from tradition.  We will not be having a staff Christmas party on the half day of the Christmas program which was the original plan.  Fr. Dermot has the vision that a Christmas party should be during the Christmas season, not Advent.  I think it's a great idea because sometimes things are so hectic just before Christmas break.  The plan is to do something on Friday, January 5 in the evening.  It will be in the FLC and families will be invited to join us so please keep that date open.  More details to follow.  Enjoy the week and the much needed break that will be here soon.

If you want a laugh, watch WKRP in Cincinnati's "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg

Reflection time

This will be a short but busy week.  It's also a good time to reflect back on the first Trimester (grades in particular) and decide what went well and what could have been done better.  Some will feel that it was hard to get in the minimum number of grades since it's the start of school and it takes a while to get in the swing of things.  We also had an Irma disruption.  Trimester 2 will also come with its challenges with Thanksgiving and Christmas break.  The final Trimester will have the after Easter break slump.  Conclusion... there is no perfect trimester. 

At my principal's meeting on Friday there was a heated discussion among principals (while the superintendent and assistant superintendent left the room) about the grading policy.  The topic was - Grading Policy 5 years later, what have we accomplished.  As a group we concluded that we have a better understanding of what grades should truly represent and that we are better at assessing students.  Everyone believes that Understanding By Design makes us better educators and that our overall philosophy has changed for the better.  Everyone also very much likes separate ATL grades where you can separate knowledge from behavior.  In general, it was not a waste of time.  It was a work in process and as it went along, things were learned and discovered and adjustments were made.  There was a long explanation as to why we did not go to standards-based report cards in the end.  Basically, it was because the time it would take for teachers to do it properly was not going to be worth the outcome.  If a student received a B in math and a 2 in the geometry strand, what does that really tell anyone?  Not much.  What is more useful is diagnostic tools like iReady and formative assessments that can pinpoint weaknesses and then conferencing with parents to say Johnny needs to practice area and perimeter in IXL.  It's about having faith in teachers without bombarding with more work.  Here were some of the "cons":

• Not all schools cooperated and we are each at different levels of standardized practices
• This was never meant for high schools and no one is sure why they joined in
• Many agree that 50% is ok if best effort is given, but 50% for no work is a difficult pill to swallow
• Many disagree with the retake policy for summatives, the feeling is formatives are your retakes - keep trying until you have mastered and are ready for the summative.  If formatives are done right, no one should ever fail a summative.

Nothing really changes for us.  Know that we are not the only school that sits back and says, why isn't everyone else doing this?  I also think it's what makes us better and the reason why our students do so well in high school.  I did feel for new principals who want to cooperate and are in schools that never did any of the suggested practices and now are finding it a struggle to catch up.  But is also means that there is a movement for more and more schools to do what is suggested. 

Since Thursday is a half day, the new electives for middle school will not begin until next week.  I will work on your rosters this week and get that information out to you.  Have a wonderful week. 

Trimester 1 Comes to An End

It's the final countdown.  Our first trimester comes to an end on Friday.  I know we had some disruptions this first trimester, but we actually only lost two days of instruction.  Some things to remember:   

• Every class gets an ATL
• Conduct goes in Homeroom
• Any ATL or Conduct score lower than a 3 should not be a surprise to parents.  Written communication or a conference should have happened before you can give a 1 or a 2
• A score lower than a C should also not be a surprise
• All 1's, 2's, D's and F's MUST have a comment
• Grades must be complete by 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, Nov. 6

Charles will provide a complete checklist for you to be sure grades are correct before we print report cards.  

Nov. 9 is a Parent Conference Day.  Every core teacher should be having conferences that day.  You should be meet with every parent at least once during the year.  For this first conference day, you should be focusing on students who may be struggling or are new to the school.  First set up conferences with students you know you need to meet on, and then offer a conference to other parents.  Every parent should be offered a conference.  Anyone you do not meet with this time, insist they come in on the next conference day.  It's impossible to meet with everyone on this one day so I understand that you will most likely be meeting before and after Nov. 9 with parents.  If you plan a conference before school, set the start time by at least 7:15 a.m. and end promptly at 7:40.  Students should not be waiting outside your room while you conference.  Please send your conference schedule to me by Friday, Nov. 3.

As I've been reviewing Unit Plans and doing observations, I am finding that everyone is doing a great job in you lessons, classroom management, activities, student engagement, questioning, etc.  However, in general we still struggle with the overarching parts of the unit plans.  Enduring Understandings read like skills, Essential Questions are too content specific, Values Infusion is a quote from the Bible that has little connection, assessments are not in Atlas, Knowledge consists of only vocabulary words or has no vocabulary words, and Atlas attachments will not open.  These issues are not evident in every unit plan, but in general everyone has at least one struggle.  I will be reviewing these items in depth at an upcoming faculty meetings.  The other thing I've noticed is that it's hard to know what unit plans are for this year and what was copied over from last year.  I believe unit plans can stay in the prior year and you can access them there but it is difficult to know what you are doing particularly if you are a new teacher and there are plans from a prior teacher.  I will be reviewing all these things individually with you when we go over your observations.  

Lastly, Nicki gets a lot of feedback from new parents in particular and many have only good things to say about our school and particularly about our teachers.  What impresses them most is the caring attitude we have here at St. Stephen.  You should all be proud of yourselves.  Thank you all for making me look good!! 😊