Life Long Learners

One of the things all of us have in common as educators is the love of learning!  Not only do we like to learn about our own subject areas, but we love to learn to learn!  Life Long Learning is described as a way to focus on self-improvement.  According to Oskar Nowik @Lifehack, learners find joy in growth and are always seeking for self-improvement opportunities.   Life Learners will typically have the follow habits or qualities:

 * Read on a daily basis

 * Believe it is never too late to start something
 * Actively seek opportunities to grow
 * Embrace Change
 * Take care of their bodies
 * Challenge themselves
 * Have diverse passions
 * Love making progress

I see many of these qualities in all of you and it is refreshing and exciting to be among such exceptional individuals!  It is so great to work with a team that is always looking for ways to instill their love for learning in our students daily.  I look forward growing and progressing with all of you! 

(By the way, thanks for participating in Monday's PD session and Instructional Rounds this week!  We had a great week!) 

Important Information:

Speaking of Reading Daily: Do not forget to sign up for our fun book study, "Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind!" by Eric Jensen.  I promise to make this a light and enjoyable opportunity for all of us to learn together!  Thank you to those who have signed up all ready!  Please fill out this quick link if you are interested:  https://forms.gle/DuUKnUiZ1kbQ5erx7

Surprise and Delight Challenge -  Many of you are familiar with Buddy Berry and the "Surprise and Delight" opportunities he encourages.  February 3-7 will be Surprise and Delight (SAD) week!  He encourages all of us to provide an opportunity in our classroom for our students and make sure to share it on social media!  You can find great ideas for how to incorporate SAD activities into student learning by searching #surpriseanddelight or following @BuddyBerry.   Looking forward to some great activities for our students!!!  (Those of you who participate may receive your own Surprise and Delight!  ;-)

Growth Party - Thanks to the 7th and 8th grade math teachers who celebrated their student's growth on IReady last week!  Students that were consistently performing at grade level or who grew 100% or more were given a breakfast sandwich from McDonalds!  Learning is about growing and believing you have the ability to do so!  More fun activities will be forthcoming for students!

Commodore Day of Caring - Junior High Houses are working on developing a plan to participate in Community Service activities in our community.  As teams they are determining the work they want to do and formulating a plan of action.  Tentatively, students will be out in the community on March 13th - day before Spring Break - to show others acts of kindness and compassion.  Looking forward to their ideas and work!

Testing Schedule:  Below is just an update to the testing schedule for this spring.  You will notice that I have added high school re-testers and a few dates (who knew they had their own window!  Yikes!)  Thank you for your flexibility around these times and to all of you for working hard to prepare our students!

ISTEP 10 Retesters: (11th & 12th grade)
ELA Test (Part 1 & Part 2)
Feb. 12 - 15


Math Test (Part 1 & Part 2)
Feb. 18-20


ISTEP Grade 10:

ELA Testing: 

Part 1 - February 25, 26

Part 2 - April 21, 22

Math Testing

Part 1 - March 3,4

Part 2 - April 28, 29

ILEARN 7th & 8th  - and Biology:

April 27, 28, 29 - English 

May 4,5,2 - Math 

May 11, 12 - Biology