A School On FIRE!

I have a new favorite author, Ted Dintersmith. I am slowly reading the book, "What School Could Be" and it is so energizing!! After reading part of the book, I was quick to follow Mr. Dintersmith on twitter. He has a lot of great thoughts that he shares, but I LOVED the quote below.

"A key question in education. Do we teach for assessment, or for engagement? Imagine if our big goal in school were to increase S interest in subjects and in learning. Ss would learn more, and retain it, but it wouldn't adhere to standardized curriculum and tests."
- Ted Dintersmith (Twitter)


I think we all know that standardized testing is not the answer to bringing the joy of learning to our students. Just saying the words out loud makes us all want to stay in bed! Even though we have parameters that we have to work within, my question still begs to know how we CAN work to bring engagement into our classrooms, even with our required testing. We need engagement that will bring learning to life and bring back curiosity, innovation and excitement. Instead of getting frustrated with daily attendance and asking how we can get kids caught up on their daily work, what if we asked, "What can we do so our students are excited to come back every day?" How can we find ways to bring learning to life and find authentic lessons that are relevant to student lives?

The book, Better than Carrot and Sticks tells us that we can utilize conscious discipline and restorative practices all day long, but just because students feel valued doesn't mean that our students will automatically behave. If our classrooms are highly engaging and highly relevant to students' lives we are going to find greater success. The book defines ways to help engage students:
- Formative Assessments
- Gradual Release of Responsibility
- Purposeful Learning - meaningful and relevant learning targets
- Collaborative Learning
- Argumentation - productive group conversations with Accountable Talk Stems

Buddy Berry, superintendent at Eminence School Corporation in Kentucky asked the same question as he and his team worked to change the face of education at their private school. (You can watch the intro video on YouTube HERE.) They call their school a school on FIRE! He reminds us that in a world full of information our students do not need to be content experts - but need to be able to know where to find information, synthesize and utilize it! Quality instruction (formative assessments, disciplinary literacy, etc.) is important, but how can we personalize, energize and innovate to create a blended model of fun and engagement.

We are doing a lot of great things like: internships, embedded work based learning opportunities, flexible scheduling, conceptual learning, student accountable talk, etc. I still ask myself what other shifts do we need to make here at PC to help reflect this passion and excitement of learning. I look forward to working with all of you to continue to make Perry Central Jr./Sr. High School a school that is on FIRE!

"The overarching goal of education should be to immerse students into the beauty and inspiration of their surrounding world." - Ted Dintersmith, Tony Wagner

School Information:

* Data Team Meeting: Did you know there is a data team? Maybe, maybe not - but there is! This team is just taking a birds-eye view of where our students are at and find a way to communicate this information to you so we can utilize the information and use it to guide your work. Our team will be meeting this Monday from 3:00 - 4:00 in the high school library! Thanks to all of our team members for their hard work!

* Community Counseling Meeting - As part of our Lilly Counseling Grant, we meet with our community advisory board to make sure we are working hard to meet the needs of our students and the community. Meetings like this help us find ways to collaborate and learn together. Please welcome our guests in the building on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

* Laurie Desautels' thought for the week is in the picture to the right. So Powerful. Really, strong relationships are about unconditional love. :-)

* Disciplinary Literacy Training - Sarah Kelly will be providing short disciplinary literacy sessions to our core content teachers on Wednesday! We thank Sarah and our teachers for their efforts and their willingness to never stop learning!

* Holiday BINGO - Hope you are all having fun with your Holiday Bingo! I have heard stories where the English team asked a student that struggles with relationships to eat lunch with them during their PLC time (that team plans to occasionally continue this practice as it was so successful), looked at some very colorful socks and of course listened to Vanessa sing for a day! Thanks for all of the fun! We have a great team! When you have a BINGO or coverall - don't forget to turn in your cards for prizes and next week - chance to win drawings! For every BINGO you get, you get your name in the drawing that many times! :-)

* Faculty Meeting - We will have a Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, December 18th at 7:20 a.m. Breakfast will be served and we look forward to a time where we can learn together.

* Final Schedule - Just a reminder that we will have finals coming up on the last two days of the semester (December 20 & 21). Here are some important reminders about finals:
* Students need to be engaged in something meaningful the last day they are in your class. This is NOT a time to watch movies (unless your test is finished early) or give "free days".
* A final does not have to be an old fashion test - it can be some assessment of learning for one or multiple standards.
* Final Days are an excellent time to give students survey's about your class and ask for feedback that could be helpful to you for next semester! :-)
* Final Schedules: Thursday: Periods 2,4,5,6 Friday: Periods 1,3,5,7 (All periods are blocked except for 5th period due to lunch. )
I know that some of you double up your schedules with the elementary or have a double block of students. If you need help figuring out your schedule or coverage, please let me know.

Important Dates:

Monday, December 10th - Data Team Meeting 3:00 - 4:00 HS Library/ School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m. HS Library

Tuesday, December 11th - Candy Cane Carnival

Wednesday, December 12th - RTI Meeting 7:25 a.m. in the teacher meeting room

Thursday, December 13th - Community Counseling Meeting 8:30 a.m. HS Library, Success Skills PLC Meeting 11:30 a.m., Girls Varsity Basketball @ Orleans 5:30 p.m.

Friday, December 14th - Varsity Boys Basketball @ Home vs. Springs Valley 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 15th - Varsity Girls Holiday Classic Tourney @ Tell City 11:45 a.m.