Ron Clark Academy

This past week, Seth Gehlhausen, Hailei Gehlhausen, Lauren Blake and I had a wonderful visit to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA.  Many of you watched the Ron Clark Movie with us last year.  Ron Clark Academy is a small private school (with a huge dragon at the entrance) that houses grades 4-8 near downtown Atlanta.  Even though it is private, he chooses students that would represent the same demographics as a public school (% poverty, special education, race, etc.).  His mission is to show others that all students can be successful at high levels of academic rigor and success if they focus on the right things.    

The Ron Clark Academy is built on three main principles:  

  1.     STRONG relationships – They know that rigor, discipline and success cannot be built without STRONG relationships with students.  They visit every home of every child, have meals and invite parents in so they can better know them and do many special events for students.  They work hard to see education and opportunity through the eyes of each family/child.  

2.       If you are going to be here, BE HERE – Ron Clark spoke a lot about the importance of being present each and every day for our children.  He reminded us that sometimes there will be conflict and negative people around us, but it is important not to give those people power!  We get to choose our attitude everyday and it is important to do our best to be present.    

3.       Movement and Engagement – Every student needs at least one hour of movement every day.  We know that many of our students are kinesthetic learners – and many of them have a hard time sitting all day long.  Through games, dance, chants, songs. . . we can engage students.  They are teaching students to stand up and speak in class, celebrate their mistakes they make with other students and above all – not forget to have fun.  Fun must be in conjunction with high standards.  They even have a slide in the middle of their school – all of us became slide certified on that Friday afternoon! 

I think my biggest take-a-way from this experience is that we are in charge of how we want to teach our students and how we want our profession to be viewed.  If we are sitting behind our desks, complaining all of the time about state testing and how bad our students are. . . that is what people are going to know us for!  It is up to ALL of us to make sure teachers are known as professionals and individuals who love kids and believe they can be successful.

It is my goal for more of you to be able to visit the RCA.  It is really hard to describe the feeling you get when you walk into a room full of dancing students who are excited to have you visit their school, excited to learn, and excited about their own personal success.  If we believe, we will achieve all of this at Perry Central.  We have the right people in place (you) to make that happen!     

Important Information: 

* College Fair - October 7th, students in grades 10, 11 & 12 will be participating in the Perry County College Fair at our local Ivy Tech.  Our visit will be an hour.  Thank you to Dana for organizing this event.  She will be sending out details soon. 

* Athletic Competition - The Junior High Houses will hold their first official competition on Tuesday, October 8th during WIN!  Information about the competition will be sent out today to House teachers.  We anticipate this activity possibly carrying over into 5th period for a short amount of time. 

* 8th Grade/Advanced Manufacturing Field Trip - Friday, October 11th will be the Perry County Tour of Opportunity.  All 8th grade students in the county will visit several locations, including Waupaca, ATTC, Perry County Memorial Hospital and Ivy Tech.  Advanced Manufacturing students will be showcasing their work at the local Ivy Tech and sharing with 8th grade students about the processes and opportunities in over 17 manufacturing facilities in our area.  We are excited about the event.  All Perry County 8th grade students will get a Pick Perry t-shirt to wear.  

* End of 9 Weeks - Just a reminder the end of the first 9 weeks is already this Friday!  Report Cards will go out next Friday to students.  You will have until Wednesday, October 9th to finalize your grades.  Please also remember you will need to send in your reporting topics for quarter 2 soon!

Important Dates: 

October 4th - End of 9 Weeks

October 7th - College Fair

October 11th - 8th Grade Field Trip/ Advanced Manufacturing Students will attend as well.

October 12-October 20 - Fall Break

Defining Discipline

This week, I ran across some good reminders from Laurie Desautels.  If you do not follow her on Facebook, I would recommend it.  We know that brain-aligned discipline helps us to teach behaviors we want to see, laying the groundwork for prevention systems and strategies.  Kids do well if they can - this is one way we can help them become successful.  I hope you enjoy Laurie's reminders!  

Discipline, unlike punishment, is proactive and begins before there are problems. It means seeing conflict as an opportunity to problem solve. Discipline provides guidance, focuses on prevention, enhances communication, models respect, and embraces natural consequences. It teaches fairness, responsibility, life skills, and problem solving. 

What is discipline?
1. It happens when building relationships.
2. It is built into our procedures, routines. and schedules every day!
3. It happens within our "tone of voice"
4. It occurs in morning meetings, during bell work, and in greetings and good-byes!

5. It ALWAYS begins with my state of mind... my brain state!
6. It occurs during focused attention practices
7. It occurs watching one of our students perform, play, or outside the classroom
8. It is something we want to create within a student, not something we do to a student.
9. It is being a warm demander!
10. It occurs as I set up predictable routines and structures and through my consistency and emotional availability!






Important Information:

Learning Objectives/Formative Assessment Activities:   We know that research shows over and over that setting strong learning objectives and finding quick, intentional ways to provide students feedback is one of the most powerful teaching strategies that we can do.  Many met-analysis support this!  The next couple of weeks, Phil and I will be in to see the learning objectives and formative assessment (checks for understanding) strategies that you have developed!  We are looking forward to our visit! 

College Go! Week - This week is College GO! Week, a state-wide campaign meant to encourage everyone to get some kind of training beyond high school.  We know that at least 60% of all jobs will require something after high school and it is our goal to help our students find ways to attain this goal to help them stay out of the poverty cycle.  Thanks to Dana and Carly for their leadership this week.  They have many activities planned for students this week and beyond!  For teachers, you are encouraged to wear your favorite college attire - and you can even do so with jeans!  :-)  Hope you have a great week!

"Block Out Cancer" - This Tuesday is the "Block out Cancer" volleyball game.  Students and staff are encouraged to wear yellow or their cancer awareness t-shirts on Tuesday.  We encourage everyone to donate to the Carson Lasher family as well (6th grade student battling cancer - Carly Lasher is his sister).

Homecoming Dress Up Days - To celebrate our Homecoming weekend, the cheerleaders have developed dress up days this week!   We are always proud of our Commodores!  

Student Surprise and Delight: Seth Gehlhausen and Ty Guillaume created a great surprise and delight activity for students on Friday!  It was a Rock-Paper-Scissor contest between the Teal and Red Houses and the losing teacher had a pie in the face!  It was a great time!  I know many of you are doing this types of activities (small and large) for your students.  Thanks for making learning so fun and working to develop relationships with our students!  



Have a great week!

Parent Teacher Conferences

In honor of Parent-Teacher Conferences this week, I wanted to share part of an ASCD article to help everyone get pumped up and ready for this important evening!   Parent-Teacher Conferences are a great opportunity to get to know your students, develop relationships with parents and help make families feel comfortable about school.  Here are a few helpful tips to remember:

Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?," "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"

Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.

Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.

Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.

Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.

Be Prepared for Surprises

Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal questions or comments: "My son's teacher bullied him all last year." "My daughter's lazy. She never tries at anything." "My husband doesn't care about Mark. He never comes to these conferences." "My wife's divorcing me. Things are falling apart."

What can you do in such an instance?

• Steer the conversation back to positives: "I'm sorry things didn't go well for Adam last year. But because our time is limited, I'd like to focus on what we can accomplish this year if we work together."
• Focus on the child: "You seem to be going through some tough stuff right now. I wonder if that's taking Jasmine's attention away from school. What do you think we might do to help her concentrate?"
• Listen with empathy: "That must be hard" or "You've been through a lot" can help parents feel heard without injecting your own opinion or advice.
• Offer to get help: "You seem to be wondering what to do next. Our school counselor may have some ideas for you."

At the end of the day, it is important that we instill a trusting, caring relationship with our parents and let them know we believe in their children.  Thanks to all of your for making Perry Central a warm and welcoming environment for our Commodore Community!  

ASCD Article  (You can find the entire ASCD Article here for a few more tips.)

Important Information:

Parent-Teacher Conferences - Just a reminder about Parent-Teacher Conferences this week from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  We will not be making any bell schedule changes.  Thank you for reaching out to families.  Building relationships is the best tool we have!  (Remember, if you get into a conversation that is uncomfortable, please either use the intercom system to call the office or ask the parent to meet with Phil or I in our office. This doesn't happen very often, but it is always good to have a plan!)  Thank you to everyone who sent me names as well.  We will be reaching out to these families. 

RTI Team Meeting - If you are on the RTI Team (the team that met last month), we will have a meeting on Thursday, September 19th at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  It will be a great morning to follow up with notes from Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Teachers, please feel free to share information that you may think is helpful.

AR Meeting - This Thursday, we have several Annual Review meetings for special education students.  Thank you to all of the teachers who will be helping to serve on these teams.

Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting this Tuesday at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  A light breakfast will be served!  See you there!

Block Out Cancer - Next Tuesday, September 24th will be the "Block Out Cancer" night at the volleyball game.  Teachers are invited to wear volleyball t-shirts, Carson strong t-shirts or the color yellow to support the cause.  Donations of $5 will be taken in the high school office for teachers to wear jeans that day.  All money will be donated to Carson Lasher's family.  We hope to get some great pictures to send to the family!  (Carson is a PC 6th grade student that is fighting a rare form of stage 4 cancer.)

Farm To Table - FFA members will be participating in the Perry County Farm to Table event this Saturday in Tell City.  They will be preparing and serving a meal that consists of all locally grown products.  It is a great celebration of community and agriculture.  They have also been teaching Tell City's Culinary Art's class how to shuck, blanch and prepare fresh sweet corn!  Thanks to Carrie Guillaume for leading this partnership.  We are always proud of our students!

Important Dates:

Tuesday, September 17 - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m.

Wednesday, September 18 - Math Team Meeting (AM)

Thursday, September 19 - RTI Meeting 7:20 a.m.

Sail On!

The release of ILEARN scores has caused some tension across the state.  With average passing scores between 30%-40%, it is not putting the Indiana education system on the map.  We know that ILEARN doesn't truly measure all of the growth we see in a student - and it certainly does not take in consideration the number of ACES each student is dealing with every day!  ILEARN does give us an big picture idea of how our students are performing against state standards.  

     Our students today are facing very tough times.  Their home environments are not always ideal with the stresses of financial burdens, family struggles, etc.   Not only do students have to figure out how to navigate those waters, but our economy is calling for a higher standard.  Research shows that individuals without some kind of training beyond a high school diploma are not going to be able to live above the poverty threshold.  Artificial Intelligence will replace around 40% of the current jobs we see today, causing our students to need a different level of education. 

     Even though we do not agree with standardized testing - one thing is for sure: we must continue to raise the bar for our students.  It is important for all of our students that they have experiences beyond a high school diploma, along with a high level of rigorous academic skills.  Our goal is to keep students above the poverty threshold and a high-class education is one way they can find success. I am not convinced that this level of rigor can accurately be measured by one test on one day!    

     We know our scores do not accurately measure the hard working, dedicated, caring and compassionate team that we have in our building.  I feel grateful each day to work with such a wonderful team.  With that being said, I do believe in continuous improvement.  I believe we are on the right track with our work on Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum, standards based grading, good grading practices, etc.  It is now just time to tighten up our curriculum, academic expectations, and authentic learning opportunities and help our student sail to success.   It will be fun, exciting work and it will take all of us together to make this happen.  We can do it!  

Sail On, Commodores!  

Important Information:

Alice Training - We will have Alice training for our students body on Tuesday, September 10th.  Grades 7-9 will report to the gym during 2nd period and grades 10-12 during 3rd.  We will ask students to report to their classes for attendance.  On Wednesday, September 11th, we will ask all teachers to take the first 5 minutes of class to brainstorm with students.  We would like for you to help students create a list of options of what they can do in your class room along with capturing any questions they may have.  We have large sticky paper in the office if that is of interest to you during this activity.  We would like to thank Mr. Clark for helping train our students and keeping us informed and safe!

DONUT Worry, Be Happy Tuesday!-  Just a reminder that the US Army will be bringing donuts for our faculty and staff on Tuesday, September 10th.  This surprise and delight will be in the high school office!  See you then!

SLO Help Session - Just a reminder we have a SLO help session available on Tuesday, September 10th at 3:10 in the high school library for anyone with questions!  SLOs are due Friday, September 13th!

Parent-Teacher Conferences - We will host Parent-Teacher Conferences on September 18th.  We would like to ask that you reach out to at least 10 families, personally, that you would like to get to know.  Personal invitations are helpful in building relationships.  If you do not have many students that night, it is also a great night to email home happy grams!  Conferences will be from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  More details will come soon.  

Digital Citizenship Awareness Week - This week is Digital Citizenship Awareness Week!  Kris Walsh has shared a few resources to help us remind students of safe and healthy ways to utilize technology.  Thank you, Kris for your work!  Kris's Resource Link

Important Dates: 

September 10 - SLO Help Session @ 3:10
September 13 - SLO's Due
September 18 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Building Relationships in the Classroom

Cicely Woodard is a junior high teacher who understands the power of relationships.  She has found that investing time early and often to learn about students—by making small changes in our classroom—creates an environment where they are motivated to be successful.  Check out her 6 classroom tips:

1. Learn names quickly and correctly. Too often, students, especially those who are marginalized, feel invisible in our schools. Value student diversity and identity by learning names quickly and pronouncing them correctly. Only use nicknames if students prefer them; never create a nickname for a student, because this strips him or her of the identity that is embedded in a name. I greet each of my students at the door by name before class. 

2. Students are never too old for show-and-tell. Help students feel they’re more than just another student by allowing them to bring in something that represents them, their culture, or some activity that they enjoy doing at the beginning of the year. Plan five to 10 minutes each day for a few students to share what they brought until you have given everyone in the class the opportunity. In my classes, students have brought in baby pictures of themselves, goggles that they use for their competitive swim team, and souvenirs from a family vacation.

3. Post student pictures and student work. Elementary teachers are very good at sharing student work, but middle and high school teachers often neglect this important practice, feeling that it’s unnecessary for older students. I’ve found older students still need to be reminded that you value their work. When my students participate in the show-and-tell, for example, I snap a picture of them. Those pictures are then printed and posted on a bulletin board in class that stays up all year long. The students love seeing how they have changed over the course of the year because they realize that their growth and development is not only physical, but intellectual and emotional as well. In addition, students are so proud when their exemplary work, such as individual math projects and group work on math tasks, is displayed and celebrated. 

4. Assign seats, and change them often. We all know that middle school students don’t always get along, but when students have opportunities to work together, they learn about each other and discover ways to work together even though they’re different. I have my students sit at tables in my middle school math classroom. I assign them to tables of three or four students each; then they change seats once per week using an online random seat changer that is embedded in our attendance management system. After each change, the students answer a quick question, such as, “Who would you love to have dinner with and why?” to get to know the people at their table before spending a week collaborating with them on mathematical tasks.

5. Find small ways to connect. In my first-period class, we often have circle time on Monday mornings or after a break. We stand in a circle and pass a ball around. The person with the ball shares a compliment about another person in the circle, what they did over the weekend or the break, or how they are feeling in the moment and why. Once a student participated in goat yoga for a friend’s birthday over the weekend. We were all intrigued by her pictures of goats walking on their backs during yoga class! If I forget circle time on Mondays, my students always remind me. They also always insist that I share too. Though it can seem like every minute is needed to get through the academic content, I’ve learned that a five-minute investment once a week to learn about each other is invaluable to my students and builds a better culture in my classroom.

6. Simply listen. As teachers, we often feel like we need to keep a professional distance from our students, but I’ve found that taking time to make small talk can help break down barriers to learning. Because I’ve made myself approachable, some of my students will tell me stories about their lives during the five minutes between classes. I stop what I am doing, look them in the eyes, and listen. I love seeing their eyes light up as they tell me these stories, and these encounters always leave me a little more knowledgeable about who they are as people.

 - Article from Edutopia/ Written by Cicely Woodard

Important Information: 

Student Learning Objective (SLO) Due Dates:  SLOs are due in the SFS system for this school year by Friday, September 13th!  For anyone that may need some extra help, we will have a work session Friday morning at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library and Tuesday, September 10th at 3:10 p.m. in high school library.  We will review this process during our Virtual Day.   It may be helpful to post your SLOs somewhere in your room where you can see them - they are easy to forget about, but very important for your evaluation!

ALICE Training - Levi Clark will be training all of our students, grades 7-12, in ALICE training on Tuesday, September 10th.  We will offer two 30 minute sessions.  A schedule will be out soon!  

Junior High Commodore Pride - Our Junior High Commodore Pride "Houses" are in full swing!  This is the system we are using to teach our Social/Emotional Learning curriculum for junior high students.  Starting this month, you may hear about some surprise and delights - along with some exciting competitions!  Thank you to all of our teachers and assistants who are helping with this important work!

Free Breakfast - The Army will be providing donuts on Tuesday, September 10th in the high school office!  It is a great way to learn about their programs and satisfy your sweet tooth!  They appreciate all you do for your students!

Important Dates: 

SLO Help Sessions - Friday, September 6th @ 7:20 a.m./ Tuesday, September 10th @ 3:10 p.m.

ALICE Training for Students - September 10th

SLO Due Date:  September 13th