Laughter

 We have all heard the old adage that "Laughter is the best medicine."  Truth is, it really does have positive short-term benefits - including releasing feel-good endorphins.  Long-term effects include a improved immune system, pain relief and improved mood.  

                  Dr. Boogren's self-care invitation this week is: Laugh, giggle and snort.  

     * Watch funny videos:   This is a video that my son Justin and I giggled at for a while this weekend.  (Maybe it is just because I come from a family of boys.)

        Funny Teacher Video

   * Spend time with animals

   * Be silly - have fun with your kids!  

   * Sing at the top of your lungs. 

   * Share a funny story with others. 

   * Learn and Share new jokes or tricks!  

Important Information: 

Speaking of Laughing - 12 Days of Christmas Video Taping will be held on the stage.  A time will be set and shared tomorrow.  Even if you were not there last time, please feel free to join us for the fun!

Early College Activity - On Tuesday, December 15 and Thursday, December 17th students in the 11th and 12th grade that are interested in attending a 2 or 4 year college are encouraged to report to the library for programming during 2nd period.  Recent graduates will be sharing their experiences of college.  This is a very powerful experience for our students and helps them understand the importance of their high school experiences.   Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.    

Surprise and Delight:  This week, we have a couple of surprise and delights for our students.  On Monday/Thursday during 2nd period students will be called out by grade for hot chocolate and Tuesday/Friday Subway Cookies will be delivered during 3rd period.  These surprises should be quick and easy.  We know the time you have with your students is valuable - but these fun breaks are important for learning as well!  

Christmas Dress Up Days:                        Monday - Christmas pajamas

Tuesday - Santa hats, reindeer ears, and Christmas socks

Wednesday - for the Staff - Red (for Ed) & Green (for PC) Christmas day 

Thursday - Red/Green day

Friday - Ugly Christmas sweater 

Missing Work Link:  Please continue to use the missing list link.  If you have a student that you feel needs some extra time this week to make up work - please let Phil or Jody know and we will try to get them to school on Wednesday.    https://forms.gle/9kC4woyVYacs72zSA

Grades:  Reminder that grades will be due January 6th at mid-night for students.  If you have students that have incomplete grades, this information has to be added in the high school office - you can let Phil or Jody know.  Please remember to have learning opportunities through the end of the day on Tuesday.  

Links:   We have some more students that have been added to the 4 day a week list and the on-line list.  You can find the links to these documents below: 

        Hybrid Document

      

        On-Line Students

Lunch - A reminder we will have a staff lunch on Wednesday.  COVID friendly lunches will be delivered at 11:30 in the high school office. 

 

Our students are so lucky to have such a caring and inspiring faculty and staff.  Remember, you are the light to so many.  Let it shine this week!  

Self-Care Tip:  Kindness - Research shows that doing good for others stimulate positive areas in your brain, helping us create positive feelings!  It gives us purpose and self-worth.  

    This Week's Invitation:  Commit to paying kindness forward (hold the door open, smile, offer compliments, assume positive intent for everyone you meet.)    Count how many times you were able to pay it forward each day!

Looking forward to seeing everyone back in the building!  

Spreading Cheer -  Calling all teachers/assistants who are interested in having a little fun with our students!   We would like to create a 12 Days of Christmas Parody that is similar to the video below.  If you are interested in joining several other teachers in creating this, please meet at the stage on Wednesday, December 9th at 11:30.  Our plan is to practice this week and record it next week!  The more the merrier! Even if you don't want to look goofy, we will need singers!  We all need some JOY in our lives this season!

12 Days of Christmas Parody - Click here for a laugh.

Important Information: 

* COVID - Just a reminder that Social Distancing, Mask Wearing and Washing Hands are all the best defensive methods against COVID-19.   Please spread out students throughout your classrooms and help them remember these steps of safety!  Seating charts are a key part of our success as well.  Thank you!

* Lunches:  During the Hybrid Only, all students will be eating in the cafeteria during their lunch times.  Assistants who cover lunches in the classroom, please report to the cafeteria during this time.  If we have too many students, we will ask you to help us take them elsewhere to eat.  We will resume lunches in the classrooms when we are back in-person.

* Attendance:  Please continue to mark students who are not in your class absent.  We will clean up their attendance in the high school office.  We know our on-line and hybrid list may not be accurate and we hope to get it back to very accurate this week with all of your help!

Important Documents: 

We know it is very difficult to keep up with the documents that house information about COVID schedules ad students.  I have created a folder in the Teacher Resource Folder in Google to organize these for you.  I hope it helps!

* Hybrid Updates - Please take a look at this document for Hybrid updates/student schedules.  We have asked some students to attend for 4 days a week and we are starting to get some students in on Wednesdays.  Also, there are a few students that are switching days.  All of this information can be found on this document.  You will notice the tabs at the bottom.  One tab is a list of students and the days they will attend, 2nd tab is a list of 4 day a week students that do not have IEPs and where they should report on their opposite days, and the 3rd tab is our schedule for Wednesday students and assistants.    Everything on this document will continue to change and evolve.  Document is HERE.  

* On-Line Students - We have had a few more students decide to remain on-line.  We are asking all students that are on-line to please stay virtual through January 15th.   On this document you will see the additional list of students all of the way to the right.  We will continue to place new students here.  Document is HERE. 

* Missing Work - Please continue to fill out the google form HERE for missing work.  If you are someone that is trying to help students get caught up on work and would like to see the list of work missing, HERE is the link to the sheet where all of the information is populated.  Teachers, if you have a chance and can strike a link through work that has been completed, it would help us stay focused on what needs to be accomplished.  

Final Exams:   In a 7-12 building with Early College High School in the mix, we need to have the flexibility for all of you to be able to wrap up the semester appropriately.   We ask that students are engaged in meaningful work each and every day - what ever that needs to look like for your students.  Here are a few logistics: 

      * We will not block time on any of our days remaining in December.  All class periods will remain the same. 

      * On December 21, 22 we will NOT bring in Thursday/Friday students.  Thursday/Friday student's last day in person will be December 18th.  

      * Grades are due in the gradebook by January 6th at midnight.  Please make sure that all incomplete grades are cleaned up by this time so that semester grades are accurate.  Transcripts are very important for seniors during this time of the year for scholarship and college application purposes.  

Winter Break Cheer: 

     * Wednesday, December 9th - Please stop by the high school office to enjoy a Hot Chocolate/Coffee Bar!  COVID free goodies available!

     * Wednesday, December 16th - Lunch will be provided.  Details later!  

Power of Music

 

  Self-Care Tip # 2 - Music

      Who has ever cranked the music up in the car and sang at the top of their lungs?? There is no greater feeling!   (My kids think I am crazy when I do that - especially now that they are teenagers!  Ha!)  Research shows that music is a powerful tool that can help us change our mood.   It has been proven that it can reduce anxiety, enhance learning, reduce depression and more! 

    This week as we kick off a week of virtual learning and move into our  hybrid learning model, staying at the top of your game may take some work and music could be the remedy for you!  

    Dr. Tina Boogren shares her Educator 911 Playlist with us (link below) in her blog - 180 Days of Self-Care.  This playlist is developed by teachers all over the country and provides a long list of great songs!    I added Spotify to my phone for free and now have access to this playlist and I LOVE it!   

https://www.selfcareforeducators.com/post/episode-1-self-care-soundtrack

Ron Clark Hip Hop Challenge - Even Ron Clark knows the power of music and dance!

Self-Care Invitation for the Week: 

    Monday - Download the Educator 911 playlist or create your own good-mood playlist!  iTunes - https://apple.com/itunes, Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/music?hl=en_US), Pandora (https://pandora.com)

   Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - Crank it up and dance like no one is watching! 

   Friday - Share your playlist with a friend!

Important Information: 

PLC Meetings:  We will conduct all PLC meeting via Google Meets this week.  You will receive a calendar invite on Sunday and the link to the google meet is there, or we can add you through email.  To help Phil and I not have Zoom Fatigue, we are going to move a couple of team meetings to Tuesday.  Please see times below.  If you have a question or concern about the time that is listed, please reach out - Flexibility and Team Work will be the name of the game!

      Monday, November 30 -   8:30 - 9:15 - English/ 9:30 - 10:15 - Math/10:30 - 11:15 - Science/11:30 -                                                  12:15 - Social Studies

      Tuesday, December 1 -      8:30 - 9:15 - Special Education/  9:30 - 10:15 - Island

                                                              Agenda: 

    * Scope/Sequence/Data/Curriculum - Please have your scope and sequence and grade books available for meetings as we will use this time to look at curriculum and make decisions as teams about the best way to move forward academically for the next few weeks. 

    * Seating Charts - Discuss seating charts for hybrid and classes that may be too large

    * Open Discussion  (Missing Assignments, End of the Semester questions, etc.)  

Assistants:   Just a reminder to please find an email from Dr. Tara Bishop (sent Saturday evening) and fill out the form she sent.  For assistants that do not have children and are willing to work on campus, we will be reaching out to you about work here.  Assistants that are staying home this week and prefer to work virtually, virtual assignments will be sent by Monday morning.    Please reach out if you have questions.  You will get paid your normal play during this time.  Thank you for your flexibility.  

Missing Work:  We will continue to do our best to hunt down missing work - really focusing on student LEARNING.  Here is a link to the google form for on-line learning (below).   We will monitor this list and reach out to families the best we can.     https://forms.gle/LDJTYdpm8JLG9iPM8

Edutopia Articles -  Please find two great article about student distant learning from Edutopia.  The encompass great tips that will help our students be more successful.  

     6 Strategies for Successful Distance Learning

    5 Ways to Support Students with ADHD during Remote Learning

Gratitude

 

Received this book in the mail from a Principal Leadership Program I am apart of!  Self-Care for all of us is important, especially during these times.  As Jules Alvarado tells us, "We cannot give to others what we do not possess."  Our emotional well-being is essential if we want to give our best to others.   

In honor of Thanksgiving, I chose to focus on Week 12's Self-Care Suggestion:  Gratitude.

By now, you have probably heard about the benefits of gratitude, which include improved physical and psychological health, enhanced empathy and reduced aggression, as well as improved sleep and esteem.  A study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reports that people who write about their gratitude rather than their negative or neutral life events show greater signs of emotional well-being (Boogren, 2020).   

Gratitude will make you appreciate the good days and pulls one out of negativity.  This week, I encourage you to practice gratitude daily.  Here are some suggestions: 

Monday: First thing in the morning, record three things you are grateful for: friends, shampoo, roof over your head, heat, flavored coffee, etc. 

Tuesday: Take a photo of something you are grateful for and share it on social media!  #gratitude

Wednesday: Send a text expressing gratitude for someone.  

Thursday: Right before you go to bed, jot down more things you are grateful for!

Friday: Write a handwritten note of thanks to someone - mail or deliver!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Important Information: 

* ORANGE all of you SUPER!  I am not exactly sure how many assignments this team helped students get caught up on this week, but it was an amazing amount!   Our students worked hard, received help and found success.   Thank you all so much for caring and helping our students learn.  To celebrate,  you will find some orange snacks and drinks in the office for all of you!  Energy to get you through the week!  Orange your excited!!  :-)  

Missing Assignments:  This week, we will go back to using 8th period/LL and our weekly missing assignment form to track missing work.  You can fill out the form HERE.   

         We will be contacting families to see if we can get them in on the 30th this week.  If you have specific students you feel like could benefit from coming to school on our virtual day please email that information to Jody and Phil.   Otherwise, we will use the lists we have to make determinations.  

COVID Reminders:  Thank you for being mindful last week of social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing among faculty and staff.  All of you play a very important role in the success of our school. Keeping your distance will help ensure that we can keep our doors open for students and that all of you are safe and healthy!

Observations:  If you would like to send in video links for Phil and I to use as a teaching observation, please feel free to do so!  If you have a link to an on-line lesson, we will use that as a short observation.   Swivl or recorded in-person lessons are welcomed as well for long evaluations.   Remember we are focusing on three areas of the observation tool:  2.1 - Learning Objectives,  2.2 Teach, Model and Practice and 2.5 Creating a Culture of Classroom Respect and Collaboration.    

       Adam Stowe had a great learning objective posted this week:  "I can explain how the crusades started on a formal quiz."  

Congratulations to the Girls Varsity Basketball team for their win this week!  Good luck to the Boys Varsity Team as they host Tell City Wednesday evening! 

Hierarchy of Needs

 

Laurie Desautel shared this image a few days ago on her Facebook page.  Just a good reminder of what our student need before they can even get to the learning!    It seems overwhelming, but I see all of you help our students meet these needs everyday.  

This week, we will be welcoming our students back with open arms.  Don't be afraid to let them know how much you missed them!  It is going to be a good week.  Keep thinking healthy thoughts and be grateful masks and social distancing work!

Please let us know how we can serve you this week!

Important Information: 

Subs:   Even though we are back to school, we still have several people that are out due to quarantined/isolation situations.  Please know we are doing our very best to get everything covered - we feel it is very necessary for us to be in the school building with students.    Please be mindful of this when asking for sick days or personal days.  We know there are times that that these days are just necessary but if there is any way to hold off an appointment for a virtual day or one of our days off for Thanksgiving or Christmas that is preferred.  It is going to take all of us working together to keep us in school!    Please let me know if you have any questions/concerns about this!

Make-Up Work:  We are strongly urging you to use the first couple of days back in the building to review, play learning games and allow students some time to catch up or make their work better.  We do want to hold our students accountable as well and make sure they are getting the work done as it is very important to their learning.  We will be doing our best to work off of the document that was shared Friday to pull students and give them support during the school day.  You are welcome to add to this document or assign students to 8th period/LL.  Thank you for helping our students!

          Friday's Document Link: HERE

Indiana E-Learning Lab:  I wanted to share this free resource with you.  It is called the Indiana E-Learning Lab.  It is a wealth of knowledge from introductory videos for how to utilize an on-line learning tool to links that could help parents and more.  It is free and seems to be user friendly!  Hope it helps! (You should be able to register using your google information.)    LINK

Governor's Executive Orders - Here is a copy of the new Executive Orders given out by the Governor of Indiana.  Just a reminder that students must be sitting at least three feet apart and facing the same direction to remove their masks.  Teachers, we are asking that you please eat in your classrooms when the schedule allows or ensure you are socially distanced.  It is important that we do this so we do not lose many teachers in a quarantine situation.  Athletic Guidelines will be changing as well.  

Kindness

                                           

                                                 Be kind to yourself this week!

* Important Information: 

* Virtual Days -Virtual leaning is an interesting beast.  I know it hasn't been easy, students are not always doing their part, and it is a lot to keep up with.  I think we all feel a lot of zoom fatigue!  Sometimes it is easy to focus on the students that we are not reaching or who are struggling instead of the larger number of students who are you are reaching!  All of you are making a positive impact on our students - you should be proud of the great instruction you are providing to our students!  I think it is also good to remember that the students who are not doing well obviously need you.  :-)  

Virtual Reminders: 

    * IDOE recommends that students in grades 6-12 have 30-40 minutes of work per course.  It may be helpful to check-in with your students and see how they feel about the amount of work as learning on line can lead to fatigue. 

    * Focus on Power Standards - we are probably not going to get to everything!  Students will need review when we return on the 16th. 

    * Give yourself and your students grace - just do what you can do!  It is a pleasure to walk by classrooms and see so many of you working with students.  

* Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting in the cafetorium on Tuesday, November 10th at 11:30 a.m.  Lunch will be provided.  We will move to the cafetorium so we can all spread out.    Looking forward to seeing everyone!

* PLC Meetings   - Friday, November 13th, is our scheduled virtual day.  We will have PLC meetings in the morning.  Agendas will be coming out soon.  

 I thought we could have a little fun this week!  This past summer, our Admin Team learned about each other by looking at the Enneagram and how it is used to determine our personality traits.  Enneagram takes its name from the Greek words for nine (ennea) and for a drawing or figure (gram).  It is a nine-pointed geometric figure (below) that illustrates the nine different but inter-connected personality types.  It teaches that of the 9 types of the world we naturally gravitate to one of them and adopt it in childhood to cope and feel safe.  Each number has a distinct way of seeing the world and an underlying motivation that powerfully influences how we think, feel and behave!  

I have taken many personality tests, but this one takes the cake.  If you have time this week, you can take a free version of the test below and see which of the 9 personality types you are.  Personality Types include: 1 - Perfectionist    2 - The Helper    3.  The Performer   4.  The Romantic   5.  The Investigator   6.  The Loyalist   7.  The Enthusiast    8.  The Challenger    9.  The Peacemaker.   Types 2,3,4 are in the "feeling" triad as they are led by feelings.  Types 8.9 & 1 are part of the Gut triad - expressing themselves honestly and directly at the "gut" level.  Types 5,6,7 operate from their fears as they tend to think and plan carefully before they act! 

 If you take the test and want to learn more about your personality, please stop by!  I have a great book you can borrow and some podcasts that are great to listen to.  The goal of the Enneagram is to help you learn more about yourself so you can be a healthy you!  It is also great to learn about each other so we can find ways to pull out our strengths.  Even though all personality types are different- they are all valuable and help make the world a better place!  Can't wait for you to share your personality number with me!

(I am a Type 3 - Performer)  Have fun!    https://enneagram.bz/en

Important Information: 

Attendance Link -   Please find the google form to fill out for students who are on-line and struggling to keep up with work HERE.   Please do this by Tuesday.  We will get this link on our website soon for easier access!

RTI Requests:  If you have any students in-person or on-line that you are concerned about, please clink the link below and fill out the quick form.   This process is important as we move forward and help our students be successful!  RTI Form HERE

Spirit Days:  Congratulations to the Mighty Commodore Football Team and Coaches (Brennan, Bo, Sean, & Greg) for their win Friday night!  Commodores will be playing in the sectional championship game at West Washington this Friday night!  To help us cheer on the Commodores, the cheerleaders have determined the following spirit days:  Monday - Color Wars (Teachers - Green), Tuesday - Twin Day, Wednesday - Superhero Day,  Thursday - Crazy Sock Day,  Friday - USA Day

On-Line List - If we have any students changing their status from in-person to on-line or vise versa, we are trying to email out those changes to individual teachers.   Please let us know if you have any questions/concerns.  

Athletic Tickets - Basketball season is upon us!  During this current season of COVID, all games will limit the number of individuals who can attend.  Currently, student athletes will be allowed 2-4 tickets depending on which gym the game will be played in.  Please see the office if you have questions.  Many of you try hard to catch student games and that is appreciated - this  year we just may have to cheer from afar to keep everyone safe!  Good Luck to girls basketball as they open their season this week!

Important Dates: 

November 13 - Next virtual day

November 17 - Tentative Lunch and Learn Date