Winfield Middle Staff Blog
December 15, 2016
We are almost there but it will take patience to get us through to the end.
Students may tend to be a bit excited, but we can do this!
We have done it before and will get through this again!
The material after the schedule below is what we have submitted to the Board of Education for the month of December. For staff, there may be some redundancy but I wanted the staff to know what we are communicating out to various publics. But first, our upcoming schedule:
Schedule for December 19 - 21st
Monday
- We have just a few staff left to review their student surveys.
- Thank you for many great conversations so far.
- Dec 19th - Middle School Band Concert- Book Fair open late
- Toys for Tots AC LAB Challenge hosted by the Winfield Fire Department -
- Santa to “Pick up” on December 19th during AC LAB
- Blizzard Bum- Wear comfy clothes
Tuesday
- All Committee Meetings will be canceled today before school
- Winter White Out- Wear all white
- Our Board Meeting at 6:30 pm
Wednesday
- Early Release / End of Quarter 2 & Semester
- Ac Lab Challenge - See the details attached
- Christmas Craze- Ugly Sweater/ Christmas-y Attire
- Stand up staff picture/celebration at 7:20 in the library on this last day
- DART is hosting a Knockerball event at the high school at 2:00 pm, after school is out.
Upcoming/Ongoing
- Grades are due January 4th
- Other details on the PD day will follow from Tech. It looks like ½ PD, ½ independent work.
PS. I have heard about great work during our PD times in the B Building Computer Lab.
- ELA has isolated areas of the greatest weakness as well as current strengths in our scores. We are even trying to get Jana back for another set of days later in January again. Stay tuned!
- Additionally, the PBiS Tiers have made great headway in both the need for consistent Universals as well as a solid desire to address the HOT sheet issue and an effective Tier 2 intervention. Stay tuned and keep up the good work!
BTW...
Another celebration… Early scores from our MATH scores are VERY encouraging. Great job Team on teaching attention to detail, grit and persistence!
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As Presented to our Board of Education...
Soft skills as well as hard skills!
What do our students think?
STUDENT SURVEYS of our Teachers
Students also followed a link to a website and took a 40 question survey about each of their teachers. It asked questions about content, classroom structure, and teaching skills. Interestingly, the average state score was a 72.6%, but our score beat it with a 75.5%. In other words, the students generally like their teachers, the school, and classes. Students feel their teachers care for them. Students appreciate classroom procedures and they like the way teachers make the activities pertinent and relevant to their middle school lives. Thank you teachers!
Rigor, Relevance & Relationship?
All vital ingredients facilitating student learning and engagement!
58-17 Good Guys!
Here, the home team is congratulating the opponents in exactly the same fashion, WIN or LOSE! Of course, we like to win but our happiness is based on how we play along the way!
Before and after! In the morning, our library was a place of celebration but by the end of the day, it was a middle school shoppers paradise! Time for the BOOK FAIR!
Middle School Goal #1: 1 Student Achievement
Why go anywhere else for our Professional Development?
On November 2nd, we brought in official trainers, DESE spokespeople and our very own Winfield Intermediate Teachers. Together, we heard a message of simplicity, question review and focus.
Our take-aways on this day spawned a single intervention described under these results here!
57% this year or 48% last year??? You decide!
At the Middle School, we have added a single new intervention to help our students with their test taking procedures, question reading skills and confidence. A QUESTION OF THE DAY, we call it Question du Jour. This question prompts students to understand, read and answer with assurance.
After only a few short weeks of reviewing the actual questions, we begin to see the fruit of our labor!
In the top Green Chart, we see solid growth throughout so much of the chart. As compared to last year in the Red Chart, it is substantially different.
For instance, when I went into a classroom and tried to answer the Question du Jour, I got it wrong! It wasn’t because I did not understand the word “redundancy” but because I DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE QUESTION WAS ASKING! I “read” the question and assumed I knew what it was asking but I missed the mark. The question was looking for the reader to identify two positive answers but I identified one negative. Yes, I had identified something, but it was not what they were asking! This gentle reminder verifies our simple yet effective intervention of the Question du Jour.
Additional Academic Notes
Any students that were at risk for earning failing grades, will receive teacher contacts to ensure the students HAVE every opportunity to take advantage of the situation and complete and submit assignments. They will NOT wait till the last week, December 19th for that call. It no longer serves the purpose of notification sufficient enough to allow them to make a difference.
#2: Student Behavior
Month by Month Comparison
The Behaviors
How many per Day
By Student (without names)
Some Middle School Interventions
In a minute but not yet… HOT Sheet, Buddy Sheets, Time Out room, Lunch Detention, Hallway Restriction, After School Detention, In School Suspension, Out of School Suspension, Referral
#3 Attendance Comparisons this year and last!
Our Attendance Challenge is taking on a new level of competition. Mr Schultz has challenged Mr McCracken in an inter-building competition. There is a twist! The losing building receives the just rewards in front of the winning students, and not in front of his own students!
This may motivate students more than just a regular assembly!
#4 Communication: Pepsi with the Principal...
Parents on the short list that were invited to the Pepsi with the Principal meeting participated in a game of Pick 3. They were to list 3 good features, 3 wobbly programs and 3 wishes for our building. The comments, feedback and conversations were tremendous!
Better attendance and increased engagement during our meeting made this year’s Pepsi Meeting even better than last year. We doubled our total attendance for the night and made good headway on a few items to follow up on and strategies for detailing. These handwritten notes are displayed here. We will pull them apart as appropriate. Feel free to note how much the parents appreciated the encouragement, support, communication, frequently updated gradebook, Post Cards mailed home and all those little things that make up the Middle School. They were complimentary of the entire staff, telling us the middle school was a much better place than our “reputation.” We came away energized and ready to serve. Many thanks to so many for their contributions towards that end. A few parents mentioned even they were there “because a staff member invited them!” Well done!
Why post our goals? Why publish those goals? Why share them with others?
* Math - 24% up to 34%
* ELA - 59% up to 70%
* Science - 37% up to 45%
* Attendance - 90/90 & 95%
* Discipline - Reduction of Majors by 20%
* Parent Involvement - Increase the realistic opportunities for parents to connect with the Middle School
#thatschool
Serving students, community and staff of Winfield Middle School.
Tom McCracken
