Week of January 2, 2017

Bus Duty: Angie Beck and Whitney Hamill

Monday 1/2/17 No school
Tuesday 1/3/17 Students return from Winter break;
Wednesday 1/4/17
Thursday 1/5/17- 
Friday 1/6/17 -

Monday 1/9/17 Venture Collaboration Day...8:00 CPR training in Library ($10 for card)
Tuesday 1/10/17 7:30 -2:00 SAT summit
Wednesday 1/11/17
Thursday 1/12/17- 

Friday 1/13/17

HUGE SHOUT OUT..... to Val, Angie,Whitney, and Heidi!!!!
Thank you for the two AMAZING holiday dinners you provided for students, families and staff and guests!   Thanks to your outstanding planning and preparation, the dinners were perfect.  The cookies were such a nice bonus for families, and everybody loved the cupcakes!  And... the tables were so pretty! I hope you all had a chance to see the hand painted invitations that Heidi made ... they were incredible! I know I speak for the entire staff when I thank you, Val, Angie, Whitney, and Heidi for the beautiful and thoughtful effort you gave to the holiday dinners.  

Another HUGE SHOUT OUT... to Bryan Alexander and Angie!!!!
Thank you for volunteering your time to Heroes and Holidays. Thanks to the many people, like Bryan and Angie, many children enjoyed a fun holiday experience.  We appreciate all you do to support our community!

A Must See Video about Whitney Elementary in Las Vegas...
This video, Click Here tells of a high-poverty school that changed the way they do business and became a high-performing school.  We are implementing some of these strategies.  I wonder if we might glean some ideas from Whitney Elementary.

Week of December 12

Bus Duty: Thomas (PM) Hook (AM)

Monday 12/12  7:00 cross district collaboration 8:30 Collaboration: Library;  Agenda
Tuesday 12/13
Wednesday 12/14
Thursday 12/15- Holiday Feast; activity schedule
Friday 12/16 -

Extended Learning and the Absent Student
If students are absent or are missing work for any reason, please remember to assign Extended Learning time for them.  The form can be found here and is also linked on the right hand side of the page.  If students aren't using extended learning time, please call home.  If they are not taking advantage of the many opportunities offered to help them keep abreast of their work, then I can talk to them about whether this is the best placement for them.  I believe most kids will follow through when they really understand how the program works.  However, many kids will also try find loop holes in the system.  This coming week is an ideal time to assign extended learning, call home if they aren't attending, and let me know if these efforts aren't working so I can follow up with students and parents.

Happy Holidays
I want to thank all of you for your patience and willingness to continue to brainstorm through some very complicated issues.  Virtually nothing we do is "business-as-usual" in the traditional sense of education.  We continually find solutions to problems that can feel quite insurmountable.  Your persistence and determination make a difference.  Thank you for your commitment to serve some of the most vulnerable people living in our area.  Any school would be lucky to have you as part of their staff, but you chose Venture.  What you're doing is good for the kids and I feel very, very lucky to be part of this staff.  I wish you a week-before-Christmas that is less stressful than you fear, and a holiday that is much more relaxing than you'd hoped for.

Week of November 28

Bus Duty: Fehling and Meeks

Week of November 28
Monday 11/28 - No School/Non work day
Tuesday 11/29-  Kaiser, Beck, Higgs, Flieger, Hamill at a conference through Friday
Wednesday 11/30 - 
Thursday 12/1
Friday 12/2
Monday 12/5  No School/Non work day
Thursday 12/8 Parent conferences and Holiday Dine in
Friday 12/9 Celebration Assembly
Monday 12/12- Collaboration 8:00 Library

Vocabulary Practice:
During our Collaboration time on Monday  12/12, please bring one vocabulary word relevant to your content area and prepare to teach it to your small group using the key points from the handout Diane shared with us on Nov. 14.

Following is a video demonstrating high-engagement vocabulary instruction.  These are younger students, however, the strategies can be adapted to apply for our students.

New Attendance Policy
The school leadership team has been working on an attendance policy that best meets the needs of our students. If ever there were a situation that defies the best efforts of policy makers, it would be attendance.  Regardless of our intentions, high hopes, and final policies, something always comes up that didn't fit anywhere in our planning.  However, we are a steadfast group and moved ahead with determination and enduring optimism to create the new....

• 
  
  Venture High School Attendance Policy
  Students whose attendance exceeds 5 absences in any class per trimester will lose their credit. At the end of each trimester, a student will have the option to retrieve their credit by the following process:

• The student will need to conference with their teacher.
• The student/teacher will provide the designated admin evidence of mastery.
• If a student cannot show evidence of mastery, the grade will become an “Incomplete”.
• A student with an Incomplete will have 2 weeks to complete the requirements.  If the 
  requirements are not met the student will receive a failing grade.  
  
  

What works about this plan:

1. There is still a motivation to stay in school and not withdraw at 6 days of absence.
2. There is a policy in place that we can refer to for other things like DOT and student driver's licences.
3. They aren't retaking classes for which they've already met all requirements.
4. It accommodates students with a variety of issues that interfere with attendance.
5. It maintains a focus on meeting standards and competencies.

What doesn't work about this plan:
Probably lots of things that will be revealed over time, but we can move forward with this and adjust as necessary. 

More on Attendance:

Currently our attendance rate is critically low - in the past two weeks we've vacillated from 82% - 89%
On the positive side, this number represents students who might have dropped out were it not for Venture.
However, raising attendance is crucial to our students' success.  It is painful to hear students ask, "do I need to come tomorrow, we aren't doing anything?"  Obviously, students will say things like this when there is little basis in reality for the statement.  However, we all need to work to ensure that every day feels like an important day to be in school.  Things like movie days, make up days, game days etc. can feel like "skip days" to kids who already struggle to make school a priority.

Mission Statement
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our mission statement and is working with kids to make it meaningful for them.

At Venture High School, our mission is to help students...

Engage 

Encourage 

Excel 

When talking about the mission we can use the attached sentences to expand on our thinking.

Engage  in active learning,

Encourage each other to work toward dreams,

Excel in school, work and life.

Week of November 14

Bus Duty: Chase and Patterson

Senior Mentoring:  Please be sure you've met with your seniors this week.  We will have a short sharing time for highlights, suggestions, questions during our staff meeting on Monday.

Monday 11/14 - 7:00 Cross district collaboration;  Venture Collaboration -  Agenda here.
Tuesday 11/15 - MTSS All day,  Kaiser, Eastman, Chase 
Wednesday 11/16 -
Thursday 11/17 -
Friday 11/18 -   Last Day of Trimester
Monday 11/21 - 8-12:00 Grades due by noon

Something to Consider with Student Feedback:

Week of November 7

Bus Duty: Arman and Eastman
If you're trying to figure out the bus duty pattern for future planning, I just go down the schedule and pick the next two people.

Reminder...
I had to remind myself today that the walls are thin and my conversations are easily overheard.  If what I have to say isn't helpful or kind, it probably shouldn't be said.  Let's all try to remember that when we talk about kids, our conversations are likely to be overheard and misunderstood.  So, if it doesn't need to be said, let's don't say it and if it needs to be said, let's keep it behind closed doors and in quiet voices.

On another note, sarcasm can be funny for adults... or hurtful.  Sarcasm is likely to be hurtful for kids - especially for kids who struggle reading social cues (which is most of our kids).  The reason I bring these topics up is that the office has dealt with overheard conversations and misunderstood sarcasm.

Monday 11/7 - Two Mondays off in a row.  YIPPEE!!!!!  
Tuesday 11/8 - MTSS All day,  Kaiser, Eastman, Chase 
Wednesday 11/9 -
Thursday 11/10 -
Friday 11/11 -  Veteran's day (work day for staff, no school for students)

Monday 11/14 - 7:00 Cross district collaboration;  Venture Collaboration - Agenda here.

Week of October 31

Bus Duty: Smith and Levy

The slide show in the commons area looks amazing!  If you have a minute, let the leadership kids in Angie's fifth period class know how much we appreciate their efforts to inform our staff and student body.

Monday 10/31 - Freedom, sweet freedom.  We will experience the same freedom on 11/7 and cross district collaboration on 11/14.
Tuesday 11/1 -
Wednesday 11/2 - Kaiser, Chase, Smith - Thinking Strategies - all day
Thursday 11/3 -
Friday 11/4 - 

Breakfast in the Classroom
Remember the conversation we had at the beginning of the year about eating breakfast in class?  The milk and juice spill into the trash and leak out. It makes the room smell bad.  Kids are hanging out in the cafeteria until the bell rings, then they go get their breakfast. 
Please remind them to eat their breakfast in the cafeteria and finish before the bell rings.

Here is a guy with interesting ideas:

Week of October 24th

Week of October 24th 
Bus Duty: Ben and Lena

Monday 10/24- Collaboration Day
Tuesday 10/25 -
Wednesday 10/26 -
Thursday 10/27 -
Friday 10/28 - Activity schedule for Boo Boo Q:  Angie will follow with more information... Right, Angie?

Thank you, Angie, for the presentation in the commons.  Everyone is enjoying the fall flavor of the slide show and all the information it contains.

Monday Collaboration
7:00  - Cross disrict collaboration
8:30- 10:00 Faculty Collaboration
10:15 - 11:15 Dept. mtgs
11:30 SLT Meeting
12:15 - lunch
1:00 - 2:00 MTSS
2:00 - We will be excused at 2:00 because you did not get your duty free lunch on the PSAT day.

What if we all just talked less?
What did you think about this passage from page 81 of Visible Learning for Teachers... "This dominance of teacher talk leads to particular relationships being developed in classrooms - mainly aimed at facilitating teacher talk and controlling the transmission of knowledge:  'Keep quiet, behave, listen, and then react to my factual, closed questions when I ask you,'  Interaction means, "tell me what I have just said so that I can check that you were listening, and then I can continue talking."  

Here are some strategies to reduce teacher talk from this website:  https://classteaching.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/reducing-teacher-talk/

1. If a student asks a question, instead of answering it yourself, ask another student.
2. If a student makes a great contribution to a class discussion, don’t be tempted to add      to it yourself, ask another student to.
3. Student groups present their work, which is then critiqued by the rest of the class.  Give direction to the critique though e.g. each group focuses on a different aspect of the presentation and all students have to give feedback that is kind, specific and helpful.
4. Hidden resource – working in pairs/small groups, one student has a picture that is relevant to the learning, that they do not share with the other students.  The other students then have to question  them to find out what it is.
5. Snowballing – pose a question, then give students thinking time (individually) to come up with an answer.  Discuss their answers in pairs and come up with an agreed answer.  Then in fours – then each four shares with the class.
6. Phone a friend  – if students get stuck they can ‘phone a friend’ – literally by mimicking  a phone with their hand, and a ringtone!  Other students can ‘answer’ (again mimicking a phone with their hand) and offer support with their question.
7. Use visual symbols for anchors. 1 stick man = work alone, 2 = pairs, 3 = group, house = HW, open book = read quietly, pen=writing.
8. Give yourself a ration – say 10 mins in a lesson. Let one student time  and call stop when time is up. Even q&a sessions count.
9. Write a series of questions on post its. Students write their name and  answer on it and stick on the board.   Students then look at all of the post its and discuss the answers.
10. Think, pair, share – pose questions, give students thinking time to answer the questions, discuss it in a pair and then share their agreed  answer.
11. Diamond 9 – students have to discuss the relative importance of 9 statements (on card) and then agree their ranking by placing them in a diamond shape (1,2,3,2,1).
12. The perfect answer – have a number of exam questions around the room on A3 paper.  Groups of students then answer a question each.  They then rotate, look at the previous answer and improve it.  They keep doing this until all groups have contributed to all questions and you end up with…..the perfect answer!

Because I think it's funny:

Week of October 17

Week of October 17
Bus Duty: Angie and Whitney

Monday 10/17- No school
Tuesday 10/18 -
Wednesday 10/19 - College and Career Preparedness Day
Thursday 10/20 -
Friday 10/21 - Activity schedule to decorate for Halloween: refer to Angie's earlier email for more information.  Just to reiterate some important points: Please provide your own duct tape, masking tape, and mounting tacks.  Use the cork board strips as much as possible. 

Things to NOT USE include:  strobe lights, fog/smoke machines,  gel cling stickers, and blood in any form.  

Senior Project
Here is the Senior ppt. we didn't get to see during our faculty meeting.
Here are some key features:

• Meet once a week, or as needed
• Things to check
• Grades
• Attendance
• Environment (how are they doing with friends etc.)
• Communication
• Email
• Phone call
• Track in a folder

Here is a form for tracking contacts that Christy Smith has so kindly developed.

I predict this program will grow and improve over time. Let's discuss how things are going at our next faculty meeting and we can share ideas etc. at that time. In the meantime, if you have any issues or concerns, please drop me an email or stop by.

Week of October 10

For the Week of  October 10
Bus Duty: Susan Thomas p.m./ Anthony Hook a.m.

Professional Learning Plan and Career Ladder - A note from Kelly Ostrom

In summary, certificated staff need to begin their IPLP and portfolios this year 2016/2017, if they wish to be eligible for the premium at the end of the 2018/2019 school year. 

The first group to apply for the $4,000 premium will send their portfolios in to the Board of Education Committee after 7/1/2019.  Once their portfolio is approved from the Board of Education committee, they would receive a $4,000 stipend in 19//20, 20/21 and 21/22 which equates to a $12,000 stipend.

We don't have all the answers, but staff are free to call either:

  -   Blake Youde at 1-208-332-1591 or  - Tracy Bent at 1-208-332-1582  who are with the Idaho Board of Education.  We are working on getting them to come up for a workshop for interested staff.  They are also invited to call me and I can certainly work on finding the answers.  More to come on the workshop.

I will be putting all this information on the District website under HR/HR information with a "FAQ" section as we move forward. 

This is an individual certificated staff member's responsibility and is not part of their employment, contract, or evaluation.  This is an option offered by the Board of Education for those that are eligible and interested in applying

      Kelly Ostrom
For more information, click on Professional Learning Plan and Professional Career Ladder under Resources and Information ------>>>>>>>>

College/Career Day October 19
Reminder of upcoming college and career readiness day.

Monday Collaboration Oct. 10
7:00 - 8:00 - Cross district collaboration
8:15 -10:00 - Faculty Collaboration - including book study Agenda
10:00 - 11:00 Dept. meetings
11:00 - SLT Meeting
12:00- lunch
1:00- MTSS mtg

Tuesday
8:00 - 9:30 Safe Drive 3D Program Sponsored by Idaho Transportation Department.  Heidi will call students down when it's time.  Please remind them of polite behavior with guest speakers.

Week of October 3

Friday, October 7
Here is the plan we are hatching...
8:30 - Breakfast served
9:00 - Walk to Tubbs Hill to pick up trash and hike around
12:00 - 1:30 Half of students go to museum (30 or less);  Half  go to lunch - sack lunch at the pavilion
12:45 - Switch lunch/museum
2:00  Back at school...Released to go home

Lena will be staying behind with any students who opt out of the activity.  Let's not advertise the opt out option, but if someone really doesn't want to, or can't go, they can go to her.

Monday,   October 10
7:00 - 8:00 - cross district collaboration
8:15-  (we will start right after cross district collaboration) faculty meeting - talk about senior project etc./book study
10:00 - Dept. mtgs
11:15-  SLT mtg.
12:30 lunch
1:00 MTSS/

Thanks to all of you (super huge thanks to Ben) for handling everything while I was gone last week.

Week of September 26

Thank You, Nurse Connie!
Next month, Nurse Connie will be attending a conference in Atlanta discussing the effect of school nursing on student absenteeism.  Take a look at the graph on the  attached poster. It is so encouraging to see how attendance has risen over time.  Connie's interactions with students is a big part of this improvement. From my office, I can hear her nurturing tone as she encourages students to return to class and helps them make the medical connections they need so that they can get back to school.  Thank you, Connie for making a difference!

Career Day
Here are the College and Career Day plans for October 19th.  Let Matt know right away if you see any issues with this schedule.

Parking Lot Duty: Fehling and Meeks

Monday Collaboration
7:00 - 2:30 - Work day 
8:00 - 11:00 Faculty Collaboration
8:00 - Faculty mtg. featuring Nurse Connie, Susan from AFLAC, Heidi on Aesop, News about the book study
9:00 Asheley Schraeder - Data Driven Instruction
10:15 - Students of concern
10:30 - 11:00 Dept. mtgs
11:15 SLT Meeting
12:15 - lunch
1:00 - 2:00 MTSS

Tuesday - Thursday: I will be in Boise.  Plan your shenanigans accordingly.

Daily Hours
There have been some questions about the daily hours.  We are required to work 8.5 hours per day Tuesday - Friday.  So, if you have a first block hours are from 7:15 - 3:45.
If you work the later blocks, the hours are 8:30 - 5:00.
If you have a situation and would like to request to leave earlier, please send me an email and CC Heidi.

Week of September 19

Monday Collaboration Sept. 19
Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Enjoy your day off - everyone has put in many hours and has earned this time.

For the Week of September 19
Bus Duty: Gary Day and Randy Patterson


Here is a heads - up for your planning:
Monday Collaboration Sept. 26
Work day - 7:00 - 2:30
8:00 -11:00- Faculty Collaboration
8:00 - Faculty mtg featuring Nurse Connie and Susan from AFLAC, news on the book study
9:00 Asheley Schraeder - Data Driven instruction
10:15 -Students of concern
10:30- Dept. mtgs
11:00 - SLT Meeting
12:00- lunch
1:00- MTSS mtg

On a Less Delicate Note...
The general layout of the office creates an air flow pattern conducting air from the back of the office toward the front.  Those of us carrying on with our regular business in the office would like to thank all of you who respond to the 'call of nature' with the judicious use of Poo-potpourri found in each of the rest rooms.  We don't know who you are... because that's the nature of Poo-potpourri.
For those of you trying to face nature's call without this delightful product, maybe the following video will help you with your future decision making.

Week of September 12

Off to a Great Start!
We are off to a wonderful start - thanks to the outstanding efforts of each member of the Venture team.  The quality time you spend with students is THE important difference between us and a traditional high school.  Programs and curricula play a role; however, the most significant intervention for a student is the teacher. Your willingness to make a connection, to listen to their hearts (even when their words don't communicate very well) makes a difference.

Thank you Heidi
This week Heidi deserves a special High-Five and a huge THANK YOU ! In the absence of an ISS teacher, she has been running herd on some students that are struggling with the back-to-school-transitions. I'll spare you the details... but, she is AWESOME!

New ISS Teacher
Cherise Hensley will be out new ISS teacher starting Friday.  She will be in the hospitality room next to room 102.  Drop in and introduce yourselves.

For the Week of September 12
Bus Duty: Tiege Arman Heather Chase
Monday:  11:00 SLT meeting: we will be planning out the collaboration schedule for the year
Tuesday: 
Wednesday: *SAT Summit (Kaiser, Smith, Chase 7:30 - 2:30)  Ben... you're on for today and tomorrow
Thursday: *Mastery-Based Learning meeting in Boise (Kaiser, Doering, Smith)
Friday: 

We're Back..... Week of September 5

Welcome to the first day of the 2016-2017 school year!  
I wonder if I can adequately communicate to each of you my appreciation for your welcoming attitude, patience, and willingness to help me learn all the details of "doing school" at Venture.  In addition to the kindness you've shown me, each of you has demonstrated a commitment to creating the sort of school that cares about all kids.  What you do with students every day is really "love in action."  We all fill different roles and wear different hats, and together we create space for children and adults to grow and stretch beyond today's current reality.  I feel so privileged to be working with you this year.

As much as possible, we will use the Venture blog for school-wide communication.  It will be updated  weekly so you will be able to see on Friday the plan for the following week.  It is for all of us - certified and classified staff.  Please feel free to comment, and send me suggestions of things you would like linked here or events you would like mentioned.  As time permits, I will link important documents and anything that might be helpful for us.  As with any communication method, it will only work well with your participation.  So, please read it at least weekly (always by Monday morning) and let me know if you see any errors/omissions/mistakes/typos/or other annoyances that should be mentioned.

For the purpose of our weekly updates, I am assuming that individual teachers are maintaining their own calendars, so generally I won't be listing items that only pertain to a handful people - like MTSS meetings, my own district meetings etc.

On Tuesday morning, I would like to come into classrooms (during block 2) and introduce myself to students and visit with them for about 5 minutes.  If you think that will disrupt your plans, let me know and I will come in another day.  I predict it will take two or three days to get to every class, so if you have a day that would be less disruptive than another day, let me know.

For the week of September 5
Bus duty Christina Smith and Lex Levy (if you don't see this in time, Bryan and I will cover on Tuesday)
Monday:  Labor day
Tuesday: I will visit block 2 classes
Wednesday: 
Thursday: 
Friday:


For the Week of September 12
Bus Duty: Tiege Arman and Diane Eastman
Monday:  11:00 SLT meeting
Tuesday: 
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday: