Bus/Parking lot duty: Levy and Eastman
Monday 5/13: Staff Work Day Agenda
Tuesday 5/14:
Wednesday 5/15:
Thursday 5/16: Kaiser out@ AM
Wednesday 5/15:
Thursday 5/16: Kaiser out@ AM
Friday 5/17:
Bus/Parking lot duty: Mahoney and Meeks
Monday 5/20: Non work day
Tuesday 5/21:
Wednesday 5/22:
Thursday 5/23:
Wednesday 5/22:
Thursday 5/23:
Friday 5/24: Non work day
Bus/Parking lot duty: Beck and Hook
Monday 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday
Tuesday 5/28:
Wednesday 5/29:
Thursday 5/30:
Wednesday 5/29:
Thursday 5/30:
Friday 5/31: Summer is coming BBQ and field day
Bus/Parking lot duty: Everyone, please be in halls, commons and outside every day
Monday 6/3: Non work day
Tuesday 6/4:
Wednesday 6/5:
Thursday 6/6: Senior Breakfast, 6:00 Graduation
Wednesday 6/5:
Thursday 6/6: Senior Breakfast, 6:00 Graduation
Friday 6/7:
Monday 6/10: We are required to work a full day
Monday 6/10: We are required to work a full day
Congratulations Jessica Gaynor, Coeur d'Alene School District's Rookie of the Year!!!!
Really good teachers understand the connection between quality instruction and the students’ ability to learn the material and allow the new learning to change them in some way. They get the importance of well-planned, standards-aligned and engaging lessons. They create classrooms that are cognitively busy places with high levels of intellectual interactions among students. Jessica does all of that and takes it a step further. She understands that student learning happens within the context of relationships.
Building strong relationships with students can be a tough place to be because it can leave us feeling vulnerable as our teens learn ways to communicate their satisfaction and, sometimes, dissatisfaction, with life, school, classes, and, specifically, what's happening in our classrooms. Excellent teaching requires that we open ourselves up to that vulnerability so that we learn along with students to grow and improve on our own best practices. Jessica's willingness to participate in that learning WITH students and engage with them in the ongoing give-and-take is among the greatest gifts she shares with the young people in her charge.
But...Jessica takes it even a bit further than that. She understands that her influence extends far beyond the confines of a particular content area… that her task is to empower young people to embrace the totality of the human experience and to respond to their own highest calling for themselves. In her classroom, students aren't just learning the standards. They pursue their own interests and use the standards to do that skillfully, empowering them to influence their community in positive ways. Jessica's students are focused on things that are important to learn, not just on things that are easy to test.
And, of course, her learning also happens within the context of relationships. Those relationships, forged with colleagues, compose the fiber of school culture and set the stage for an education that matters. Jessica, we celebrate you for your courage to reject education's status quo. And, as we celebrate you, we celebrate Venture High School's community of learners and our commitment to doing things that matter for our students and for ourselves. Thank you, Jessica, for your hard work, for your insight, and for your courage.
Rising Temperature, Rising Tension
Another school conundrum: Just when everything should feel better, it actually gets worse.
The sun is shining; daylight hours exceed work hours; and tempers get shorter. While there is no magic bullet for keeping things calm and productive as the school year winds down, here are a few tips I've picked up through the years:
- Keep the schedule. Free time and boring work is not a friend to teachers or students. Maintaining a schedule that is reasonably rigorous and keeps kids productively occupied from bell to bell is possibly the best way to ward off behavior issues.
- Take care of yourself: Maintain healthy boundaries (You don't have to do everything you're asked to do. Prioritize those things that matter most) Move (Most of us don't move enough anyway and we move less when we're busy with lesson planning and grading. Take a walk, play a game, garden, fish, whatever, but move) Give yourself some space (A five minute walk between classes or with kids, a personal day, an afternoon to yourself, take the time to fill your own bucket) Ask for help (you don't have to do everything yourself and, sometimes, two heads and four hands work better)
- Take a time out (breathe and count to ten). We've probably all learned the hard lesson that it's easier to avoid saying something than it is to undo the damage of harsh words. If regrettable words are spoken, own it and repair the relationship as quickly as possible. As imperfect human beings, we can model for students how to fix things when we fail.
- You're not perfect. Neither am I. Let's just accept it and move on with our flawed selves and do the best we can together.
The Power of Words
A Note From the District Office:
Long Range Planning Committee Needs Members: We are looking for members to serve on the School Board's Long Range Planning Committee. The committee especially is in need of members representing the Borah Elementary and Venture High school zones. But anyone from any zone is welcome to apply.
This group of volunteers creates and reviews the District's long-range plans for facilities. Participation is a four-year commitment. The committee meets once a month, generally on Mondays, from 4:30 to 6 PM at Midtown Center. More information about this committee is available on our website.
To apply, complete and submit this form. All applications will be reviewed by a subcommittee of Long Range Planning.
