Dear Amazing Venture Staff,

I know you know this, but.... the stress of the holidays can often overshadow the joy expected to attend this time of year.  Especially for families, the holidays bring to the surface a number of challenges from finances, substance abuse, and relationship tensions among friends and relatives.  For kids who are managing anxiety and depression, free time is not their friend.  Especially now, maintain schedules, norms, and boundaries.  They will be better, you will be happier, and maybe we can all find a healthy portion of holiday joy.

January 23 will be our next certified staff collaboration day.  

Before then, please

• Plan at least one lesson using the workshop model lesson plan template.

• Teach the lesson

• Reflect on the lesson

• In our next collaboration, we will be using that information.

I was reviewing the standards for mathematical practice recently. One of the things I like about them is how closely they align with Thinking Strategies: Monitoring for meaning, using schema, asking questions, drawing inferences, determining importance, using sensory imagery, synthesizing information and using discourse all find a home here.

TBRI Video on Correction Principles: Here is a video I found very helpful when thinking about ways to correct behavior: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18jkKptJkbB0mufF4dGQnzyqYtUrOVH2j/view?usp=share_link

Bus/Parking lot duty: Fehling and Cooley

Monday 12/12: Non Work Day

Tuesday  12/13: Kaiser out @am

Wednesday 12/14:

Thursday 12/15:

Friday 12/16:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Smith and Baker

Monday 12/19: Non Work Day

Tuesday  12/20: 

Wednesday 12/21: Kaiser out @ am

Thursday 12/22: Staff Soup and salad potluck

Friday 12/23: Kaiser out

Winter break: December 26- January 6

Bus/Parking lot duty: Doering and Mazhan

Monday 1/9: Non Work Day, National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day

Tuesday  1/10:  Kaiser out @am

Wednesday 1/11:

Thursday 1/12:

Friday 1/13:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Posey and Penske

Monday 1/16: Martin Luther King Jr.

Tuesday  1/17: 

Wednesday 1/18:

Thursday 1/19:

Friday 1/20:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Gonzalez and Gaynor

Monday 1/23: Certified Staff Collaboration

Tuesday  1/24: 

Wednesday 1/25: Kaiser out @am

Thursday 1/26:

Friday 1/27: Certified Staff workday

 

This video made me think about ways we could help students improve their own mental outlook by practicing gratitude.  Watch it and let's see if some ideas begin to sprout.

I am thankful for the opportunity to spend my days with each and every one of you at Venture.  This work is a challenging blessing and I am thankful to be part of something that matters.  It's a journey directed toward a destination that can never be reached and completely embodies the notion of finding joy in the journey.  What are you thankful for that makes your heart happy?

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR CLASSROOM INVENTORY!!!  Thank you!

Grades:  Please make sure that when students are missing assignments that it calculates as a zero.  We go back and forth about this every year trying to find the perfect solution (apparently, there isn't one) but if we don't calculate zeros, students think they have pretty good grades.   For example, I was speaking to a young man yesterday who assured me he had A's despite his 9 absences.  Indeed, an A was calculated for two of his grades even though he'd only turned in less than half the assignments.  

When parents and students see the gradebooks they should either have a sense of urgency (generated by a low grade) or a sense of joy (generated by an authentic high grade).  Worst case scenario is they have a sense of joy generated by a false high grade.  Explaining to parents that an A is actually an F (or incomplete) is among my least favorite conversations. Please check your gradebooks before going home on Friday to make sure that student grades accurately reflect their learning.

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mazhan and Posey

Monday 10/31:  PD- Certified Staff: agenda

Tuesday  11/1: Kaiser out

Wednesday 11/2: Kaiser out

Thursday 11/3: Extended learning    

Friday 11/4: 4th Wellness

Bus/Parking lot duty: Penske and Gonzalez

Monday 11/7:  PD- Certified Staff: Agenda

Tuesday  11/8: 

Wednesday 11/9:

Thursday 11/10: Extended learning    

Friday 11/11: Staff Work Day; Suicide Prevention 11:00

Bus/Parking lot duty: Gaynor and Higgs

Monday 11/14:  Non Work day

Tuesday  11/15: 

Wednesday 11/16:

Thursday 11/17: No Extended Learning: Thanksgiving Dinner  

Friday 11/18:

Bus/Parking lot duty: No One!

Monday 11/21:  Enjoy your day!

Tuesday  11/22: Enjoy your day!

Wednesday 11/23: Enjoy your day!

Thursday 11/24: Thanksgiving

Friday 11/25: Enjoy your day!

 

Calm

How are you doing?  With your instructional planning, with your students, with your own personal lives?  For me, mid-October often marks a shift in my energy and I feel a bit frantic about how little is getting crossed off my to-do list.  With so much pulling at our time and energy, how do we stay calm when teenage attitude enters the equation?  

Maintaining a mindful presence is challenging when everything is going well, finding a calm space when things are hectic and behaviors border on outrageous can feel impossible.  And yet our best outcomes are waiting for us in our fully intact, calm brains.  Here are some of my tricks for keeping my prefrontal cortex in control, my limbic system untriggered, and my responses solution-focused.

• Imagine myself as a tree: solid, unmoving, roots going deep into the ground, impervious to shifting winds.
• Think of myself as clinically managing a clinical situation as opposed to having a personal interaction and thinking of it as personally about me.  
• Give myself a few minutes to process.  They can wait in another room.  The conversation that must happen will be on my time, not theirs.
• Think about the loudness of my voice and get quieter.  
• Think about firefighters, paramedics and police officers.  They get calm and quiet as a situation escalates, they don't yell and frantic.  I like to imagine myself being as professional and controlled as they are.
• Drink water.  Funny how easy it is to forget that.
• Sleep.  Another easy thing to forget
• Exercise.  Outside.  In nature. Also easy to not do.

In the interest of keeping it real, I have some other. less Zen-like mantras and habits that help me keep my calm.  What do you do?  It helps to have a plan in place before things feel frustrating.

TBRI:  This video is worth the 15 minutes.  But if you don't have 15 minutes, the last 8 minutes are especially valuable.

Video Link

Bus/Parking lot duty: Cooley and Smith

Monday 10/17:  Non Work Day

Tuesday  10/18: Kaiser out

Wednesday 10/19: Kaiser out

Thursday 10/20: Kaiser out Extended learning    

Friday 10/21: 3rd Wellness

Bus/Parking lot duty: Baker and Doering

Monday 10/24:  Non Work Day

Tuesday  10/25: 

Wednesday 10/26: Kaiser out@am

Thursday 10/27: Extended learning    

Friday 10/28: Picture Make up day, Halloween BBQ and Field day

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mazhan and Posey

Monday 10/31:  PD- Certified Staff: agenda

Tuesday  11/1: 

Wednesday 11/2:

Thursday 11/3: Extended learning    

Friday 11/4: 4th Wellness