The mission of Venture Academy is to equip students to achieve their highest potential through individual, flexible and structured educational experiences that enhance their academic growth and prepare them for lifelong learning and success.
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 Heretells 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.
Bus Duty: Thomas (PM) Hook (AM) Monday 12/12 7:00 cross district collaboration8:30Collaboration: 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 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:
There is still a motivation to stay in school and not withdraw at 6 days of absence.
There is a policy in place that we can refer to for other things like DOT and student driver's licences.
They aren't retaking classes for which they've already met all requirements.
It accommodates students with a variety of issues that interfere with attendance.
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.
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:
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.
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 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/
If a student asks a question, instead of answering it yourself, ask another student.
If a student makes a great contribution to a class discussion, don’t be tempted to add to it yourself, ask another student to.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Use visual symbols for anchors. 1 stick man = work alone, 2 = pairs, 3 = group, house = HW, open book = read quietly, pen=writing.
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.
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.
Think, pair, share – pose questions, give students thinking time to answer the questions, discuss it in a pair and then share their agreed answer.
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).
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!
