Good afternoon and happy April!
We made it through March, as always it was a long one, yet here we are in April. The rush to the end of the year starts now.
Grades close this Friday, April 5! Please remember if you have any student that needs an INC for any reason a conversation should be happening with counseling and the Deans. This is also the time of year that it is important to keep me regularly updated regarding seniors who are in danger of failing. Please be sure you are reaching out to have conversations with parents about any struggling students (and not just seniors) and let counselors, Deans, and myself know about concerns, even if you do not think the class is needed for graduation.
Spring time always brings an increase in student wandering. Several of you have complained to me about this issue recently. We all need to work on this together. This past Friday we needed to get information regarding students out of class. During the 45 minute period we needed information on there were 65 male students signed out of the classroom. Please review your expectations with your classes. You do not need to let students leave whenever they wish. Please monitor students who leave excessively and let the office know. We can monitor students who are out of class too often but we do not know about the issue unless you tell us.
MCAS:
Thank you again for the cooperation you showed with the English MCAS administration. We fully realize the impact on your classes and your frustration. Please understand this is unavoidable. I need to remind you the state dictates the days we administer the test. With the scheduling we have control over, every decision made is with what's best for students.
Next up is Math MCAS. Please mark you calendars with the dates below:
Each department will need to bring their Chromebook cart(s) to the DLL the morning of May 15 and they will be used through May 22.
Please see the attached flyer about the town Wellness Fair
Why Teachers Love Teaching
3 Tips on Teacher Stress
I loved these two blogs from George Couros this week. Reminders of why you are all apprecaited and why it is important to take care of yourself. This week our wonderful Student Council starts to think about Teacher Appreciation. The "Teacher Appreciation Day Card" activity is scheduled for Wednesday, April 3rd during C block. All teachers will have cards and directions in their mailbox at the end of the day on Tuesday and we hope you support this initiative. It is important to students to have the opportunity to say "thank you" and "we appreciate you".
Food for Thought:
We continue to hear more and more about issues of race, antisemitism, etc. in the main office. An English teacher recently shared with us that some of her black students wrote poetry about their experience with being black in a very white school. We are lucky to have a connection with people in the community, such as Jamele Adams, who are willing to spend time talking to our students. I thought this article was worth sharing as we continue to think about making sure all students feel safe and welcome in our school.
Dear White Teachers: You Can't Love Your Black Students If You Don't Know Them
We made it through March, as always it was a long one, yet here we are in April. The rush to the end of the year starts now.
Grades close this Friday, April 5! Please remember if you have any student that needs an INC for any reason a conversation should be happening with counseling and the Deans. This is also the time of year that it is important to keep me regularly updated regarding seniors who are in danger of failing. Please be sure you are reaching out to have conversations with parents about any struggling students (and not just seniors) and let counselors, Deans, and myself know about concerns, even if you do not think the class is needed for graduation.
Spring time always brings an increase in student wandering. Several of you have complained to me about this issue recently. We all need to work on this together. This past Friday we needed to get information regarding students out of class. During the 45 minute period we needed information on there were 65 male students signed out of the classroom. Please review your expectations with your classes. You do not need to let students leave whenever they wish. Please monitor students who leave excessively and let the office know. We can monitor students who are out of class too often but we do not know about the issue unless you tell us.
MCAS:
Thank you again for the cooperation you showed with the English MCAS administration. We fully realize the impact on your classes and your frustration. Please understand this is unavoidable. I need to remind you the state dictates the days we administer the test. With the scheduling we have control over, every decision made is with what's best for students.
Next up is Math MCAS. Please mark you calendars with the dates below:
Each department will need to bring their Chromebook cart(s) to the DLL the morning of May 15 and they will be used through May 22.
Please see the attached flyer about the town Wellness Fair
Why Teachers Love Teaching
3 Tips on Teacher Stress
I loved these two blogs from George Couros this week. Reminders of why you are all apprecaited and why it is important to take care of yourself. This week our wonderful Student Council starts to think about Teacher Appreciation. The "Teacher Appreciation Day Card" activity is scheduled for Wednesday, April 3rd during C block. All teachers will have cards and directions in their mailbox at the end of the day on Tuesday and we hope you support this initiative. It is important to students to have the opportunity to say "thank you" and "we appreciate you".
Food for Thought:
We continue to hear more and more about issues of race, antisemitism, etc. in the main office. An English teacher recently shared with us that some of her black students wrote poetry about their experience with being black in a very white school. We are lucky to have a connection with people in the community, such as Jamele Adams, who are willing to spend time talking to our students. I thought this article was worth sharing as we continue to think about making sure all students feel safe and welcome in our school.
Dear White Teachers: You Can't Love Your Black Students If You Don't Know Them
Comments
Post a Comment