Home-School Connection

 

Home-School Connection

There are many things teachers are asked to do, so the task is always to prioritize the things that will give you the greatest return.  Something that we know has a high impact/return is strong two-way communication with parents/families.  Good communication between families and schools is necessary for student success.  Research shows that the more parents and teachers share information with each other about a student, the better equipped both will be to help that student achieve academically.  And that's always our #1 priority!

Student Benefits

Substantial evidence shows that parent involvement benefits students, including raising their academic achievement.  Other advantages include increased motivation for learning, improved behavior, more regular attendance, and a more positive attitude about homework and school in general.

Teacher Benefits

Research also shows that parental involvement can free teachers to focus more on the task of teaching children (again, our #1 priority!!).  By having more contact with parents, teachers learn more about students' needs and home environment, which is information that can be used to better meet student needs.  Parents who are involved tend to have a more positive view of teachers, which results in improved teacher morale. We all know how good it feels to have a strong working relationship with the families in our classrooms!

We all know the importance of  relationships, and the sense of belonging - our focus this year - and something that is becoming more important each year.  This is why teachers have been asked to make at least two personal contacts to each student's family, with the first contact being a phone call in the first few weeks of school (we've adjusted that to the first six weeks).  I know many of you have finished, or are finishing up, and I have gotten positive feedback about the responses from parents and the impact on the students and their learning.  I appreciate your attention to this expectation this year, and anticipate that this deposit will have a significant long-term impact for your year. 

I found this in an article, and wanted to share it in support of our strong communication with families.

Please let me know if you have any questions - this is going to be a great way to go into conferences in a few weeks!
Sue

Kids Who Read Succeed

 

When the Leadership Team talks about goals for the upcoming school year, reading is always the #1 priority.  We talk a lot about how to keep kids engaged in reading, which we know is related to growth and achievement.  The thoughtful and creative ideas of Julie Warren, with input from the Leadership Team,  resulted in a schoolwide reading incentive program that will continue all year long - please see below for more information!

Individual Reading Incentive: Begins October 2nd

Each month, K-5 teachers will choose a Reader of the Month who demonstrates noteworthy growth, engagement, attitude, or other positive reading habits.  Teachers will be asked to fill out a form with specific feedback to the student, acknowledging the things the child has demonstrated to improve in their reading.  See the Reader of the Month teacher instructions for some ideas of things to look for. The selected student will get their picture posted (example of Reading Poster) in the atrium with the short description (form) of their outstanding reading behavior/accomplishment.  Jess will help with the photo and the poster.  The students will also get a shout out at the All School Meeting,  communication home (phone call or email), and lunch in the media center with a friend!  Please see additional details below, and/or see your Leadership Team representative with any questions.  We will introduce this to the students at the September All School Meeting.

Classroom Incentive

All students who complete their weekly reading log (whatever teachers currently have in place) will receive a weekly red ticket from their teacher. (Note: If you have a monthly reading log, students can earn 4 tickets at the end of each month). Students will write their name AND class code on their ticket and add it to the classroom container (which will be delivered to you before October.) We will combine the classroom collections and draw only ONE red ticket at the All School Meeting each month. The student who is selected AND their class will be able to get cozy and read in the media center, with a small snack of popcorn. The first class will be announced at November's All School Meeting.

The Leadership Team feels this is a good balance of individual recognition and motivation, as well as building a sense of "belonging" when students can earn a reward for their whole class. A big thanks to Julie for her idea, and to the Leadership Team for finalizing the details.  We believe this will be a great way to celebrate and encourage our readers at Willow!

Embrace Creativity!

                             

The only time you are creating new things in your life is when you are being imaginztive and innovative.  If you want htings to change, and you want things you have never had, you must do things you've never done.  This could be reading a book and acquring new knowledge, debating a topic with a friend, or undertaking a new activity you've always wanted to try.  You can only expand through creative action.

Creativity has become a prerequisite for innovation and will be an increasingly in-demand skill for jobs in the future.  Creativity doesn't need to be a subject of its own, but instead, it should be weaved into every aspect of learning and teaching.  Creativity is beneficial for our learners - it's motivating and engaging, it lights up the brain and higher order thinking (problem solving, critical thinking, making connections between subjects), and it provides productive struggle (a gentler term for failure, and it builds resilience and to push through difficulty to reach success).  

There are so mamy reasons to weave it into your day - here are some ideas on how you can do that!

1.  Encourage multiple ways to solve a problem.

It's about fostering the ability to come up with different solutions and unique ideas - by encouraging students to continue to work hard when their first idea doesn't work, then to investigate alternatives, and to try, try, and try again until they succeed.

2.  Build a safe and open space where failure is embaced and celebrated.

It's important to create a safe and welcoming environment where students can try and test their own creative solutions, without the pressure of "having to get it right".

3. Embrace creativity yourself!

Encourage creativity by exploring and sharing it yourself!

Embrace Creativity! As part of your 7 Mindsets lesson this week, encourage students to think of their individual strengths, and how to use these strengths to find a creative way to do something.  Students can display their creative flare, and do something kind for others, by making some type of fall-themed decoration for residents in senior/nursing homes in the Hudson community.  Encourage your students to Embrace Their Creativity!

Have a great week -

Sue

Be here. Be you. Belong.

At our welcome back, we talked about BE HERE (be present), BE YOU (bring your strengths and passions with you each day) and BELONG (build a sense of belonging throughout our staff, and classrooms).  As part of our conversation, we talked about the elements of belonging:

• Seen - when you are seen at work, you are recognized, rewrded and respected by your colleagues.
• Connected - when you are connected at work, you have positive, authentic social interactions with peers, managers, and senior leaders.
• Supported - when you are supported at work, those around you give you what you need to get your work done and live a full life.  These people may be peers and senior leaders.
• Proud - when you are proud of your work and your organization, you feel aligned with its purpose, vision, and values.

I challenged you to set goals for yourself to build a sense of belonging in our BUILDING (staff) and our CLASSROOMS (students).  And now after a few days, this is a check in to see how it's going!  The beginning of the year is a perfect time to build/reinforce our Willow Community - thank you for all that each of you do to make this happen!

Have a great week -

Sue