This month’s post is all about literacy! Check out the amazing articles and resources below and take a moment to reflect on these questions:
Do you have students who are struggling readers?
Does your student achievement data support the ELA Curriculum that your teachers use today?
Research shows that many teachers rely on Teachers Pay Teachers and Google for lesson planning. Would you like to provide your teachers with a research-based, fully lesson planned reading curriculum?
Check out the book,The Writing Revolution, by Judith C. Hochman and Natalie Wexler, a writing instruction that enables all students, including those from low-income families to develop literacy and critical thinking skills.
Explore Wilson Language Fundations– A research-based, explicit instructional program for K-3 emerging readers.
Come hear Natalie Wexler share her expertise on a knowledge-rich curriculum LIVE at the Great Minds Knowledge Summit! Join us on February 18th and 19th to learn more about Great Minds and Wilson Language. Register NOWfor the Great Minds Knowledge Summit– the deadline to register is Jan 14th! For more information on the Summit and pricing, click here.
We know many educators are counting down the days until winter break begins. This year has been a challenging one, so before the break begins, consider giving your teachers a little shout out to let them know their efforts are appreciated! We hope you and your staff will take some time over the break to reflect and recharge. This month’s resources are designed to help you do just that!
This in-person event will take place on February 18 and 19 in Lakeland, FL. Join us to discover the importance of using a knowledge-building curriculum at this summit hosted by industry leading researchers and subject matter experts. You’ll hear from keynote speaker Natalie Wexler, choose from over 15 different 60-minute sessions, network with educators from other schools in your area, and have a chance to win some exciting prizes!
November is a time when many juniors and seniors across the country begin to prep for life after high school. This month we wanted to provide you with resources to support your high school students as they begin to tackle big questions about their future. We’ve included resources for both the college track and career track!
Have you heard about EVERFI?
This company offers free high quality and interactive online courses for K-12 schools. Their course entitled “Keys to Your Future- College and Career Readiness” is an excellent resource for any high school student! Click here to learn more.
Khan Academy Life Skills Courses
Khan Academy offers free college and career courses, financial planning courses, and even interview courses. Click here to learn more.
For College-Bound Students
Juggling all the tasks associated with applying for college is difficult! This resource provides a checklist for both juniors and seniors to help them through this journey! Click here to explore the checklist.
Help your younger students become college and career ready!
Join us for the Step Up For Students and Great Minds Knowledge Summit! This one-and-a-half-day in-person event will be hosted by industry-leading researchers and subject matter experts. The summit will help you discover the importance of using a knowledge-building curriculum. You’ll hear from keynote speakers, choose from over 15 different 60-minute sessions, network with educators from other schools in your area, and have a chance to win some exciting prizes! Save the Date for February 18-19, 2022. Click here to sign up and learn more!
October is National Principals Month and we’d like to take a moment to say thank you for all the amazing work you do for your school communities! This month’s resources are designed to encourage and inspire you as you inspire and motivate your students and staff.
Need some inspiration and a bit of a laugh? Check out this article form ASCD on, “The best principal you’ve ever known.”
Struggling to make changes at your school? Do you feel like the mountain is too high to climb? See how a principal in Vero Beach, Florida transformed her school from an F to a C rating.Watch the video and read the article from NAESP here.
No matter what area of school improvement you are trying to impact, the Student Learning and Partner Success team has tools and ideas to help you get started! Check out our padlet full of free resources for topics like school improvement, compliance, safety, technology, and so much more!
SAVE THE DATE!
The Step Up For Students and Great Minds Knowledge Summit is a one-and-a-half-day in-person event. Hosted by industry-leading researchers and subject matter experts, the summit will help you discover the importance of using a knowledge-building curriculum. You’ll hear from keynote speakers, choose from over 15 different 60-minute sessions, network with educators from other schools in your area, and have a chance to win some exciting prizes!
Please sign up to receive updates on registration, keynote speakers, session topics, giveaways, and more. You won’t want to miss the early bird pricing and first round of giveaways! SIGN UP HERE
Students are back in their seats and inevitably they will take assessments. The type of assessment is completely up to you as their teacher. So, what will it be: formative or summative? Such goes the age-old question. When people think assessment, they tend to think scantrons and number 2 pencils, but this is not always the case as this topic has evolved in recent years as well as teachers’ reasons for assessing.
Formative assessments provide both students and teachers with the information they need to improve the learning process right now. This is an ongoing assessment that may or may not be graded. This assessment is seen more as an opportunity to examine the results and use those to inform instruction in the classroom right away. You might give a quiz and realize that more than half of your class has not captured the concept, so instead of trudging forward, you reteach and reassess. Being able to push the pause button on moving forward with a new concept and making sure they truly grasped the first concept is exactly what formative assessments are about.
Examples of formative assessments include:
• Quizzes
• Lesson exit tickets
• Classroom polls
• A written summary of a lesson
Summative assessments aim to evaluate student learning and achievement and is generally administered at the end of a unit or course. Summative assessments occur only a few times over the academic year and always yield a specific point value. Because they are broader in scope and measure learning over a longer period, they tend to have higher stakes. Remember that this assessment provides a snapshot of how students are performing at a particular point in time.
Examples of summative assessments include:
• End of term or midterm exams
• End of unit or chapter tests
• Cumulative work such as a creative portfolio or final project
• State exams
Both formative and summative assessments collect useful, important information. However, in the end, it is what you do with the assessments that make it either or. Getting state exam results and putting them in a data binder makes them just results. It is the actions you take with the information that determine their true use.
Need some tips on how to prevent School Leader burnout? See our highlights below or click here to read the full article.
Have a regular routine of self-care.
Regular time outdoors, a spiritual practice, or a gratitude journal are all research-proven ways to help leaders prevent a downwards slides towards burnout.
Learn to regularly unplug from your devices.
Taking one night off a week is a small price to pay for continued energy and it’s also great modeling and permission for your team so they don’t get burned out as well!
Become more discerning about the work you take on (when possible) and learn to clearly communicate what you can and cannot realistically handle.
Notice if your energy is being diverted to worries or other negative thought patterns and then take action to adopt a more productive mindset.
Become aware of the signs of burnout, especially in terms of its onset and progression.
If a leader learns the signs of burnout and checks in with themselves every month or so, they can catch it much earlier.
With the first day of school right around the corner, we know your teachers are back in action and so too is the time-honored tradition of the faculty meeting. This month, we hope to give you some resources to help you get the most out of your faculty meetings and start the year off on the right foot.
Lead a discussion with your staff on the importance of building relationships with students. Explore this blog post with strategies and resources for your teachers. We especially love the quote at the end, “Allow your students to show you who they ARE today… not who they were last year. We all deserve a fresh start.”
After you have taken some well-deserved time to relax this summer, we know you will be eager to jump into planning for next year. This month’s post is full of excellent “Back to School” planning resources for you and for your teachers!
Choose a School-Wide Theme
Start the new year on a positive and uplifting note by creating a theme for your school this year. Use this printable guide to help you decide what theme would best fit the needs of your school community this year. You could even consider recruiting your older students to help choose the theme!
Beginning of the School Year Checklist
Use this free printable checklist during your teachers’ pre-planning to help them stay organized and cover all the back to school basics!
Planning for Success with Teachers
Provide this free printable planning documentto your teachers before school starts to get an idea of everyone’s hopes and fears for the new year. It’s also a great way to get to know your teachers!
Have you heard about Dual-Enrollment?
Click here to learn about the new opportunities for private school and homeschool students to receive college course credits this fall!
We know many of you rose to the challenge this year and overcame great odds to provide your students with the support they needed to learn and thrive. Now that the school year is coming to a close, it’s time for you to take a quiet moment to yourself to reflect on an unprecedented year. We hope the resources below can help you not only wrap up the year, but also reflect on your successes and your opportunities for growth. Congratulations, you made it!
The Year in Review: Grab some coffee and your favorite pen. Print this document and take some time to process this year and plan for next year!
End of Year Checklist: Download and edit this document to provide to teachers as they close out the year.
Classroom Inventory: Allow teachers to use this document to ensure the inventory in each classroom is accounted for.
We know your teachers and staff have been nothing short of amazing this year. This month’s post aims to give you some new ways to honor their hard work. We also know you are busy making plans for summer learning, so we’ve highlighted a few programs below. Don’t forget to register for the Choice in Education Celebration and make sure that you and your staff sign up for our teacher appreciation giveaway!
Ideas for Teacher Appreciation
Decorate the sidewalk entrance telling the teachers how much they are appreciated.
Sonic Happy Hour – Visit the local Sonic restaurant from 2PM – 4PM and you can get half price drinks and slushes for your teachers. Deliver them as a treat to end the day.
Ask your PTA to supply breakfast one morning. Ideas include breakfast casseroles; bagels; donuts, etc.
Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!
We are so proud of the work you do every day to make a difference in your students’ lives. This month, the Student Learning and Partner Success team is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card.
Have you heard about the Choice in Education Celebration? This celebration is in lieu of our annual Choice in Education Conference. We are throwing a virtual party to close out the school year and show appreciation for our private school leaders, educators, parents and students. This FREE event will be held virtually on May 20th from 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. We will hear from Keynote Speaker Gerry Brooks, and giveaway fabulous prizes!
Spring testing season is upon us! We know you are gearing up for your end of year assessments this month. We hope the resources below will make your preparations easier and inspire you to try something new.
Two weeks before testing, ask parents to send a note encouraging their child to do their best on the end of the year assessment. Provide parents and/or family members with the materials to write the letters. Think about sending home fancy paper, envelopes, and make some suggestions of things to say. Give the parents the option to text or record their message, create posters, email their messages or mail in their letters to allow flexibility and creativity. Before you administer the test, give students the message to read or view before they begin.
Nervous about testing students remotely this year? Don’t worry, with proper preparation and guidance, remote testing can go as smoothly as an in-person testing session.
Attitude is Altitude is a CASEL-aligned social emotional learning curriculum designed for grades K-12. Nick Vujicic, a world-renowned motivational speaker, launched the initiative to help guide and inspire students with Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) after experiencing a childhood of hardship due to bullying.
