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.
Congratulations! You made it through an unprecedented year. This month’s resources are here to help you reflect and refresh. Take a moment to celebrate your success and reflect on all the challenges that you overcame. Explore all the free professional development options for summer learning and growth below!
Take a Moment to Reflect
Download and print our free “Year in Review”document to reflect on a year like no other! This document will help you process the challenges and shift your focus to a new and brighter year to come!
Explore Opportunities to Learn and Grow Over the Summer
Coursera – Join for free and access free courses from Yale, Johns Hopkins, and other major universities! Topics include Race and Cultural Diversity, Social & Emotional skills, etc.
Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) – Explore the library of webinars and self-guided learning.
Learner’s Edge – View these free previously recorded webinars with options for completion certificates after viewing.
Sanford Inspire – These are not just webinars. Dive into more than 70 free professional development courses with end of course assessment credits.
Facing History– Gain new perspectives and add more tools to your teaching toolbox with Facing History’s online seminars and workshops.
TeacherFirst Workshops – Live, free, and interactive. If you’re looking for a more hands-on professional development option, TeachersFirst might be just what you are looking for!
Edweb– Check out these free educational webinars on a wide range of topics.
This year more than ever it is important to reflect on the year, celebrate your efforts, and let go of a very turbulent year. We’ve created a document to help you process the past school year and look ahead to a new and fresh start in 2020-21.
We know wrapping things up this year has been quite stressful! To help you check things off of your list, we’ve included a few documents that might help.
End of Year Checklist : Download & 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.
Trauma-Informed Instruction: Many of our students will come back to us next year after having experienced rough situations at home. Check out the Trauma-Informed Instruction resources below to see how you can plan for students’ needs next year.
If you are interested in professional development through the North East Florida Educational Consortium and you are a non-profit school registered through the School Choice Officeclick here.
This year more than ever it is important for teachers to reflect on the year, celebrate their efforts, and let go of a very turbulent year. We’ve created a document to help you process the past school year and look ahead to a new and fresh start in 2020-21.
Download “The Year in Review”to walk through the ups and downs of your 2019-20 school year and shift your focus to a fresh start in 2020-21. Reflection helps, we promise!
Collaborate with other teachers by sharing a success you had during the “remote learning” this year. Share as much or as little as you like. Click here to share your thoughts!
Resources for Thinking Ahead!
Trauma-Informed Instruction: Many of our students will come back to us next year after having experienced rough situations at home. Check out the Trauma-Informed Instruction resources below to see how you can plan for students’ needs next year.
If you are interested in professional development through the North East Florida Educational Consortium and you are a non-profit school registered through the School Choice Officeclick here.
As you know, February is Black History Month. We know that school leaders are always looking for new ways to lead their school communities to positive change and growth.This month we hope to connect administrators to inspiring resources that encourage cultural responsiveness and inclusion not just in February, but all year!
Check out the articles, webinars, and professional learning options below and be sure to share them with your teaching staff!
We’ve linked a presentation from NWEA for teachers to use with their students to discuss the MAP Growth test and scores: Click here to explore the presentation!
The presentation includes a handout for students to complete:Download it here.
Involve your whole class with goal setting in a positive way. The photo to the right is a simple, motivating, and manageable classroom data wall and goal tracker! Find this and more inspiring ideas from fellow teachers on NWEA’sInstagram and Facebook.
Empower Students to Lead the Growth Conversation:
Attend an upcoming webinar from SUFS on Student-Led Conferences. This is a great way to empower students to own their performance and growth. Click here to learn more!
How are other teachers involving students in the growth conversation? Check out this video on goal setting with Kindergarteners. Or watch this video with examplesof how teachers at many levels approach the goal setting conversation!
As the holiday break draws near, we know your focus is turning to the new semester ahead. This month’s post contains resources to help you plan a powerful faculty meeting to kick off the New Year! Explore the meeting agenda template, the semester in review activity, and the options for team building exercises linked below. Happy planning!
The Agenda
At the first meeting of a new semester, you will want to keep it simple and inspiring while still helping your faculty set intentions and lay the foundations for a fantastic new year.
This activity is designed to help your teachers reflect on the first semester in key areas that impact student learning and growth. The third page will be turned into you the administrator to give you insights into the goals and needs of your staff. Encourage teachers to discuss their answers!
Featured Team Building Activity: Making Sure Every Child is Known- This team building activity is a perfect start to the new year as it requires teachers to reflect on their current relationships with students and set intentions as a school for the semester ahead. All you need is a list of students and chart paper or a dry erase board. Watch the video from Edutopia of this activity in action!
Resource Alert! Have you heard about Algebra Nation?
Accessible anywhere and anytime, Algebra Nation offers an individualized approach to teaching and learning Middle Grades Math, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2.
You’re invited to join the Step Up For Students SuperFans program. Become a social ambassador for Step Up and help us spread awareness of our scholarship programs.
When you sign up, we will send you our most exciting news through email to share with your friends and followers. You choose where you share our content. You can share it through email, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or all of the above. Sharing our posts helps not only spread the word about Step Up to those who need it most, but it could also benefit your private school.
The best part? The more you share and participate, the more points you’ll earn towards a monthly giveaway. This month we’re giving away a $20 Target gift card and one Step Up’s new promotional items of your choosing (from a selection).
To join now, click on the link below and connect with one of your social networks.
Student-Led Conferences offer an opportunity for students to take ownership of their learning and lead the conversation about their progress. Though these conferences require a little more preparation, the student-led approach solves some of the biggest headaches and pitfalls associated with parent conferences.
Will they even show up?– Attendance improves when parents are encouraged to attend with their children.
Parents are more likely to attend knowing their students are the stars of the show. Not only will parents get to see their child shine in a leadership role, but they will also receive valuable information about success and opportunities directly from their child.
Lack of follow through – Knowing they must discuss their successes and challenges with parents encourages students to take ownership of their learning all year!
Student-Led Conferences ensure that students are reflecting on their performance, recording progress, and setting personal and academic goals. Parents are encouraged to partner with teachers to provide support for the student’s goals.
Defensive Parents – When students lead the conversation, parents are more likely to show support and encouragement rather than anger and defensiveness.
When students are responsible for explaining their growth and progress, teachers no longer need to justify the areas that students are struggling. Parents hear directly from the student and are able to brainstorm solutions with the teacher and student to become a part of their student’s growth.
Want to learn more? If you are interested in trying Student-Led Conferences at your school, consider attending one of our online webinars or contact your regional coordinator to schedule an in-person session at your school!
Check out these exciting free resources for the month of October!
Reading Eggs through Edmentum: Looking for support for your struggling readers aged 2-13? Reading Eggs is an award-winning program that uses games to engage students in learning to read. Reading Eggs is offering a FREE 4-week trial through October 31st.
Book It!:BOOK IT!motivates children to read by rewarding their reading accomplishments with praise, recognition and pizza from Pizza Hut. The program is simple, flexible, fun and free to use in your classroom! BOOK IT! was created in 1984 and currently reaches more than 14 million students and 37,000 K-6 grade schools annually.
Lead4change: Lead4Change is a FREE leadership program where students identify and use their leadership skills by doing a service project. The ready to use lesson plans will take you through the steps of leadership and service. All resources are available to registered members for free.
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!
