Sunday NIght Memo, 10/20/19

October 20, 2019

I ran into two of my former students today.  They are juniors and at that crazy, chaotic time of life where trying to keep up with academics, SAT/ACT’s, pressures of future college admissions applications and social events is all consuming.  We were able to stop time for a bit and catch up with all that has been happening since we departed ways three years ago.  Naturally, the conversation threaded to classes and what they were learning.  What I love about talking with kids is their natural curiosity and honesty.  One of them asked me if I ever had to memorize all the countries in Europe, Africa or Asia.  I had to admit that I couldn’t remember if I had.  The other tagged on and asked if I remembered anything I was ever asked to memorize, just for the sake of memorizing.  I can barely remember what I did on Friday night much less pull into the banks of my memory to remember those things.  Their point was that they were dissatisfied with most of their learning because they weren’t learning to think, they were learning to memorize, take a test and forget.  Fair enough.  I had my share of those teachers through my career and those are the lessons that quickly faded.  The ones I still remember are the lessons from teachers who brought the learning alive with their passion and questions that forced me to think.  I was pretty lucky to have my fair share of incredible history teachers in HS who never asked us to memorize countries but brought history alive and made it relevant to where we were at in that point of time.  I learned dates and countries because they were woven through really great lessons and I was interested, not because I was told I had to and then pass the test.  Thinking about them now, that’s initially what made me want to become a history teacher.

I’ve attached an article titled “Is Your Lesson a Grecian Urn”.  Fair warning that it’s a bit lengthy but well worth the read.  It was fitting to read that article this weekend only to run into my former middle school kids who reminded me about how it’s easy to get lost in the weeds when writing and planning lessons.  We want it to be engaging and fun and relevant and it’s easy to get lost in the engaging and fun aspect but lose relevance and purpose.  This excerpt from the article made a good point:

"It could be argued that all lessons have some educational value, that any kind of reading and writing, manipulating materials and words, interaction with peers, and exposure to the world in general offer opportunities for learning. With that in mind, think of “Grecian Urn” as more of a relative term than an absolute one: Few lessons will be pure Grecian Urns; almost any lesson will probably have some arguable educational value. Far more lessons will simply contain elements that are Grecian Urn-ish; we can make these lessons better if we try to minimize those elements.

The best way to identify a Grecian Urn is to look at a task and ask this question: Does it consume far more of a student’s time than is reasonable in relation to its academic impact? If students spend more time on work that will not move them forward in the skill you think you are teaching, then it may be a Grecian Urn. And it may need to go."

As we continue to think about the learning that we are leading in our classrooms, evaluating the Grecian Urns will be a vital component in order to ensure that kids are thinking and learning the skills and applying not just in our classrooms but outside in the world.

SLT Mtg, 10/21:

The focus of our SLT meeting this week will be on DREAMING.  We are in a great position to reimagine how we want our classes to look with the upcoming 6-8 shift.  What we will be talking about are classes we would like to see offered for our kids and what that would look like.  What we will NOT be talking about are construction details with the addition or staffing.  Why won’t we be talking about those things?  We simply don’t have enough time to address all the questions about the construction of the addition and those will be addressed as the Director of Construction, Rob, schedules those meetings.  Also, I don’t have all the answers to the many questions.  Staffing will be discussed later as well when there are more solid numbers and details released. 

If you plan on attending this meeting, please be prepared to dream, share ideas with each other and talk about what we want to see happen for our kids.

NJHS Induction, 10/21:

On Monday night at 7pm, we will induct our first class of students to the National Junior Honor Society.  Please feel free to join us in the auditorium if you are able!  Thank you to Terrie Hobold, Christy Burton, Stacey Hill and Jessica Greenberg (our sponsors) for all their work in launching the NJHS and planning the induction ceremony.  Your work is much appreciated!

Picture Retake, 10/23:

Picture retake will be on Wednesday through SS classes.  Students who missed taking a picture or want a retake will have the opportunity to take their pictures in the library.

If you missed your picture, you will also need to come down to.  The photographers will be ready to take your picture at 8:00am in the library if you want to come down early and get it out of the way.  Otherwise, they will be here until 2:30pm so you can come down during your plan, team or lunch.

OUTS for the Week:

·       Aimee, Mike and Grace will be out on Monday from 7:45-9:45am for payroll training at CO

·       Aimee, Mike and Grace will be out on Thursday from 7:45-9:45am for book club mtg at CO

Have a great week!

With gratitude,
Grace