Easing the Transition for Our Students

 Easing the Transition for Our Students 

Wow! What an exceptionally long break! Many of our students have probably had minimal socialization with peers since mid-December. You may want to think about some welcome back activities that give students an opportunity to share their winter break experiences and can incorporate some social skill development. Think of some questions and prompts you can use that will work for all students. While avoiding religious questions and avoiding celebration-centric questions, some question stems might focus on the whacky weather, favorite activities of break, level of excitement to return to school, etc. Even better, get your students involved in developing culturally responsive questions! 

 

Spending some time on activities like this allow students to reconnect, share and learn and spur excitement for the remainder of the year. 

 

For some students the extended break will make it harder for them to get back to the school routine. I know last week, I had trouble committing myself to work full days both because it was tough getting back on track and because the possibility of a snow day. But, I’m reminded of my work at a special education boarding school as well. The weeks before and after breaks were always the most challenging because the students’ school day was highly regimental with a strict schedule from 6:00am-10:00pm. After extended time with family, having unscheduled days--especially no scheduled bedtimes--many students were sad, angry and unfocused upon returning to school. By refocusing students on routines and reassuring them with positive messages, excitement and encouragement, we were able to make their transition back better. A reassuring message such as, “I know it’s hard to get back into the school flow after having 3 weeks off. I’m excited that we’re back together!” Of course, sharing your own challenges is also a great strategy. 

 

Refocus: Social Emotional Learning and Culturally Responsive Teaching

 

Social emotional learning and culturally responsive education go hand-in-hand. Separately, each is important, but together they enable us to ensure productive futures for each of our students. Over the break, I communicated with several former students. And you know what, I didn’t care whether they remembered anything from my class or whether they went to college or not. The ONLY thing that concerned me was were they happy. 

 

And it pained me when I realized that some of my former students were not truly happy. 

 

Social emotional learning and culturally responsive teaching compliment each other, deepening our understanding of the world around us and ourselves. SEL encourages students to look within, reflect and provides them the tools to regulate emotions and make sound decisions. So when one of the “unhappy” former students told a story of being fired for telling his boss off, it was pretty apparent that his emotions got the best of him. 

 

Incorporating SEL in our classrooms promotes student voice and strengthens student-teacher partnerships, two hallmarks of culturally responsive teaching. SEL opens the door for conversations and actions to ensure equity and inclusion. Only when all students feel welcomed and are fully able to openly express and participate will we reach each student. Both SEL and CRT bring awareness to who we are, where we come from and what makes us unique. Having this understanding ourselves opens the door to better understanding others. These difficult conversations require not just empathetic listening but also other social skills such as managing emotions. 

 

If we desire HAPPINESS, we can make actual progress in equity and empowering ourselves and our students through culturally responsive teaching and social emotional learning. By teaching the whole child, we will create open lines of communication and have difficult conversations to ensure productive and happy futures for our students. 

Tasks and Information

ADP Registration: As part of the transition to biweekly pay you should have received an email ADP User Registration. Please follow the instructions to complete this process. For more https://compass.k12albemarle.org/?p=2340272 

 

Timecard changes and reminders (these are county-wide) For more information https://compass.k12albemarle.org/?p=2340275 

  1. Timecards must now be completed/approved by Friday afternoon. I must approve them by Monday at 1pm. 
  2. Leave and time off must be entered in Kronos and Frontline (teachers)
  3. Timecards can now be viewed by pay cycle/period 
  4. Teachers: 
    1. Timecards will no longer have a schedule for each week.  In a week without any leave, teacher timecards and totals tab will be entirely blank. 
    2. Approved leave will appear on your timecard.
    3. Leave requests must include the start and end dates, paycode, daily amount (number of hours to equal a full day of leave), and start time. The default start time is 8:00, but that can be changed.

 

See Lynn’s email regarding our CRT work. 

 

Tuesday’s and Thursday’s faculty meetings/PLCs will focus on use on Nearpod expectations and integration. Please see Willy’s email for more information. 

Elementary Announcements 

 

Monday: https://youtu.be/i6VZecgEYwY 

Tuesday: https://youtu.be/O_CoHKsKG2I 

Wednesday: https://youtu.be/SDdT42dDUvA 

Thursday:  http://youtu.be/dbYF0vZ_W6k?hd=1  

Friday: https://youtu.be/p991Kx_jPfM 

 

Middle School Advisory Lessons 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15TV1Vdciw8ABl3SZEj_DeedtHpWRcoTZ2tI9wZJGPMY/edit?usp=sharing  

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