WMS - Weekly Wauna Know

January 15, 2024

UPCOMING DATES TO PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR

January 22 - No School Staff Work Day

January 23 - Future Freshman Night 6pm-7pm, HS PAC

January 25 - Future Problem Solvers 7:30am Band Room

January 29 - FFA Meeting, Mrs. Puntney's classroom

January 29 - Jazz Band Rehearsal 6pm-7:30pm, Music Suite

January 30 - Yearbook Meeting 7:30am Rm 221

Grading Window for 2nd Quarter/1st Semester

The Grading Window for 2nd Quarter, 1st Semester will open on Wednesday, January 17, and will close on Wednesday, January 24. The last day of the Quarter/Semester is Friday, January 19.

Spotlight on PLC

The PLC Committee started the year with a framework for effective lesson planning to accelerate student growth. As a reminder, that framework was:

Greeting students at the door (one warm part of a warm-demander classroom)
Learning Objectives for the day displayed for students to see and use
SEL Skill of Focus for the day
Engagement Task(s) during the period
Check for understanding

For many of us, goals for 2024 are at the top of our minds in the form of intentions and resolutions. Interestingly, we use a similar system to the framework above to tackle small and large goals in our personal life. We get oriented with the right attitude (greeting ourselves where we are), we set a goal and decide the building blocks to get there (objectives), we behave ourselves and resist self-sabotage (SEL skill), we do the work (engagement task), and we measure our progress (check for understanding). It is full circle, isn’t it?

Circling back, in order for our students to measure progress toward their learning goals, or for staff to measure students’ progress toward learning goals, we need to have clear learning objectives that can be measured objectively. What does that mean?

For starters, you could check out this newsletter for tips on how to write effective learning objectives at the lesson level. Don’t feel like digging in that far? Here is a primer:

Break down the unit goal, learning, project, essay, etc. into its component parts
Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to identify the depth of knowledge your students will need for the topic of the day. Use the action verbs that are listed in the taxonomy itself!

Avoid ambiguous and unmeasurable verbs like understand
Check out this excellent ELA example that links depths of knowledge to Bloom’s Taxonomy and provides action verbs for each level

Decide how you will objectively measure the knowledge or skill

For example, what is your criteria for mastery for a student demonstrating a skill

Pro-level : Have students measure themselves against the objective and discuss it
Use your objective measurement to plan interventions and extensions for your students!

Classroom as well as personal objectives aren’t written to satisfy obligations. They are written to be used. They tell us where we are on the journey of learning a particular skill or topic, or accomplishing a goal. They help us identify whether or not we hit the mark. They help us to plan support and extension. They help us celebrate the small wins along the way.

Coaches Corner

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Learning Partnerships

It’s that time of the year when we find ourselves looking at the 3rd quarter. I’m not sure if the year is moving as quickly for you as it is for me, but I can’t believe it is mid-January.

Most of you fill out a coaching survey at the beginning of each year, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of you for the past five years, whether you are new to our building or a veteran staff. You are what makes this position so fruitful. I don’t know if you realize how much I learn from all of you on a continual basis - but it definitely fills my professional bucket. So, thank you. I’m including a link to the coaching menu. This is a reminder of some of the possible ways that we could work together.

I’m also including a “hot button” each week. This will lead you to a Google form where you can request support. It’s quick and easy. When you fill it out, I’ll get an email notification and will get in touch with you and set up a time to chat. Please feel free to use it any time.

January Wordle Fun

WMS i-Ready Data from 1/1-1/7

Below is a snapshot of some i-Ready instructional data from the whole school

Upper left is the percentage of lessons passed as a school by subject. Alerts will show up in the i-Ready dashboard if a student is not passing the same lesson topic multiple times.
Lower left is the total time and lessons passed as a school so far this school year, let’s see how big we can get them this year (could be fun to show your homeroom)!
Right side is a quick graph of how many students met their minutes goal for a previous week (i-Ready sees the best growth if students are above 30 minutes per subject per week). These percentages were calculated in a new way to more accurately reflect the percentage of students meeting goal minutes.

Staff Shout-Outs

Shout out to…

Zach Holler consistently brings a smile to many staff and student faces with his jokes and lightheartedness.

Claudia Bright thank you for all of the planning that you have done for 8th grade. Also, thank you for setting up our cooking day! I appreciate all you do!

Katie Barber goes above and beyond getting specialized training to help SPED staff in any and all situations. She is positive, friendly and continually helpful. She is a true asset to our school!

Jason Kaltenberg, Sallie Piotrowski, Autumn Pedersen outstanding job announcing and facilitating the spelling bee. The spelling bee had many parents/family members attend, and it was a welcoming environment for visitors. Additionally, Jason, Sallie, and Autumn did a fantastic job reading the words and verifying the correct spelling. When students exited the Bee after a misspelled word, they were greeted with a smile and congratulated for their efforts. It was such a positive experience for both participants and spectators.

Steph Boegh thank you for having a welcoming room to not only students but staff as well. I really appreciate your kindness.

Kyle Miller for going between 3 different buildings (Grades 5-12) each day with a positive attitude, connecting really well with all types of students, and adding a lot to the growth of our school culture!

Renee Furrer goes out of her way to show kindness, patience, and empathy toward staff and students. I can always rely on her kind and caring conversation when I am feeling stressed. She models how we should all interact with each other!

Emily Endres does an outstanding job conducting IEP meetings! She communicates effectively and involves all participants for the good of the student. Somehow she manages to be thorough and efficient at the same time. We are so fortunate to have Emily at the middle school!

Breydis Slinger-Sevilla has modified many of the science assignments specifically for each student. I am amazed at the variety of assignments the EL students have, all made by Breydis to help each student be successful. Thank you for your great work!

Ethan Edwards is always willing to try something new and is willing to adjust on the fly. He also has the best quips he interjects in his delivery. :-)

The ELA team has been working their tails off with the duo pilot this year. They have been putting in hours of work getting to know the ins and outs of two new resources including the digital platforms, assessments, reporting apps, new texts, the list goes on. They continue to model grit and perseverance every day!

Holiday Light and Cord Recycling Drive

As you are cleaning and organizing after the holidays, please keep in mind our cord drive, which runs through the end of January. This includes Christmas lights, phone chargers, and any other electrical cords (leave plugs on).

The cords can be in ANY condition. They are recycled and WNC gets money per pound for each type of wire. The proceeds are then used to support WNC programs and clients...AND we keep the non-renewable resources out of our landfills! Bins are located by the front office at each school.

Thanks for considering!

Bingo Numbers for This Week

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BINGO

Each week you will receive 2 numbers. When you get a regular bingo (across, down, or diagonal) bring your card to the office for a prize. Look for your card in your mailbox. Good Luck.

Congratulations to our Bingo winners:

Bonnie Helt

Jonathon Wild

Cathy Keenan

Cindy Adams

Jess Spicer

Briana Thibo

Terri Miller

Mike Zibell

Lynn Miller

Ty Jury

Scott Nesbitt

Rachel Zarzyski

Jessica North

This week's numbers:

N 36, I 27

AM/PM SUPERVISION

AM/PM Supervision Reminder - Week of 1/16-1/19

Jones-- AM**Flagpole - Direct students to the playground

North ----AM**Bus Loop - Direct students to go to the back of the school to enter

Cornelio--- AM**West Door #7 OR Entryway outside Gym (inclement or cold weather days)

Wagner-Marx--AM **West Door #7 OR Entryway outside Gym (inclement or cold weather days)

Steck---AM**West Door #6 OR Cafe (inclement or cold weather days)

Burgess--- AM**West Door #6 OR Cafe (inclement or cold weather days)

Walter --PM**Bike Racks

Stachour--- PM**Bus Loop (near where the second to last bus lines up)

Wild---PM**Bus Loop (near the fire hydrant)

Pokrass--- PM**Flagpole (outside the main entrance)

Please Submit Pictures For Our Yearbook

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Did you take a Great Picture? We'd Love to Use it in our Yearbook!

Attention Teachers,

If you are taking pictures of students in your classroom or attending school events and have a great picture, please use this QR Code to submit them to us for review and possibly use in our yearbook! We'd greatly appreciate it! Submit photos via the QR code or clicking on this link.

TEACHER CHALLENGE

90 DAY CHALLENGE

Please fill out this form each time you visit a colleagues classroom! Thanks for taking part in promoting a culture of learning for staff and students!