Monday Memo

The Cheshire Cat, of Alice in Wonderland fame couldn't beat the smiles coming out of Ms. Schwieren's classroom after students who their first time had just missed the OAKS cutoff score were showing their pearly whites when I entered the room and were flashing their scores of plus 13, plus 10, plus 8, etc, and one young lady said, "Thank you so much for believing in us. Thank you for thinking we could pass the test!" Another student said, "We stared down the test....and the test blinked!" My comment was simply...."You are darn right I believe in you and better yet, your teachers at Hines believe in you!"  It was outstanding to see those children, and brought another cheshire smile to my face, who had their extra outside time as they were running, laughing and playing and I viewed them while talking on the phone with Dr. McBride about our OAKS scores. These moments are moments that I cherish from my three years as principal at Hines Middle School. As I typed in my Monday Morning Memo to staff at HMS years ago, "I want to thank each of you so much for your work with students on OAKS. It has been fun to see Mrs. Palmer come from the library with a smile on her face and more passing OAKS scores each day. Let's keep up our hard work and focus on our goal: PASS THE TEST!" 

It is testing season all across our nation and whether at Hines Middle School, Crane Elementary or any of our great rural schools...our students can do it. PASS OAKS....PASS Smarter Balanced!

On another note, the snow is finally gone (I hope!), finally melted, the sun has come out and we've passed Spring Break (a much-needed reprieve for many). I know this can be a challenging time for us, as both students and staff get spring fever. We have been working hard for 6 1/2 months and we're getting closer to the last quarter of the school year. 

Now is when we must do our best work. The cliche of "it's not how you start, but how you finish" or "school year is like a marathon" can be so true! We must finish strong and carry out our momentum until Spring Break and then go back at it again until the end of the school year. This might be my very favorite time of year. While tired or "low on gas", much like Michigan State basketball Head Coach Tom Izzo, I find myself "fine on fuel!"  

Keep in mind that the more you stray from your classroom routine/schedule, the more crazy your students will get. If you keep focused, they will follow your lead. You control the climate in your room.

Feeling like Spring Fever is getting the best of you? Here are a few quick reads to help you:
10 Ways Happy People Choose Happiness
20 Teacher Tips for Beating Fatigue
10 Ways to be a Great Teacher

April 17-Science Assessment creation Slater Elementary and BHS

April 21-22 ORRTI Spring Conference

April 24-25 Number Sense 

April 27-ORRTI in Mitchell

April 30-May 1--Kevin Feldman Learning Walk and Training

May 1-Achievement Compact Report to Boards (https://district.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=235)

May 7--WebEx: Editing/validating assessment data for Accountability reporting                        https://district.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=236

May 9-NGSS Training

May 14--County-wide Spelling Bee at Harney ESD (cancelled due to lack of participation)

May 15--Teacher Voice & Aspirations @ BHS 
May 26-Tentative window to order Kindergarten student and assessor test booklets in OAKS TIDE; If school is out and staff are gone by this time- let ESD Partner know how many you need and when