This Week at LPHS, May 27 - 31

Hello All,

I hope you've enjoyed your Memorial Weekend.  We don't have a ton going on this week, except for our seniors. 

Please remember, as you go through the review process for final exams, etc. that this is a perfect opportunity to practice your small group instruction skills and getting students the specific instruction that they need.  Reviews also should not be a week long process.

Wednesday:

* Senior Finals, hours 4, 5 and 6.  Dismissal at 2:45 for all students

Thursday:

* Senior Finals, hours 1, 2 and 3.  Dismissal at 11:00 for all seniors

* Happy Birthday, Heather Martin!

Have a great week!

Trauma Informed Care for the week of 5/27

Summer Self-Care for Teachers: How to Relax, Recover, and Prepare for Fall

By Monica Fuglei

The last day of school is always bittersweet: Saying goodbye to students can be tough but usually, teachers are so exhausted when summer comes around that they need some time to recover. As you prepare to close up shop for the summer, consider these five summertime tips for relaxing, recovering and preparing for fall.

Before you go: Take note

You don’t have to plan everything for next year before summer break, but make notes of major schedule changes, units or individual activities that can be improved or that went particularly well, and create a fall to-do list.

Many of these critiques or changes are fresh in your mind in April or May — when you have little energy or time to modify them — but fade into the background by August. Without a list, the work required to recapture necessary lesson changes eats up precious fall prep time. A good set of notes and goals before you leave will make for an easier August. It also allows you to set one or two distinct summertime goals and keep them separate from your fall-prep workload.

Take care of you

Teachers need to take a mental as well as a physical break during the summer.Hectic school year schedules mean that a variety of personal necessities get set aside, often including teachers’ own health and wellness. Whether you schedule annual eye or physical appointments or develop healthy habits that can last through the school year, take some time to take stock of your physical needs. A more open summer schedule is an opportunity to do the things you’ve put off.

Better yet, get out and play. Long days of teaching, planning, and grading get in the way of a nature hike or a game of disc golf, but summer break is just the time to engage in this kind of fun. Remember: Teachers need recess as much as the kids, so take advantage of the time in front of you. Rec centers and community education programs often offer short classes in the summer. Consider shedding the teacher role and becoming a student in something fun.

Fill the well

Being an educator is mentally as well as physically exhausting. In addition to taking care of your physical self, take time to fill your mental well. For some, this means continued pedagogical training, research, and professional development, but for others, it means reading a good book in the sun.

Don’t just fill your summer to-do list with tasks put off during the school year — make sure to give yourself break time to fill that intellectual well. Between podcasts, YouTube channels, and summer book lists, there is a wealth of intellectual exploration at the ready. Giving yourself time to be a curious student of the world will pay off when you return to the classroom. And besides, students will love to hear stories about what you discovered over the summer.

Get ahead

Many teachers do professional development over the summer because there’s so little time for it during the jam-packed school year.

Whether it’s formal through your district or a university, or through informal online tweetchats and message boards, participating in professional development can help recharge you over summer break. Ensuring that you are surrounded by people who also love to teach and armed with new ideas to implement in the fall, these conferences, workshops and social media discussions can really help reignite the passion for teaching when you’re feeling the most burnt out.

Shut down, unplug, reboot

Teaching is a calling, not just a profession, which makes it difficult to step away. To fight exhaustion and burnout, consider trying to step out of the teacher mindset entirely for a short while. Whether that be through a vacation, technology break, or some good fiction, this doesn’t have to last for the entire summer. Even a week or two of total cut-off from the teaching life will help recharge your excitement and energy for fall.

Getting away from computers, email, and your daily school-year habits can be tough, but it will help you reconnect with yourself and your family. Take the time to nap, sleep in and enjoy the benefits of your vacation. Before you know it, you’ll be back in the classroom going over to-do lists and getting ready for another meaningful school year.

Source: education.cu-portland.edu

Trauma Informed Article of the Week, May 20

3 Reminders For the End of the School Year

By George Couros

The end of the year can be a stressful time for educators, both work wise and emotionally.  As a principal and teacher, there was always this “I forgot to pack something for my trip” anxiety that I had at the end of the year. What did I forget to do? What needs to be done?  What am I missing?  Add that to a million things teachers seemingly have to do during that time; it is a tough time of year.

As you go into the end of the year and have that break, here are a few little reminders:

1. Not all students look forward to the summer break. Although many students celebrate summer vacation, some miss the routine of school and the relationships that school provides that they may not receive to the same extent elsewhere.  That time away from the routine can be daunting so try to check in with students to give them some extra attention before they get into the break.  This leads into the next suggestion.

2. Find time to connect personally with each student you teach. For many schools, the end of the year means “awards season” (I have some strong thoughts about that), and although some students feel they get some special recognition, for many, this time leaves them dispirited.  Little conversations with students to let them know they are appreciated can make a huge difference. I still remember in grade 4, as a student, our teacher Miss Butler, wrote a personal note to every single student in her class, that I can still remember to this day.  I had won some awards as a student, but I have cherished nothing more than I did that genuine show of appreciation.  That was the only time I had received something like that as a student, but it shouldn’t be an anomaly.  Writing cards for every student, which would be especially hard in high school, is not necessarily the only way this can be done, so take the time to show that appreciation.  Some may see this as a waste of time, but I see it as an investment into your students. You might not see the payoff, but believe me, it will happen.

3. It is okay for you to take a break. I always see tweets or Facebook posts getting on educators for looking forward to summer break.  Things like, “don’t look it as 20 days until the break, but 20 days to make a difference,” are fantastic in spirit, but they already add to the pile of teacher guilt that so many have.  I don’t see any profession guilt people for having a break more than I do in education.  People always need doctors, but rarely do I see Facebook posts guilting them about holidays.  Maybe we can see it as 20 days to make a difference AND until you have a break. Education is taxing emotionally, mentally, and even physically.  If you do not practice self-care, eventually, there will be nothing left for you or your students in the future.  Spend time with family, do fun things, or whatever. Just be okay with recharging batteries. I promise you that the students at the beginning of next school year will need you at 100%.

Source: georgecouros.ca/blog

This week at LPHS, May 20-26

Hello all,

I hope you've had a great weekend.  Please look below for information on the week ahead.  Also, when I did the two minute drill last week, I neglected to include School Related Absences as absences that do not count against students for the finals incentive.  If you could please relay that information to students, I would appreciate it. 

Monday:

* Mindfulness Monday Activity

Tuesday:

* Early Release, Staff Meeting starts at 1:55 in LPHS Media Center, Dismissal at 3:45

Wednesday:

* Student Auction Work Day

Thursday:

*Student Council Blood Drive

Friday:

* Fire Drill, 10:00 am


Have a great week!  4 weeks (19 days) left! 

This Week at LPHS, May 13 - 19

Happy Mother's Day to all of the incredible moms that I am proud to call colleagues.  I hope that you are all able to spend some quality time with the ones you loved this weekend! 

Thank you to all who volunteered their time on Friday evening to help out with Prom.  It was a great success and is always a great evening for our students because of your dedication.  As always, Ms. Bodary put on a great party!


Please check below for the week ahead:

Monday:

* Mindfulness Monday Activity

Tuesday:

* PSP Meeting, 2:45 in LPHS Media Center - We will start with a brief meeting and then you will have time to complete a PSP with your teaching partners on a recently given local assessment.

* LPEA Meeting, LPHS Media Center - LPEA plans to hold a meeting in the media center immediately following the conclusion of our PSP meeting, which should take place at 3:45.

Wednesday:

* Happy Birthday, Laura Arquette and Carrie Valchine! 

Thursday:

* BTN Meeting, 7:10 in the LPHS Media Center conference room

* 9:00, Truancy Meetings - As we continue efforts to address the attendance issues that some of our students have, and in order to make it as efficient as possible, representatives from the Wayne County Juvenile Court will be here to meet with some of our students.  They will be called down individually as needed, will be receiving assessments in order to figure out which services are most necessary to improve their attendance, and then will be meeting with the court official to determine what is next for them.  I appreciate your patience and understanding as we call these students down.  They will report to room 144 for these meetings. 

* Happy Birthday, Stephanie Steffer! 

Friday:

* SST Meeting, 1:00 in LPHS Media Center Conference Room

Finally, as the school year winds down and it becomes more difficult to capture some students' (and staff members') attention, it is a great time to work on purposeful, small group instruction.  A reminder that the district's expectation (not suggestion) is that this is taking place in your classroom 65% of the time.  Now is the time to hone your skills so that you can start next school year on the right track! 

Have a great week! We only have 5 weeks and 24 days left, how will you make the most of it with your students?

This Week at LPHS, May 6 - 12

Good Evening,

I hope that you all have had a great weekend and had an opportunity to spend some time outdoors!  It sure has been a great change of pace, weather-wise!

We do not have a ton going on this week.  As I stated last week, if you are interested in offering times for your next observation to show off strategies in the many areas we have been focusing on (small group instruction, student engagement, opportunities to respond, etc.), please reach out to the admin that is doing your evaluation.

I will be out of the building for a good chunk of this week.  Per the admin responsibility chart, Mr. McKenzie will be filling in during my absence.  For the majority of my absence, I will be reachable by email or text, but please be patient with me.

Monday:

* Mindfulness Monday Activity

Tuesday:

* Early Release, details on where your meetings will be held to be emailed out by the end of the day on Monday.  Dismissal from meetings will be at 2:45.

Wednesday:

* Happy Birthday, Sgt. Fluharty

Friday:

* Fire Drill, 2:00

* Prom at Arnaldos, 6:00 pm

* Happy Birthday, Mike Kish! (I hear it's a big one!)

Saturday: 

* Happy Birthday, Ann Shannon! 

Sunday:

* Happy Birthday, Joe Szypula! 

Have a great week! 6 Weeks Left!

Trauma Informed Article of the Week, May 6, 2019

4 Proven Strategies for Teaching Empathy

By Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy has the capacity to transform individual lives for the better while helping to bring about positive social change in schools and communities worldwide. In psychology, there are currently two common approaches to empathy: shared emotional response and perspective taking.

Shared emotional response, or affective empathy, occurs when an individual shares another person’s emotions. Perspective taking, also known as cognitive empathy, occurs when a person is able to imagine herself in the situation of another.

Here are some strategies our graduates around the world use with their students to help develop both affective and cognitive empathy.

MODELING
Teachers can be role models who, by example, show students the power of empathy in relationships. It is the teacher who leads individuals to care for the feelings of the others in class. As teachers model how to be positive when learning, students mirror optimistic and confident learning behaviors.

TEACHING POINT OF VIEW
We use the numbers 6 and 9 to teach students about different points of view. First, have students look at the number 6 and then the number 9. Explain to students that the idea for this exercise came from an old Middle Eastern legend in which two princes were at war for many years. One prince looked at the image on the table and said it was a 6, while the other prince said it was a 9. For years the battle raged, and then one day when the princes were seated at the table a young boy turned the tablecloth around, and for the first time, they could see the other’s point of view. The war came to an end, and the princes became firm friends.

Illustrate with an example from your own life in which something similar has happened in terms of you arguing with somebody simply because they had a different point of view.

Ask students to break into small groups and discuss how important it is to understand that many people disagree with us simply because they have a different point of view. Debrief the student comments.

USING LITERATURE TO TEACH DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
In the classroom, literature can be used to help students see a situation from different perspectives. For example, everyone knows the story “The Three Little Pigs.” We sympathize with the pigs because we see the wolf as a ravenous villain, but is it possible to see the story from the wolf’s point of view? That’s exactly what Jon Scieszka undertakes in his book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. In this humorous retelling, the wolf didn’t huff and puff to blow the pigs’ houses down; instead he suffered from a terrible allergy and, when stopping by to borrow a cup of sugar, accidentally blew the houses down with a big and powerful sneeze.

LISTENING ACTIVELY TO OTHERS
One of the most common obstacles to empathic relationships is that effective listening is difficult, and often individuals don’t listen to one another in conversation. We designed the HEAR strategy to help students recognize and block out that noise as they devote their attention to listening to one another. The HEAR strategy consists of these steps:

Halt: Stop whatever else you are doing, end your internal dialogue on other thoughts, and free your mind to give the speaker your attention.

Engage: Focus on the speaker. We suggest a physical component, such as turning your head slightly so that your right ear is toward the speaker as a reminder to be engaged solely in listening.

Anticipate: By looking forward to what the speaker has to say, you are acknowledging that you will likely learn something new and interesting, which will enhance your motivation to listen.

Replay: Think about what the speaker is saying. Analyze and paraphrase it in your mind or in discussion with the speaker and other classmates. Replaying and dialoguing the information you have heard will aid in understanding what the speaker is attempting to convey.

BEING METACOGNITIVE ABOUT ONE’S STATE OF EMPATHY
Be aware of your feelings and thoughts about your ability to understand and share in the feelings of others. With metacognitive awareness, we can all become more effective at taking another’s perspective throughout our lives.

When we encourage students to become more empathic, we help them create more opportunities for success in school and other aspects of their lives. This valuable skill deserves more of our attention.

Source: edutopia.org