Focus on the Fabulous
Our students are the foundational element of all four of our Core Beliefs. Everything we do in Center is centered on our students. We are all working hard to ensure that our students are receiving the best education possible. I have been so impressed with the coordinated efforts at the middle school and the willingness everybody has had to work together so that we are sure that we are providing our students with the support necessary so that they can achieve at high levels!
As I reviewed lesson plans for the week, and dropped into a number of classrooms, it’s very apparent that our teachers are taking the time with lesson preparation to ensure quality instruction on a daily basis. Wednesday morning I had the chance to get into a number of classrooms. I started in Mr. Vigil’s room. Students were reading quietly as part of their bell ringer activity. I have seen so many teachers working hard to incorporate reading into their daily lessons. Schmoker, in Results Now, talks about the need to be intentional about scheduling reading time into daily activities. I see my teachers doing that on a daily basis! Mr. Vigil also had students referencing their notes from the previous lesson. The middle school has definitely focused efforts this first nine weeks on effective note taking strategies. This is one of the highly effective McRel strategies and I see it being used across the board in all classes! Next, I headed to Mr. Koerber’s room and had the pleasure of seeing him work with our ESL students. He is doing a great job incorporating academic vocabulary into daily instruction. He was working with kids on creating a web of the different figures of speech. He then had kids practice identifying figures of speech through a Fan and Pick activity. Mr. Koerber’s has been a great addition to our staff. He challenges students with the level of rigor, but supports them so that they can be successful.
These are just two examples of the great stuff we have going on at Skoglund! All of our teachers are committed to excellence. I’m so proud to be a part of this team and can’t wait to get into more classrooms this week! Way to go staff!!
As I reviewed lesson plans for the week, and dropped into a number of classrooms, it’s very apparent that our teachers are taking the time with lesson preparation to ensure quality instruction on a daily basis. Wednesday morning I had the chance to get into a number of classrooms. I started in Mr. Vigil’s room. Students were reading quietly as part of their bell ringer activity. I have seen so many teachers working hard to incorporate reading into their daily lessons. Schmoker, in Results Now, talks about the need to be intentional about scheduling reading time into daily activities. I see my teachers doing that on a daily basis! Mr. Vigil also had students referencing their notes from the previous lesson. The middle school has definitely focused efforts this first nine weeks on effective note taking strategies. This is one of the highly effective McRel strategies and I see it being used across the board in all classes! Next, I headed to Mr. Koerber’s room and had the pleasure of seeing him work with our ESL students. He is doing a great job incorporating academic vocabulary into daily instruction. He was working with kids on creating a web of the different figures of speech. He then had kids practice identifying figures of speech through a Fan and Pick activity. Mr. Koerber’s has been a great addition to our staff. He challenges students with the level of rigor, but supports them so that they can be successful.
These are just two examples of the great stuff we have going on at Skoglund! All of our teachers are committed to excellence. I’m so proud to be a part of this team and can’t wait to get into more classrooms this week! Way to go staff!!
Rewind
This past week I had several meetings outside the building. Tuesday, I spent part of the morning at BOCES, discussing our participation in the Race to the Top of the Valley. Our volleyball team had a game in Monte that afternoon. Thursday morning I met again at BOCES to discuss SB 191 implementation with the Colorado Legacy Foundation. That afternoon we interviewed possible candidates for the Parent Engagement Coordinator. Our middle school football team beat Centauri at home and we hosted Alamosa in volleyball. I drove to Breckenridge that evening to participate in Leadership in Action conference on Friday. We discussed Colorado’s implementation of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports.
Fast Forward- Focus
Our LA teachers will be administering the first round of writing assessments on Monday. We have our state inspection of the science rooms on Tuesday. Our middle school volleyball team will be hosting Centennial that afternoon and our cross country team will be traveling to South Fork for their meet. Wednesday morning I will be conducting an observation for my HGP 316 class in Alamosa. I have an AD meeting at noon in Alamosa as well. That afternoon, I will be meeting with Lori to further plans for using the NWEA Skills Pointer program in our after school tutoring program. Thursday afternoon our football team will be playing in Monte and our volleyball girls will be heading to Del Norte.