November 30 - December 4

  D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

A huge thank you to all who helped deliver food last Monday - especially Erin and Todd for the organization of it - One of the coolest things we do as a staff!

A shout out to the Student council for their fundraising efforts for the new Everest Elevates tutoring program. Happy to get a pie in the face for a good cause!

Curriculum and Instruction

I found this article timely this weekend as I was engaged in this very conversation with three teachers this past week.  Living in this new world is definitely a learning experience for all of us. If you have some reflective wisdom from this Fall that you would be willing to share with the whole staff please pass it along to me. I would be happy to highlight some of the successes or things learned from failing forward.  

Thank you for all that you do! We will keep growing together.

Formative and Summative Assessment in a Hybrid Classroom

Getting a true sense of students’ learning and discouraging cheating is tough when some students are in the room and some are at home, but it can be done.

By Kasey Short
November 23, 2020

Rachel Wisniewski / Alamy

Since August, I’ve taught in a hybrid model where I synchronously teach students in person and remotely, including some students who are remote every day. This arrangement has created significant challenges in terms of assessment.

When students are at home, I can’t walk around and spot-check their work to ensure that they’re on the right track and understand my directions. Some students feel uncomfortable asking questions in front of their classmates no matter the environment, and when they’re remote, it’s not easy to find private opportunities when they can ask questions during an assessment.

Remote learning also increases the potential for students to make dishonest choices. Those who would never have considered cheating before might now be home, getting texts or calls from friends asking for help; they also have access to their phone and other devices.

Through trial and error, I’ve landed on strategies for assessment that work in this radically different and complex teaching environment.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
I’ve designed discussions that get to the heart of what we are learning and invite every student to engage so that I can check their understanding and progress. For example, I provide students with questions the day before the discussion to review so they can write their responses in advance. Then, throughout the live discussion, I alternate between engaging with students in person and students who are remote so that they’re all equally involved.

I keep a running list to ensure that I’m consistently addressing all students. I solicit additional participation from students on their remote days because I am not able to visually check in on their progress and because it’s easier for them to disengage. Remote students have opportunities to answer verbally, in the chat feature or using another digital platform. If the question requires only a few words to answer, I may ask all the remote students to type their response in the chat. To involve both the remote and in-person students, I use Google Jamboard to gather their quick written responses.

I also formatively assess progress on long-term writing assignments by having students share their work via Google Docs; I would normally walk around and read student assignments with them and provide individual feedback, but with Google Docs, I can do that for students in both settings.

To formatively check students’ progress and allow them to check their own understanding, I use Google Jamboard and Padlet, which provide opportunities for students to share open-ended responses, links, and photos while collaborating with each other; these tools also provide me with information about their progress and understanding. With Gimkit, Quizlet Live, and Socrative, students can complete multiple choice and true/false questions and quickly see where they stand; these tools also provide immediate feedback that’s helpful for them and for me.

Finally, in terms of formative assessment, one-on-one check-ins when students are in the physical classroom help me to stay up-to-date on their progress, and if they are exclusively learning remotely, I send emails at least every other week and check in with Google Classroom or Google Meet.

STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES
Self-assessment helps students to develop independence and ownership of their learning, which builds confidence and a sense of their strengths and areas for growth. That self-awareness is even more important in a hybrid model, where students don’t have as many opportunities to informally check in with their teacher and get quick feedback.

Students complete one or more activities about a specific concept to assess their own learning. Here are some of the prompts I use:

• Explain the concept to someone else.
• Make a list of the most important aspects of _____.
• Explain how _____ connects to _____.
• Draw a picture/map/graph/diagram that explains _____.
• Explain information to yourself in the mirror.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
In the hybrid model, I have designed all summative assessments so that students apply and analyze content; students use the text as a reference when completing the assignment. I avoid asking questions that I know have answers that are on the internet or could be easily shared with a friend. For example, if I’m asking about a novel they’re reading, I don’t ask about the plot but rather prompt them to make connections, explain themes, or make comparisons to another book. This approach reduces the opportunity for dishonesty and gives students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned.

All major assessments are given over two days so that students can ask questions in person and work within the structure of a school environment; students who are remote-only can ask questions in advance via Google Meet, in chat, or via email.

With two days, students have ample time to give the assessment their best effort, as our class periods are shorter this year and tasks take longer when students access materials and turn in assessments online. (Anecdotally, I have noticed that on average, students are turning in more detailed and higher quality assignments than ever before.)

Students can showcase their knowledge in different ways if the format of assessments changes throughout the year and if they have agency through choice and voice. When I mix things up, I can also assess which formats are optimal for hybrid instruction.

Extended response: I provide six open-ended questions, and students choose three to answer with a thoughtful response using details and evidence from the text to support their ideas.

Hexagonal thinking: I provide students with 15–25 words about a specific topic. They write those words on hexagons and organize them so that all the sides connect in meaningful ways. Then students choose one central hexagon and explain all six connections to that one hexagon.

Video: Students create a video response to answer their chosen question(s) and present evidence to support their ideas. This format increases engagement and provides an opportunity for students with strong verbal but weak writing skills to shine. It also allows me to hear them talk through their thinking, which I don’t have as many opportunities to do in the hybrid model.

STUDENT FEEDBACK AND REFLECTION
I provide all students with specific and targeted feedback on their performance via Google Classroom comments, personal conversations, or email. After summative assessments, I designate time within my class for them to review digital feedback so that it does not get lost in their email and so that they can ask me questions. Post-assessment student reflection questions include the following:

• Did you feel prepared for the assessment?
• What strategies did you use to prepare for the assessment?
• What would you do the same and what would you improve?
• Do you think the assessment gave you an opportunity to showcase your knowledge of the topic?

Assessment in the hybrid model is challenging; however, it has pushed me to try new approaches that have increased engagement, encouraged critical thinking, and provided students an opportunity to showcase their strengths.

Week Ahead

ELT - Transeo Rollout - On Wednesday, December 2nd (Cohort A) and Thursday, December 3rd, (Cohort B) we will be running an ELT Schedule to rollout Redefining Ready and the Transeo Platform. Students should be reporting to their ELT Homeroom located after their 10 class periods as an activity on their Infinite Campus Schedule. Teachers and students will receive an email from Rose Matthiae on Monday, November 30th with the details to include the video, Transeo login information, and the student assignment to be completed during this ELT.

ELT Student Rosters Completed in IC - The ELT student rosters are completed in IC as an activity.  Please print out your ELT roster for Wednesday and Thursday to see who your students are.  During your classes on Monday and Tuesday, please remind your students to look at their IC to find out where they should be going after period 3 on Wednesday and Thursday.  Please also use your roster to keep track of attendance.  If you need help running your roster or have way too many kids on a specific cohort day, please let Dawn Seehafer know.  

Students need to bring their iPad to ELT on Wednesday and Thursday - Please remind all of your students throughout the day.  Thanks

Important Dates, December:

11/30  Vertical Teaming, 3:15-6pm - Canceled - Enjoy the evening!

1-2      School Pictures taken, Auditorium, All Day 

2-3      Altered Schedule with ELT for an ACP lesson from Rose Matthiae

4         EVA student pictures taken,  Auditorium, 8-12 noon

9         BLT @ 2:50 - Link to follow

16       Faculty Meeting @ 2:50 - Link to follow

23-1    Winter Break

November 23 - 27

  D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

A few pictures from yearbook staff...

Interesting Information

The student services department shared with me the information below. When discussing student behaviors it is always important to remember we must reteach desired behaviors repeatedly.  If you'd like to use it to help your students walk through a self-checklist at some point please do.

Week Ahead

Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving is always a good time to take a moment and offer thanks for all of the good things in your life. This year especially, I am thankful for the amazing staff at DC Everest Senior High School.  I feel extremely blessed to be able to call D.C. Everest my home because of the people who also do the same.  Every person plays a role in making this a great place to learn and work and on this week of thanksgiving - I am extremely thankful.

Food delivery - Thank you to everyone who has signed up to deliver food - Please look for a final email from Erin.  As a reminder, contactless delivery, and staff should all be in separate cars.  Please share any pictures from your time on the road.  

ELT Lists - ELT lists for December 2nd and 3rd will be shared this week - along with the schedule for those two days. Please look for an email from Dawn on Monday or Tuesday.

EAP - Entering Thanksgiving week, it is clear that everyone has been experienced more stress than usual.  We want to make sure we are taking care of each other. If there is anything someone needs please reach out to those in your department, student services, or anyone in the main office. Of course please remember that the district offers the Employee Assistance Program which offers all employees confidential support for a myriad of issues. If needed, please find the link here.

A Sunshine Committee Message:  A sympathy card was sent to Todd and Dawn Bohm for the passing of Todd's dad.

November 16 - 20

  D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

Congratulations to Dani Langseth and Sara Mayer on the signing of their National Letters of Intent this past week to head to Wisconsin and South Dakota, respectively. Check out the news story linked HERE.

Fall Sports wrapped up this past weekend. Recap of the seasons below from Mr. Sekel (Thanks Jim!) - Amazing that we are at this point, we're able to get most of our contests in, and experienced some amazing accomplishments along the way. Thank you to all of the coaches who put in soooooo much time to provide these opportunities for our students!

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

3rd Place WVC Championships (64 Points)

2^nd Place WVC Dual Season (4-1 Overall Record)

WIAA Sectional Team Qualifier

WIAA State Championships Individual Qualifier (Lucas Allen – 68^th)

 

WVC All-Conference

Individual Conference Champion: Lucas Allen

A.J. Appel

Ethan Hanke

 

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

3rd Place WVC Championships (94 Points)

3rd Place WVC Dual Season (2-3 Overall Record)

WIAA Sectional Individual Qualifier (Sara Mlodik)

WIAA State Championships Individual Qualifier (Sara Mlodik – 19^th)

 

WVC All-Conference

Individual Conference Champion: Sara Mlodik

 

FOOTBALL

Valley Football Association Champions (4-0 Conference Record. 4-3 Overall Record).

WIAA Playoff Qualifiers.

 

VFA Individual All-Conference … TBD

 

Ben Adams & Brennan Neitzel … WFCA 2020 Academic All-State Team

 

GIRLS GOLF

3^rd Place WVC Season (13 points)

WIAA Sectional Individual Qualifier: Ashtyn Fernsteadt

 

Honorable Mention WVC

Grace Woodward

Ashtyn Fernsteadt

 

BOYS SOCCER

4^th Place WVC. (5-5-2 Overall Record)

 

First Team WVC

Kyle Jaglinski

 

Second Team WVC

Colin Belton

 

Honorable Mention WVC

Oliver Nazari-Witt

Garrison Peak

Connor Schommer

 

GIRLS SWIMMING

1^st Place WVC Championships (507 Points)

WVC Co-Champs Dual Season (9-1 Overall Record)

WIAA Sectional Runner-Up

 

WVC Swimmer of the Year: Sara Mayer

 

First Team WVC

200 Yard Medley Relay (Lilliana Jensen, Makenna Zoesch, Sara Mayer, Katelin Hall)

200 Yard Freestyle (Sara Mayer)

100 Yard Butterfly (Sara Mayer)

200 Yard Freestyle Relay (Makenna Zoesch, Marisol Swenson, Katelin Hall, Sara Mayer)

 

Second Team WVC

400 Yard Freestyle Relay (Lillianna Jensen, Reagan Frystak, Nevaeh Mathwich, Marisol Swenson)

 

Honorable Mention WVC

200 Yard IM (Marisol Swenson)

50 Yard Freestyle (Katelin Hall)

100 Yard Freestyle (Lillianna Jensen)

100 Yard Backstroke (Navaeh Mathwich)
100 Yard Breaststroke (Marisol Swenson)

 

WIAA State Championships (11^th Place Team)

200 Yard Freestyle (Sara Mayer – 5^th)

100 Yard Butterfly (Sara Mayer – 6^th)

100 Yard Freestyle (Katelin Hall – 16^th)

100 Yard Backstroke (Nevaeh Mathwich – 16^th)

200 Yard Freestyle Relay (Makenna Zoesch, Marisol Swenson, Katelin Hall, Sara Mayer – 6^th)

400 Yard Freestyle Relay (Katelin Hall, Nevaeh Mathwich, Marisol Swenson, Sara Mayer – 11^th)

 

GIRLS TENNIS

6^th Place WVC 

WIAA Sectional Individual Qualifiers (Calista Fuehrer and Ally Zimmerman)

 

First Team WVC

Doubles/Unanimous Selection (Calista Fuehrer and Ally Zimmerman)

 

Honorable Mention WVC

#1 Singles (Ruoyu Chen)

 

VOLLEYBALL

Wisconsin Valley Conference Co-Champions (9-3 Record).

WIAA Regional Champions

 

First Team WVC

Haylee Schmidt

Danni Langseth

 

Second Team WVC

Abby Duffrin

Kiara Hammond

 

Honorable Mention WVC

Alexis Crawford

 

DANCE

Performed at all of the home football games - Competition season is in the Winter.

Curriculum and Instruction

7 Ways to Do Formative Assessments in Your Virtual Classroom

Finding out what your students are really learning remains indispensable to teaching. Here’s what teachers are doing to check for understanding online.

By Nora Fleming
October 1, 2020

Pen-and-paper pop quizzes are no more: thumbs-up/thumbs-down, hand signals, online polls, discussion boards, and chat boxes have become the new mainstays of formative assessments in virtual classrooms.

These quick pulse checks help teachers make sure that students are grasping key concepts—and identify holes in their understanding. “Good teachers in every subject will adjust their teaching based on what students know at each point,” says Vicki Davis, a director of instructional technology in Albany, Georgia, underscoring how crucial ongoing formative assessments are in the classroom.

Teachers don’t need to completely reinvent their traditional formative assessments, however, according to Mike Anderson, an educational consultant in Durham, New Hampshire. He recommends that teachers modify familiar practices—like exit tickets and think-pair-shares—so they work virtually. “Formative assessments might feel harder now in virtual classrooms—you can’t just walk around class and look over a kid’s shoulders—but I’m not sure they have to be harder.”

In fact, many of the popular digital apps and sites like Nearpod, Flipgrid, Padlet, and Seesaw, can actually work in tandem with the tried-and-true assessments that teachers honed in their classes pre-pandemic. Nearpod, for example, enables teachers to embed short quizzes, polls, surveys, and games into a lesson so that teachers can check for understanding before moving on to the next concept.

But don’t go overboard, says Andrew Miller, director of teaching and learning at the Singapore American School, emphasizing that teachers should be careful not to overwhelm students with too many virtual assessments and too many new tools. Focus on two or three tools at most, he recommends, and be sure you always define a clear and differentiated purpose for using each. It’s also important to remember non-tech solutions, like the simple but invaluable one-to-one conversations that can yield information about students’ progress—and their well-being.

“In our distance learning environment, we run the risk of being further isolated. By scheduling individual sessions with students, we can assess their learning and provide feedback with a real human connection,” Miller says.

Here are some different ways that teachers can use formative assessments in the virtual classroom:

1. DIPSTICKS

Like using a dipstick to check the oil in a car, teachers can use short, quick checks virtually to make sure that students are on track—both academically and emotionally.

At the start of a live class, pose a general question about the previous day’s lesson, like “Does everyone feel comfortable with what we learned about [fill in the blank]?” and have students respond individually by dropping an emoji or a thumbs-up/thumbs-down in their chat box or video window. Students can also hold up a sticky note or piece of paper to the screen with a response. They don’t all have to be serious questions; funny questions can help get students engaged at the start of a lesson. In this Twitter thread, teachers share fun question ideas like: “Are Pop-Tarts a kind of ravioli?” and “Would you rather have no elbows or no knees?"

Another option: Ask students a more specific question about content you've recently coered, then have them assess their understanding on a 1-5 rating scale. They can hold up the apporpriate number of fingers as signals during a live class online. The popular stoplight apporach also works. Ask students to show a color based on how they feel about the topic you're teaching: green-go ahead to the next topic; yellow-proceed slowly as I'm still processing: or red-stop, I don't understand.

2. DIGITAL JOURNALS AND ONE-PAGERS

Not all students process information at the same speed or like to raise their hand and be acknowledged publicly during class. After-class reflection exercises that give students a private space to reflect a little more deeply, and signal both what they understood and what they did not, are easy to continue remotely.

Teachers can create a “Journal Jot” online document for each student using Google Docs or a platform like Blackboard to measure how well students are retaining information, recommends Rebecca Alber, an education professor in Los Angeles, California. In their journal, students can respond individually to prompts like K-W-L: what they know, what they want to know, and what they learned; or 3-2-1: three things you found out; two things you found interesting; one thing you didn’t understand.

Teachers can also adapt Jill Fletcher’s one-pager activity to virtual settings. Fletcher, a curriculum coordinator in Kapolei, Hawaii, asks students to write down key themes, questions, and ideas about a topic or lesson on a single page (kind of like a study guide), and include artwork or imagery if they would like. Have students create their one-pagers in a tool like Canva or Google Slides, or they can draw them by hand and submit as a photograph.

3. ELEVATOR PITCHES AND TWEETS

To help students synthesize important takeaways from a lesson, ask them to take one to two minutes during live class time to summarize everything they learned on a particular unit by typing it into a Google doc, in a chat box, or on a virtual message board like Padlet.

You can also ask for student volunteers to share their elevator pitch, or verbal summary of what they learned, with the class in 60 seconds or less. As a 21st-century spin, Matt Levinson, a principal in Seattle, Washington, suggests having students summarize the lesson in a tweet or Instagram post, staying to character limits.

4. SQUARE, TRIANGLE, CIRCLE

Giving students choice with formative assessments is really important, says Anderson, as not all students show their thinking the same way.

Anderson recommends Square, Triangle, Circle, an activity wherein students choose a shape and its associated question prompt. A square means something that is now “squared away” in their thinking. Choosing a triangle tasks students with extracting three important ideas from what they learned, while a circle asks students to discuss something “circulating”—ideas that are not yet fully formed—in their minds.

For asynchronous learning, students can write their responses independently in an online document as a reflection exercise. Or, in a synchronous lesson, teachers can make the exercise collaborative by asking students to pick a shape and then dividing them into groups based on the shape they chose. Students can briefly discuss their reflections with classmates in breakout rooms and share back to the class to close out the learning.

5. MAKE ART YOUR ASSESSMENT

While teachers may question if old classroom standbys (and popular classroom wall decorations) like collages, mind maps, and sketches can work virtually, teachers we spoke with say they’re still finding ways for students to use art, music, and drama to share their thinking.

Students can create an ad to describe and market a particular concept, draw a comic chronicling a historic event or explaining a scientific principle, write a poem or a song, or act out a chapter from a book or scene from a play. Using a phone, students can record themselves using apps like Voice Memos or photograph/film their work with the phone’s camera to upload and share virtually.

6. PEER-TO-PEER EVALUATIONS

When learning outside the classroom, it’s especially important to foster relationships between students. You can do both at the same time, drawing a bead on what your students have learned while encouraging deeper peer connections.

Assign each student a virtual buddy for the week, or pair off students at random to get them talking across the class—and assessing each other's learning.

In pairs, students can be placed in breakout rooms on Zoom or another videoconference platform to do many of the same activities they once did in the classroom to check for understanding. Give each student a general rubric, or use the TAG feedback process to evaluate their peer’s assignment; have them share the feedback with you as well. Or have students teach each other a concept while recording themselves (audio or video) and upload the file for you to review. These activities can also be adapted for asynchronous learning using tools in Google Classroom.

For synchronous classes, organize a talk show panel. Assign three to four students roles to represent different ideas or themes of a unit, such as having students in history class impersonate leaders from different countries during World War II. Have each student discuss their perspective in front of their peers, and allow the rest of the class to ask questions to probe their thinking.

7. VIRTUAL EXIT TICKETS

Using exit tickets, or students’ responses to prompts or questions on a slip of paper at the end of class, is a popular formative assessment practice that easily transfers online.

Teachers can keep a running Google Doc for each student to keep the information private, or broaden it to the whole class by posting questions on a platform like Flipgrid so that students can see and comment on others’ responses.

To get a wider view into students’ thinking, use open-ended prompts like these:

• What I found most interesting today was…
• Today was hard because…
• What do you understand well?
• What’s something that’s still shaky?
• What’s something I [teacher] don’t realize?
• What takeaways will be important three years from now?
• How does this relate to [something learned before]?
• How would you have done things differently today?
• Today was hard because…

Week Ahead

Faculty Meeting - The faculty meeting scheduled for this week has been canceled. Enjoy the extra time!

BLT Meeting - BLT will meet Wednesday at 2:50. Link to come.

United Way Campaign Continues - The United Way Campaign goes through Wednesday, November 18.  Refer to the email sent last Tuesday from The United Way for information on pledging.  Congratulations to the following senior high daily winners so far. We will pick Friday's winner Monday morning and then have 3 more days.  

Parent-Teacher Conference Last night - Monday, November 16, from 3-6pm will be the last day of fall conferences for the senior high. Refer to the email sent from Dawn Seehafer on how to see your individual appointments.  If you have any questions, contact Dawn.

3 Additional Hours - I know many of you have already met this requirement but there are an additional 3 hours of flexible conference time for you to meet with parents. If you're looking to still meet this requirement, please spend it making phone calls to parents of students who may be struggling.

November 24th - There will be a normal Cohort B Schedule on Tuesday, November 24th.  There will not be an altered schedule. We will begin school at 7:28am and end at 2:40pm.

November 30th Vertical teaming night - Has been canceled. Please enjoy the extra time off.

Important Dates, November:

16           Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3-6pm

18           Virtual Faculty Meeting, 2:50pm - Canceled

18.          BLT meeting at 2:50 - Link to come

18           Board of Education Mtg, 6:30pm

18           United Way Campaign Ends

20           Teacher Work Day

24           Normal Cohort B Schedule, 7:28am-2:40pm

25-27      NO School

30           Vertical Teaming, 3:15-6pm - Canceled

November 9 - 13

  D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

Good luck this week to Sara Mayer, Katelin Hall, Nevaeh Mathwich, Makenna Zoesch, and Marisol Swenson as they get ready to compete at the State Swim meet!

Congratulations to Superintendent, Dr. Gilmore on her recent Athena Leadership award! Dr. Gilmore was recognized for having achieved the highest level of professional excellence, contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community, and actively assisting others, particularly women, in realizing their full leadership potential.  A link to the Wausau pilot article here.

A few pictures from the week

Curriculum and Instruction

How to Make the Most of Student Feedback During Distance Learning

It’s harder to read a class when students are learning at home, so teachers need to explicitly ask for feedback.

By Zachary Herrmann
November 6, 2020

As teachers, we constantly look for clues that can help us understand the impact of our decisions. Are we doing things that are working? How do we know?

Do students appear engaged? What sense are students making? Who is participating, and who isn’t? Should I step in or let this discussion go a bit longer? We rely on data to help us answer these questions.

When I’m teaching in a physical classroom, the data seems rich and abundant. I look for patterns in participation and body language. I look for nonverbal cues that give me some sense of what students might be thinking. I listen for small bits of conversations that help me visualize a picture of what is going on. All of this data is invaluable to me because it helps inform my next steps.

This rich, analog data stream from my in-person classroom has turned into a multichannel digital data stream in my virtual classroom. The data looks different, and I’m much less experienced at interpreting it.

I’m left with questions for which I have little data to support any answers. Is the student on my computer screen with a confused and concerned look on their face lost in what we’re discussing, or are they reading the news? Why did that student just turn off their video? Is any of this working?

In my efforts to get more visibility into what is actually happening in my virtual classroom, I created new routines for gathering, analyzing, and using feedback.

5 IDEAS FOR USING FEEDBACK WELL THIS YEAR

1. Create feedback routines: In-person teaching gave me plenty of informal ways to gather data and feedback. I have to be far more intentional in the virtual setting. I now use a feedback form with four questions. The first section is focused on me, the teacher: “What is one thing you found helpful?” and “What is one thing that could be improved?” The second section is focused on them, my students: “What is one thing you are proud of from this class?” and “What is one thing you'd like to improve on?”

Since I created this feedback form, I’ve gathered thousands of data points that help me better understand my own teaching, as well as my students’ learning.

2. Interpret feedback thoughtfully: I immediately found the feedback illuminating. Overwhelmingly, my students appreciated the breakout rooms, wanted clearer directions for the group activities and needed more organization with all of the digital resources and links I referenced during class. If I hadn’t explicitly asked my students for feedback, I likely would have never considered these issues.

However, students didn’t agree on everything. Some students indicated that they loved how I incorporated the chat box into our activities, while others felt overwhelmed by it. Some felt that we were moving too fast; others felt that some of the activities dragged on too long. This feedback was also helpful, as it underscored the reality that different students were experiencing my class in different ways.

3. Learn from students’ experiences: Although I created the feedback form to learn more about how my students were experiencing my teaching, there was an additional positive benefit that I hadn’t anticipated. Some students described the approaches their other teachers were using. This surfaced a new favorite question for me to ask my students: “Is there something one of your teachers is doing that you wished all of your teachers were doing?”

Students are the ones who are actually experiencing various approaches across teachers and virtual classrooms. They are uniquely positioned to share what is working and what is not.

4. Share with students what you’re learning: I was explicit with my students about how much I valued their feedback and shared the themes that emerged.

I tried to explicitly connect instructional decisions I was making in the moment to the feedback that I had received. When my actions appeared to contradict a theme from the feedback, I’d justify why I was doing what I was doing. In this way, I was hoping to build trust with my students that I was listening to their feedback so that they would feel encouraged to continue to provide me with thoughtful ideas on how to improve the class.

5. Learn to love feedback: Feedback can be difficult to hear, particularly when it contradicts how we see ourselves.

Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone suggest that there are three “feedback triggers” that can be activated when we receive feedback: the truth trigger (dealing with the substance of the feedback and whether we think it is true), the relationship trigger (relating to the relationship we have with the person giving us the feedback), and the identity trigger (feedback that might implicate aspects of how we see ourselves).

I have experienced each of these triggers. For example, if I received feedback that was factually inaccurate (e.g., “You never shared the link with us”) or feedback that threatened an aspect of how I see myself (e.g., feedback that called into question my thoughtfulness in planning), I understood why I was feeling the way I was. I was able to identify and label the feedback trigger, which helped create space for me to actually hear the feedback and move forward, rather than trying to discredit the feedback or dwelling on it.

Students’ feedback dramatically accelerated my learning. Reminding myself that being an educator requires me to constantly reflect and grow allowed me to reframe my relationship with feedback.

I look forward to the day when I return to in-person teaching. I look forward to reacquainting myself with the rich data I get when I take a lap around a real physical classroom, picking up a thousand subtle cues. However, I also look forward to bringing a more intentional approach to my data collection as well. I think I overestimated my ability to truly know what was going on while I was teaching in person. Being remote forced me to be more intentional. We can learn a lot from our students. But we need to ask them.

Week Ahead

PD Day for Grading Monday, November 9 - Please follow the grading timelines that have been published and also listed below.

• Q1 Grading Window will be open on Friday, October 30th. Reminder students will see grades as soon as you post them. If you have any issues with entering in grades please let Melissa know.
• Q1 ends on Friday, November 6th.
• Q1 Grades will be due at 12:00pm on Wednesday, November 11th.
• Grading Window will close at 12:15pm Wednesday, November 11th. 
• Q1 Report Cards will be posted to the Infinite Campus portal on Thursday, November 12th by noon.

Treats - Happy conferences week!  In celebration of your AWESOMENESS, there will be treats in the teacher's lounge starting Tuesday, November 10 thru Monday, November 16.  Stop down and enjoy the pandemic friendly treats!

Transeo Serve Training for Club Advisors and Counselors is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10 via WebEx from 2:50-3:30 PM. If you haven't received a WebEx invite and are currently providing volunteer opportunities for students, contact Rose Matthiae.  Information to be covered in this session includes log-in information, adding/deleting students, creating events, messaging students, and approving service logs. 

United Way Campaign Begins Tuesday - It is that time of year again.  The United Way Campaign begins Tuesday, November 10, and goes through Wednesday, November 18.  All employees will receive an email from the United Way on Monday with your login information.  

• The senior high will have daily prizes (11/10-13 & 11/16-18) so the quicker you pledge the more chances of winning you will have.
• There are district prizes, given at the end, of Target give cards, a Genesis II SE-410 Premium 4-Burner LP Gas Grill valued at $949, and a Country Fresh Meats Beef Bundle valued at $170.  
• United Way is also giving away cash prizes with the top prize of $5,000.  

Parent-Teacher Conference Teacher Appointment Schedules - Thursday, November 12, and Monday, November 16, are parent-teacher conferences from 3-6pm with a built-in 20-minute break each night. Refer to the email sent last Thursday from Dawn Seehafer on how to see your individual appointments.  If you have any questions, contact Dawn.

Parent-Teacher Contact Time - A reminder that there are an additional 3 hours built-in for teachers to call, email, and connect with parents. We choose not to schedule these three hours to increase flexibility for both faculty and parents.

Friday, November 13, is a Cohort "A" Schedule - Since there is no school on Monday, November 9th, (PD Day for grading) there will be an "A" schedule day on Friday, November 13th.  Please keep reminding your students of this.

November 24th - There will be a normal Cohort B Schedule on Tuesday, November 24th.  There will not be an altered schedule. We will begin school at 7:28am and end at 2:40pm.

Important Dates, November:

9    PD Day for grading

wks of 10/9 & 10/16 - 3 hours of parent contact - flexible

10    Quarter 2 begins 

10    B Day

10    United Way Campaign begins

11    A Day

11    Grades due by noon

11    Grading table closes 12:15pm

11    BLT @ 2:50pm

12    B Day

12    Grades posted to portal by noon

12    Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3-6pm

13   A Day (since Monday will be with no students)

16    Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3-6pm

18    Virtual Faculty Meeting, 2:50pm

18    Board of Education Mtg, 6:30pm

18    United Way Campaign Ends

20    Teacher Work Day

24    Normal Cohort B Schedule, 7:28am-2:40pm

30    Vertical Teaming,  

 

November 2 - November 6

 D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

Key Club raking leaves!

A couple of athletic teams finished up their season over the weekend. A full review of all of the fall athletic success will come when all teams have finished their competition.

Volleyball lost in a closely contested match in the Sectional Semi-Final.  They still have a chance at sharing the conference title depending on a game yet to be played. Congratulate the ladies on a fantastic season!

At State Cross Country this weekend Sara Mlodik finished in 19th and Lucas Allen finished 68th. Both of these athletes won their WVC individual race as well to cap off an exciting Cross Country season.

Week Ahead

Fire Evacuation Review - On Monday and Tuesday, November 2 and 3, immediately after period 3 announcements, teachers are asked to review with students the Fire Evacuation procedures found in your Crisis Management Plan booklet. The fire alarm will not go off and no one should leave their classroom. As part of our covid protocols, our drills will remain table top talks at this moment and we will not be evacuating the building.   

Grading Period for Q1 - All grades will have to be entered into Infinite Campus by the dates and times below so that parents can see them before conferences begin at 3pm on the 12th.   

• Q1 Grading Window will be open on Friday, October 30th.  Reminder students will see grades as soon as you post them. See screen shot below. If you have any issues with entering in grades please let me know. 
• Q1 ends on Friday, November 6th.
• Q1 Grades will be due at 12:00pm on Wednesday, November 11th.
• Grading Window will close at 12:15pm Wednesday, November 11th.  
• Q1 Report Cards will be posted to the Infinite Campus portal on Thursday, November 12th by noon.

Parent-Teacher Conferences - Thursday, November 12th, and Monday, November 16th, are parent-teacher conferences from 3-6pm with a built-in 20-minute break each night. All teachers are expected to have conferences. There are a few shared teachers, coaches, etc. that may not be here. If you haven’t already spoken to Dawn Seehafer about not being here, please do so ASAP. Parents received an email or paper copy with instructions and links to sign up for either a phone conference or a Webex conference during a 10-minute spot. Any questions, please see Dawn Seehafer.

Parent-Teacher Contact Time - A reminder that there are an additional 3 hours built-in for teachers to call, email, and connect with parents. We choose not to schedule these three hours to increase flexibility for both faculty and parents.

Friday, November 13, is a Cohort "A" Schedule - Since there is no school on Monday, November 9th, (PD Day for grading) there will be an "A" schedule day on Friday, November 13th.  Please keep reminding your students of this.

November 24th - There will be a normal Cohort B Schedule on Tuesday, November 24th.  There will not be an altered schedule. We will begin school at 7:28am and end at 2:40pm.

November Parent Newsletter - Here is the link for the November Parent Newsletter that was emailed out last Friday.  November 2020 Parent Newsletter

Important Dates

November:

2 & 3  Teachers should review the Fire Drill/Evacuation 

6         Quarter 1 ends

6         Teacher Work Day, no lunch or busses

9         PD Day for grading wks of 10/9 & 10/16 - 3 hours of parent contact

10       Quarter 2 begins 

10       B Day

11       A Day

11       Grades due by noon

11       Grading table closes 12:15pm

11       BLT @ 2:50pm

12       B Day

12       Grades posted to portal by noon

12       Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3-6pm

13      A Day (since Monday will be with no students)

16       Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3-6pm

18       Virtual Faculty Meeting, 2:50pm

18       Board of Education Mtg, 6:30pm

20       Teacher Work Day

24       Normal Cohort B Schedule, 7:28am-2:40pm