Morning Minute for October 19th

I have to share something that brought me JOY today. Imagine it a lunch room with MIDDLE SCHOOLERS. Many people do not dare to step foot into our space because of said adolescents age group. In our lunch room today we had smiles, 8th grade boys singing in unison "Scrubs", banana phones, dancing and more. It was a great "vibe" as kids would say. We have started to create a great climate for our students.

Reminder that tomorrow we will hold our Earthquake Drill @ 11:19. A reminder that is is: Duck-Cover_Hold On. Students should get under a hard surface (such as their desk) and avoid areas where things can fall on them (bookshelves) and stay away from windows. Teachers should also get under a hard surface. Once the drill ends you would take attendance, get your emergency forms/bucket and exit the room to your regular fire drill location. We are going to ask that attendance is turned in.

All classrooms, except Benson should have received the break space supplemental items yesterday. If you didn’t, please reach out to Natalie or Lindsay. On that topic classrooms should have easily identified Break Spaces/Calming Spaces. We are asking teachers to identify a day by next Wednesday to go over the expectations etc. for your space during each class period to ensure that students are aware of where it is and how to use it. This is a Tier 1 classroom intervention we need to have in place collectively.

Below are links to two forms you may choose to use in your space. There is also a PDF included in the email with the Morning Minute Link.

Thank you to Advisory teachers who completed SMART goals with students on Monday and Tuesday. This is imperative work in helping our students begin to make the connections between their academic efforts and the benefits of productive struggle. I shared with parents in the Newsletter (that went out this evening) to ask their students about their SMART goal. In the event you have not completed this please prioritize this work in the next few days.

Next Monday is the kick off to Spirit Week. It is also "Dress Like a Teacher Day". As a staff we should dress like our students to have a little fun. PLEASE NOTE...this should be general and we do not want to target a specific student, but rather the generalities of our students.

Brenda sent this out earlier, but it bears repeating.

Every teacher at HPMS uses Securly (See Brenda if you need help!).
Many teachers use Elin’s comprehensive blocked list called “Blocked Sites” when setting up Securly.
Teachers add sites to the block list during class if students are on questionable sites.

BAD:

Teachers add GOOGLE addresses to the block list during class if students are on questionable sites.
By blocking one GOOGLE address, you block them ALL. For EVERYONE.

FIX:

Elin’s list was renamed “HPMS Blocked Sites (NOT GOOGLE OR YOUTUBE)”
You may still use this list.
Never block any Google address. Just close it for the student if needed.
You may clone Elin’s list, rename it, and add or delete sites as you see fit for your classroom use.

Harrison Park Post